Sizing up the Cowboys roster is still largely a speculative effort. A lack of preseason games and a shortened training camp with tight controls on revealing what’s happening behind those practice field doors has left fans and experts alike with very little information to work with, making for lots of guesswork when it comes to grading players.
Thanks to Sunday night’s not-ready-for-primetime televised practice that barely televised any actual football, judging the 2020 Cowboys- or any NFL team- still comes down to how they look on paper. ESPN’s Bill Barnwell has done just that, attempting to identify the biggest Achilles heel for each squad as the season draws nearer.
In Dallas, he sees the secondary as the club’s primary deficiency. But it’s not at the position viewed as most troublesome when the 2019 season ended.
Barnwell’s list looks at the 20 teams deemed most likely to make the 2020 postseason, and spotlights the weakest link, whether it’s an injury that’s left one unit severely depleted, a COVID-19 opt-out that’s exposed a shallow depth chart, a less-than-ideal contractual entanglement, or plain and simple bad roster makeup.
In Dallas, he says, the Achilles heel is… cornerback, not safety. High-profile flirtings with Earl Thomas and Jamal Adams have made it pretty clear to the rest of the league that the Cowboys felt their back end was exposed, so to speak. And while many expected the club to shore up the safety spot with Xavier McKinney or Grant Delpit (or even Antoine Winfield Jr. or Jeremy Chinn) in the 2020 draft, the team elected to sit tight with Xavier Woods, Darian Thompson, Donovan Wilson, and the newly-acquired HaHa Clinton-Dix.
The team was able to land Alabama corner Trevon Diggs in the second round, though, and also brought in Reggie Robinson, a potential diamond in the rough at the position. So what gives Barnwell pause about the CB state in Dallas?
DIGGing this rookie 👏 @trevondiggs | #EarnTheStar pic.twitter.com/Xryoq7h3sS
— Dallas Cowboys (@dallascowboys) August 23, 2020
“[I]t took a step back at cornerback after losing Byron Jones to the Dolphins in free agency,” he writes. “The Cowboys re-signed Anthony Brown, who should start in the slot, and Chidobe Awuzie will likely return as a starter on one side, but they’re hoping to replace Jones by having someone emerge from a committee.
“[Jourdan] Lewis is the favorite on paper to emerge as the starter, but minor injuries to Lewis and Awuzie have created an opportunity” for someone else, he points out.
That someone else could be Diggs, who has, by all accounts, had a very impressive camp. In fact, Barnwell notes, “he has the most upside of the bunch and figures to be a regular by the end of the season.”
Robinson and veteran Daryl Worley also figure to factor in as well, along with cornerbacks Chris Westry, Saivion Smith, C.J. Goodwin, and Deante Burton.
But new Cowboys defensive backs coach Maurice Linguist has hinted recently that outsiders should stop drawing such a sharp distinction between safeties and cornerbacks. Because he’s not. In fact. he’s expecting everyone in both groups to do both jobs.
“I’ll tell you what I told all the DBs: ‘Hey guys, you guys play DB,'” Linguist said Saturday, according to the team website. “Don’t lock yourself into a position or lock yourself into thinking you’re any one thing. Learn them all. There’s multiple spots back there.”
DBs coach Maurice Linguist is on a call with reporters right now. He says the coaches told pretty much everyone to learn every spot in the secondary. They’re planning on asking a lot of guys to do a lot of stuff.
I’d probably avoid trying to specifically label guys as CB or S.
— David Helman (@HelmanDC) August 29, 2020
Besides the aforementioned minor injuries to Lewis and Awuzie, Woods has also joined the list of the walking wounded. The Louisiana Tech product left Sunday’s practice session with a groin injury and did not return, although head coach Mike McCarthy said he wasn’t concerned about Woods’ status.
Still, a high attrition rate among the defensive backs may mean more chances for all of them to do some cross-training.
“By no means are you just one position for us,” Linguist said. “You play defensive back, and we all know how this thing kind of goes throughout the season. We’ll see multiple people at multiple different positions.
“If I know exactly where the safety is and I’m a corner, well, that’s going to help me better understand what my technique is at corner,” he continued. “If I know exactly what a corner is doing at the safety position, it can help me move six inches to the left or six inches to the right and be successful.”
this is me reading between the lines, not something someone specifically said. but I’d imagine the value guys (i.e., Diggs, Brown) probably won’t be asked to move around much.
but if you’re on the back end of the depth chart, you’d better be ready to wear a lot of hats. https://t.co/Fioy14WcXI
— David Helman (@HelmanDC) August 29, 2020
“I think one of the worst things you can do is say ‘This is what I am,'” Linguist said. “Because what it’s going to allow us to do is plug and play the next best person, the next best player – not necessarily just the ‘backup’ of the position. How can we find the best spots – six, seven, eight DBs – and get them on the field together in a rotation.”
It sounds great on paper. Right now, though, that’s all fans have to go on. The multitasking strategy will have its chance to play out in the real world soon enough.
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