Jason Witten is one of the oldest Dallas Cowboys. Is the time for him to win a championship running out?    Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

Evan Silva of Rotoworld.com recently wrote a piece about the best rosters in the NFL and ranked them from 1-32. Silva, whose opinion I respect, ranked the Cowboys with the 21^st best overall roster in the league. And the ranking itself isn’t even what infuriated me. It was the last two lines he wrote about the Cowboys roster:

“The Cowboys’ talent is mediocre and their roster planning seems to lack direction. The arrow is pointing downward on this team.”

The talent is mediocre? The arrow is pointing downward on this team? I could not disagree more with this statement.

In 2010, the Dallas Cowboys were in a major rebuilding project even after making the playoffs in 2009. Under head coach Wade Phillips, the team started out 1-7 with an aging roster. In just three years, 17 of the 22 starters on the team of 2010 are gone. The only starters that remain are Romo, Ware, Witten, Austin, Spencer, and Ratliff.  After Phillips was fired midway through the 2010 season, Jason Garrett took over the team and officially became the head coach in 2011.

Since 2010, they have drafted potentially 10 projected starters for their 2013 starting lineup.

The Dallas Cowboys were 8-6 last year heading into the final two games of the season. They played the Washington Redskins with a chance to win the division in their final game.  And here are the players who could not play in the game due to injury:

Sean Lee (toe), Bruce Carter (elbow), Phil Costa (back),  Barry Church (torn achilles), Josh Brent (dismissed from team), Matt Johnson (hamstring) Jay Ratliff (toe), Ernie Sims (concussion), Orlando Scandrick (fractured hand.)

I’m not making excuses, but this team was one missed field goal against the Ravens and one fingertip out of bounds against the Giants from being a double digit win team despite all the injuries. The writer makes the statement that the team lacks direction with their current roster and I couldn’t disagree more.

Here is a look at how young some of the core players are on the team:

Tyron Smith – 22

Travis Frederick – 22

Morris Claiborne – 23

Dez Bryant – 24

DeMarco Murray – 25

Bruce Carter – 25

Barry Church – 25

Brandon Carr – 26

Sean Lee – 26

The Dallas Cowboys star wide receiver, starting running back, left tackle, center, two stud linebackers, two very good cornerbacks and starting safety are all 26 or younger. The core of the team is young and extremely talented. The team is stockpiling young talent at the most important position.

Fortunately for the Cowboys, their season isn’t doomed because some writer doubts the talent on this team. And in 16 weeks we will be able to decide if this team is truly on the downswing as Silvia suggest, or inching ever closer to their sixth Lombardi trophy. Their team is loaded with young, developing players who are as hungry as ever. The team is definitely on the upswing and is poised to make a a serious playoff run in 2013.

Matt Johnson might be the biggest contributor in 2013 because of the open opportunity at the free safety position. Johnson hurt his hamstring early in 2012, but remained on the active roster for the majority of the year. The team thought he might be ready to contribute if they had made a deep run in the playoffs.

Johnson was a fourth round pick out of Eastern Washington who the Cowboys fell in love with during the draft process. The team believes Johnson can be the deep center fielder they’ve been lacking for some time. Matt Johnson possess the range to flow from sideline to sideline in Monte Kiffin’s defense.

What I like about Matt Johnson is his work ethic and how that translates to the field. He, (along with Danny Coale) was praised by former NFL scout Bryan Broaddus as being one of the hardest workers on the team.

Can WR Danny Coale have an impact in 2013?              Spruce Derden-USA TODAY Sports

Danny Coale was personally my favorite draft pick in the 2012 draft and it was a shame that he struggled with injuries all year long. Coale, a fifth round pick out of Virginia Tech has a knack for making big plays in the most important games. Coale can play both outside and inside and also has exceptional hands.

Frank Beamer, Coale’s head coach at Virginia Tech, still believes that Coale will be a successful player in the NFL despite losing his rookie year to injury;

“He’s fast, but you just look at him, you don’t think he is. He sneaks up on you. I think people underestimated his speed sometimes. But he catches the ball. He gets open. And he’s got some toughness to him.”

So how does Coale fit in with the present wide receiving corp?  Dez Bryant, Miles Austin, Terrance Williams, and Dwayne Harris are all locks for the 53 man roster. Danny Coale will compete with Cole Beasley for the fifth WR job. And if Beasley and Coale prove to be too valuable to cut, the team may be forced to keep six wide receivers in 2013.

Linebacker Caleb McSurdy has been the forgotten man of the 2012 draft. McSurdy was drafted in the seventh round last year out of Montana.

McSurdy may have the toughest competition for a spot on the roster.  He will be competing for the final linebacker position with Ernie Sims, Alex Albright, Brandon Magee, DeVonte Holloman, Tank Reed and Cameron Lawrence  Caleb McSurdy was a favorite of Jerry Jones last year, but his season ended early when he tore his achilles in training camp.

McSurdy’s best and perhaps only chance to make the team is on special teams. And fortunately for McSurdy, this happens to be where he excels.

For these three second year players, the 2013 training camp will be absolutely vital for their chance to impact the season. If he can stay healthy, expect Matt Johnson to start at free safety for the Cowboys this year. Danny Coale should also be able to crack the roster as the fifth or sixth wide receiver on the team. With all the new linebackers that the Dallas Cowboys have brought in this off-season, Caleb McSurdy is currently on the outside looking in.

