Injuries are exposing a bigger issue for the Dallas Cowboys

With seven starters missing significant time early on, a bigger issue is coming to light for the Dallas Cowboys

Sitting at 1-2 after three games does not signify the end of the football world if you are a team in the NFL. No matter how your season is going, there is plenty of time to figure things out and right your ship. This is especially true if you have the star players and good coaching possessed by the Dallas Cowboys.

Unfortunately, the Dallas Cowboys have a problem that few teams can overcome. At the beginning of every year, as anyone with an opinion and a forum for that persuasion often does, prognostications are made with the silent caveat that the teams stay healthy. This has proven to be a huge hurdle, at least early on, for this Dallas squad in 2020.

Starters on both sides of the ball have already missed significant time just three weeks into the season. Both the offensive line and the skill positions have already experienced crucial hits as we try to get to the quarter pole of the season.

Right tackle La’el Collins was placed on injured reserve before the season ever began and now Rob Phillips from dallascowboys.com reports there is a mystery surrounding if/when he will return. Meanwhile, left tackle Tyron Smith suffered yet another stinger after the first game of the year, causing him to miss the last two games and possibly this week against Cleveland as well. Lastly, backup swing tackle Cameron Erving hurt his knee in week one as well with a timetable of 4-6 weeks placed on his return.

Do not forget the season-ending injury to tight end Blake Jarwin either. A promising season was cut dramatically short after Jarwin tore his ACL before halftime of Week One.

Defensively, the situation is somehow worse. All three lines of defense have not been immune to some major losses.

It started before the games ever did with defensive tackle Gerald McCoy going down to a torn right quadricep in practice. Also during that loss to the Rams, starting linebacker Leighton Vander Esch broke his collarbone while starting cornerback Anthony Brown injured his ribs, sending him to IR as well. The following week, fellow starting cornerback Chidobe Awuzie added to the IR list, injuring his hamstring which will keep him out at least three games.

Seven starters out for a minimum of three games, especially early in the season, is tough to overcome. While keeping all of their games within one score, the truth is Dallas is fortunate to be 1-2. If not for some extreme serendipity provided by the Atlanta Falcons, we could be talking about 0-3 and, likely, the season just four games in.

Is there something else that we should be talking about, besides injuries, however? Do the Dallas Cowboys have a deeper issue that is simply just being exposed due to time missed by the starters?

I believe that answer is yes. The issue I am referencing is the Dallas Cowboys’ recent past as it pertains to the NFL Draft.

Long argued as a good drafting team with a front office that has hit on most of their premium picks, 2017-2019 may be showing its ugly head when it comes to the failures on draft day.

After hitting a grand slam in 2016, landing quarterback Dak Prescott, running back Ezekiel Elliott, and linebacker Jaylon Smith, things have gone south in a hurry. Twenty-six players have been drafted by the Dallas Cowboys from 2017-2019. Almost half (12) are no longer with the team.

Of the remaining 14 players, only Vander Esch and receiver Michael Gallup can truly be considered plus-level contributors. Beyond that, while some of the other twelve are starters, either due to necessity or potential, most of those guys have wildly underperformed.

It is fair to say that guard Connor Williams leads this group of unexpectedly poor performers. Week after week, into his third year, Williams has at least three-to-five plays where he either blows an assignment or just gets manhandled. This is not a good look for someone that the Dallas Cowboys invested a top-50 pick towards.

Meanwhile, last year’s third-round selection Connor McGovern has yet to get one offensive snap this season despite carnage along the line. For someone who received a pretty decent amount of hype on draft day, it’s beyond discouraging to see him only see the field in special teams situations.

Defensively, Awuzie and fellow cornerback Jourdan Lewis could also be considered busts at this point. Going in the second and third rounds in the 2017 Draft, neither has been able to continually get better or even permanently land starting jobs for a secondary desperate for performers.

If not for these two and their play, I feel like a major spotlight would be on the disappointing play of safety Xavier Woods. Every time it seems like we are about to see the light come on for Woods, he has a game like last week in Seattle. His play is eerily reminiscent of someone experiencing the trials and tribulations of a Chutes and Ladders board.

It is unrealistic to expect any team to hit on every draft pick. No team fields an All-Pro or Pro-Bowl caliber player at every position. This is not the expectation for these guys either.

The sad facts are that extended playing time has exposed several guys this team counted on to be serviceable as not such. The good news is that a lot of the players currently missing time will be back at some point. The bad news is that if things continue down the path they are currently on, it won’t matter much.

Hopefully, the Dallas Cowboys can find the magic of 2016 (and while it is early 2020) next year. If things get out of hand, that pick will continue to be higher and higher. That should make things easier for the front office. Another replication of those drafts between 2017-19, however, could factor in heavily to continual disappointment with this franchise.