Following the conclusion of this year's draft, I don't know if it was just me, but I saw a larger amount of opposing NFC East fans claiming that the Dallas Cowboys were in trouble. I mean I'm not surprised to see those comments given you aren't going to ever hear positive thoughts about the Cowboys, but are they right?
I mean okay, I understand they did trade away arguably their best wideout for borderline-nothing and moved on from a starting defensive end and two offensive linemen, but most of their team is still intact. And if you look at the other three teams, you see that one will be fielding a new QB (Washington), another has a new head coach (New York), and lastly (the only one that sort of strikes fear in my heart) is hoping their QB can get it together (Philadelphia).
So are the Cowboys much worse?
With all of that in mind, I wanted to write a piece on whether those opposing fans were right about Dallas possibly being in trouble and give a FACT OR FICTION verdict on the topic.
To ease your curiosity, check it out below.
Despite losing some starters, the Cowboys still have weapons on both sides of the ball.
Starting, I want to come clean and admit that I agree the Cowboys didn't win the Draft in the NFC East. But then again, it may be too early to tell. While Dallas only had one first-round pick, their division rivals either had higher or multiple picks so I consider that a huge factor in grading a team's drafts, but like they say: “The Draft isn't won in the first round.”
Going back to my early comment that I made about each team, I wanted to zero in on one team that has an actual chance to dethrone the Cowboys this year, and that's the Eagles.
When you jump to their draft class (which was graded an A- by NFL Senior Editor Gennaro Filice), you can arguably say they were tied for having one of the best drafts in the league. Although you can point out that players aren't always guaranteed to pan out, the Eagles did enough to make some noise this year.
(Oh did I forget to mention they also acquired former Tennessee Titans WR A.J. Brown via trade? Man what an offseason for them.)
Nonetheless, it may seem like I'm team Eagles, but I'm just pointing out all of the moves they did to make me think twice if the Cowboys will remain on top. But with all of that in mind, my verdict is FACT.
Yes, I get that there will be new faces in their WR Group and along their Offensive Line, but what big player did the Cowboys lose that makes you think they're going to fall off the planet?
Losing WR Amari Cooper did hurt, I'm not going to lie. But can't they get viable production from WRs James Washington, Jalen Tolbert, Simi Fehoko, and Noah Brown in a group effort? While I'm not claiming that Cooper is a subpar WR, those four should be capable of keeping the offense afloat, and add in that WR Michael Gallup will come back after a few games recovering from his ACL injury, the WR corps will be fine.
Jumping to the Offensive Line, the biggest loss has to be Tackle La'el Collins. However, the franchise seems to have enough faith in Tackle Terrence Steele to let him walk, so I'm trusting their judgment over mine. Additionally, by replacing Guard Connor Williams with Tulsa Guard Tyler Smith, you got your new Left Guard.
Lastly, losing DE Randy Gregory seems to hurt on paper, but with DEs DeMarcus Lawrence, Dante Fowler Jr., Dorance Armstrong, Tarell Basham, and now Sam “De” Williams– their group should be fun.
Add in that you still have QB Dak Prescott, WR CeeDee Lamb, TE Dalton Schultz, RG Zach Martin, LT Tyron Smith, LB Micah Parsons, and CB Trevon Diggs on your squad, the Cowboys are built to compete for the division.
So for the Eagles, Commanders, and Giants fans who are talking that mess, just relax. The only team that can talk is Philly, but with the way the games have gone the last three years, I wouldn't be trash-talking until you beat the Boys again.
So what do you think Cowboy fans? Do you believe the Cowboys are capable of repeating as NFC East Champs?
