Quarterback

In 2018, the Cowboys won the division at 10-6, but they had just a +15 point differential and ranked 17th in first down rate differential at -0.03%, with their record largely being the product of going 8-2 in games decided by a touchdown or less. A team’s record in close games tends to be very unpredictable on a year-to-year basis, so it was foreseeable that the Cowboys would have less success in close games in 2019, but what was not foreseeable was that the Cowboys would go totally the other way and go 0-5 in games decided by a touchdown or less. Aside from their inability to close out close games, the Cowboys were significantly better in 2019 than they were in 2018, finishing 6th in point differential at +113 and 4th in first down rate differential at +4.28%, but all of their close losses caused the Cowboys to miss the post-season entirely at 8-8.

Just like the it was foreseeable that the Cowboys would do worse in close games in 2019 than they did in 2018, it’s now foreseeable that the Cowboys will do better in those games in 2020. The Cowboys were far and away better than any other non-playoff qualifier in first down rate differential and point differential, so if they can match those totals in 2020, they shouldn’t have much problem at all making the playoffs. That being said, this isn’t quite the same Cowboys team as last season, so they might not have quite as impressive of a first down rate and point differential. Like the Cowboys won fewer games in 2019 than 2018 despite being a better team, the Cowboys could easily win more games in 2020 than 2019, even if they aren’t as talented.

One key player who remains is quarterback Dak Prescott, who the Cowboys weren’t letting go anywhere this off-season, keeping him on the exclusive franchise tag. The exclusive franchise tag is worth 31.409 million for quarterbacks this season, but that’s actually relatively cheap compared to what it will cost annually to extend Prescott long-term, as Prescott turned down an extension worth 33 million annually and wants to at least surpass Russell Wilson’s 35 million annually to become the highest paid quarterback in the league on his next contract.

Even though most expect the two sides to get a deal done at some point, it doesn’t sound like they’ve made much progress this off-season. Prescott can afford to be patient, playing a position with relatively little chance of a career altering injury, with endorsements and insurance money locked in, and roughly 68 million owed to him if he’s franchised twice for 2020 and 2021, followed by an opportunity at free agency in 2022, when the salary cap is expected to increase significantly following a new TV deal. Perhaps the Cowboys, recognizing Prescott’s leverage, will significantly up their offer at the eleventh hour, having until the middle of July to work out a long-term deal ahead of the franchise tag deadline.

Regardless of how the contract works out long-term, Prescott will almost definitely be the Cowboys’ week 1 starting quarterback in 2020. Even though he’s likely to be paid at the top of the quarterback market, Prescott hasn’t quite been a top level quarterback thus far in his career, ranking 8th, 18th, 19th, and 11th among quarterbacks on Pro Football Focus in 4 seasons in the league respectively. Still, he’s going into his age 27 season with 64 career starts and the reality of the NFL is that an experienced quarterback in his prime who is proven as an above average starter always ends up getting paid. 

That being said, if the Cowboys can’t come to an agreement with Prescott this off-season, they might be better off trying to tag and trade him next off-season in an attempt move up in the draft and get a long-term replacement, as his price is only going to keep going higher as other quarterbacks sign and, unless he takes a significant step forward, at some point he wouldn’t be worth it, especially if he could return valuable draft assets in a trade. 

Prescott is certainly good enough to win a Super Bowl, but you need to give him a lot of help and the Cowboys would have a difficult time doing that consistently if they are paying Prescott 40+ million annually, even if the cap is set to increase significantly. No team has won the Super Bowl since 1994 with more than 12.5% of the cap committed to the quarterback position and just 6 teams have won it over that stretch with a quarterback taking up more than 10% of the cap. While it wouldn’t surprise me if a quarterback like Patrick Mahomes were able to win a Super Bowl while making 40 million annually, Prescott is simply not that caliber of a quarterback. Once they sign Prescott long-term, the Cowboys’ Super Bowl window could close fast.

The Cowboys have never had a good backup for Prescott, but they “splurged” this off-season by signing ex-Bengals starter Andy Dalton to a 1-year, 3 million dollar deal to be their #2 and he’ll arguably be the top backup quarterback in the NFL. A 2nd round pick in 2011, Dalton made 133 starts in 9 seasons in Cincinnati, completing 62.0% of his passes for an average of 7.10 YPA, 204 touchdowns, and 118 interceptions (87.5 QB rating) and finished in the top-21 among quarterbacks on PFF in 6 of those seasons, but he’s coming off of probably the worst season of his career (78.3 QB rating, 25th among 39 qualifying quarterbacks on PFF) and he’s going into his age 33 season, so it’s unsurprising he couldn’t find a starting job this off-season. That being said, there might not be much dropoff if Dalton had to start for a few games in case of a Prescott injury, so he was a steal for the Cowboys on a cheap one-year deal.

