This is nearly the same roster as last season yet the stars of last year have regressed more than new players haven’t shined.
Kearse has been a force the last two years. This year it seems you rarely hear his name involved in a big play. You do however hear his name being called for penalties often with 7 penalties in 8 games and allowing a 85% completion rate his way.
Damone Clark had a great rookie season when most expected him to miss it. Coming into this year we all expected similar play to last year or even better. Instead while he’s not been bad he also hasn’t been a factor. Of all guys listed he’s the least to blame but still after being given the starting job he has not shown the same playmaking abilities.
Sam Williams was expected to make a huge jump after a promising rookie season with 4 sacks, 10 TFL and 3 turnovers while being a deep rotational rusher. This year he’s on pace for 4 sacks, 2 TFL and 1 turnover which was a blocked punt while getting more snaps at DE. We were all expecting a 8-10 sack season yet he’s digressed so far.
Gallup was given a pass for 2022 coming back from a acl tear which is fair. 2023 he was not and was expected to step back up. So far? 22 catches for 243 yards and 0 touchdowns. He’s on pace for less than 500 yards while starting every game. Add in a 10.1% drop rate and his season has been horrendous so far.
Steele is coming back from a bad knee injury so some regression was expected. However allowing 28 pressures in 8 games and being ranked in the bottom FIVE of 77 qualifying tackles. That’s not a little regression that is awful.
These guys have to get back to themselves or the top teams are going to keep beating us. Dak has been MUCH better this year. Lamb has gotten even better. Parsons is on par for his best year. Tyron Smith had came in and played phenomenal after 3 seasons of bad injuries. Bland picked right up where he left off. Those guys have to pick it up.
Most of y’all aren’t ready for the Dan Quinn conversation. He’s an OK coordinator but his draft acumen is pretty close to Rod Marinelli, and just like Rod, has too much sway in the draft room. That’s why we have Sam Williams and Mazi Smith among the defensive front 7’s immediate depth players. Both have been pretty pedestrian. I didn’t like either pick at the time and still don’t.
Many guys expected a jump from Sam, I didn’t. The guy is just dumb, and has been since college. It’s hard to motivate players like that and putting them 3rd string and on ST does not bode well for their long term prospects here. Another dumb 2nd round pick produced by bad draft logic, just as it was with Schoonmaker.
You don’t take guys with obvious red flags in college- I’m talking the basic shit like “did he start multiple years?” or “was he productive?” or “did the coaches and locals like having him around?” (To say nothing of other stuff like injury history, skillset, or a ridiculous overemphasis on RAS scores). In the case of all of the Cowboys’ seconds since they selected Diggs, they have ignored issues like this. Why act surprised? Kelvin Joseph was a knucklehead at best in college, Sam Williams was similar, and LS didn’t start until a bunch of guys who were at best mid round picks got hurt, transferred, or graduated. The guy was a fucking backup behind Erick All until he blew his ACL. He had no production in college and can’t be expected to produce against NFL players, on top of being approximately 600 years old, no less.
TL;DR - Dallas overthinks their second round picks and gets them wrong when they do. When they take layups like Diggs, it’s fine. When they try to get creative, they suck.
The vets who aren’t playing well have been consistently getting shit on, except for Kearse. But he has been bad. Gallup and Steele deserve much more criticism, but I don’t think Gallup has much more left in the tank as a NFL WR, he never recovered from the injury, and Steele is well on that path. (For these reasons I am significantly concerned about Diggs’ comeback next year.) Even more irritatingly, all of these guys got paid within a year of these injuries. Bad luck but also bad for business.