Cowboys Mailbag Preview Wk 3: Chargers

One last preseason game on Saturday afternoon to help determine the final 53.

For certain radio reasons, I come to you live to day from the city of Las Vegas. I believe we even have preseason NFL football being played in this town tonight, but for me, this is a down-and-back for Friday’s show.

The Cowboys play their 3rd and final preseason game on Saturday against the Chargers and then by Sunday, we will start to see a number of roster moves happening as the cut-down day deadline will be on Tuesday. I will be back in town for that because this it is go-time for the roster construction.

Now, before we grab the 10 questions that caught my eye this week the fastest, let’s accomplish two other items first.

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Item No. 1 - The Cowboys signed Linval Joseph?

Wow. After Jordan Phillips and Carl Lawson were brought in, I certainly figured they were done with their DL overhaul. I guess I was wrong because they really dipped inot the past with Linval Joseph joining Eric Kendricks as the Mike Zimmer 2016 overhaul is really coming into focus.

Look, these guys are near the end of the road – if not already there – so these are 1-year, stop-gap guys which actually makes an enormous amount of sense if we are serious about “all-in” and all of that talk about the 2024 Dallas Cowboys.

Joseph has always been one of the heavyweight champions of the NFL and I assume nobody doubts his quality as a shut-down 1-technique nose. The questions are, obviously, what the man has left in the tank. He turns 36 in October and that tells you a few things about his particular case:

1 - He has no interest in playing as a full-time guy anymore or attending a training camp.

2 - He is interested in playing and Mike Zimmer, in particular, is appealing.

The last time he was dominant was with Zimmer and the Vikings. The Chargers grabbed him for 2020 and 2021, but the 3-4 is such a different experience for a nose and he was “decent”, not “dominant.”

The last few years, he has played a half-season in which he signed with the Philadelphia Eagles in November of 2022 and went to a Super Bowl with them and then signed with Buffalo in November of 2023 and went deep into the playoffs with them.

He has learned that a 2-3 month season is more fun than a 6 month season if you have people that desire your services. He waits and poaches a spot on a contender who needs a guy and relaxes all summer.

So, from our standpoint, here is the question. Can he still play?

You know I was going to the film.

So, the only tape I looked at was his last two games. Two playoff games against two playoff teams. Pittsburgh and Kansas City from January of 2024. Yes, he was a very fine player in 2019, but he was also 30 and 31 years old.

How about at 35?

Joseph wears No. 93 for Buffalo and plays right on the nose:

What I am seeing here is still a guy who doesn’t get moved, but does plenty of the moving himself. He is a giant and he knows his job pretty well. This is a powerful man and an outlier in the trenches as he has shown for well more than a decade. He also has some decent short-area quickness and pass-rush for a man his size. His play at 0:47 is brilliant and honestly, if this tape was Mazi Smith, we would be losing our minds.

I guess that is the point, right? Instead of Zimmer showing Mazi tape of Linval, perhaps here they just grab him and put him on the roster.

Now, to be fair, this is a 20-snap a game guy. Short yardage, goal-line, and very little else. You want him on your roster, but you aren’t planning on anything more than 300-400 snaps, I bet. So, be judicious so you have him late in the year. He might be the defensive version of Ezekiel Elliott. But, since we don’t really know what Zeke is capable of, I am willing to say Joseph is another nice piece of business that I like for the very short term.

So, now this looks like the new 2-deep on the DL, I think:

Not great news for Chauncey Golston and the rookie Justin Rogers and it makes you wonder how Junior Fehoko makes this team. But, I am fine with the idea that you need to move on if Dan Quinn picks don’t fit your plan.

Item No. 2 - Today’s Guess at the Final 53

I realize this is partly what I think and partly what I think they will actually do (shoutout to Trey Lance and Ezekiel Elliott, in particular), but here is my guess at the 53 with all of the disclaimers that they will cut guys they think they can sign right back like Trent Seig and Royce Freeman and also they will likely be shopping for a RB from the cut downs from others.

Regardless, gun to my head, here is who I think they will go with before this final game if they had to do the cuts today. Or at least what I would do. If you would like the Ourlads depth chart to look at as you make your own, here that is.

QB - (3) Prescott, Rush, Lance

RB - (4) Dowdle, Elliott, Vaughn, Luepke

TE - (3) Ferguson, Schoonmaker, Stephens

WR - (5) Lamb, Cooks, Tolbert, Turpin, Brooks

OL - (10) Martin, Steele, Smith, Guyton, Beebe, Hoffman, Bass, Richards, Thomas, Ball (Edoga IR)

DL - (9) Lawrence, Parsons, Kneeland, Lawson, Smith, Joseph, Odighizuwa, Phillips, Golston

LB - (6) Clark, Kendricks, Overshown, Liufau, Vigil, Harvey

CB - (5) Diggs, Bland, Lewis, Carson, Booth

S - (4) Hooker, Bell, Wilson, Thomas

ST - (4) Aubrey, Anger, Seig, Goodwin

25 offense, 24 defense, and 4 special teamers. Everything is subject to change.

