What are the biggest 3 things you are worried about with the Cowboys right now?
After falling to 3-4 on the season and getting mostly embarrassed in their defeats, there are tons of questions about the Dallas Cowboys right now. You could raise issues with every facet of the organization, but here are some that really stood out in Dallas’ latest loss to the 49ers.
What can be done about Terence Steele?
The veteran right tackle has been really bad this year and it showed again against San Francisco. Stopping Nick Bosa is a tough ask for any NFL tackle, but Steele looked completely inept and that’s been consistent with even lesser competition. He’s just not the same guy since the 2022 knee injury, and even before that Steele was hardly a standout in pass protection.
Unfortunately, there’s not much to do about mid-season. Dallas could try flipping Tyler Guyton to the right side, which he played in college, and going back Tyler Smith as the left tackle. They could give Asim Richards or Matt Waletzko chances at RT just to see if there’s any uptick. But the fact they haven’t tried the backups yet may tell you something about their perceived potential.
If this is a lost season, which is feeling more and more like reality, then it would make sense to just leave Guyton at left tackle so he can get valuable experience for the future. Dallas will be able to cut Steele in the offseason for about $4.6 million in cap relief, or $14 million as a June 1st release, and that seems highly likely at this point. Between now and then, they’ll either need to start giving their backups some looks or keep devoting backs and tight ends to helping Steele keep pass rushers at bay.
What happened to Jake Ferguson’s expected breakout?
2024 was supposed to be the year that Ferguson emerged as one of the league’s elite TEs but it’s been quiet so far. Seeing the 49ers’ George Kittle dominate on Sunday night gave a stark contrast to the paltry 23 yards on six catches that Ferguson contributed. While he has been dealing with a knee injury since Week 1, it just doesn’t like Ferguson is as big a part of the offense as we expected.
The answer is partly due to what we just discussed with Terence Steele. Because of pass protection issues, Ferguson is having to do more work at the line of scrimmage and not getting out into as many routes. Even getting the meager yardage he did against San Francisco came with some tough running after the catch.
The other issue is the guy running the offense. Mike McCarthy’s teams have chronically underutilized TE talent going back to Green Bay. Ferguson is clearly the most talented TE Dallas has had since prime Jason Witten, but he’s not getting the looks on offense that even Dalton Schultz did. We may have to wait for a new offensive coordinator in 2025 before seeing Ferguson realize his full potential.
Why haven’t they benched Malik Hooker and Donovan Wilson at safety?
Your guess is as good as mine. Currently grading out as two of the NFL’s worst starting safeties, two of the few healthy veterans on the defense aren’t helping. Something just isn’t clicking with what Mike Zimmer’s asking of them compared to the last regime.
Unlike the problem at right tackle, Dallas does have backup safeties who could help matters. We’ve seen the playmaking potential of both Juanyeh Thomas and Markquese Bell and yet they’re only getting in on about 6% of the defensive snaps. That’s not even a rotation; just stuck on the bench behind guys who aren’t performing.
With both Hooker and Wilson ripe for being cap casualties this offseason, it’s time to get these younger players more work. You may need at least one or both to be a starter in 2025, so let’s find out if that’s a good option now. Could they really be any worse than the current ones?