Grade: B+

Offensive Line

As I mentioned, this isn’t quite the same Cowboys team as last season. In fact, they had the 3rd most losses this off-season of any team in the league in terms of 2019 snap count, losing 33.5% of snaps played last season. The biggest loss was center Travis Frederick, as, not only is he a talented player who finished 12th among centers on Pro Football Focus in 2019 in 16 starts, but the Cowboys also didn’t do much to replace him. 

In his prime from 2014-2017, Frederick was arguably the best center in the league, finishing in the top-4 among centers on PFF in all 4 seasons, but he unfortunately had an illness that cost him all of 2018, affected him into 2019, and caused him to want to retire early this off-season, ahead of what would have been only his age 29 season. Even if he wasn’t the same player in 2019 as he was in his prime, he’s a big loss for a Cowboys team that needs a lot to continue going right if they’re going to match their 3rd ranked finish in first down rate (39.94%) from last season.

The Cowboys have a few options to replace Frederick, all of which are questionable. Veteran Joe Looney made all 16 starts in Frederick’s absence in 2018, but he finished 31st out of 39 qualifying centers and has otherwise been a backup in his career, making just 14 starts in his other 7 seasons combined. Now going into his age 30 season, Looney is unlikely to get any better, so the Cowboys are likely hoping either 2019 3rd round pick Connor McGovern or 4th round rookie Tyler Biadasz can run away with the starting job in training camp. McGovern has the better shot because he has at least an off-season under his belt, but he missed all of his rookie year with a torn pectoral, so both he and Biadasz are questionable options.

McGovern and Biadasz could also see some action at left guard. They both have experience at guard and incumbent starter Connor Williams is likely questionable for the start of the season after suffering a torn ACL late last season, while his replacement down the stretch Xavier Su’a-Filo is now in Cincinnati. Even if Williams can play week 1, he may not be 100% right away. It’s a shame because the 2018 2nd round pick had taken a step forward in his 2nd season in the league, earning a middling grade from PFF after struggling as a rookie. His injury dampens his long-term outlook a little and he might not be ready for the start of the season, though he still projects as a starter long-term, especially since he’s still only going into his age 23 season.

The rest of this offensive line is still strong fortunately, as left tackle Tyron Smith, right guard Zack Martin, and right tackle La’El Collins were all among the best players in the league at their respective positions in 2019. That has been the case for Smith and Martin for years. Smith, who finished last season 14th among offensive tackles on PFF, has finished in the top-15 at his position on PFF in 7 straight seasons, while Martin, who finished last season 3rd among guards on PFF, has finished in the top-5 at his position on PFF in 6 straight seasons. Despite their extended success, both are still somewhat in their primes, going into just their age 30 season, having shown no real signs of decline yet.

Collins, meanwhile, is coming off easily the best season of his career, finishing 4th among offensive tackles on PFF, after having never finished higher than 31st in a season. Collins went undrafted in 2015 despite first round talent because of some terrible timing, as he was a suspect in a murder case before the draft and couldn’t talk to police to clear his name until after. The Cowboys immediately played him in as a starter and, while he struggled out of position early in his career at guard, he’s made 47 starts at right tackle over the past 3 seasons, earning at least an average grade from PFF in all 3 seasons, and making a significant year-to-year improvement each season before putting it all together in 2019. He might not be quite as good in 2020, but he’s a very talented offensive lineman who is still just in his age 27 season, so he should remain one of the better right tackles in the league for at least the next few seasons. Center and left guard are concerns, but the rest of this offensive line is strong.

Grade: B+

Receiving Corps

The Cowboys also lost starting starting slot receiver Randall Cobb and tight end Jason Witten this off-season and they were 3rd and 4th on the team with slash lines of 55/828/3 and 63/529/4 respectively. Despite their production, however, they won’t be missed, as the Cowboys should be able to replace both. Witten will be replaced internally by former backup Blake Jarwin, who actually comes with a lot more upside as a receiver. Witten is a future Hall of Famer who was one of the best receiving tight ends in the league in his prime, but he averaged just 1.19 yards per route run in 2019 and earned a negative grade from Pro Football Focus for his receiving, while Jarwin averaged 1.82 yards per route run and earned a positive grade from PFF, albeit on about half the snaps. 

