Eyes on 2025 - Looking for Young Linemen

Dallas was paying top dollar for a declining OL. This might be a path to a '25 rebound.

I plan to write frequently about the Cowboys between now and the end of 2024, but as you’ve probably heard, it will be with an eye toward the future.

As a big believer that things are never hopeless in the NFL, I remain firm in my belief that a team with the proper motivation can bounce back quickly after a disastrous season like 2024.

Yes, my biggest flaw is often optimism, but I’ve seen too many cases where teams suffer a sharp decline, only to bounce back when everyone suggests they will “be bad for a decade.”

This isn’t to suggest that the 2024 Dallas Cowboys are close to contending right now. They aren’t. They are among the worst teams in the NFL at the line of scrimmage, as their offensive and defensive lines have been well below even the NFL average for this entire campaign. But the road back in these areas of the roster is often not fixed by a massive splash. Instead, it’s a series of smaller moves that combine to shift the needle back in the right direction.

It requires looking carefully at every part of the roster and doing so with honesty about what you have on hand, what you can rely on moving forward, and, most importantly, what is just not good enough to be part of an attempted revival.

Hopefully, the Cowboys are already on top of this internally. As usual, we’re skeptical of how well they’re staffed to handle this, but also, as usual, they won’t invite us to the meetings. Heck, half the people in these meetings probably won’t be working for the organization until January.

Regardless, we can start today. I’m calling this series “Eyes on 2025,” and it will continue as we go, between now and next summer. We’re in no hurry, but there will be times in these games, week to week, where you might enjoy the idea that we’re looking for players who can help moving forward.