Dallas Cowboys: 3 players whose stock rose Week 1, and two who fell

There are no moral victories in the NFL, but following a 6-10 season in 2020 the Dallas Cowboys managed to hang with the defending Super Bowl champions all the way to the end on Thursday night. Despite starting the season 0-1, for the most part, the season opener was an encouraging step forward for a team that has serious aspirations of winning the NFC East this year.

The matchup featured plenty of players at the top of their game, but also quite a few who had performances that might leave fans worried. Here are three Cowboys whose stock rose in Week 1, and two whose stock fell: 

Dallas Cowboys Stock Up: Dak Prescott

Truthfully, I believe that Prescott simply escaping this game healthy and playing semi-competently would have seen him as listed as a player who was stock up. After missing all of the preseason, Thursday night served as his first game action since sustaining a gruesome ankle injury in Week 5 last season. That said, I am not sure anyone reasonably expected him to play as well as he did against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

In his return, Prescott tied his career highs with 42 completions and 58 attempts, throwing for over 400 yards (for a franchise-record eighth time) and three touchdowns. He also orchestrated a potential game-winning drive late in the fourth quarter that gave the Cowboys the lead with just 1:24 left on the clock.

Simply put, Dak Prescott looked as good for the Cowboys as he did during his red hot start to 2020, if not better. That’s a great sign of relief for Cowboys fans who had reasonable concerns about how Dak’s return might go given the severity of his injury.

Dallas Cowboys Stock Up: Trevon Diggs

Expectations are understandably high for Trevon Diggs this season, and fans have to be happy with the way he played Thursday. Diggs drew the matchup against Mike Evans for 39 of his 47 routes that night and allowed just one reception for 10 yards. He also had a clutch interception off Tom Brady in the second quarter, which allowed the Cowboys to kick a field goal and take a 16-14 lead. 

Evans is an underrated but elite wideout. He’s led Tampa Bay in receiving in six of his seven seasons, and he’s never had less than 1,000 yards receiving. If Diggs can effectively shut down a receiver of Evans quality consistently, then the sky is the limit for the second-year corner.

He has a tough matchup in Week 2 as he will likely square up against Los Angeles Chargers receiver Keenan Allen. Given his performance against Evans with Brady throwing in his direction, I think Diggs is ready to take the next step.

Dallas Cowboys Stock Up: Tyron Smith

Dak Prescott wasn’t the only member of the Cowboys making their long-awaited return following a season-ending injury in 2020. Offensive tackle Tyron Smith also took the field for the first time since Dallas’ Week 4 loss to the Cleveland Browns last season.

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The results? Smith looked like his old self out there last night and allowed no pressures against one of the best front sevens in the entire NFL. If Smith can stay healthy and give the team this kind of production week in and week out, it would go a long way to ensuring that the Cowboys can make good on their offense’s explosive potential.

Dallas Cowboys Stock Down: Anthony Brown

There is no nice way of saying it, Anthony Brown had an absolutely horrendous game for the Cowboys on Thursday night. I am not quite sure what the team was thinking when they stuck him on four-time All-Pro receiver Antonio Brown, but it went pretty much exactly how you’d expect.

Brown was burned time and time again as Tom Brady had a field day identifying number 30 and throwing the ball directly at him with little-to-no resistance.

I think Brown is a better corner than he showed on Thursday night, but I still don’t like him on the outside. With Jourdan Lewis manning the slot, second-round pick Kelvin Joseph on IR,  fellow rookie Nashon Wright still developing, and camp standout Maurice Canady seeing just two snaps Thursday, the Cowboys don’t have a ton of in-house options to replace him.

It goes without saying that Anthony Brown needs to improve in Week 2. He’s going to have a tough task as Chargers’ quarterback Justin Herbert will surely look to duplicate Brady’s success against him.

Dallas Cowboys Stock Down: Greg Zuerlein

There’s not really much to say here that hasn’t already been said. Sure, Zuerlein nailed a 48-yard kick with 1:24 remaining in the fourth quarter to give the Cowboys the lead, but he also missed three kicks (two field goals and one extra point) in a game the team lost by two points.

I don’t believe you can assign blame to a single person, but there’s no denying math. If Zuerlein makes one of those missed field goals, then it’s a different ball game and the Cowboys might have been able to walk out of Tampa Bay with a victory. The team has already put Zuerlein on notice, signing kicker Lirim Hajrullahu to their practice squad.