Undrafted in 2017, Jarwin has flashed as a receiver throughout his career, with 1.56 yards per route run on 430 career routes, and, while it’s not a guarantee, he could easily translate that to a larger role in 2020. Depth is the concern at tight end, especially since Jarwin isn’t nearly as good as Witten as a blocker. The Cowboys didn’t make any real additions to replace Witten as a blocker and instead will be counting on 3rd year tight end Dalton Schultz to take a step forward and be the #2 tight end. He’s flashed as a run blocker thus far in his career, but the 2018 4th round pick has played just 417 career snaps and has caught just 13 career passes.

Cobb, meanwhile, will be replaced by first round rookie CeeDee Lamb, so, even though Cobb earned a slightly above average grade from PFF in 2019, there shouldn’t be much, if any drop off in the short-term and in the long-term Lamb has the potential to be the best of possibly a very strong wide receiver draft. Lamb was not expected to be available at 17 and the Cowboys had more pressing needs, but it’s hard to argue that the Cowboys shouldn’t have taken him, given that he fell into their lap and gives them arguably the top wide receiver trio in the league, with Amari Cooper and Michael Gallup both returning after being one of five wide receiver duos in the league to surpass 1000 yards receiving yards in 2019.

For Cooper, it was the 4th time he’d topped that mark in 5 seasons in the league since being drafted 4th overall in 2015 by the Raiders, though that doesn’t tell you the whole story of the ups and downs of his career. Cooper started out his career with back-to-back 1000+ yard seasons, going for 72/1070/6 in 2015 and 83/1153/5 in 2016, but then hit an unexplainable lull for a year in a half, as he averaged a 56/768/6 slash line per 16 games over a 20-game stretch in 2017 and the first half of 2018. Cooper was then traded to the Cowboys for a first round pick and his career was revitalized overnight, as he’s averaged a 84/1225/9 slash line per 16 games in 25 games since arriving in Dallas and is coming off of a career best 8th ranked finish among wide receivers on PFF.

Cooper was given a 5-year, 100 million dollar deal with 40 million guaranteed to stick around long-term as a free agent this off-season, making him the 2nd highest paid wide receiver in the league now behind Julio Jones, and it’s possible he could coast a little like he seemingly was for a stretch in Oakland now that he has significant guarantees locked down, but it’s also encouraging that Cooper reportedly took less money to stay in Dallas over signing with the last place Redskins and he’s still only going into his age 26 season, so he could even keep getting better. As long as he stays motivated and healthy, Cooper should be one of the top wide receivers in the league for years to come.

Gallup, meanwhile, had never topped 1000 yards in a season prior to last season, though it’s hard to fault him, given that last season was just the 2018 3rd round pick’s second season in the league. Gallup played significantly as a rookie too, but was more of a snap eater than anything, before breaking out with a 66/1107/6 slash line and a 34th ranked finish among wide receivers on PFF in 2019. Gallup is technically a one-year wonder, but going into his age 24 season, he still has a massive upside. With Cooper, Gallup, and Lamb all young and under contract beyond this year, it’s hard to find a team with a better wide receiver situation, especially when you add in Tavon Austin, a useful 4th receiver who sees some situational work as a speedster (303 snaps in 2019), and tight end Blake Jarwin comes with upside as well.

Grade: A-

Running Backs

The Cowboys don’t just have great skill position talent in the receiving corps, but they also have that at the running back position, led by feature back Ezekiel Elliott. Since being drafted 4th overall by the Cowboys in 2016, Elliott has arguably been the league’s best runner, rushing for 5,405 yards and 40 touchdowns on 1,169 carries (4.62 YPC) in 56 games. In addition, he’s exceeded 50% carry success rate in all 4 seasons and has ranked in the top-4 at his position in that metric in 3 of 4 seasons in the league. Last season, he finished as Pro Football Focus’ 5th ranked running back in rushing grade, while rushing for 1,357 yards and 12 touchdowns on 301 carries (4.51 YPC). 

