While the 2019 offseason is far from over, the first few waves of free agency have come and gone. With player movement starting to slow down, it’s a good time to take stock of who the Dallas Cowboys currently have under contract and what a projected depth chart looks like. It helps us see where the team may be focusing their attention in next month’s NFL Draft.
The Cowboys’ offense seems mostly settled for 2019. While I do expect Dallas to add at least one more running back, one could argue that the team could make no additional moves and head into the season with the guys they already have.
With the Randall Cobb mitigating the loss of Cole Beasley, Travis Frederick’s return, and the hopeful development of Michael Gallup and Connor Williams in their roles, the Cowboys might already be stronger than 2018. But that doesn’t mean they’re going to pass up opportunities for further upgrades.
For now, though, we have who we have. So, what might that depth chart look like if the season started today?
Most of this is irrefutable, particularly in the starting lineup. The biggest question mark there is if Jason Witten starts consistently at tight end or is more of a rotating player with Jarwin or some drafted rookie. But for now, we’ll defer to the legend.
At backup quarterback, Cooper Rush and Mike White will likely duke it out for the backup role. There’s a solid case to be made that the loser of that battle might not make the roster at all, freeing up a spot for some other position. But for now we’ll keep three QBs, since that’s what the Cowboys gave done in recent years.
Again, I don’t expect Dallas to go into 2019 with just Darius Jackson and Jordan Chunn behind Elliott. I wrote more about what the team might do at backup RB earlier this week. I expect someone will be signed or drafted that bumps them down the line, and likely one of them off the team.
The offensive line is also fairly certain. I gave a spot to Ehinger as the most intriguing player of the other backups, but Dallas may not even keep a ninth linemen. Fleming covers both OT spots and they have great depth with Looney and Su’a-Filo inside.
If the team doesn’t keep that ninth offensive linemen or that third quarterback, we could easily see those spots going to a seventh receiver or fourth tight end.
Dallas likely won’t want to cut Schultz even if they draft someone new. And even if they don’t, perhaps they want to give Rico Gathers one more try.
At WR, the Cowboys could go long with seven in the interest of retaining either Lance Lenoir or Cedrick Wilson on the roster.
That said, if Dallas does only keep 23-24 offensive players, there’s nothing that says those extra spots won’t go to defense.
So no, there aren’t big question marks still facing the Cowboys on offense. They have a solid group already in place and may only do minor tweaks between now and September. But it’s a good exercise to take this snapshot and see where the opportunities are.
