Dallas Cowboys: 3 players whose stock rose Week 4, and 2 who fell

The Carolina Panthers gave the Dallas Cowboys just about all they could handle in the first half of Sunday afternoon’s matchup. The second half was a completely different story though as the Cowboys handed an undefeated Panthers squad their first loss of the season.

Just like last week, I truly don’t believe there is much to be upset about here for Dallas. It was another complete team victory. Things that looked a bit sloppy in the first half were cleaned up in the second, and when it really mattered the Cowboys imposed their will against a Carolina team that has a bright season ahead of them.

Here are three Cowboys whose stock rose in Week 4 and two who fell:

Dallas Cowboys Stock Up: DE, Randy Gregory

Edge rusher Randy Gregory has played well in all 3 games he’s started this season, but the one thing he hadn’t done quite yet was bring down the opposing quarterback. Well, Gregory finally broke through for his first couple of sacks this season in Week 4’s contest against Carolina.

His first of the day came early on the Panthers’ opening drive of the game, as the veteran brought quarterback Sam Darnold down to force a Panthers’ punt. The second came right after the two-minute warning in the first half as Gregory demolished former Cowboys’ swing tackle Cam Erving, to make it third down.

Both were big plays that came at crucial moments and helped to set the tone for a huge game from the defensive line. Gregory’s potential has always been clear, and it’s so nice to see him have a big game.

Just like his fellow defensive linemate DeMarcus Lawrence, his impact doesn’t always translate into huge sack numbers, but he’s consistently playing well. When Lawrence comes back, it should open up even more opportunities for Gregory to get at the quarterback.

Dallas Cowboys Stock Down: LB, Jaylon Smith

Count me among those who were really hoping that 2021 would be a resurgent season for former Pro Bowl linebacker Jaylon Smith. Alas, it just hasn’t been the case and after multiple seasons of disappointing play, the Dallas Cowboys officially moved on from the former second-round pick out of Notre Dame.

Smith’s continued poor play and now release have landed him here in the stock down category. But that said, I genuinely wish him well, wherever his next stop might be. Jaylon Smith had become a pretty easy target for fan frustration in recent years and many are quick to forget but the fact that he ever even played a meaningful down in the NFL, let alone at the level he did early on, was inspiring and nothing short of amazing.

At his best, he frequently showed extended glimpses of the electric player many considered to be the best defender in the 2016 draft. His 2018 season, in particular, had many fans thinking that he and Leighton Vander Esch would be leading Dallas’ linebacking corps for years to come.

He hasn’t really showcased that ability in recent seasons though. Instead, he’s been a massive liability in coverage and struggled mightily to get off any block. The albatross contract extension he signed in 2019 surely didn’t help matters either.

So far, 2021 hasn’t been terribly kind to him. He’s made a few plays that flashed his former play-making ability, but it’s been far from a return to form. The majority of the time he’s just looked lost out there. With Keanu Neal’s impending return from the COVID-19 list this week, Smith was likely going to be the odd man out in the linebacker rotation.

On Sunday afternoon against the Panthers, Smith played just 28 snaps, and on Tuesday night the Cowboys released him. Now, if Smith is going to right the ship on his career, it’s going to be in a different uniform.

Dallas Cowboys Stock Up: Jayron Kearse and Dallas’ new safeties

For years the Dallas Cowboys have largely ignored the safety position and they’ve gotten mostly subpar performance from most of the players they’ve trotted out there.  For whatever reason, it just hasn’t been a position that the team has put significant resources into, and it’s something that has always frustrated a large portion of the fanbase.

Instead of caving to fan pressure and making the splashy move such as acquiring someone like… oh I don’t know… let’s just hypothetically say a former All-Pro who publicly lobbied to come to Dallas and whose name is magically escaping me at the moment, the Cowboys have long opted to sign low risk, low reward players in free agency or trot out late-round draft picks. For the most part, they’ve gotten what they’ve paid for.

This offseason the Cowboys didn’t radically change their philosophy. What did change, however, was the upside of the players they took a chance on. After Donovan Wilson showed a lot of promise at the end of last season, the team went out and signed Damontae Kazee and Jayron Kearse to one-year deals to pair with him. Just before training camp, they also inked former Indianapolis Colts safety Malik Hooker to a similar one-year deal.

With Wilson missing three of the team’s four games so far, all three of Dallas’ offseason safety additions have started at least one game. There has been plenty of playing time to go around for everyone, and for the most part, they’ve looked solid in their action. Kazee has flashed a bit of the ball-hawking ability he had in Atlanta, while Hooker has looked good despite working to still getting his legs under him following his Achilles tear last September.

