After ranking in top-5, Dallas Cowboys roster ranks 16th in 2022

Ever since the Dak Prescott/Ezekiel Elliott era began in 2016, the Dallas Cowboys have consistently ranked as one of the most talented rosters in the NFL. The past two seasons, specifically,  Dallas has resided in the top-5 by multiple NFL outlets, leading to a windfall of preseason hype and fairly consistently flow of excitement by most of Cowboys Nation.

They say all good things come to an end, and that appears to be the case here, where NFL outlets are starting to take a very critical look at the Dallas Cowboys roster and penalize them for their offseason decision-making.

From a talent perspective, the Dallas Cowboys took a step back this offseason and fell to the middle of the pack.

Tis the season for critical analysis and some good ol’ fashioned expectation setting. One of the first organizations out of the gates, Pro Football Focus, pulled no punches when assessing the Dallas Cowboys roster. They placed the Cowboys roster at 16th – the very epicenter of average in the NFL.

Cowboys fans are still excited about the promise this roster shows and the potential of some of the young additions, but outside of Dallas, it looks more like wishful thinking.

The downgrade is understandable. The Cowboys were extremely disappointing last season and Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott both hurt their reputations playing through injury last year. The Cowboys lost Amari Cooper, La’el Collins, Randy Gregory, Connor Williams, and Cedrick Wilson and did little-to-nothing to replace outside of the draft.

*Laugh at Connor Williams all you want, but he only gave up a pressure rate of 2.47% last season (3rd amongst guards in the NFL). 

The offensive line got one year older, the linebacker position is thin, cornerback position is loaded with questions (What’s going on with Kelvin Joseph) and the defensive line looks as underwhelming as always.

Cowboys fans are still excited about the promise this roster shows and the potential of some of the young additions, but outside of Dallas, it looks more like wishful thinking. The Eagles (7th) rank well ahead of Dallas on the list and the Commanders are directly behind at 17th.

And you know what?

I don’t mind it at all.

The NFL is a QB driven league and as long as the Dallas Cowboys have the best QB in the division, I’m feeling pretty good about their chances. Sure, top to bottom Philly looks much better than Dallas. But not at QB. And that’s what’s going to make the difference in 2022.

The reason 2020 and 2021 were so exciting was because Dallas was so extremely talented. To many, they had the most talented roster since the Super Bowls of the 90s. I said that last year and I stand by it today.

But winning isn’t just about talent. There are many factors that go into determining the winners and losers each Sunday and we saw that first hand late last season.

What do you think? Did the Cowboys regress in overall talent this year or were they just overhyped the previous two seasons? Better yet – Does it even matter?