Dallas Cowboys: Pick 3 players for 2019 – Who are they?

Fast forward to the start of the 2019 Dallas Cowboys season. If you could only take three players from the 2018 team, who would they be? Time to pick!

Dear Dallas Cowboys Nation, let’s play a game. In 2018, some Dallas stars emerged from shadows to the spotlight. Some Cowboys stars drifted from a state of potential to stardom, and it’s time to recognize them.

The Dallas Cowboys are a young team. With a 10-6 finish in 2018, all the stars are set to align for 2019 and beyond. Though the Cowboys sputtered out of the playoffs with a 1-1 finish, there is much to look forward, especially when you look through the lens and see youth on the team.

But, if you could only take three players heading into the 2019 season, who would you nab? Let’s play the Bill Parcells game. When the Hall of Fame coach was asked who was a lock on his roster during his Dallas days, Parcells said that player was no other than Jason Witten.

So, let’s play a little Dallas Cowboys game. If you could only draft three players from the 2018 team, who would you take with you? Here is my selection.

Byron Jones

Defense wins championships, right? Believe it. Prior to the Los Angeles Rams game, my prediction for the game was a 27-21 win for the Cowboys. I was off by two points and, well, had the teams swapped!

Part of my confidence in this 2018 squad (and the future 2019 team) is the defense. Safety turned cornerback Byron Jones is an island. With the Cowboys picking up his fifth-year option, the Boys and Jones are hoping to lock him up in Dallas. And they should.

The 26-year-old produced 67 tackles in 16 games he started. Quarterbacks didn’t want to throw to his side. Though Jones didn’t come up with an interception, the cornerback was supreme on his side of the field, earning a Pro Bowl nod along the way.

Honorable mention: DeMarcus Lawrence.

Leighton Vander Esch

I was supposed to scribble in Calvin Ridley here, right?

The star in Dallas is bright because of this rookie stand out play in 2018.  The six-foot-four product out of Boise State squashed doubters and proved two things right: The Dallas Cowboys voting committee and of course, himself.

Number 55 played in all 16 regular season games, starting 11. He accounted for a whopping 140 tackles and two interceptions. Thanks to his zippy sideline to sideline movement, Vander Esch was a terror for offenses in 2018.

Honorable mention: Jaylon Smith.

Ezekiel Elliott

If anything, Elliott’s production is underrated.

In 2018, Elliott was fed the ball 304 times for 1434 rushing yards. In 2016 and 2017, he caught the ball 58 times for 77 total combined targets.

In 2018 alone, he caught 77 passes on 95 targets in 15 games. In many respects, the Dallas offense operated with Elliott as the ground and air game. He is a terrific blocker for quarterback Dak Prescott, something he doesn’t get enough credit for, a dimension of his game that doesn’t show up in the stat books.

Elliott was certainly fed well in 2018. He gained 2,001 yards from the line of scrimmage in 15 games, sitting out the last game. The rushing champion scored six times on the ground and gained another three scores in the air.

Elliott is always pleading to get fed on the field. Well, it’ll be soon time to pay him as well.

Honorable mention: Amari Cooper and Zack Martin.