With training camp just a few weeks away, the Dallas Cowboys have plenty of storylines going into the 2023 season.
We here at Inside The Star have covered just about them all.
The Cowboys have one of the most talented football rosters, and many say it is a make-or-break year for some staff and players. You know who I am talking about.
The Cowboys front office finally had a splashy offseason and made trades for Stephon Gilmore and Brandin Cooks in March.
Two huge names that can help put a team with a solid roster over the top.
First, let me say anything less than a NFC Championship appearance is a failure, most would agree. It has been that way for 25 years, but this offseason has finally felt a bit better than most..
After back-to-back 12-win seasons, the Cowboys traded for a former Defensive Player of the Year in Gilmore and Cooks, who produces 1,000 yards everywhere he goes.
Gilmore
As I looked at some stats for both outside of what I knew, Gilmore has two seasons with a minus-30 EPA allowed.
EPA is a measure of success that defines each play’s value by its effect on the offense’s likelihood to score.
Dan Quinn gets to pair Gilmore and Trevon Diggs, something the secondary struggled with last year. When teams threw away from Diggs, they got almost everything they wanted.
The backend for Dallas is going to be really really good this season, and adding a guy like Gilmore will allow the front seven to attack the quarterback and put significant pressure on them.
This defense has a good mix of young and veteran players. They are going to be tough to beat most days.
Cooks
Cooks joins an offense that averaged over 30 points a game in 2022 when Dak Prescott started, with Noah Brown and Dennis Houston behind CeeDee Lamb until they signed T.Y Hilton.
Cooks has six seasons of over 1,000 yards. He has played nine total years and might be the best player in the NFL that has never made a Pro Bowl.
Still crazy to think about.
Lamb, Cooks, and Michael Gallup have a chance to be the best trio in all of football in 2023.
People don’t understand how massive of a boost this is to the offense that was already one the best in football.
Cooks still has top-level speed and can blow the top off a defense and open the middle of the field for Lamb and others.
So with how dominant the defense already is, adding Gilmore to the back end will make them one of the best in football, if not the best.
Adding Cooks to this offense with Mike McCarthy calling plays will help everyone, including Prescott.
I am leaning toward Cooks as of right now. I lean toward that side because the biggest issue last season was the lack of separation from the wide receivers not named CeeDee Lamb was a HUGE issue last season.
I expect both to have games where they are the REASON the Cowboys win the game.
Say what you want, all we can do is talk right now until September. I want to win just as bad as the next guy.
It sounds like they are already helping out the young guys and making a presence and they haven’t even taken a snap yet.