Also, Will McClay’s ‘pet cat’ of the 2020 Draft, Amari Cooper’s fantasy stock dips, which rookies may start Week 1, and 2020 schedule news.
Restocking the shelves was a huge hit during draft weekend, but now the Cowboys need to reshuffle their inventory a little bit. The team’s intentions at the safety position may be getting clearer, but a slight shift among the linebacking corps might also be in the works. And there’s already talk of which rookies could be in the starting lineup come opening day of the 2020 season.
Speaking of which, the full slate of games is supposed to be made public within days, although it’s not guaranteed. What’s already a done deal, though, is commissioner Roger Goodell forfeiting his monthly salary in the wake of the current global crisis. All that, plus a real-world look at how the coronavirus pandemic has affected new Cowboy Gerald McCoy and his family, a peek at where Dallas falls in a new power rankings list, and Will McClay reveals his “pet cat” of the 2020 NFL Draft class. That’s all on tap in this edition of News and Notes.
“It’s fun to have to score 35 points every game,” Mike McCarthy said at this year’s NFL scouting combine, “but it’s hard.” CeeDee Lamb hopes to make it a little bit easier for a unit that finished 2019 first in yards per game and sixth in points… yet still missed the postseason with an 8-8 record.
After teasing that the team’s new answer at safety may already be on the roster as a cornerback, the Cowboys have brought on yet another CB, former Raider Daryl Worley. The writing may be on the wall for fourth-year man Chidobe Awuzie to transition to safety, a position he played for a time in college.
Following Cowboys Wire piece from the late night before, the rest of the Cowboys’ sports coverage went out to get their own sourced confirmations, and it was confirmed. But Awuzie may not be the only Cowboys defender on the move in 2020. Jaylon Smith may slide to outside linebacker in order to do more blitzing, with Leighton Vander Esch potentially replacing him in the middle.
Get to know a different side of the new Cowboy. The six-time Pro Bowler dishes on how he knew the pandemic was coming thanks to his “germaphobe” wife, and he thinks his Dad rating would be a 97 as he handles the family’s cooking, laundry, and home schooling during the lockdown.
His name wasn’t called on draft weekend like his teammate Ben DiNucci, but James Madison edge rusher Ron’Dell Carter will be fighting to make the Cowboys roster just the same. The onetime Rutgers redshirt ended up posting huge numbers in a “very aggressive” defense at JMU and hopes to do the same in Dallas.
President of player personnel Will McClay says the club’s scouting department are the superstars responsible for the Cowboys’ impressive draft haul. As multiple players fell far past where Dallas had them graded, McClay chose to trust the exhaustive research done by team scouts throughout the year.
Bill Parcells famously called them “pet cats:” those underrated players that coaches root for, often without logic or reason. Will McClay revealed this week that, during the 2020 draft, his was the Tulsa cornerback Reggie Robinson II, who fell to Dallas in the fourth round.
After the 2020 NFL Draft exceeded everyone’s expectations, the league appears set to stick with their plan to release the 2020 regular season schedule on or around May 9. But some league insiders say pushing back the schedule release has been “a big topic of conversation” internally.
Cowboys Wire readers already knew that the team would be looking at four compensatory picks next year, but NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein projects Dallas to be the only club scoring that many ahead of the 2021 Draft.
The Cowboys landed quite a draft class… but how many of the rookies will be Day One starters? Rob Phillips says CeeDee Lamb and Trevon Diggs have the best chance. Jonny Auping agrees and thinks Bradlee Anae could line up in Week One as well.
The Cowboys have only helped themselves since the end of the 2019 season, at least according to the roundtable of six voters constructing this list. Following the Super Bowl, Dallas sat at No. 14. They’ve since climbed to 10th place, with one voter placing them as high as eighth.
The NFL commissioner was set to make $40 million per year, but reduced his salary to zero last month in response to uncertain business conditions brought about by the coronavirus pandemic.
According to The Worldwide Leader’s fantasy expert, Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott’s fantasy stock went up with last weekend’s draft. Amari Cooper’s took a slight hit, though, with Berry citing the onboarding this season of CeeDee Lamb and the emergence last season of Michael Gallup.
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