The Dallas Cowboys’ season might be going down the drain before our very eyes, but if that’s all we focus on, we will be miserable for the next few months. Instead, we should turn our focus on evaluation and planning for the future.
With the Cowboys sitting at 3-6 on the season, and with dates vs Houston and a road trip to Washington coming up, we might be looking at 3-8 before facing the New York Giants on Thanksgiving Day.
As an NFL team, you always want to remain competitive, but at the same time, when hopes for the playoffs start to fade away, it comes time to take a step back and begin taking the preliminary steps in building the roster for the following season.
The 2025 NFL season will be upon us before we know it, and a team with a losing record has quite a bit of ground to make up if they want to be contenders the following season. There are several core players on the team who can give the fans confidence in the immediate future of the team.
As a Cowboys fan, you just have to swallow your pride, remove the blue-tinted glasses, and accept that if the team fails to win another game this year, it’s actually a good thing for the team because a higher draft pick means more talent being added to the roster next April.
This team right now is bad, but don’t be fooled by the sum of the parts. There are young and talented players that the team can lean on for years to come.
Right now it might be gloomy, but brighter days are ahead for the team if the young talent is supplemented properly. Let’s start with the offensive side of the ball.
LG Tyler Smith
Tyler Smith was drafted by the Cowboys in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft, and he has been everything the Cowboys hoped he’d be.
Smith is one of the more dominant interior offensive linemen in the game, and is only getting better with each and every rep. He started his career at left tackle, filling in for an injured Tyron Smith after working solely at left guard for the duration of training camp.
He was thrown into the fire, and instead of getting burned, he came out looking better than ever and gave us all confidence that he could step in and play either of the positions left of the center.
His ability to play multiple positions plays right into what the Cowboys like to have on the team, and he will be a Dallas Cowboy for years to come.
WR CeeDee Lamb
Ok, I know this one is a Captain Obvious situation, but it doesn’t mean it’s not worth mentioning. WR CeeDee Lamb can be considered the Cowboys’ best player, and they also seem to think so, given that he received a huge contract before the season started.
Lamb is widely mentioned in the top five best wide receivers in the league, and he is usually closer to the top spot than he is to fifth. He has already broken Cowboys’ records, and at this pace, will one day break NFL records if his career is long enough.
There have been times this season where it seems Lamb is the only player on offense we can count on to make a play, but the problem is that defenses know that, as well.
If the Cowboys want to get the most of Lamb’s abilities, they need to do a better job of scheming to keep the defense at bay so he can work. They also need to add another viable weapon to take pressure off of him. I’m talking to you, Will McClay.
C Cooper Beebe
Back to the trenches with the final player I’m highlighting today. C Cooper Beebe was already on the Cowboys’ (and Cowboys Twitter’s) radar last offseason. Beebe is a mauler who, in his words, likes to “dirt people” on every play.
Beebe has been one of the highest-graded rookies in the NFL through 10 weeks of the season, and he’s just getting started.
Let me put this in perspective for you. Cooper Beebe has NEVER played center before in his life, but he stepped in as a rookie and wrestled the job away from the veteran Brock Hoffman.
He’s not looking back, and neither are the Cowboys. Beebe will be a staple of this offensive line for years to come, and we can only hope he can live up to the immortal Travis Frederick.