There’s always uncertainty at the running back position, but Elliott is going into just his age 25 season with no real injury history, so he’s about as sure of a thing as there is at the position. The one knock against him is he’s just an average player in the passing game, catching 189 passes in 56 career games with a 54/420/2 slash line in 2019, and missing blitz pick ups from time-to-time, but he’s still a pretty complete running back.

Elliott isn’t the only talented back the Cowboys have either, as backup Tony Pollard flashed in limited action, rushing for 5.29 yards per carry, with 4.51 of those yards per carry coming after contact, and earning PFF’s 3rd ranked rushing grade among running backs. He only saw 86 carries, but that’s actually a lot when you consider that Elliott made all 16 starts and topped 300 carries on the season and his low carry total makes his 23 broken tackles all the more impressive. Between those broken tackles and his yards after contact, Pollard had the highest elusive rating in the NFL, suggesting the Cowboys might not see much drop off at the running back position even if Elliott were to get hurt.

The Cowboys made a concerted effort to get Pollard involved even while giving Elliott feature back type carries last season and, given the success he had in limited action as a fourth round rookie in 2019, they’re likely to do so again this season. Pollard may also see more action in passing situations to give Elliott more rest in situations where he doesn’t thrive. This is probably the best backfield in the NFL, with a legitimate feature back backed up by one of the best backups in the league.

Grade: A

Interior Defenders

While the Cowboys have a few changes on offense this season, their defense is the unit that has seen the most significant changes, as 7 of their top-14 in snaps played from a season ago are no longer with the team. Their offense is likely to not be quite as good as last season when they ranked 3rd in first down rate, given that they’ll be without center Travis Frederick and likely will have more injuries than they had last season when they had the second fewest adjusted games lost to injury in the league, but their defense was middle of the pack last season, ranking 17th in first down rate allowed, so some changes could benefit them on this side of the ball.

No position had more changes than inside at defensive tackle, as their top-3 interior defenders in terms of snaps played last season, Maliek Collins (763 snaps), Chrisitan Covington (481 snaps), and Michael Bennett (429 snaps), are all no longer with the team. All three were capable, but unspectacular players who were snap eaters more than anything. They will be replaced by free agent acquisitions Dontari Poe and Gerald McCoy and third round rookie Neville Gallimore.

Poe and McCoy come to Dallas on deals worth 8.5 million over 2 years and 18.3 million over 3 years respectively and they figure to be the starters. Both players started last season with the Panthers and both earned above average grades from Pro Football Focus. Both players have also seen better days though and they are getting up there in age, heading into their age 30 and age 32 seasons respectively. 

Poe used to be one of the most durable interior defenders in the league, averaging 53.7 snaps per game from 2012-2017, but he’s been limited to 33.9 snaps per game in 27 games over the past two seasons and went down for the season last year with a torn quad during week 12. He’s still been useful in a rotational role, but he’s not what he was. McCoy, meanwhile, finished in the top-19 among interior defenders in 5 of 6 seasons from 2012-2017, but he’s fallen to 30th in 2018 and 34th in 2019. Both should be solid starters and largely upgrades, but they’re not what they were and they could easily continue declining.

Gallimore, meanwhile, will compete for reserve snaps with 2018 2nd round pick Trysten Hill, who will likely have a larger role after playing 121 underwhelming snaps as a rookie, and 5th year veteran Antwaun Woods. Woods played 585 snaps in 2018 and wasn’t bad, but he struggled in 310 snaps in 10 games last season and the 2016 undrafted free agent hasn’t had much success in any of his other seasons in the league, so he’s best as a backup. The Cowboys don’t have a standout player at this position, but they have good depth and their starters should be somewhat improved over last season.

Grade: B

Edge Defenders

The Cowboys also lose their #2 and #3 in terms of snaps played on the edge at defensive end, Robert Quinn (647 snaps) and Kerry Hyder (439 snaps). Quinn is the bigger loss, as he led the team with a 14.1% pressure rate, but Hyder was valuable as a rotational run stuffer as well. To replace them, the Cowboys are counting on some bounce back years. They have long-time Cowboy Tyrone Crawford (8 seasons with the team) coming back from a hip injury that limited him to 90 snaps in 4 games last season and they have a pair of players who haven’t played in at least a season due to suspension in Randy Gregory and Aldon Smith.

Smith is the most interesting story of the bunch. Drafted 7th overall in 2011, Smith burst onto the scene with 42 sacks, 37 hits, and a 15.8% pressure rate over the first 3 seasons of his career, while finishing in the top-7 among edge defenders on Pro Football Focus in all 3 seasons, but he was arrested for DUI midway through his 3rd season and things went downhill quickly from there.

