Dallas Cowboys: Exploring the 3 thinnest and deepest position groups

Dallas Cowboys position group: OT

As much as we worry about the health of Tyron Smith and La’el Collins this group is deep on paper. With both starting offensive tackles returning the Cowboys have two outstanding bookends for their line. Yes, health is a concern, but the depth has gotten better since last year. Ty Nsekhe was brought in to provide depth, and with Eric Smith, the much-maligned Terence Steele and Brandon Knight, along with Isaac Alarcon’s development, rookie Josh Ball, and Mitch Hyatt the Cowboys should be able to weather injuries better in 2021 than they were in 2020. One or two of these players will probably get some time at guard as well.

There is always some injury concern, and tackle is one of those positions you can expect some loss of playing time with. However, with Nsekhe and Smith as the top two backups, the Cowboys are already better off than last season. Steele and Knight did have better ends to their 2020 seasons, but having them start for multiple games would still not be optimal, but does help the overall depth of the position.

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I could have easily listed running back as a deeper position group and with what looks like Blake Jarwin and Dalton Schultz starting at tight end this is a deeper group than many might realize. Defensive end is a little bit of a thinner group, but Randy Gregory and Demarcus Lawrence as starters help the group be deep enough. Center is almost always thin for every team, so while it is thin, we could argue it is one of the thinnest groups in the entire league.

The Cowboys are hoping their defensive additions can make up for some of the lack of experience and lack of depth at certain positions. The offense should be the main focus for this team and is the deeper of the two sides of the ball. Most of the starters on offense are set with really only depth being the big question. On defense, many positions seem to be up for grabs and this does cause that side of the ball to carry more questions than answers.