The Cowboys are tops in home attendance, no rest for defensive linemen, the one trade Dallas needs most, and a new number for Jourdan Lewis.
Despite a disappointing season, the Cowboys are well-represented in a couple of best-of lists from the 2019 campaign, in terms of both players and the fans that come watch them at home. But the focus has already turned to 2020, most notably for the new coaching staff and fans trying to peg their tendencies early. One player is even shedding 2019’s bad mojo by donning a new number next season.
All that, plus forecasting the one big trade that could put Dallas over the hump, guessing where one Cowboys receiver will be playing, and wondering if another will be coming back. Here’s the News and Notes.
By not being one of the twelve teams to make the 2019 postseason, the Cowboys were not in the top 37.5% of the NFL, at least according to pure mathematics. But math also says nearly five percent of the league’s best players suit up in Dallas blue and silver.
Pro Football Focus has released its list of the top 101 players from the 2019 campaign, and the Cowboys are represented by a quintet of stars. Offensive line is still considered the team’s strong suit, as guard Zack Martin ranks 35th and tackle La’el Collins misses the top 40 by one spot. DeMarcus Lawrence is the only Dallas defensive player on the countdown, at 55. Wideout Amari Cooper comes in at 64, and quarterback Dak Prescott sits at 93.
America’s Team, indeed. The Cowboys led the league in average home attendance over the 2019 season, putting 12,000 more butts in seats than the second-place team.
Great in-the-building insight from David Helman as he explores how the new defensive line coach in Dallas intends to move his chess pieces around on the field. While the personnel is obviously in flux this early in the offseason, Jim Tomsula implies that DeMarcus Lawrence and Co. should plan on fewer breathers.
Helman points out that under Rod Marinelli, Lawrence and Robert Quinn “played 65% and 68% of the defensive snaps, respectively, ceding the field to backups in key situations.”
“The goal is to have as many guys as you can playing and go. But if there’s a dropoff, then we’ve got problems,” the former 49ers staffer says of his philosophy. “That crew in San Francisco, the first couple years, there was no rotation. I told them, ‘If you tap your helmet, I’m turning my head.'”
First things first. No, Cowboys fans did NOT miss the announcement of a total breakdown in talks between the team and its leading receiver, Amari Cooper. So when former pro quarterback and current network analyst David Carr puts out a list of the teams the free agent could eventually sign with, take solace in the Cowboys’ place atop the pile. Carr even admits that, “From a pure football standpoint, Cooper being in Dallas makes the most sense.”
But that headline doesn’t exactly generate a lot of clicks. So Carr theorizes about four other teams who would obviously love to swoop in and lure Cooper away if the Joneses decide to get overly thrifty with the Pro Bowler after just a season and a half.
Former Cowboys wideout Dez Bryant continues to tantalize fans with thoughts of a return to Dallas. On Thursday, he tweeted his willingness to not be his next team’s top option at receiver.
Then Bryant posted some practice videos… that just happened to take place at the Star in Frisco.
Training with wide receiver coach David Robinson, Bryant can be seen running routes, hauling in passes, and throwing up the X for the camera as his 2020 comeback bid continues.
Certain franchises sometimes seem to draft from a particular school over and over. It’s hard to not believe that Jason Garrett’s staff had a stronger-than-average affinity for Boise State guys, given the number of Broncos on the roster over the years. But do new head coach Mike McCarthy and new defensive coordinator Mike Nolan have any notable go-tos when it comes to plucking college kids for the pros?
Maybe. While the list of schools they’ve most often drawn from closely mirrors the overall makeup of the league in regard to alma maters, history shows that Golden Domers may have a slight statistical edge when the 2020 Cowboys are on the clock. And fans coveting a certain safety from LSU may find some small bit of encouragement in how many Bayou Bengals McCarthy and Nolan have drafted.
Every team wants to believe they are just one roster move away from a championship. In that spirit, Brent Sobleski examines each NFL roster and theorizes the one best trade each franchise could make this offseason- either to acquire or ship off a single player- that gets them closer.
Granting the ultimate wish of many a Cowboys fan, he suggests the Cowboys trade for Jets safety Jamal Adams. While that deal fell apart in 2019 and Adams now hints that he’ll stay put in New York, it’s still possible that the Joneses pony up to bring Adams back to his native Texas and that he wears the star in 2020. Sobleski muses that it would cost the Cowboys a first- and a third-round draft pick.
When the new-look Cowboys defense takes the field in 2020, cornerback Jourdan Lewis will have a new look, too.
The team website notes that No. 26 became available when safety Josh Jones was released near the end of the 2019 season.
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