It’s not often that you say a guard stole the show in an NFL game, but we’re going to go ahead and say that’s exactly what T.J. Bass did on Sunday.
The undrafted free agent rookie got his second start of the year against the Commanders. And did he ever make the most of it.
Along with Brock Hoffman, also making his second start to fill in for a banged up offensive line, Bass was a beast.
The duo led the Cowboys in total snaps, each putting in 72 snaps on offense and another eight on special teams.
Hoffman did draw one holding penalty, but Dallas scored a touchdown on the drive anyway. Bass was clean all game.
The Cowboys had one of their better running games of the season. If this is a sign of things to come, opposing defenses are in big trouble.
The one takeaway for the rookies for the entire regular season is this: The three undrafted free agents clearly outplayed the eight drafted players.
Mazi Smith
(1st Round – Michigan – Defensive Tackle)
Smith’s run as a starter ended at three games with the return of Johnathan Hankins to the lineup.
Smith finished with two more snaps on the day, 15, than Hankins. But he still ended up tied with Hankins for fourth among the defensive tackles in total snaps.
He recorded no official stats for the second straight game in what has been a disappointing season.
His regular season numbers ended up with three starts in 17 games played. He had one sack, 13 tackles (nine solo), three tackles for a loss and three QB hits.
He averaged just under 18 defensive snaps per game for the regular season.
Luke Schoonmaker
(2nd Round – Michigan – Tight End)
The former Wolverine nearly doubled his offensive snap count of the previous two weeks in Sunday’s win.
Schoonmaker had 28 snaps against the Commanders – he had 30 combined against the Dolphins and Lions – but still failed to be targeted for a single pass.
For the season, he played in all 17 games. He finished with eight catches for 65 yards and two touchdowns. But he’ll likely be remembered for the goal line catch at Philadelphia that wasn’t a touchdown.
He was targeted 15 times, giving him a catch percentage of just 53.3% for his rookie campaign.
DeMarvion Overshown
(3rd Round – Texas – Linebacker)
Overshown continues to rehab from a pre-season knee injury suffered in Seattle. He looks to be on track to be ready to go for training camp this summer.
Viliami Fehoko
(4th Round – San Jose State – Edge)
Fehoko was inactive once again. He did not see any action in a regular season game this year.
Asim Richards
(5th Round – North Carolina – Offensive Tackle)
Richards played in his eighth game of the season on Sunday. He was inactive in the other nine Cowboys’ games.
Against the Commanders he had seven snaps on offense and another eight on special teams.
For the season saw 39 snaps on offense and another 39 on special teams.
Eric Scott Jr.
(6th Round – New Mexico – Defensive Back)
Scott never saw a single snap on the field in a regular season game this year.
Deuce Vaughn
(6th Round – Kansas State – Running Back)
Vaughn was active for Sunday’s regular season finale but did not play in the game.
For the season, Vaughn had 23 carries for 40 yards and seven receptions for 40 yards. He failed to find the end zone during the season.
The rookie had four punt returns for 19 yards. He saw 61 snaps on offense and 31 on special teams in seven games.
Jalen Brooks
(7th Round – South Carolina – Wide Receiver)
Brooks had nine offensive snaps and another 10 on special teams. He caught the lone Dak Prescott pass he was target with for just one yard.
In seven games this season, Brooks caught all six passes thrown in his direction for 64 yards but did not score a touchdown.
He had 77 offensive snaps and another 82 on special teams this year.
T.J. Bass
(UDFA – Oregon – Guard)
In his second start Bass clearly had his best game of the year. Look for him to be a full-time starter next season.
He played in all 17 games this year. He finished with 343 offensive snaps – 20 per game – and another 91 on special teams.
Hunter Luepke
(UDFA – North Dakota State – Running Back)
Luepke still hasn’t touched the ball since the botched handoff with Prescott against Miami.
He was on the field for 25 offensive snaps and 13 on special teams. He also threw a good block on Tony Pollard’s touchdown run.
Luepke played in all 17 games this season, getting 19 yards on six carries and scoring one touchdown. He caught three passes for 18 yards on four targets/
He added two kick returns for 15 yards and made four tackles, three solo, on special teams.
