With the draft over and undrafted rookie signings trickling in, job security may be looking, well, less secure for some Dallas Cowboys.
Of course, as I’ve said in previous articles, when it comes to football, nothing is given – everything is earned. The new guys, for the most part, will have to earn their starting spots and work hard to keep them.
Still, there are Cowboys on the roster that could be bumped to the practice squad or other teams.
Quarterback
Fingers crossed that Tony Romo is healthy for all of the 2016 season. If he goes down, behind him is Kellen Moore, then Dak Prescott, then maybe Jameill Showers.
Kellen Moore doesn’t have the size or arm strength, but based on the few games he started when Romo was hurt, it’s fair to say that he is a competent backup quarterback. He may even turn out to be QB2, but I think the Cowboys want to see what they have in their rookie QB, before they commit either way.
We’re all hoping Prescott can be the QB of the future or that he at least turns out better than Stephen McGee.
Showers showed promise but not enough, in my opinion, to keep him on the sidelines over Dak Pescott. Prescott could inherit the team some day so the Cowboys will want to have their newest QB watching and learning on gameday.
Showers could find himself on the practice squad or possibly another team.
Running Back
With the fourth overall pick the Cowboys selected Ezekiel Elliott. I know. It’s awesome.
Elliott will likely be the starter against the Giants in week one. Behind him will probably be Alfred Morris, the Cowboys’ biggest Free Agency signing. Morris takes some of the load off of Elliott, so the Cowboys can punish defenses with a fresh set of legs and lungs on every down.
In the seventh round, the Cowboys took another running back, Eastern Michigan’s Darius Jackson. If Jackson beats out Rod Smith, then he will likely stand in for Lance Dunbar who will start the season on the PUP list after tearing his ACL. If he comes back, Dunbar will likely take Jackson’s spot on the final roster.
Unfortunately, there are only so many snaps to go around and with Elliott and Morris presumably getting most of them, that leaves very few for Darren McFadden. I am a big fan of Run DMC, but with Ezekiel Elliott joining the group, McFadden is probably the guy that goes. And goes quickly.
Unless he can learn to play special teams, I’d be surprised if he is still on the team by Week One.
Wide Receiver
While the Cowboys didn’t spend a draft pick on a wide receiver, they did sign three rookies as undrafted free agents. Chris Brown, from Notre Dame, Ed Eagan from Northwestern (LA) State, and Andy Jones from Jacksonville. One of these guys will probably take Devin Street’s spot.
Street looks lost on his route running, he is a poor blocker and his hands are suspect. Tony Romo on his best day couldn’t make him look good.
I think the Cowboys are ready to move on from Street and were going to let him go, regardless of any wide receivers they picked up.
What an awesome story it would be for one of the undrafted rookies to catch the winning pass, too.
Cornerback
The only untouchable cornerback on the Cowboys would be Orlando Scandrick. He’s not going anywhere. The Cowboys hope he can return to full strength after his knee injury, because Scandrick is arguably the best slot cornerback they have.
Brandon Carr just took a pay cut which could keep him on the roster for another year. Many thought he would be shown the door before the season started, but the pay cut could ease some criticism that this veteran’s been subjected to. Carr isn’t a spectacular cornerback, but he does a solid job. He is a good number 2 or 3 cornerback.
Since being drafted, Morris Claiborne has been a disappointment, but 2015 was his best year to date. If his recent success in 2015 proves to be a trend and not a fluke, he could sign another deal to stay with the Cowboys for another year or two.
The Cowboys drafted Anthony Brown in the sixth round and while I have high hopes for Brown, I am not sure he can trump Brandon Carr or Morris Claiborne.
He could very well beat Deji Olatoye or Terrance Mitchell for a spot. Dallas has already cut Mitchell once before in his rookie season.
Safety
Byron Jones spent time at cornerback and safety in his rookie year, but he should be a full-time safety in 2016. This could be a break-out season for him.
After Jones, Jeff Heath is the only other safety who I’m confident has secured a spot on the roster. Barry Church and J.J Wilcox are both underwhelming. Church isn’t exactly a game-changing safety, and J.J. Wilcox takes poor angles failing to make much needed tackles.
Drafting Kavon Frazier gives the secondary a much needed boost. Kavon Frazier won’t replace Wilcox this year, but he may have every opportunity to do so next year.
Wilcox is the most likely player of this group to get cut, and probably sooner than later.
Of course, there is a lot that goes into who the Cowboys keep or cut so it may be too early to tell. These five positions have been somewhat of a revolving door for the Cowboys in recent years. Hopefully the new rookie additions can make an impact at their positions.
Good assessment at QB. I agree with most of what you said. However, Dallas may not suit up D Prescott for game day. They will surely protect him by putting him on the 53 man squad which leaves Showers on the practice squad as you said. Prescott needs to be a sponge and learn everything he can from Romo, Moore, Linehan, Garrett, Showers and the QB coach. At this point I am not sure about his judgment bases on his DUI and some comments he made concerning his role and learning, after being drafted in the fourth round by Dallas
I thought the DUI was enough to keep him from being drafted at all. Hopefully that's behind him now. So, are you saying he should sit at QB3 and learn, through osmosis, from Romo and Moore's successes/mistakes? And, in the event Romo goes down, you think the Cowboys send in Moore? Maybe they do, but I think any opportunity is a good opportunity for Dak, especially to learn. If 9 is hurt I personally want Dak to see some playing time and get regular season experience, even for a little bit – but that could just be the excited fan in me talking!
This is my understanding how it will likely work. K Moore and D Prescott will likely compete from day one for the 2nd team QB position. D Prescott will get some of the 2nd team QB reps during preseason until K Moore definitively beats him out or Prescott demonstrates he is not ready for the 2nd team backup position. If it is a fairly close competition, then D Prescott could obtain the 2nd team QB position with K Moore being 3rd team. This would be for the reasons you implied, to give Prescott more reps and experience and to give him season game experience if T Romo was to go down. I thought they should have brought in a veteran at QB to compete with K Moore. Since they drafted a QB I doubt they will do that now because this could risk K Moore's job and I don't think they are ready to cut K Moore until they have seen more from him. I think at this point they have a lot of confidence in him and want to see how well he can play without having the prototypical size and arm strength. He has already proven he should have been drafted and is pretty darn good at using his outstanding pocket passing skills/abilities to overcome or compensate for his physical limitations.
They'll certainly want to see what they have in both Prescott and Moore. I don't think they're sold on Moore – probably why they drafted Prescott. If nothing else, they'll serve as competition for each other. I'll be rooting for both.
I believe that the injury to Dunbar is worst than thought and he has been pretty fragile all along. I think also for the few touches he gets and few plays he is in on I believe both Dunbar and Clutts are going to be out and we will keep Zeke, DMC, AlMo, and Darius Jackson (D-Jack) as our 4 backs. Hannah can play H-Back and do the blocking Clutts would do.
I wouldn't be so sure on Dunbar. They didn't have to re-sign him so clearly they think he'll be able to contribute. I also don't expect they will have Jackson on the roster unless one of McFadden or Morris is getting cut. What's more, it may be Rod Smith who gets that young guy slot over Jackson. I agree with your idea of Hanna playing the fullback spot over keeping Clutts or adding another true FB to replace him. I think that's the way they will go.