NFL
By: Greg Rector
You can undoubtedly tell summer is here as is the break between mini-camps and the start of the actual training camps. That also brings with it the speculation of what the 2022 season will bring for the team so many love to hate, yet so many more are fans of, the Dallas Cowboys. So let’s go into the chatter from both sides that I see so much of these days between social media and content on YouTube.
The Cowboys Will Be Worse in 2022
Seems like this is the predominant theme, especially on the social media side of Cowboys chatter. There’s no way after losing Amari Cooper, Randy Gregory, La’el Collins, and Connor McGovern that the Cowboys will be as good. Dak Prescott isn’t a quarterback that can lead, Ezekiel Elliott is a terrible washed-up running back, and there’s no way they will win the NFC East. Let’s get into the names no longer here, shall we? Randy Gregory was never once been a full-time player thanks to his various issues off the field. La’el Collins play has dropped off and was certainly another one with issues not related to playing football. When you refuse to comply with the simple rules of the substance abuse program, you’ve put yourself ahead of the team and as you know by now I don’t countenance that type of behavior from anyone. The team felt that the level of play justified giving the right tackle job to Terence Steele. This goes back to my refrain of too lackadaisical an attitude in and around the Frisco facility. Lastly, McGovern may have been incorrectly penalized a couple of times last year but overall wasn’t getting the job done at left guard so I don’t have an issue with seeing him playing elsewhere.
My Counter Argument
The attachment to names on the backs of the jersey effect certainly is coming into play here. Instead of hanging onto “their guys,” as has often happened far too much in my opinion the Cowboys decided that maybe addition by subtraction was in order. The one move that really gets criticized was trading Cooper, I didn’t mind the move at all after his selfish vaccine stance and really never living up to his potential, as you have read on here before I never was into the Cooper is an “elite,” wide receiver camp. He falls into the middle of the pack for me in terms of the hierarchy of wide receivers currently playing. Now some of this can be put on not having Prescott in 2020 and other factors. Making the younger Ceedee Lamb the WR1 makes sense in the year before he can become eligible for a contract extension. Find out of he can be the guy that deserves the 2nd (These days massive dollar deals) contract. Yes, I get the Elliott attacks, I also get the fact he played hurt most of last season and still managed to play all 17 games, and rush for over 1000 yards. Now that brings in the name Tony Pollard, the coaching staff best find ways to get him more touches and it looks like they will be having him play some as a slot receiver. The biggest one of all is Prescott of course. No injury, no rehabilitation needed this off-season, he has become leaner and appears to be more mobile, all positive signs. Now let’s go to the other side of the world. I understand how many will say the offensive line will be worse, but that’s not as easy to predict as many seem to think. Tyler Smith has impressed with his play so far at left guard, now as a rookie of course there will be low moments, the difference between Smith and McGovern appears to be in both physicality and mental toughness. The latter has long been my issue with this franchise. Getting into the playoffs means nothing without at least winning once you’re there.
The Cowboys Will Be Better in 2022
Micah Parsons will be the best defensive player in all of football. Trevon Diggs will be even better, The Cowboys will dominate the NFC East again. Those and other hopeful boasts are just that. Let’s start with Parsons. He did not say he would break the sack record of 22.5 sacks in a season shared by TJ Watt and Michael Strahan, so chill out Cowboys haters. His stated goal is a minimum of 15 sacks and his obvious goal is to be in a position obviously to break the record. Coming off his rookie campaign of 13 sacks it would be nice to see him improve upon that of course. His hunger appears to not have waned one iota. I also point out to those over-enthusiastic folks that every single offensive coaching group now has film on Parsons and an entire off-season to game plan on ways to limit his damage. Can Diggs repeat 11 picks? Highly unlikely, that he can however he can improve his tackling and choosing when to be aggressive and when to play it safe. Will Jabril Cox, become a contributor? time will tell. Can the multiple edge players Dante Fowler, Chauncey Golston, Dorance Armstrong, and rookie Sam Williams all actually increase tackles for loss, give up less rushing yards, and actually have more sacks than Gregory ever did? The optimism toward dominating the division is also uncalled for. The Eagles and Giants had very good drafts and the Commanders won’t likely be as injury-riddled as they were last season. Yes, the Cowboys can still win more of the six games than they lose but going 6-0 two straight seasons, that’s not likely at all.
The Intangibles
Can the Cowboys find a field goal kicker that doesn’t miss at the most inopportune times? Here is a dirty secret haters, if Greg Zuerlein had made just three more attempts last year the Cowboys would have been 15-2, which means they would have had the bye week. Wonder how different things might have been if only for that one factor. The Cowboys had a top ten offense and defense in 2021 despite the issues the offense had after Prescott’s calf injury. For the naysayers worried about a drop-off because of who is no longer on this roster, there’s an average of 30% roster turnover for each team in the league annually. If things fall into place and the injury factor is minimal sure the Cowboys can end up winning the division again. They could also regress badly or have a repeat of the 2020 nightmare with injuries. As it stands now we simply have no idea how anything will play out. It’s why I don’t say much at this time of the year. I will though go on the record with a prediction for 2022. The Dallas Cowboys will be the most talked-about franchise, the most-watched franchise, and the franchise with more attention from the mainstream sports media and the new media outlets. That’s just a simple fact. Oxnard is a month away folks. Give yourselves a break between now and then.
As always you can find me on Twitter @GregCowboys
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