After another loss and a rare 1-2 start to a season, the Dallas Cowboys have little to feel good about. This week’s rankings reflect the clear culprits in the team’s struggles as they’ve been getting dominated in the trenches on both sides of the ball. Unfortunately, with a short week before Thursday night’s game against the New York Giants, there’s not much time to fix the problems.
In a format like this, someone has to be on top. We’re not saying that anyone is playing well right now, but some are more to blame than others. Obviously, there’s not much “power” in these rankings right now for anyone.
- Quarterback (LW: 2nd) – Bring on the hate, but how you do explain how Dak Prescott is more to blame for the problems than guys at other positions. He currently leads the league in passing yards and did much more to keep Dallas in the last game than cost them. He has things to clean up, but he’s not nearly as dirty as most of the team.
- Tight End (LW: 7th) – Even after missing a game and practice with a knee injury, Jake Ferguson returned to lead the team in catches and passing yards. He wasn’t 100% against Baltimore but still produced; a great sign for what he can do the rest of the way to help boost the offense.
- Guard (Last Week: 1st) – While not as bad as the rest of the line, Zack Martin and Tyler Smith aren’t making much of a positive impact. Granted, there’s only so much they can do with breakdowns around them. But part of the logic in starting the rookies was they’d next two All-Pro talents. We’re not seeing that come together yet.
- Defensive End (LW: 3rd) – Teams are successfully scheming Micah Parsons out of games because the rest of the defense isn’t making them pay for it. That’s not Parsons’ fault, but it’s not like DeMarcus Lawrence has really done much since Week 1. These guys are the supposed defensive leaders and they have to start stepping up.
- Wide Receiver (LW: 4th) – CeeDee Lamb has been open about his failings last week and Brandin Cooks has been a non-factor. It’s been good to see Jalen Tolbert, KaVontae Turpin, and Jalen Brooks stepping up when called upon. Perhaps Dallas starts spreading the ball around more to become less predictable.
- Center (LW: 8th) – While the first-round rookie OL is going through it right now, Cooper Beebe has at least been solvent. We’re not seeing the boost to run blocking that was hoped for but it’s still early.
- Cornerback (LW: 6th) – While they haven’t been exposed as much with opponents’ run-game dominance, the corners haven’t stepped up when needed. Trevon Diggs gave up a critical pass to kill Dallas’ comeback effort last week.
- Linebacker (LW: 5th) – After a shining debut against Cleveland, it’s been misery for the linebackers the last two weeks. The Browns game proved to be fool’s gold for who the Cowboys really were. While the LBs would be better with more help up front, they’re hardly free from blame as teams are running them over at will.
- Safety (LW: 9th) – The veterans have less excuse for their failings than the newly-constructed LB corps. Malik Hooker has been a ghost this year and Donovan Wilson has been a problem. It may be time to give Juanyeh Thomas and Markquese Bell more snaps, both to turn up the intensity and give them valuable work for the future.
- Running Back (LW: 12th) – It’s time to stop victim-shaming the RBs. Even with poor blocking, Rico Dowdle has still topped 4.0 YPC in the last two games. No, these guys aren’t good enough to make something out of nothing. But the nothing isn’t their fault. Plus, quick shout-out to FB Hunter Luepke for his big plays on Sunday.
- Offensive Tackle (LW: 10th) – Whether it’s run or pass blocking, Guyton and Steele aren’t getting it done. If this keeps up, Dallas may need to start exploring its bench for answers at right tackle because Steele looks broken right now, and their breakdowns are killing this offense.
- Defensive Tackle (LW: 11th) – There is zero impact coming from the middle of the line, even from Osa Odighizuwa. Whatever Mike Zimmer’s doing right now isn’t mitigating the weaknesses the way Dan Quinn’s scheme did, so perhaps our new DC should start stealing from the old one.