In 2012, the team decided that a major influx of talent was needed on the defensive side of the ball, particularly in the secondary. In addition to adding cornerback Brandon Carr in free agency, the team traded up in the first round to draft cornerback Morris Claiborne. They also added versatile defensive lineman Tyrone Crawford in the third round, defensive end Kyle Wilbur, safety Matt Johnson and linebacker Caleb McSurdy to round out the draft. The team hopes that Carr, Claiborne, Crawford, and Johnson will be building blocks for their defense in the future.

Brandon Carr is just one of the many players Dallas added in 2012 to help solidify the defense.                                        Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

The Cowboys’ 2013 draft was all about rebuilding the offense and giving Tony Romo help. And you can say what you want about the team finishing 6^th in passing offense and how the Cowboys should have retooled their 31^st ranked defense instead their offense, but here are the facts:

-The Dallas Cowboys did not score in the first quarter in nine different games in 2012. 

- They averaged only two points a game in the first quarter. 

- And what is even more discouraging is that in their eight home games, they’ve led and had the ball for a total of only 36:36 and 18 of those minutes came against Tampa Bay in their first home game.

- This means that the Cowboys only led for about 18 minutes in their final seven home games when they had possession of the ball. Incredible.

Whether or not the slow starts can be attributed to a bad game plan by Jason Garrett or the lack of a running game, the fact of the matter is, the Dallas Cowboys desperately needed to upgrade their offense.

So with their first round pick, the Cowboys decided that they needed to protect Tony Romo. And whether you like it or not, and if the Dallas Cowboys want to compete for a Super Bowl anytime soon, it’s going to be on the back of Tony Romo and his offense.

And when I say “his” offense, I mean it. Tony Romo this year will be asked to do far more than he ever has since he became the full time starter in 2007. Tony will be responsible for more of the week-to-week game plan and will have more input as to what Dallas decides to do on offense come game day.

As everyone knows by now, Dallas shocked the NFL draft community when they traded back in the first round to select Wisconsin center Travis Frederick. The Cowboys were criticized and ridiculed  by ESPN’s Mel Kiper and NFL Network’s Mike Mayock for the “so-called” reach of Frederick. Both draft analysts gave Frederick a third round grade and questioned Dallas’ selection with the 31^st overall pick.

And after a week of reading about how terrible the Cowboys selection of Frederick was, I am here to tell you one honest truth. On September 8^th, 2013 when the Cowboys open up the season against the New York Giants, it isn’t going to make any difference whether the Cowboys selected Travis Frederick with the 31^st pick or the 255^th pick in the draft. All that will matter is if Frederick can block Justin Tuck and the rest of the Giants defensive line. And if he can, there is nothing you say that will convince me he wasn’t worth the first round selection.

I went back a few years to find other offensive line reaches according to Mel Kiper and other draft “experts” to show just how meaningless their opinions often are. The scouting report below provided by Sports Illustrated is very similar to some reports out there about Dallas’ Travis Frederick. Can you guess who this report is about?

“Technically sound, displays solid footwork sliding laterally and effective with his hands. Mentally on top of his game and works well with teammates. Displays the ability to block in motion and effectively uses body positioning to wall defenders from the action. A hard-working player who plays with great intelligence. Has been very productive on the college level.”

PROJECTION: Mid Third Round

Can Dallas Cowboys’ Travis Frederick surprise the league like  Logan Mankins did?                                 Stew Milne-USA TODAY Sports

This player was drafted at the end of round one in 2005 and when drafted, it was considered a major reach by most draft analysts. Any guess to who this player is? This was a scouting report of New England’s All Pro offensive lineman Logan Mankins.

Now, I’m not saying Travis Frederick will become Logan Mankins, but wouldn’t you agree that Mankins was certainly better than his projection? I would say yes everyday and twice on Sunday.

Dallas then shocked everyone again by selecting tight end Gavin Escobar from San Diego State with the 47^th overall pick. And to be honest, this pick confused me up until a few days ago. I wrote an article a few weeks ago about how I thought James Hanna could be the Cowboys’ version of Aaron Hernandez in New England.  And Gavin Escobar isn’t nearly as athletic as either of those two players. He also isn’t Jason Witten, so where does he fit in?

I decided to compare some tight ends in the NFL today to see where Escobar compares physically:

With so many teams using smaller, quicker defensive players, huge tight ends are becoming ever more popular particularly in the red zone.

Escobar lacks elite speed and athleticism, but his size and incredible hands make for an easy target for Tony Romo. Dallas finished 20^th in the league in red zone efficiency in 2012 and the selection of Escobar is possibly the answer for the red zone woes.

The Cowboys then used their third round selection on wide receiver Terrence Williams from Baylor. Last week I wrote about how I believe the Cowboys stole Williams in the third round.

And finally with their 5^th round selection, the Dallas Cowboys selected running back Joseph Randle from Oklahoma State. Randle isn’t a special runner, but he does remind many, including myself of DeMarco Murray. The Cowboys finished 31^st in the league in rushing offense last year and some of that was due to Murray’s inability to stay healthy.

Rebuilding the offense was clearly the goal that Jerry Jones and head coach Jason Garrett had in mind and it actually makes sense. When you have a franchise quarterback you have to strike while the iron is hot.