My Year of Dallas Cowboys Predictions in Review
I review my early predictions about the Dallas Cowboys recently completed season and make some more for 2016.
It’s almost surreal that the Dallas Cowboys’ season has ended. I’m not ready to start talking about next year yet. I’m not a college football guy, so I can’t begin to discuss possible draft selections. I like to review college players during the combine. It’s not just combine numbers, but college statistics and performance that influence my predictions. I made a lot of predictions this year, many didn’t pan out.
Reviewing my articles, I can accept that I was wrong about a few things like the running back situation. I had very little faith in Darren McFadden making any contribution. What did he do? He decided to take over the starting job, stay healthy and finish the season with more than 1,000 yards. I wasn’t completely crazy, Joseph Randle looked good – especially during that touchdown run against the Atlanta Falcons. Mental note – It’s over once a running back gets caught from behind by mall security.
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I was also mistaken about Lance Dunbar. I’m not sure he’ll be back next year for the same reason I thought he’d get cut this pre-season – his salary. It’s not like the Cowboys didn’t try to replace him with Lache Seastrunk. Seastrunk learned that when offensive coordinator Scott Linehan says hit the B-gap, then hit the B-gap even if the running lane isn’t there.
As for Dunbar, he also beat out my guy Ryan Williams who’s knee wouldn’t stay healthy. Dunbar was the highest paid running back on the Cowboys roster. Randle, McFadden and Dunbar were all technically “bargains”, if you compare them to DeMarco Murray‘s 5 year, $40 million dollar contract with the Philadelphia Eagles. Dunbar is a free agent and McFadden will want a raise – that’s another prediction.
2015 Dallas Cowboys Running Back Salaries | |||||
| Player | Height | Weight | Age | Exp | Cap Number |
| Lance Dunbar | 5′ 8” | 195 | 25 | 4 | $1,542,000.00 |
| Joseph Randle | 6′ 0” | 210 | 23 | 3 | $632,220.00 |
| Darren McFadden | 6′ 1” | 218 | 27 | 8 | $1,150,000.00 |
Speaking of Scott Linehan, there’s a segment of Cowboy Nation suddenly screaming that we need new coaches. Where were you guys when we were 12 – 4 last year? My only wish is that Garrett would stop clapping so much on the sideline. Please remind him that we do have world famous cheerleaders. Garrett claps when the team gets stopped in the red zone; he claps when they fail to convert 3rd and 1; he claps when safety / cornerback Byron Jones gives up touchdowns. We joked on twitter that the trainers soak Garrett’s hands in the cold tub during the week.
I haven’t been one to scream that the big 3 coaches (Garrett, Linehan and defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli) need to be fired. I question Garrett’s experience and his playbook. The majority of head coaches aren’t playcallers and in giving up control, he’s been better with clock management. As for the playbook, I famously called for more “sprinkles”. Not trick plays, but additional plays to decorate the vanilla offense they were running with Brandon Weeden and Matt Cassel.
After the bye week, they added jet sweeps and reverses with wide receiver Lucky Whitehead. There were reverse direction halfback pitches and even a fake punt – better late than never. Hopefully, next year’s playbook will contain more rub routes to scheme players open. Still, the offense looked good gaining 500+ yards with my main man Kellen Moore at the helm. The system isn’t broken, but it can always be tweaked, adjusted and innovated.
Cowboys Win – Loss Records as Head Coaches | |||
| Name | Wins | Losses | Pct |
| Jason Garrett | 47 | 46 | 0.51 |
| Scott Linehan | 11 | 25 | 0.31 |
| Rod Marinelli | 10 | 38 | 0.21 |
I feel comfortable making a few guarantees. Jason Garrett will create a training camp with competition at nearly every position. There will be at least three undrafted rookies challenging for a roster spot. Our Cowboys are always fixated with finding a diamond in the rough from a small school like Connecticut. They usually don’t make them a first round pick. Finally, I won’t talk about that guy in Cleveland because I’m driving the Kellen Moore bandwagon.
Next: Are the Cowboys ready for Johnny Manziel?
It was a rough season and I want to thank everyone for continuing to visit The Landry Hat and leaving comments. I try to be very interactive in the comment section. Also, thanks for your patience when I wrote about Dwayne Harris every week. To all the leaders of Dallas Cowboys Facebook groups, thanks for sharing my articles and providing inspiration in your comments sections. Find me anytime, I love talking about our Cowboys – Happy New Year.
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#WeWillBeBack
Find me at: Facebook.com/CowboysRob