Believe it or not, I sympathize with any Cowboys fan who has felt frustrated lately by the franchise's questionable decisions, because I completely agree that it's exhausting seeing the team lose every year.
You would think after a 25-year Super Bowl drought, the franchise would finally figure it out or attempt to go all-in by acquiring big-time players, but of course, it's looking like a typical offseason for the Cowboys.
In this piece, I look at three statements that are tied to the franchise and determine if they are fact or fiction.
To ease your curiosity, here are my statements below:
“The offense can survive without Amari Cooper”
Personally, all the Amari Cooper news has been a headache for me because although it was reported they were likely leaning to moving on from the wideout, I want it confirmed by the head honchos in Dallas.
(Imagine if Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones, who loves the media attention, came out and said they are going to actually keep Cooper. What a plot twist that would be.)
Anyways, with the odds leaning towards Cooper gone, it's hard to gauge what the offense will look like without him.
When Cooper was on the field, he was typically guarded by the opposing team's best cornerback which allowed more looks for Wide Receivers Ceedee Lamb, Michael Gallup, and Cedrick Wilson. Now with Coop out of town, adjustments will need to be made from the trio on how they handle more attention.
Speaking of the trio, it's not guaranteed that Wilson will be returning since he's a free agent, but Lamb and soon-to-be-signed Gallup are players who will get the first crack at carrying the offense.
Other players that could help include Wide Receiver Simi Fehoko, free-agent wide receivers Cedrick Wilson, Noah Brown, Malik Turner, and free agent Tight End Dalton Schultz.
With that being said, my verdict is FICTION because of the unknown beyond Lamb and Gallup, and it's tough replacing arguably a Top-10 wideout.
Lamb, who's a name that fans believe could become the Boy's new WR1 isn't a guarantee since he's so young, but he did show alpha traits while at Oklahoma. Gallup could be considered as well, but he will be coming off a major injury and could take some time to reacclimate himself on the field.
“Jerry Jones is the sole reason for the Cowboys' failures”
After writing this statement, I thought to myself about how easy it would be to answer.
Like honestly, the statement itself is guaranteed to be one point any fan or analyst brings up as a reason for the franchise's failures. Since buying the team in 1989, Jones was able to craft three Super Bowl-winning teams and essentially looked like a genius during the 1990s era.
However, his ego got in the way of any future success, and the Cowboys' last trip to the Super Bowl was 26 years ago.
Of course, there could be people who bring up past playoff appearances where certain players “choked,” but when it's all said and done, he is the one calling the shots.
There have been countless seasons where superstar players and coaches were made available, but he remained on retaining their personnel.
To save you some time, the verdict for this statement is FACT x 1000 because I could write a novel on him, but I wouldn't want to bore you to death.
If you haven't kept up lately with Cowboys news, he is on the verge of letting wide receiver Amari Cooper walk and likely believes the team will fare better without him. His mindset is most likely he's potentially bringing back Gallup and Dalton Schultz at the price of Cooper, but any team would be in trouble if they are losing one of their best players.
“Ezekiel Elliott could regain his All-Pro form”
There are many things I could say about Running Back Ezekiel Elliott, who was once considered an absolute phenom, but we have to address the elephant in the room and that's Elliott is a shell of himself.
To start, I understand his name carries a label to still be considered a top running back in the league, but his body seems to be breaking down because of his physical running style and he's becoming part of the trend that states running backs fade once they hit their late-20s.
Elliott who began his career in 2016, had 1,631 yards in his first season, which led to people labeling him as the next great Cowboys Running Back.
However, over the next few seasons, his yardage would fluctuate to the point where chatters were made that Zeke needed to be moved or benched, but for the Cowboys, that's not an option.
So, what do you do?
Well, I'm not a running-back coach, but I think the likely scenario is to incorporate Running Back Tony Pollard more in the running game to ease off the workload Elliott receives and preserve his body for the playoffs.
In his limited touches, Pollard showed he was a home-run hitter, and he would allow Zeke to show flashes of why he was All-Pro.
To answer the verdict, I'm going to go against the popular crowd and say FACT, but to a certain extent.
Following the loss to the 49ers, the team disclosed that Elliott was playing through a PCL injury and people questioned why they had him on the field. I understand the remark, but you were going to have to drag Elliott out of the game if you wanted Pollard in more.
Another change that could be addressed is beefing up the offensive line to give Elliott less wear and tear, and also allow Pollard to hit those big plays.
So yes, feed Zeke, but only marginally.