Smith missed 5 games in 2013 while in rehab, then was suspended 9 games in 2014, 7 games in 2015, and hasn’t played a snap ever since, with multiple off-the-field incidents over that stretch. The NFL reinstated him this off-season and the Cowboys took a flyer, but it’s unclear how much he can contribute, given that he’s going into his age 31 season, that he hasn’t played in close to 5 seasons, and that he had his last high level season in 2013, as he was not the same player in 2014 and 2015, with a 12.0% pressure rate and middling grades on PFF.

Gregory, meanwhile, is still technically suspended, but he’s tentatively expected to be reinstated. He’s only missed one season on this most recent suspension, but suspensions also limited him to 2 games in 2016-2017 combined. All in all, he’s played just 768 snaps in 5 years since the Cowboys took him in the 2nd round in 2015. He’s flashed as a pass rusher, with 7 sacks, 16 hits, and a 11.7% pressure rate, but he’s left something to be desired against the run, not surprising given his 6-5 250 frame. Gregory is still only going into his age 28 season and, after just a year off, has a better chance of shaking off the rust and being a valuable contributor as a sub package rusher, but he’s hardly a reliable player.

Crawford is probably the most reliable of the bunch, but he’s far from a sure thing, given that he’s going into his age 31 season and coming off of a serious injury. Prior to last season, Crawford had earned an above average grade from PFF in back-to-back and three of the previous five seasons, showing well as both a run stuffer and a pass rusher in all 3 seasons. Even if he’s not quite the same player, he could still be useful in a rotational role if he can stay on the field.

The only one locked into a role is DeMarcus Lawrence, who has been an every down player on the edge for three straight seasons. Over that time, he has totaled 30 sacks, 38 hits, and a 14.3% pressure rate, while excelling against the run as well. His sack total fell to 5 in 2019, but his peripheral pass rush numbers kept up (12 hits, 12.6% pressure rate) and he finished as PFF’s 13th ranked edge defender overall, his 3rd straight season in the top-13 at his position (1st in 2017 and 7th in 2018). Only in his age 28 season, having not missed a game in 3 seasons, I see no reason to expect a dropoff from him other than a fluke injury. He elevates a position group with a lot of certainty.

Update: Randy Gregory is now reportedly unlikely to be reinstated, making Aldon Smith and Tyrone Crawford even more important.

Grade: B+

Linebackers

In 2018, the Cowboys had arguably the best off ball linebacker duo in the NFL, as every down linebackers Jaylon Smith and Leighton Vander Esch finished 5th and 6th respectively among off ball linebackers on Pro Football Focus. In 2019, things were very different, as Smith slid to 19th at his position, while Vander Esch fell all the way to 59th and was limited to 510 snaps in 9 games by a neck injury that ruined his season. A first round pick in 2018, Vander Esch has obvious bounce back potential if he’s healthy, but his neck problems date back to his collegiate days and were flagged by some teams before the draft, so he’s not a sure thing to bounce back.

Smith’s “down” year is less concerning, as he was still one of the better off ball linebackers in the league. Also finishing 27th among off ball linebackers in his first season as a starter in 2017, Smith has consistently been an above average starter at the very least for 3 seasons and, still only going into his age 25 season, the 2016 2nd round pick could keep getting better. He looks likely to be one of the better off ball linebackers in the league for years to come.

With Vander Esch missing significant time last season, third linebacker and base package specialist Sean Lee was forced into close to an every down role down the stretch last season. Lee played all 16 games for the first time in his injury plagued 10-year career, but was a middling player at best on 637 snaps. Lee was one of the better off ball linebackers in the league in his prime when healthy, but he hasn’t been nearly the same player in recent years, as all of his injuries seem to have piled up and now he’s going into his age 34 season. He could still be useful in a part-time role in sub packages, but the Cowboys are hoping he doesn’t have to play more than that. If Lee plays well in a situational role and Vander Esch and Smith bounce back, this will be one of the top few off ball linebacking corps in the NFL, but there’s some uncertainty here.

Grade: A-

Secondary

The Cowboys’ biggest loss on defense this off-season was top cornerback Byron Jones, who signed with the Dolphins on a 5-year, 82.5 million dollar deal as a free agent this off-season. Jones finished last season as Pro Football Focus’ 15th ranked cornerback, which is more significant than you’d think, as cornerback is a very tough position to play consistently well at and Jones joins Stephon Gilmore as one of just two cornerbacks who have finished in the top-15 at the position on PFF in back-to-back years. 

