Dallas Cowboys 2020 Season Preview
Chris Ransom follow @DraftUtopia Posted on 9/2/2020.
Dallas Cowboys Free Agency Recap
Dallas signed Dontari Poe and Gerald McCoy in Free Agency as 4-3 defensive tackles. They also picked up 4-3 right end Everson Griffen late before training camp started.
Dallas Cowboys Draft Recap
The Dallas Cowboys got an immediate starter with Oklahoma wide receiver CeeDee Lamb at 17. I like Lamb, but I liked Jeudy more and view Jeudy as a better short-term player as well as a receiver with more upside. Other draft picks that Dallas got for depth include cornerback Trevon Diggs out of Alabama, Oklahoma defensive tackle Neville Gallimore, Tulsa cornerback Reggie Robinson II, Wisconsin center Tyler Biadasz who was my top center at one point, and Bradlee Anae the 4-3 right end on Utah. Gallimore and Anae were guys I interviewed in Mobile, Biadasz was my top center in this draft, Dallas got two fast cornerbacks after taking Lamb, so overall I love this draft.
Dallas Cowboys Quarterback Summary: Dak Prescott dominated as a rookie. Dak won a playoff game in his third year. He had more weapons last year, but could not get Dallas back to the playoffs even with his best supporting cast on offense. Andy Dalton, the former Bengals starting quarterback will be Prescott's backup. Clayton Thorson and Ben Dinucci a 2020 seventh round pick from James Madison are competing for the third string job.
The Cowboys have three coaches who are naturals at developing quarterbacks. Those guys are Mike McCarthy at head coach. Kellen Moore in his second year as offensive coordinator where McCarthy will let him call plays and Doug Nussmeier the new quarterbacks coach, Nussmeier was a tight ends coach the last two seasons before being promoted to quarterbacks coach. Nussmeier was also offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach when A.J. McCarron started at Alabama.
Dallas Cowboys Running Back Summary: Ezekiel Elliott got paid and without the holdout, he should have another breakout year. Tony Pollard is the backup. Rico Dowdle and Darius Anderson, two undrafted Free Agents are competing to be the starting running back.
Skip Peete was the running backs coach with the Los Angeles Rams the last four years. He did well coaching Todd Gurley and now gets to coach an even better running back in Ezekiel Elliott.
Dallas Cowboys Wide Receiver Summary: Dallas has Amari Cooper locked up to a 5-year $100-million dollar deal. They also got Michael Gallup next to Cooper as well as CeeDee Lamb in the slot. Dallas also has Cedrick Wilson for depth.
Adam Henry is the new wide receivers coach. He will have a lot of receivers to work with.
Dallas Cowboys Tight End Summary: Blake Jarwin is now the starting tight end for Dallas. He got extended and Lunda Wells is the new tight ends coach with the Dallas Cowboys previous tight ends coach moving to quarterbacks coach.
Dallas Cowboys Offensive Line Summary: Tyron Smith is one of the leagues best left tackles. Connor Williams is starting at left guard. Joe Looney will start at center after Travis Frederick retired. Looney was Frederick's backup in 2019 and managed to beat out both Connor McGovern and Tyler Biadasz for the starting center job. Zack Martin is the right guard. La'El Collins is the right tackle.
Dallas still has an good offensive line for the 2020 season if all five of these blockers are healthy. I no longer believe Dallas has an excellent offensive line since both McGovern and Biadasz failed to beat out Looney for the starting center job. Looney is doing well in training camp and even showing leadership traits by motivating this offensive line on the sideline. He's a good stop gap center until McGovern or Biadasz develops. The problem is that's his ceiling and he's not the quality of center that his predecessor Travis Frederick was.
Joe Philbin, who was interim head coach after Mike McCarthy got fired in Green Bay is the new offensive line coach. Philbin was McCarthy's offensive coordinator on their Super Bowl 45 Team. He's an upgrade over Marc Colombo as far as offensive line coaches go simply due to his experience as a coordinator/head coach along with his rapport with McCarthy.
The Cowboys are a team that I expect to have a top 15 team in rushing yards. I see a top 15 passing yards team. Dallas could be top 15 in points scored depending on how Dak Prescott does this season. The uncertainty at center makes me believe this is a top 15 offense rather than a top 10 one.
Dallas Cowboys Defensive Line Summary: Right now you got Everson Griffen at 4-3 right end and DeMarcus Lawrence at 4-3 left end. Dallas had Gerald McCoy and Dontari Poe at defensive tackle with Trysten Hill a 2019 second round pick as a backup and Neville Gallimore a 2020 third round pick as the reserve defensive tackle. With McCoy on season ending injured reserve, Hill will now get a chance to solidify that starting defensive tackle spot next to Poe with McCoy out.
