5 moves the Cowboys should have made much sooner

3. Started the season with Donovan Wilson

The Cowboys’ new coaching staff must come under fire for their misevaluation of the safety position in Dallas. This group brought in safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix as a free agent and promptly jettisoned him before the kick-off of the regular season and started Darian Thompson instead.

Thompson’s run as starter lasted only four games. Only then did the coaching staff in Dallas finally insert safety Donovan Wilson as the starter, despite not having played him on a single defensive snap through the first three games of the season.

Yet, Wilson has blossomed over his first six starts, culminating in a breakout performance against the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday. The former sixth-rounder not only recorded nine total tackles and half a sack, but he registered two game-changing plays that forced two fumbles, one of which he wrestled away from Vikings’ quarterback Kirk Cousins.

While this Cowboys’ coaching staff and front office resisted catcalls from fans pleading for the signing of free-agent safety Earl Thomas for months, they might have quieted the noise if only they had evaluated the safety position better and started Wilson from the beginning. Instead, this group seemed to stumble into making the right decision, which appears to be a recurring early issue for them.