A quarterback is only as good as his targets, and there was no better case study than the Dallas Cowboys’ Dak Prescott in 2022. Prescott was stripped of two of his top weapons from the year prior, as the club traded away Amari Cooper for salary cap relief and (wisely) chose not to match the ridiculous free agency contract the Miami Dolphins gave to Cedric Wilson.
The front office wasn’t wrong in those decisions, but they failed in their quest to replace those two integral pieces. James Washington was a free agency failure many saw coming, and the club prioritized other positions with their first two draft picks in 2022. In the third round they selected South Alabama’s Jalen Tolbert, diverting from their big-school draft mantra. They were burned for it, as Tolbert was not ready for the big lights in Year 1.
ESPN’s Bill Barnwell dropped Dallas from having the No. 2 grouping of skill position players in 2021 down to 11th in 2022. Now, despite losing their tight end in free agency, the Cowboys have bounced back to No. 7.