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The Cowboys Five year window

             Dallas Cowboy fans have the right to be confident going into the 2017-2018 regular season. It’s been a very long time since Cowboy fans have had anything to be excited about. Zeke Elliot was the leading rusher behind the best offensive line in football. Dak Prescott was amazing in his rookie season, which won him the rookie of the year award. This team has a young nucleus and the trajectory seems to be pointing upward for the Dallas Cowboys.  As a fan of the Cowboys I would love to see them have a run like the one the Patriots are on, but that’s rare. Realistically looking, how long will this Cowboys window stay open? I say the Cowboys have a five-year window in which they can compete for and win a Super bowl title. What they do in that five years will set them up going forward, but they have already bought themselves 5 years.
            Youth is on their side! The Cowboys are young at all the right places. The offensive linemen are all under 27 years old. They have already managed to sign Tyron Smith and Travis Fredrick to long-term deals. The reports indicate that they will get a deal done with Zack Martin in the near future. That’s three all pro linemen that will be the staple of the offensive line for the next five season. The jury is still out on La’el Collins, if he is able to hold down that right tackle spot that will only add to the value of this position group.
            Dak Prescott and Zeke Elliot are going into their 2nd seasons. At some point, the money won’t allow the Cowboys to keep all these young guys but you better bet that these two will be here for the next 7-10 years. The continuity that will develop with Dak, Zeke, and this o line should be enough to allow the Cowboys to swap out the other pieces around them. Dez will be 29 years old this season. While I believe, Dez will bounce back to his normal 1200 yards receiving and 10 touchdowns. Sacrifices will be made in order to keep all the young talent. That may mean Dez walking come next contract negations. The other pieces to this offense will allow them to make the necessary changes when it’s time.
            The Cowboys have also been doing a great job at drafting. No, all their drafts going forward won’t produce Dak, Zeke, Jaylon Smith (?), Malik Collins, and Anthony Brown. Those drafts will produce solid role players like Anthony Hitchens, Tryon Crawford, and Jeff Heath. That will be the key to the Cowboys extended that window. They must continue to add quality depth players that have the potential to start or fill in for a starter. Not every player can be an all pro, but they can be good NFL caliber players.
The Defense should only get better! The Cost for having a top 5 offense in the NFL is having a mediocre defense. Last year the Cowboys ranked 5th in points per game allowed (19.1), 14th in yards allowed (343.9), and 15th in stopping opponents on 3rd down (39%). It should be noted that all those numbers are an improvement from the 2015 season. Since the Cowboys don’t have the monetary resources to pour into the defense they have to get lucky on draft picks.
The Cowboys have benefited from a little luck already. Anthony Brown and Maliek Collins appear to be quality starters at their positions. Brown was a 6th round pick and Collins was a 3rd round pick in the 2016 draft. Brown filled in nicely for the injured Morris Claiborne, and Collins had five sacks in his rookie campaign. The Cowboys need big contributions from both these guys this season. The Cowboys will also get second round pick Jaylon Smith and fourth round pick Charles Tapper back from injury. Both of these players missed last season with injuries.
Jaylon Smith is expected to compete for and earn the starting job of middle linebacker. He is still recovering from the injury he sustained his final year of college but all signs appear to be good. Tapper is expected to be a situational pass rusher, and may even earn a starting spot on the defensive line. Tapper can really help this team because he ran a 4.50 sec forty-yard dash, and has some nice moves at the point of attack. I’m not saying he will be there 15 sack guy but if he can come in a give them 4-5 sacks this year that’s a great bonus. Add these four players along with Bryon Jones and Sean Lee and the Cowboys could piece together a formidable defense.

The bad taste of last season will propel this team to become the Dallas Cowboys team that can compete with anyone. In 2012 the Seattle Seahawks lost in the divisional round to the Atlanta Falcons. They then went on the make it to the super bowl in 2013 and 2014, beating the Broncos and losing to the Patriots. The Seahawks were built differently than the Cowboys are but they used that lost to the Falcons as fuel to ignite their super bowl runs. This Cowboys team can use that lost to the Packers the same way. The experience that this young team gained in the playoffs will be useful for them this season. The have tasted the playoffs and now they are hungry for more. The Dallas Cowboys will be on everyone’s radar this year and for many seasons to come. 

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