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And now, to your 10 questions for this weekend:

Greg Neubauer

Will the Cowboys be searching the waiver wire for another running back?

Yes. They have to be. There is simply no argument that they have even a top 30 backfield right now. I just don’t see it at any level. They have some fringe-roster RBs but they don’t seem to have a single guy who could even challenge Tony Pollard-level play. And he was possibly someone you would want to upgrade from. I don’t really understand the complete lack of investment other than they believe that someone here is better than we do. I am willing to be proven wrong, but I bet in October, they are still looking for solutions. Stay tuned.

David Johnson

Will Zimmer's defense be strong enough against the run, especially those good teams like San Francisco, Buffalo, and Green Bay?

Great question. I will say this - it is a massive priority and everything they have done since the Green Bay game has been about two issues: making the offensive line bigger and better and stopping the run. Mike Zimmer was hired for literally one reason - to never allow those teams to run all over the Cowboys again. They have done and said all the right things (other than pulling out their wallet) and we shall see how it translate, but they will play bigger bodies much more and that should help.

I think they will really improve in this regard. The funny thing is that they were actually ranked 16th best in run defense last year so on average, they were exactly league-average. But, we are talking about “big games” and that gets into some fuzzy math. Yet, those of us who watched San Francisco, Buffalo, Miami, and Green Bay know that when it counted, this thing did not measure up. So, we will see soon because Cleveland loves to ground and pound.

From Mike Humphries:

Passing along something I saw on Xitter: Trey Lance apparently looked better than either of the Raiders quarterbacks on Saturday. Would the Cowboys attempt to trade him to somebody in need if they don't plan on keeping him past this weekend?

I don’t see a robust trade market for him and I also don’t see Jerry Jones cashing this one out yet. He believes there is a chance he loses Dak to injury and if that were to happen where you had 2 months of no Prescott and had sent Lance away, he would lose his mind. So, just for that insurance policy of the catastrophic QB1 injury, they will hold Lance. I am nearly positive of this one.

From Justin K:

When will Jerry finally cave in (like usual) to pay CeeDee? How you feeling about how the defense is going to mask its deficiencies last year against the run?

I am not sure this is a Jerry one of a league situation. We have Ja’Marr Chase and Brandon Aiyuk in very similar standoffs with their teams. Without accusing collusion, it seems very coincidental that the NFL franchises have drawn a line after the Justin Jefferson deal and we have this stalemate. I think they see where this leads and it troubles them. The owners were willing to have an exemption for QBs, but now WRs and Edge rushers are crashing through the $30m and soon $40m barriers and with only one franchise tag, they are starting to see the end result is each team can pay about five players and then have 48 near the minimums. Basically, NBA roster design and they know that football isn’t like basketball in that football is a depth sport. Also at work is the reality that football is the one sport without fully-guaranteed deals (for now) and the players have every right to chip away at that, too.

So, where does that leave us? Well, owners trying to stop this is like anyone trying to stop the ocean waves. Good luck. But, there will be turmoil in the meantime. Ultimately, if you want a top player, you must pay the freight. The Cowboys are trying to drag their feet, but I believe Lamb will be in Cleveland and Chase and Aiyuk will be with their teams, too. But, all three might get fixed in the same 24 hours.

From Chris Park:

Hi Bob, have you noticed any differences between this version of Zimmer’s defense and the defenses he lead in ‘03 and ‘04 as the Cowboys DC (I’m omitting anything ‘05 and on as Dallas had transitioned into the 3-4 at that point). That ‘03 unit finished 1st in the league in defense and didn’t have nearly the same amount of talent in the front 4 and at the corners that this year’s team has, but I’m curious if there’s anything to gleam from that history. Or if 20 years later offensive football looks nothing like it did back then and this iteration of Zimmer’s scheme will have had to evolve since then.

Chris, I imagine Coach Zimmer would tell you that he has upgraded his software a million times since 2003-04. Back then, he was a highly regarded coach, but I think the sport has moved fast and evolved at a blinding pace. Youtube allows us to see the league in 2003 in full games and I would recommend you look at just how different the sport looks. He is old school, for sure, but even an old school guy has realized that the personnel manipulation of offenses, the shifts and motions, the style of QB play, and pretty much everything is different. Defenses have also evolved, but it is a dance led by the the offense. It is still blocking and tackling, but the phrase that now seems important is this one: Offense is about attacking space and defense is about taking space away. Zim still has his fastball, but it is well modified over 20 years.

