5 Dallas Cowboys who will make or break the 2023 season

1. Brandin Cooks, WR

The worst move the Dallas Cowboys made in 2022 was plain to see. When they traded Amari Cooper to the Cleveland Browns for a fifth-round pick as well as a swapping of sixth-rounders, they sold it as a salary cap neccesity.

Sure, Cooper made a lot of money but he wasn't the problem. He wasn't the one who didn't live up to his inflated salary, even if he had a "down season" in 2021. Cooper, who was falling behind CeeDee Lamb, had 68 receptions for 865 yards and eight touchdowns. However, he proved he's still more than capable of blowing up as he had 1,160 yards and nine touchdowns for the Browns.

To their credit, the front office was at least correct in believing Lamb was ready for an expanded role. The third-year pro put up 1,359 yards and nine touchdowns on 197 receptions. That was even with Dak Prescott out for five games.

But the problem was, he was all alone.

After Lamb, the next best receiver was Dalton Schultz, their former starting tight end. He had 57 receptions for 577 yards and five touchdowns. Then, there was Noah Brown with 43 catches for 555 yards and three scores.

Both Brown and Schultz are gone and while they hope Michael Gallup will return to form, the true pressure will fall on the shoulders of Brandin Cooks who was added in a trade with Houston.

A nine-year veteran, Cooks had 57 receptions for 699 yards which would have been huge for the Dallas offense. Of course, those numbers were actually low for him and it wouldn't be a surprise at all to see him approach the 1,000-yard mark (something he's done with four different teams) as the WR2 in Big D.

Cooks was easily their best addition this offseason and he has the skill to either make, or break, the 2023 campaign for Dallas.

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