Kearse meanwhile, has already proven his value and has made multiple big plays in every game this season. I genuinely find it hard to be disappointed by the play that Dallas has gotten from any of these guys to start the year.

On Sunday Jayron Kearse tied Anthony Brown for the team lead with six tackles, two of which came behind the line of scrimmage. He’s been flying around the field every chance he gets and making his presence known. When Wilson comes back, Dan Quinn needs to find ways to keep Kearse out on the field.

I know safety play wasn’t the main story on Sunday afternoon (heck, it wasn’t even the main story in the secondary), but this group has exceeded expectations at pretty much every turn and they looked good again against the Panthers. They’ve flown under the radar, and it’s time to give them their due.

Dallas Cowboys Stock Down: Narrative that the Cowboys don’t have an elite corner

Am I going to need to just make Trevon Diggs a permanent addition to this column? What the second-year corner out of Alabama is doing right now is nothing short of incredible for the Dallas defense.

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Right now Diggs is the defending NFC Defensive Player of the Month and is leading all of football in interceptions and passes defended. Prior to Monday Night Football, he singlehandedly had more picks than most NFL teams. Curious how that stacks up in recent Cowboys history?

In the first four games of the season, Diggs has as many interceptions as any Dallas Cowboys corner has had in a full season in the last quarter-century. The last Cowboys cornerback who even brought down five in a season was Terrance Newman over a decade ago.

For decades now Dallas fans have been frustrated by the team’s lack of a true ballhawk corner. Well, it certainly appears they have one in Trevon Diggs. He’s been building on his promising rookie year and he’s now played in 16 career games and hauled in eight interceptions.

He’s a key part of this defense and playing at an elite level. When Diggs left the game on Sunday afternoon to manage some tightness in his back, Darnold had a field day targeting receiver D.J. Moore and connected for two touchdowns.

At the rate, he’s doing this, how much longer do we think that teams continue to throw at Diggs? It’s early in the season for sure but with the results he’s has had so far, opposing quarterbacks would be much better served just picking on Anthony Brown (something they haven’t had too much trouble doing), or literally anyone else.

Dallas Cowboys Stock Up: Having a balanced offense

Feed Zeke? That’s so 2018. How about feed literally anyone on this offense. It’s actually kind of incredible how much fun this Dallas Cowboys offense is to watch. There are so many different ways that they can attack teams, that almost any package they want to put out there feels like a mismatch for opposing defenses.

Ezekiel Elliott has been resurgent these past couple of weeks, and he’s leading the NFC while ranking fourth in the NFL in rushing. It’s fantastic to see, but just as great as that is, it’s even better knowing that the team has finally figured out how to use Tony Pollard (who also ranks among the top 15 in rushing) at the same time.

If Elliott is having a rough game. No problem, Pollard can give the team a big lift. Zeke is looking like his All-Pro self? Perfect, then mixing in Pollard adds another wrinkle for defenses to worry about. Elliott and Pollard went up against a Carolina team that featured the top-ranked run defense in football entering Sunday afternoon. They carved them up like Michael Myers coming home to Haddonfield on Halloween night, to the tune of over 200 yards rushing between them.

We already knew this offense was loaded, but they are getting contributions from guys all over the depth chart. Guys like Cedrick Wilson, Blake Jarwin, Terence Steele, and Connor McGovern have had absolutely no problem setting up and playing their role when their number has been called. Through four games, the Cowboys rank third in yards per game and fourth in points per game.  It’s one thing to talk about having a high-powered offense, it’s another thing to actually do it.

Simply put, the Dallas Cowboys are making use of every one of their weapons and they are refusing to be a one-note offense. Of course, it helps that the team has been playing complete football and they don’t have to be. The Cowboys have been getting better blocking up front this season, have been better rushing the football, and are getting solid play out of their defense.

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Quarterback Dak Prescott had far from his sharpest game of the season on Sunday afternoon, completing 14 of 22 pass attempts for 188 yards. However, four of those completions went for touchdowns, and when the Cowboys really needed him to step up he was more than willing to meet the challenge. Case in point, his absolutely gorgeous third-quarter touchdown pass to Amari Cooper which gave the Cowboys a lead they’d never end up relinquishing:

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However, that’s the great thing about the offense this season. Everyone is gelling and they are able to be flexible in their game plans. Sure, if Prescott needs to throw the ball 50 times in order to keep the Cowboys in the game, he can do that. He just doesn’t need to right now, and Dallas would love to keep it that way.