Mike Clay is a writer and analyst for ESPN who provides year-round NFL, fantasy football, and other major content for the network.
Yesterday he released his 2023 NFL cornerback unit ranks and depth charts on Twitter.
Clay has the Cowboys locked in as the 5th best unit. Trailing the Miami Dolphins, New York Jets, Philadelphia Eagles, and the Green Bay Packers.
For a group outside of Trevon Diggs that struggled at times a season ago, it is awesome to know that because of one simple trade, the backend is now a strength for this team.
The Cowboys traded for Stephon Gilmore in March.
Adding a former defensive player of the year on the other side of a two-time Pro Bowler and First-Team all pro in Diggs is beautiful.
We’ve likely seen the last of Anthony Brown in Dallas, but the unit will round out with DaRon Bland, who has the chance to be a really good player, and Nahshon Wright.
Let’s also not forget one player who has been rumored to switch to corner this season and could be an X factor for Dallas.
Israel Mukuamu.
With the Cowboys resigning Donovan Wilson, Mukuamu is way too talented to be the fourth safety on the roster. Let’s be honest. He is already better than Kelvin Joseph.
Joseph is slotted to be the 5th corner on the depth chart, and if someone goes down due to injury, I feel more confident in Mukuamu than him. Joseph is just not good.
Though, when you look at the list, which you can view at the top of this post, the best units in football have two studs on each side of the field.
Dallas has Diggs and Gilmore, as we know.
The Dolphins have Jalen Ramsey and Xavien Howard. The Jets have D.J. Reed and Ahmad Gardner. Philly has Darius Slay and James Bradberry, and the Packers have Jaire Alexander and Eric Stokes.
It then comes down to the “others.” What are you going to get from the rest of the depth chart?
https://twitter.com/jonmachota/status/1654152511274598412
Bland has shown flashes that he can be the team’s third guy, but can we trust him more times than not? We can; the problem is, those that don’t follow the Cowboys might not.
We will see Diggs, Gilmore, and Bland as the main three corners on the field this season.
Players get hurt as the year goes on, and things will change. That said, I like what the Cowboys have behind Diggs and Gilmore.
Dallas drafted Eric Scott Jr. in the sixth round, so don’t expect to see him on the field unless it is with the special team’s group.
Another underrated aspect is that Micah Parsons is moving to defensive end full-time.
With Parsons rushing almost all the time, this will put some extra pressure on the opposing quarterback.
I expect Dallas to force a lot of turnovers again this year.
The Cowboys have done everything right thus far in the offseason. It is now time for them to show it when it counts.