Luepke had 153 offensive snaps – nine per game – and another 271 on special teams, about 16 per game.
Brandon Aubrey
(UDFA – Notre Dame – Kicker)
Aubrey became the Cowboys’ all-time single-season scoring leader with 157 points, passing Emmitt Smith’s 1995 total of 150.
A blocked field goal and another off the upright ended his perfect record and his bid for two NFL records. Still he holds the record for consecutive field goals made to start a career at 35.
Aubrey finished the year making 36-of-38 field goals and 49-of-53 extra point attempts. Only 10 of his 109 kickoffs failed to end in touchbacks.
The Notre Dame rookie was 9-for-9 in field goals under 29 yards. His only two misses came between 30-39 yards as he went 13-for-15.
He was 4-for-4 between 40-49 yards and an impressive 10-for-10 at 50 yards or more. His long was 60 yards.
Could be a future starter.
Enrique Kike Rodriguez he’s gonna get better
Good job
Com on now lets not get crazy. He has showed that he can be a serviceable G in two games. Let’s get a OL coach that can grow him into an average starting G before we go crazy
Michael Littleright about offensive line coach. New guy McCarthy hired hasn’t fixed anything
Done a great job
as Next Cowboy Up
Jack of all trades guy great find in a UDA
Bass will be starter at LG next year and Tyler Smith will be our LT
I agree with you here. Dallas best draft choices came in the 6th and 7th round, although they had 2 picks in the 6th. I still don’t get the Vaughn pick. Since he averaged less than 2YPC, I doubt that many Cowboys fans do, except for the PR Jones got in human interest on ESPN? We’ll see about Jalen Brooks next year. Hopefully we see more of another Jalen named Tolbert~! After 2 years he needs to either fish or cut bait~!
So this thought has crossed my mind, since Jerrah still believes he should be the GM, and maybe Stephen Jones will become GM at the age of 65? But has Jerry become a miser? How much money did he spend for Brandin Cooks? Was Amari Cooper too expensive??? Now do the numbers on performance as well as $ and the Amari Cooper trade makes even less sense than it did when it happened. Maybe Amari said some things that needed to be said about getting open and the football not finding it’s way to him. And that’s really the deal with Big Mac. Jerry doesn’t want to pay for Mac’s final contract year while he studies analytics in his basement next year. I haven’t been Big Mac’s biggest fan, but he does NOT coach Dfense~! But this I do know. Green Bay’s FIRST drive set the tone for the entire game and Dairy Queen didn’t have an answer. How many games now have we seen what happens when DQs defense doesn’t get sacks and INTs? He’s #1 on my Pink Slip list. The problem with that is, all of the owners and GMs that had him on their HC short list for 2024~!
So Jerry, if you resign Tyron Smith, how much $ do you offer him to return? I might consider $5M as the best swing-tackle on the team since you’re not likely to get 8 starts. So we get to TJ Bass, and your perennial All-Pro R. Guard giving him a personal endorsement. TJ was a tackle at Oregon, so he’s done better than many may think in converting to an NFL guard. Put him on the left side of Biadasz (who will hopefully be resigned) and put Tyler Smith where he belongs. Yeah he’s been good enough at L. Guard, but he’d be more effective at his natural position, as we saw last year. Tylet Smith, I believe, has an inner Eric Williams in him~! And get rid of several guys that “show great potential” whose greatest potential has been making the Injured Reserve list. Don’t draft guards who can’t manage more than 15 reps on the bench, and don’t sign free-agent lineman who never had any hope of starting in the NFL~!
But yet again this year, the No 1 draft priority is D. Tackle because you BLEW IT last year. Maybe you could trade Mazi to Miami for Achane who you should have drafted 2nd in 2023. And since it doesn’t look good for LVE’s return, well there are a few Jack Campbell/Matt Milano types in the 2024 draft. Provided you have a D Coordinator who knows why LBs are essential to D~! Even in today’s NFL that’s whittled them down from 3 to 2 which Should not include One of the Two playing DE or Edge rusher~!