Before the Dallas Cowboys kick-off training camp in Oxnard, CA. the team has been getting some much-needed rest. The same could be said for the media covering the team. Coming out of their minicamp practices, we couldn't help but hear about players that are showing that they are ready to make a jump in production based on observations from afar.
Now after some time to reevaluate, there are a few situations that we may have overreacted to a little bit, and we are going to take a look at three of them right now.
1. Jalen Tolbert's ability to make an impact
Last season was a huge disappointment for Tolbert.
The 2022 third-round pick had to deal with a hamstring injury that took him off the field at a pivotal time in the offseason program. From that point on Tolbert was playing catch up both on the field and learning the playbook. This was evident by his burying on the depth chart and the rise of Dennis Houston who became a fan favorite.
Fast forward to this offseason and it has been a very different situation for Tolbert, who's been able to stay healthy and be somewhat of a standout at minicamp, but we can't get too far ahead of ourselves.
Before we can anoint Tolbert, he's going to have to continue that production in training camp when the pads come on and things get a lot more physical. He will also need to produce in the preseason against real NFL competition.
If Tolbert can come out of the gates quickly and give the Cowboys a legitimate third/fourth option at wide receiver, then great. If not then Dallas may have a tough decision to make before the season begins.
2. The Texas Coast offense will take off under Mike McCarthy and Brian Schottenheimer
Once we heard that Kellen Moore wouldn't be returning to the Cowboys this season, the knee-jerk reaction was how can you get rid of an offensive coordinator that consistently had his offense in the top-10 of the league?
While that's a fair question, there are reasons that the move was made, whether you believe it's due to the play-calling predictability, the over usage of hook/curl routes that caused interception issues for Dak Prescott, or Moore's desire to run the offense he wanted and rejecting feedback from his players and head coach.
We will never really know the truth, but one thing we do know is that there's a lot of excitement around the new Texas Coast offense from McCarthy and Schottenheimer. We've been hearing about them wanting to run the football more to set up play-action, limiting the use of hook/curl routes and installing more slant concepts.
The coaches and players can hype us up about this new shiny offense, but until we can really see how it works, we have to assume that this offense isn't going to come out the way that Cowboys fans have become used to seeing under Moore. The offense may start off as more of a slow build as the team gets more comfortable as the season progresses.
3. The Cowboys need to sign free agents to fill holes
We've all seen the articles about the Cowboys needing to bring in free agents after the draft to fill holes -- that includes myself. There's this feeling that the Cowboys are in desperate need of another receiver, running back, left guard, and kicker.
Now, the kicker situation is a valid need as you rarely see a team go into training camp with just one kicker on the roster, but the others could just be the media and fan base hoping the Cowboys continue making moves much like they did in free agency trading for Brandin Cooks and Stephen Gilmore.
But as much as well want these things, the Cowboys player personnel department led by Will McClay may not think so, and if they feel that way then we need to trust them. This McClay-led group has been able to work wonders with a Dallas roster that has been pieced together with draft picks and cheap free agents year after year.
This front office and coaching staff have a far better feel for this roster than anyone else does and again outside of signing a kicker. We should trust their judgment, especially with Will McClay helping steer the roster-building ship.