The Dallas Cowboys have finished offseason training activities and their minicamp and have moved into the quiet portion of the offseason. The rookies will stick around this week to continue their work with the team ahead of training camp but the veterans are off until the Cowboys depart for Oxnard, California in July.
When the Cowboys get to training camp, they’ll still have plenty of questions to answer about their roster and how the depth chart stacks up. While they may not have many answers right now, they certainly have enough players to provide solutions to the problems that they face as they prepare for the 2021 NFL Season.
1. Who Emerges Opposite Trevon Diggs?
Anthony Brown got the reps with the first-team defense as Kelvin Joseph was out with an illness. Nahshon Wright impressed throughout OTAs and minicamp. Joseph still seems to be a favorite to be the starter long-term. Reggie Robinson impressed during his return to cornerback. But where do the Cowboys go from here?
The good news is they appear to have options at cornerback and much better depth than they did a year ago when injuries hit the position hard.
The Cowboys will find an answer or two in training camp as to what they should at the position. Like the linebackers, they may look to use players in different situations depending on the matchup and game situation.
Brown looks to have the upper hand now, but as the summer months go on, the competition will rage on as well allowing one of the rookies to try and find a role with the starting defense.
2. Does Dalton Schultz Have a Leg Up on the Tight End Battle?
We won’t know where the Cowboys top two tight ends stand until Blake Jarwin is on the field and participating in team drills and 11-on-11. However, Dalton Schultz may already have the answer for the team.
After an impressive 2020 that proved he could be a starting tight end in the NFL and should have the inside track at the lead role for the Cowboys. Jarwin can certainly do some things for the team and will be used in passing situations, but Schultz’s blocking will give him an advantage in the competition in training camp and down the line.
3. What Does the Depth Chart Look Like for the Interior Defensive Line?
For the first time in a while, it appears the Dallas Cowboys are deep along the defensive line’s interior. They have several players that could plug in at the 1-technique defensive tackle in Brent Urban, Carlos Watkins, Quinton Bohanna, and even Neville Gallimore. At 3-technique, they have Gallimore, Trysten Hill, Osa Odighizuwa, and Chauncey Gholston who can work in the Dallas Cowboys rotation.
Life’s all about options and the Cowboys have a ton of them. They have a variety of players and skillsets to allow them to play in a variety of defensive fronts. The only question is which players will make Dan Quinn’s final defensive depth chart out of training camp.
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The questions the Dallas Cowboys have aren’t nearly as daunting to answer as they were when the Dallas Cowboys season ended in January. They still have work to do to put themselves in contention for the 2021 season. At the same time, this is a team that is heading in the right direction.
