Now that preseason football has ended for the Dallas Cowboys, what should the confidence level be surrounding them as they head into week one against Tampa Bay? Many questions remain for this football team, and they must answer them quickly to be successful at any point.
When the Buccaneers travel to the star for Sunday Night Football on September 11, a few will linger as the two teams battle for a victory.
Let's first address the offensive line. It was already thin before the Cowboys lost Tyron Smith for the entire year. They started Connor McGovern at Center on Friday in the last preseason game against the Seahawks. I don't understand that at all. They will need him to be the LG in week one, so why not just continue to let him work in the position that he will be playing? I believe in Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard, but it may be a long four quarters if they can't figure out a lineup that works.
Cowboys LG Connor McGovern started at center tonight for first time since Penn State. "It was a lot of fun putting the ball back in my hand, getting back to my roots. …This preseason, I played all five [O-line] positions. I played fullback." McGovern takes pride in versatility.
— Michael Gehlken (@GehlkenNFL) August 27, 2022
The WR room LOOKS better. I still question where they are going to get production after CeeDee Lamb. Michael Gallup and James Washington are both hurt, and Jalen Tolbert is a rookie. Tolbert will be a good player in this league but asking a rookie to step up this early and often might be tough even with Lamb in front of him. Noah Brown and Simi Fehoko will need to be a factor somehow.
The two noted above are the most problematic, but one question mark I still have is how the starting DL is going to fair. It's been said 100 times that Micah Parsons is going to work just about everywhere, and with the help of Anthony Barr, he should be able to spend more rushing the passer. How will some of the others hold up?
DeMarcus Lawrence is back healthy. Dorance Armstrong will be one of the most underrated players on the roster next year and might match the production Dallas received from Randy Gregory last season. The line still has moving parts, and with Dan Quinn running the show, I trust him to improve the defense even more than he did a season ago.