However, while Jones’ absence will be big, the Cowboys are better prepared for it than most teams, as they went four deep at cornerback last season, with Chidobe Awuzie (1,020 snaps), Jourdan Lewis (590 snaps), and Anthony Brown (282 snaps) all earning average or better grades from PFF, and they used a 2nd round pick on Alabama cornerback Trevon Diggs. Those four will compete for roles in Jones’ absence.

Awuzie will likely remain a starter and become the de facto #1 cornerback. A 2nd round pick in 2017, Awuzie has progressed well thus far in his career, flashing on 309 snaps as a rookie, being a capable starter in 14 starts in his 2nd season, and having a mini-breakout year with a 27th ranked finish in 2019. Awuzie is still a one-year wonder in terms of being an above average starter, but he’s also only going into his age 25 season and could easily keep getting better. We’ll see how often if at all the Cowboys use him to shadow the opponent’s top wide receiver.

Jourdan Lewis is the incumbent on the slot and he’s likely at least locked into that role. Drafted in the 3rd round in 2017, Lewis has earned an above average grade from PFF in all 3 seasons in the league, including a 42nd ranked finish on 590 snaps last season. He has experience playing outside as well, back in his rookie year, so he could be a candidate for an every down role with Jones gone, manning the slot in sub packages and lining up outside as the 2nd cornerback in base packages. He’s never topped 746 snaps in a season, so he’s a projection to an every down role, but he’s only going into his age 25 season and has the potential to develop into an above average starter long-term.

Anthony Brown and Trevon Diggs will also be in the mix for outside snaps opposite Awuzie. Brown has made 33 starts in 56 games in 4 seasons in the league, but he’s never been more than a middling starter and was the clear 4th cornerback last season, so the Cowboys are likely hoping the rookie Diggs can overtake him and play in at least sub packages at some point this season. Diggs went 51st overall in the second round, but was considered a borderline first round pick by many and profiles as a long-term starter, even if he takes a little bit to get there.

At safety, Xavier Woods remains at one spot and at the other spot the Cowboys are hoping free agent acquisition HaHa Clinton-Dix can be an upgrade on the middling Jeff Heath. Woods was just a 5th round pick in 2017, but he’s been more than worth it, earning an above average grade from PFF in all 3 seasons in the league (33 starts), including a career best 27th ranked finish among safeties on PFF in 2019, all before he turned 25 years old. Barring injury, he has a long prime ahead of him and could keep getting even better.

Clinton-Dix, meanwhile, was a first round pick back in 2014 and has been an average or better starter in all 6 seasons in the league (90 starts), including a 17th ranked finish on PFF in 2018 and a 22nd ranked finish on PFF in 2019. Given that, it’s surprising he’s had to settle for one-year deals the past two off-seasons. Signed for just 3.75 million, Clinton-Dix figures to be a steal for the Cowboys this season like he was for the Bears last season. Even without Byron Jones, this is a talented secondary, especially if one of their young defensive backs can break out.

Grade: B+

Conclusion

The Cowboys’ offense is unlikely to be quite as good as they were last season, as they lost center Travis Frederick and will likely have more injuries than last season, when they had the 2nd fewest adjusted games lost to injury on offense, but they’re arguably more explosive in the receiving corps this year and they’re starting from a high starting point, finishing last season 3rd in first down rate at 39.94%. Their defense, which ranked 17th in first down rate allowed last season, loses top cornerback Byron Jones, but they get an upgrade at safety and defensive tackle and have some promising young players in the back end that could be improved in 2020 over 2019. 

The Cowboys might not be quite as good as they were overall in 2019, when they finished 4th in first down rate differential at +4.28%, but if they do a better job closing out close games after an 0-5 record in one score games, that alone should help them win more games, even if they aren’t quite as good. The Cowboys are also helped by being in one of the easier divisions to win. I would consider them the NFC East favorite at the moment, at the very least. I will have an official prediction closer to the start of the season.

Final Update: The Cowboys surprisingly cut HaHa Clinton-Dix and lost Gerald McCoy to injury, but they added Everson Griffen, which will be a big boost at defensive end, and overall they still have one of the more talented rosters in the NFL.

Projection: 12-4 (1st in NFC East)