To say 2020 has been a frustrating year for the Dallas Cowboys would be an understatement. Once thought of as a potential Super Bowl contender, America’s Team now sits at 3-8 on the season heading into a Tuesday night game that Andy Dalton will start in.
It’s been bad.
But while there has been a plethora of poor decisions, bad luck, and front office misses from the Cowboys this calendar year, Bleacher Report tried to name the absolute worst one this week. And it’s likely not what came to your mind first.
“One particular juncture might hurt the most in hindsight. That’s the middle of the third round, when the Cowboys drafted defensive lineman Neville Gallimore three picks before the Indianapolis Colts took Julian Blackmon.”
Not drafting safety Julian Blackmon. This is interesting.
Despite coming off of a torn ACL, Blackmon was high on a lot of draft boards across Cowboys Twitter, and was ultimately drafted by the Colts out of Utah in the third round. Blackmon has been nothing short of phenomenal in 2020, putting himself in the conversation for defensive rookie of the year this season.
Blackmon was also named to Pro Football Focus’ midseason All Rookie Team, earning the highest grade among all rookie safeties. He would’ve been a welcomed addition to the Cowboys defense for sure, but this isn’t where my mind went first when thinking of their biggest miss.
Some may argue that the Mike McCarthy hire should already be considered a miss, but I’d push back on that. It’s too early to pin this all on him, plus the injury luck this season has been catastrophic.
Two free agency decisions stick out to me.
First, not extending quarterback Dak Prescott. Despite suffering a major season ending injury against the Giants, Prescott was playing some of the best football of his life this season. Hopefully he still wants to be with the Cowboys longterm, but it’s possible another franchise tag next year could sour the relationship.
The next miss hurt the 2020 team directly: not re-signing cornerback Byron Jones. The former first round pick has been incredible the past couple of seasons, and is continuing his dominant ways with the now playoff contending Dolphins.
Dallas’ defense has been pretty much horrible this season, and Jones would’ve really helped on the back end.
