Dallas Cowboys new look offense primed to give defenses trouble

The Dallas Cowboys began the 2018 season with one of the worst receiving corps in the NFL. Now less than a year later, they are primed to be among the best.

Heading into last season, the biggest question for the Dallas Cowboys was their receiving corps. The Cowboys were forced to attempt the receiver by committee approach as the roster did not have a true number one receiver. The wide receivers on the depth chart heading into last season included Cole Beasley, Allen Hurns, Terrance Williams, Michael Gallup, and Tavon Austin.

Beasley was the most seasoned of the group, heading into his seventh year with the Cowboys having never eclipsed the 900-yard mark in any of those seasons. Hurns was new to the team, coming to Dallas in free agency after an injured season with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

The Cowboys didn’t know if Terrance Williams would play at all in the 2018 season due to him being both injured and suspended. The newly drafted rookie Gallup had high expectations, but he obviously had yet to play at the NFL level.

Austin came to Dallas through a trade with the Los Angeles Rams. The Rams were willing to give him up after never living up to his first-round draft hype.

The tight end rotation the Cowboys started the season with were Geoff Swaim, Blake Jarwin, Dalton Schultz, and Rico Gathers. All four of these tights ends coming into the 2018 season combined for career numbers of 12 receptions for 385 yards and one touchdown. The tight ends on the roster simply didn’t have any NFL experience.

The Cowboys are heading into the 2019 season with a significantly better receiving corps. Their wide receivers heading into the upcoming season include Amari Cooper, Gallup, Randall Cobb, Hurns, and Austin.

Cooper will be the clear number one receiver for Dallas. Coming off a 75 reception, 1,005 yard, seven touchdown season, Cooper has made the Pro Bowl in three of his first four NFL seasons.

Gallup had an exceptional rookie year, with 33 receptions for 507 yards and two touchdowns. With an entire year of experience, he is set to be even better in the upcoming season as the Cowboys number two option.

With the departure of Cole Beasley to the Buffalo Bills in free agency, the Cowboys will have new receivers receiving his slot snaps. The trio of Cobb, Hurns, and Austin will look to match or even outperform Beasley’s production.

Cobb was acquired in free agency by the Cowboys on Tuesday. The former Green Bay Packer has had a successful career thus far, always being a reliable second or third option. In eight seasons with Green Bay, Cobb caught 470 passes for 5,524 yards and 41 touchdowns.

Austin missed the majority of the 2018 season with a hamstring injury and Hurns had a season-ending ankle injury in the Cowboys’ first playoff game. Both are heading into the 2019 season hoping to have a healthy season, although it is unclear how much of a role they will have.

At the tight end position, Jason Witten came out of retirement to help the Cowboys make a Super Bowl run. The future Hall of Famer boasts a career 1,152 receptions for 12,488 yards and 68 touchdowns. His 1,152 receptions are good for 4th in NFL history and his 12,488 yards are good for 21st in NFL history. On top of Witten, Dallas will bring back both Schultz and Jarwin with one full year of experience in the league.

Although the receiver and tight end position are not near as much of an issue as they were at this point last year, the Dallas Cowboys could still upgrade these two positions in the upcoming draft. Dallas has primed itself to have arguably its best receiving corps since current Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott took the team over in 2016. Having five solid, diverse receivers deep will be key next season and will be hard for defenses to plan for.