Should the Dallas Cowboys rest their starters in Week 18?

Why the Cowboys should rest their starters against the Eagles

Dak Prescott. Ezekiel Elliott. Tyron Smith. Blake Jarwin. Michael Gallup. Amari Cooper. Tony Pollard. Demarcus Lawrence. Randy Gregory. Neville Gallimore.

Ten starters. That is ten starters on the Cowboys offense and defense that have missed time this year to injury and/or are been severely banged up to the point of physically being less than 100%. That is nearly half of all starters on offense and defense combined. That alone should scream the importance of resting these guys with the beating they take every single week.

The case for resting players includes many names but falls on a few key players. Offensively, we all know Tyron Smith is a future Hall of Famer. Unfortunately, we also know his injury history. He gets banged up. Smith is also the key to protecting Prescott’s blindside. As we’ve seen multiple times, there is a sense of comfort for Prescott when Smith is in the lineup. I wouldn’t take the risk of letting him roll an ankle or tweak a knee.

Even though he has played through games, Ezekiel Elliott is clearly still nursing a knee injury. Pollard also missed time due to his foot injury. Playing running back (a position that takes quite a toll on the body) exposes these two to a lot of hits. Giving them the week off the have fresh legs for Wild Card Weekend could be quite beneficial.

Defensively, DeMarcus Lawrence and Randy Gregory have been wreaking havoc on opponent’s quarterbacks when they have been on the field together. It hasn’t been as much as we would have liked, but they’ve gotten healthy down the stretch.

Let these two defensive giants get rested up and get fresh legs under them for a highly likely rematch against the elusive Kyler Murray and the Arizona Cardinals.