As things stand right now, the Dallas Cowboys don’t have very many starting positions up for grabs. That means almost all 22 starting positions on both offense and defense are spoken for already, which is a good thing by the way, unless you’re a backup wanting to earn more playing time.
Being a backup is never really a good feeling, especially as a professional athlete. Up until reaching the NFL, most of these players rarely came off the field at their given position and have had to kind of learn to swallow their pride a little. But, that doesn’t make them any less important to the overall team’s success.
Case in point, look what happened to the Dallas Cowboys last season when Tyron Smith had to miss some time due to his reoccurring back injuries. The Cowboys didn’t have an adequate backup left tackle to step in, which ended up having a negative ripple effect to the entire offense. That is why some of the best teams in the league end up being the ones with good depth throughout the roster.
Today I want to share with you some the Dallas Cowboys backup players who I believe could earn a starting role in 2018. Remember, there aren’t very many starting positions up for grabs. Luckily for the players mentioned below, all of them happen to play a position with no clear-cut starter right now.
Ryan Switzer
If we learned one thing from Ryan Switzer’s rookie season, it is he is explosive in the open field when he has the ball in his hands. Unfortunately, we didn’t really get to see what kind of wide receiver he can be with the Dallas Cowboys, but that could change in 2018.
Cole Beasley’s status with the Cowboys is still up in the air right now. The Cowboys can save quite a bit of money by releasing or trading him, even though there’s no indication they are planning to do either. But, if they do move on from Beasley, I believe Ryan Switzer could step in and adequately replace his production.
Taco Charlton
A lot of Cowboys Nation wasn’t too thrilled that the Dallas Cowboys decided to use their 2017 first-round draft pick on Taco Charlton, but like it or not, we’re stuck with him now. Charlton didn’t have the most impressive rookie season, but he started to show signs of improvement towards the end of the season.
The right defensive end position is up for grabs, and if Charlton can pick up where he left off, he has a real chance of earning the starting role in 2018. He already has the size and athleticism to play the position and with a full year in the Cowboys strength and conditioning program, he should be much more prepared to hold up for a full 16 game season.
Xavier Woods
With Byron Jones moving to cornerback full-time, the Dallas Cowboys suddenly find themselves pretty thin at the safety position. In fact, we could see entirely new starters on the backend of the Cowboys defense in 2018, and one of those players could be Xavier Woods.
Xavier Woods played a variety of different roles in the Cowboys secondary as a rookie. He might just have been the most impressive player in the Cowboys entire draft class last year. I for one am really excited to see what Xavier Woods can do if he takes over at free safety. I actually think he is a poor man’s Earl Thomas.
Kavon Frazier
After being mostly a special-teams contributor to start his career in the NFL, Kavon Frazier finally received his chance to show what he can provide to the Dallas Cowboys defense towards the end of 2017. It was a small sample size, but Frazier showed enough on film that he could compete for more playing time, if not a starting role in 2018.
Frazier could be the hard-hitting/enforcer type safety the Cowboys had in Barry Church before he joined the Jacksonville Jaguars. But, with Kris Richard now in charge of the Cowboy secondary (Seattle Seahawks former defensive coordinator), Frazier could be the Cowboys version of Kam Chancellor. It will be interesting to see how the safety position plays out leading up to the start of the season.
Rico Gathers
To be completely honest, there is no way Rico Gathers overtakes Jason Witten to become the Dallas Cowboys starting tight end. Witten isn’t quite the same player he once was, but he is a reliable target in the passing game and has the trust of the coaching staff. But, it’s time for him to step aside a little bit, which is where Gathers comes in.
Gathers is a mismatch nightmare for opposing defensive backs due to his immense size and athletic ability. He has shown flashes of his playmaking ability, something the Cowboys offense could desperately use from the TE position. He of course will have to convince the coaching staff he is ready for a larger offensive role in order to steal some playing time from Jason Witten.
