Prior to this month's draft, 1SBD's Mark Hogan takes an in-depth look into each team's current projected starters and identifies strengths and lingering team needs after the first waves of free agency.
Player stats collected from Pro Football Reference. Base salary information per Over The Cap.
TAKEAWAYS
PROS
- Amari Cooper was a revelation for Dallas down the stretch last season. Correct me if I'm wrong, but few Cowboys fans would argue that they would find a more high-impact wide receiver in the draft. The team spent its top pick on its top need. That said, Randall Cobb's production took a nose-dive last season - he gained just three more yards (383) in 2018 than he did in his rookie season (380), despite having double the targets (61) - so adding another receiver remains an option.
CONS
- Dallas’ offensive line frequently comes in for praise but it quite literally comes at a huge cost. No team spends more protecting its quarterback (26.4% of its overall cap space) and that made this off-season difficult for the team. With new deals expected for quarterback Dak Prescott, running back Ezekiel Elliot and pass rusher Demarcus Lawrence, the team was forced to cut corners elsewhere on the roster and will rely on the draft to bring in some cost-controlled players. Additionally, the O-line gave up the second-most sacks (56.0) in 2018 so the team is getting the wrong kind of bang for its buck.
- It's great that tight end Jason Witten came back from retirement. The Cowboys could have done with the future Hall of Famer last year, as three different tight end starters struggled. But Witten's one year deal should be treated as exactly that, and Dallas needs to find his replacement sooner rather than later. Bringing a guy in from a deep tight end class to learn alongside one of the best - and to potentially start in 2019 - will provide the Cowboys with options when Witten steps away again.
- The Cowboys acknowledged they tried to get after the big name safeties in free agency but failed to get a deal done -- see cap issues above. It means there's no secret that the team would like to address the position, with Chief Operating Officer Stephen Jones even stating the team could use it's first pick - number 58 overall - on the position.
Projected Starters
NOTE:
NAME, Draft Round.Overall Pick (TEAM, year). Starts/Games Played. Age. Cap Hit 2019
QB has an additional 'total yards, number of attempts (yards per attempt)' figure.
RB, WR and TE have an additional ‘total yards / number of touches (yards per touch)’ statistic
Age as of Sunday September 8, 2019 (Week 1)
QUARTERBACK
DAK PRESCOTT, 4.135 (DAL, 2016). 48/48. 10,876 yards/ 1,475 attempts. (7.4 y/a). 26-years-old. $2,120,848
RUNNING BACK
EZEKIEL ELLIOTT, 1.04 (DAL, 2016). 40/40. 5,247 yards/ 1,003 touches (5.2). 24-years-old. $7,940,653
WIDE RECEIVER
MICHAEL GALLUP, 3.81 (DAL, 2018). 8/16. 507 yards/ 33 touches (15.4). 23-years-old. $851,495
RANDALL COBB, 2.64 (GB, 2011). 73/105. 5,876 yards/ 529 touches (11.1). 29-years-old. $4,562,500
AMARI COOPER, 1.04 (OAK, 2015). 56/61. 3,929 yards/ 285 touches (13.8). 25-years-old. $13,924,000
Average: 50th overall pick. 137 starts/ 182 games played (75.3%). 10,312 yards/ 847 touches (12.2). 25.7-years-old. Total cap hit: $19.3M
TIGHT END
JASON WITTEN, 3.69 (DAL, 2003). 229/239. 12,448 yards/ 1,152 touches (10.8). 37-years-old. $4,250,000
OFFENSIVE LINE
TYRON SMITH, 1.09 (DAL, 2011). 118/118. 28-years-old. $15,545,000
CONNOR WILLIAMS, 2.50 (DAL, 2018). 10/13. 22-years-old. $1,247,499
TRAVIS FREDERICK, 1.31 (DAL, 2013). 80/80. 28-years-old. $10,975,000
ZACK MARTIN, 1.16 (DAL, 2014). 78/78. 28-years-old. $14,000,000
LA'EL COLLINS, undrafted (DAL, 2015). 46/47. 26-years-old. $9,925,084
Average: 72nd overall pick. 332 starts/ 336 games played (98.8%). 26.4-years-old. Total cap hit: $51.7M
DEFENSIVE LINE
DEMARCUS LAWRENCE, 2.34 (DAL, 2014). 47/64. 27-years-old. $11,100,000
TYRONE CRAWFORD, 3.81 (DAL, 2012). 74/92. 29-years-old. $10,100,000
ANTWAUN WOODS, undrafted (TEN, 2016). 15/16. 26-years-old. $570,000
ROBERT QUINN, 1.14 (LAR, 2011). 92/111. 29-years-old. $8,000,000
Average: 96th overall pick. 228 starts/ 283 games played (80.6%). 27.8-years-old. Total cap hit: $29.8M
LINEBACKERS
JUSTIN MARCH-LILLARD, undrafted (KC, 2016). 5/31. 26-years-old. $720,000
JAYLON SMITH, 2.34 (DAL, 2016). 22/32. 24-years-old. $2,066,582
LEIGHTON VANDER ESCH, 1.19 (DAL, 2018). 11/16. 23-years-old. $2,692,678
Average: 103 overall pick. 38 starts/ 79 games played (48.1%). 24.3-years-old. Total cap hit: $5.5M
CORNERBACK
BYRON JONES, 1.27 (DAL, 2015). 59/64. 26-years-old. $6,266,000
CHIDOBE AWUZIE, 2.60 (DAL, 2017). 20/25. 24-years-old. $1,168,249
Average: 44th overall pick. 79 starts/ 89 games played (88.8%). 25-years-old. Total cap hit: $7.4M
SAFETY
XAVIER WOODS, 6.191 (DAL, 2017). 18/30. 24-years-old. $684,905
JEFF HEATH, undrafted (DAL, 2013). 41/93. 28-years-old. $2,950,000
Average: 224th overall pick. 59 starts/ 123 games played (48.0%). 26-years-old. Total cap hit: $3.6M
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