Recurring Problem Named Cowboys' Biggest Concern Ahead of Training Camp

The Dallas Cowboys entered the offseason with an “all-in” mantra for the 2024 season after they lost to the Green Bay Packers in the playoffs. It was a disappointing finish for a Dallas team that overcame injuries to key players on defense (Trevon Diggs, DeMarvion Overshown) and won the NFC East.

However, the Cowboys haven’t lived up to their “all-in” standard as they didn’t make a ton of big splashes in free agency and will be leaning on rookies to play a large role. Dallas’ defense saw the most change as they have a new defensive coordinator (Mike Zimmer) and saw a couple of key players leave in free agency (Dorance Armstrong Jr.,

Based on those changes, no one knows what to expect from this defense, which gave fans a lot to be excited about last season. Coincidentally, the defense is one of the biggest question marks heading into training camp as Dallas will depend on a couple of injured players in 2024.

Saad Yousuf of The Athletic spoke about how the Cowboys will need Overshown and Diggs to play their part after coming off torn ACLs last year.

"The Cowboys have justified a lot of their inactivity, particularly on the defensive side, by pointing to the return of players they lost last year to season-ending injuries. ... Although the Cowboys added Eric Kendricks in free agency, they’ll rely heavily on Overshown emerging as the real deal. After not re-signing Stephon Gilmore, they’ll also count on Diggs returning to his All-Pro level to hold down one side opposite of DaRon Bland."

The Cowboys’ linebacker unit will be one of the key position groups to watch in training camp as they also saw Leighton Vander Esch shockingly retire this offseason. Without Vander Esch on the roster, Dallas’ starting linebackers in Week 1 could be Eric Kendricks and Damone Clark.

That’s not a terrible starting linebacker duo, especially with the year Clark had. And then when you factor in Overshown and rookie Marist Liufau, the Cowboys have young talent. However, if one of those guys were to get hurt, the Cowboys would be left scrambling to find a replacement.

The same thing can be said at the cornerback spot heading into this season. Dallas lucked up last season as they had Stephon Gilmore playing opposite of DaRon Bland. The Cowboys don’t have that same luxury as they didn’t re-sign Gilmore.

Therefore, Dallas hopes Diggs can be the player we saw in 2022 when he was named to his second-straight Pro Bowl. For the Cowboys to win the NFC East (+145 on FanDuel Sportsbook), they will need both players to be at 100 percent because they face stiff competition from the Philadelphia Eagles.

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