From Zach:

In a world where the cowboys keep Dak, can they even attempt to keep Lance? I have to think he can get at least 10-12 on a prove it deal? And if they could wouldn't that waste his current greatest asset, his legs, as he ages on the bench?

I am wondering what he would get. If I were to guess, unless he really flashes before he hits free agency, I think the market would be a lot lower than that. But, we may never find out. I am also interested what a 1-year extension for him might cost if they acted this week. I do not regard him highly, but if I did, I would call his people now and try to lock in his 2025 at a bargain. But, that is awfully risky as it stands now.

From Edward J Espinosa:

The Tony Banks situation has me fascinated since your recount of the dark period of Cowboys QB from Aikman to Romo. If Banks stuck around - could he have been serviceable and would those Cowboys have been better than three straight 5-11 seasons? Was Banks even good? That era is a little too old for me to remember.

Nah. I don’t think there is much to remember about Tony Banks. He was one of a thousand guys who were interesting prospects with NFL bodies - 6’4, 230 – which isn’t that far from my dimensions to show you that not everyone that height and weight is a NFL QB – but, he wasn’t much of a player, to be honest. He had a nine year NFL career and started for the Rams and Ravens, but there wasn’t much to write home about.

Now, why did the Cowboys sign him and then cut him before he ever played a snap? That is one that I don’t recall, to be honest. I was confused when it happened and much like when Ron Washington was fired, I expected that eventually we would be given the facts and reasons, but it never actually emerged.

He was a “JAG” as they say in personnel office. Just a guy. But, many would switch spots with him in an instant.

Henry D.

Bob, love your work! Do recent DT additions translate to “Mazi is just not ready for prime time”?

This question gets asked a lot and for good reason. The answer is probably yes. But, this might require some middle ground with respect to the polar opposites between he is a super star and he is a complete bust. Sometimes, it takes a bit. He has yet to begin the regular season of his 2nd year so there is a long, long ways to go. That said, so far, he has not overwhelmed nearly enough.

They are not giving up on him, but they also don’t want to be completely leveraged on him, either. They want to continue to push him and see where it takes things as his career develops. I am impressed with his new tutor, Linval Joseph, so the Cowboys seem to be doing the right things.

From William Kendall:

Bob, I’m truly not hoping for this to happen but let’s say Dak goes down in Game 2 for the season who’s the smart pick to step in Rush or Lance? Read your take on Lance after last week and while I’m a bit more excited by what I’ve seen so far than you seem to be I agree he needs all kinds of reps. But seems to me Dak goes down season’s over more or less and this myth of Rush being a great backup voting the 5-2 record ignores how awful the offense was during those games matched only by how dominant offense was which carried the team. Point is Rush was fine but we know what he is and what he never will be. Why not make Lance your No. 2? Sure it’s a long shot he’d develop but why not take the big HR swing under those circumstance - nothing really to lose. I think you disagree but wanted to ask. Thanks!

Rush is my guy if I am trying to keep the team afloat and win games without Dak, which might mean he is out for a month. But, if he is out for the season, Rush has a much lower ceiling than I would like, so you then go with Lance because that is a guy who you would want on full audition and give him a chance to play 8-10 games and really get more comfortable and show you everything he has to offer. I think you are on the right track for sure.

From Alex:

Bob - folks have asked great questions so far. Slightly different angle here... going back to January and thinking back on the Green Bay loss in the playoffs, forgetting for a minute our issues running the ball and defending the run... it sure looked like the Cowboys were either out-coached or the moment was just too big for the players and/or the coaches. Do you see any evidence that, roster and scheme issues aside, the Cowboys are growing into being able to better handle those kinds of moments?

Wow. Well, that is a column in and of itself. In fact, I think I wrote it back in January and will post it here:

What you are asking is why did a team so good perform so poorly and what do we do about it? Well, this is the trick with Cowboys football right now and I am here to tell you the solutions are limited.

The reality is you work from April until January to give yourself a chance to win it all. The Cowboys and Mike McCarthy have mastered this. They did it in 2021, 2022, and 2023. They have put themselves into a position to compete in the playoffs and have often done it with good health and momentum and have won 36 games in 3 seasons in a league where only one other team can claim that - Kansas City.

But, then, you have 3 hours (or less) to put your best performance on the field. There is no Game 2 if you lose Game 1. There is no best-of-7 series. It is winner-takes-all and it is wonderful, unless you find yourself down 27-0 to a huge underdog that started the year 2-5 in your home stadium. Then, it is not wonderful at all.

So, if you are good enough to put yourself in a great position, how are you not good enough to smash that opponent? And why do you look like your own worst enemy in these situations?

This is the mystery everyone is trying to solve. And the beat goes on as the new season approaches.

Thanks for your questions and for supporting Sturmstack! Have a good weekend.