4 major personnel changes Cowboys' Mike McCarthy must make in Week 3

After a dominating win in Week 1 and an excruciatingly bad loss in Week 2 at the hands of the New Orleans Saints, it's clear that the Dallas Cowboys are still very much in the "workshopping" phase when it comes to player personnel and the depth chart overall.

The Cowboys are still in the process of learning which players on this team are deserving of and worthy of snaps going forward, as is just about every team around the league.

With that in mind, which personnel changes do the Cowboys and head coach Mike McCarthy need to consider making as we approach their Week 3 matchup at home against the Baltimore Ravens?

4 obvious personnel changes the Cowboys must make in Week 3

1. Unleash Ryan Flournoy, bench Jalen Brooks

It's probably past due time for Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy to unleash rookie sixth-round pick Ryan Flournoy. Call him the flavor of the week if you want, but the Cowboys' receiver group needs a jolt in the depth department, and we saw some good things from Flournoy in the preseason.

Right now, Jalen Brooks is playing a decent number of snaps (41 in two games) and Dak Prescott has thrown an interception among Brooks' four targets. That's not what you want to see. It might be time to give Brooks a seat on the pine and put Flournoy out there to see what he can do with all of those athletic tools. With Brooks nursing an ankle injury, this is the perfect chance to give Flournoy a shot.

2. Give Dalvin Cook carries over Deuce Vaughn

Nobody in the Cowboys's running back group right now is averaging over 3.7 yards per carry. Ezekiel Elliott is at 3.5 yards per carry, Rico Dowdle is at 3.7 yards per carry, and second-year player Deuce Vaughn is at a really disappointing 3.0 yards per carry.

When are we going to see veteran Dalvin Cook out there, if only just to try throwing something else against the wall?

Even though the Cowboys haven't really given many meaningful snaps to Deuce Vaughn at this point, it might be a better use of snaps to just elevate Dalvin Cook and give those snaps to him. Maybe the Cowboys wanted to get at least some kind of sample to see what Vaughn could do with limited chances, but you can't really experiment like that against a team like the Ravens. Not when wins early in the season are so crucial.

3. No more Juanyeh Thomas returning kicks

There is really just no excuse for this. Even though you typically are going to see two returners back there nowadays, the Cowboys have to have better options than Juanyeh Thomas to return kicks alongside the All-Pro KaVontae Turpin.

Teams are understandably going to try and avoid kicking the ball at Turpin, who already has a punt return touchdown and 171 total return yards this year, including a kickoff return average over 34 yards per return.

Juanyeh Thomas isn't exactly helping the Cowboys in the field position game with 21.5 yards per return. He does not have the speed or wiggle required to make explosive returns. The Cowboys need to keep getting Thomas more involved defensively and find better alternatives in the kickoff return game.

4. Get De'Marvion Overshown on the field

It's understandable that the Cowboys might be trying to slowly acclimate De'Marvion Overshown after he missed all of last season due to injury, but it's hard to ignore his productivity despite a relatively limited number of snaps. Overshown has not even played 46 percent of Dallas' defensive snaps this season, yet he's put up the following numbers:

• 15 total tackles (2nd on the team)
• 2 QB hits
• 1 sack
• 1 TFL

Now, it's unreasonable that the Cowboys inexplicably gave him fewer snaps after an outstanding Week 1 performance, even if there were more struggles in Week 2. The proof is out there that Overshown can make a major difference in the defense and young players need time on task.

Mike McCarthy and Mike Zimmer are not helping him (or his defense) by benching him or cutting his snaps.

More Cowboys news and analysis