Both Poe and McCoy signed 1-year prove it deals while the young defensive tackles could develop for another year. Now thansk to McCoy's injury, the 2019 second round pick from Central Florida who had a strong 2019 NFL Combine makes his debut as a starting defensive tackle.
Defensive line coach Jim Tomsula will coach this defensive line with former Cowboys defensive tackle Leon Lett being promoted from defensive tackle coach to assistant defensive line coach.
Dallas Cowboys Linebacker Summary: Dallas has a good core of linebackers in right outside linebacker Jaylon Smith Sean Lee, middle linebacker Leighton Vander Esch, and left outside linebacker Sean Lee. Dallas is really thin in terms of depth if anyone gets injured. Dallas finally has the front 7 to compliment this offense if everyone is healthy in 2020.
Defensive coordinator Mike Nolan and linebackers coach Scot McCurley will coach these linebackers. This will be a strong linebacker unit if everyone is healthy in 2020.
Dallas Cowboys Defensive Backs Summary: Dallas is moving Anthony Brown to field cornerback after he was the nickel cornerback in 2019. Chidobe Awuzie is the boundary cornerback after being a 2017 second round pick out of Colorado and the first Buffalo to attend draft day. Jourdan Lewis their 2017 third round pick who was drafted after Awuzie is the nickel cornerback. Trevon Diggs is the dime cornerback and Reggie Robinson II is the quarter cornerback with the two rookie cornerbacks rounding out the cornerbacks on this depth chart.
HaHa Clinton-Dix plays at strong safety replacing Jeff Heath and Xavier Woods returns as the teams starting free safety. If Dallas brought in Earl Thomas to push both of these safeties for starting jobs, then that would certainly help.
Maurice Linguist is the new defensive backs coach for Dallas. Personally, I think he's a downgrade over Kris Richard. At the same time Richard was part of the Jason Garrett regime and Cowboys fans will rightfully argue that Richard had too many coaching responsibilities last season.
The Cowboys defense looks better than it has in recent years. Dallas fixed their defensive tackle void, but the question is whether they did enough to fix their issues at safety. Dallas could have a middle of the pack defense. I could see Dallas having a top 15 defense and I'd go as far to say this would be a top 10 defense if the Dallas Cowboys had better safety play.
Dallas Cowboys Special Teams Summary: Greg Zeurlein is the starting kicker. Zeurlein feels like a reach, but he's considered a top 10 kicker in Fantasy Leagues. Chris Jones returns as the Cowboys punter. Tony Pollard is the kick returner and Jourdan Lewis is the punt returner for the Dallas Cowboys.
John Fassel is the new special teams coordinator. The same guy who was head coach of the New York Giants in Super Bowl 35. That will be a hard pill for Giants fans to swallow.
Dallas Cowboys Worst Case Scenario: The Dallas Cowboys go 9-7 and end up as the 7 seed in the NFC.
Dallas Cowboys Best Case Scenario: Dallas wins the NFC East Division. Who knows what could happen from there.
Dallas Cowboys 2020 NFL Schedule
Week |
Date |
Opponent |
Time |
Cable Network |
Result |
Week 1 |
September 13 |
AT  |
8:20 PM EST |
NBC |
L |
Week 2 |
September 20 |
VS  |
1 PM EST |
FOX |
W |
Week 3 |
September 27 |
AT  |
4:25 PM EST |
FOX |
L |
Week 4 |
October 4 |
VS  |
1 PM EST |
FOX |
W |
Week 5 |
October 11 |
VS  |
4:25 PM EST |
CBS |
W |
Week 6 |
October 19 |
VS  |
8:15 PM EST |
ESPN |
W |
Week 7 |
October 25 |
AT  |
1 PM ET |
FOX |
W |
Week 8 |
November 1 |
AT  |
8:20 PM EST |
NBC |
L |
Week 9 |
November 8 |
VS  |
4:25 PM EST |
CBS |
W |
Week 10 |
|
Bye Week |
|
|
|
Week 11 |
November 22 |
AT  |
4:25 PM EST |
FOX |
L |
Week 12 |
November 26 |
VS |
4:30 PM EST |
FOX |
W |
Week 13 |
December 3 |
AT  |
8:20 PM EST |
FOX |
L |
Week 14 |
December 13 |
AT  |
1 PM EST |
FOX |
W |
Week 15 |
December 20 |
VS  |
8:20 PM EST |
NBC |
W |
Week 16 |
December 27 |
VS |
4:25 PM EST |
FOX |
W |
Week 17 |
January 3 |
AT |
1 PM EST |
FOX |
W |
The Utopia Of Sports
