DALLAS COWBOYS 2021 WIN PREDICTION

BY ADAM GREENE

Disaster struck the Dallas Cowboys last offseason when Jerry Jones, obviously in the throws of some kind of mental breakdown, hired Mike McCarthy to be the new head coach of his football franchise, therefore dooming them to mediocrity for as long as he is employed.

Which is a shame, since this is a Super Bowl caliber roster, and in the hands of a capable head coach, would have the Cowboys right up with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Los Angeles Rams, Seattle Seahawks and Green Bay Packers (before they pissed off Aaron Rodgers for good).

All is not lost. As the team selected for this year’s iteration of HBO’s Hard Knocks, McCarthy is now squarely on the hot seat as every coach but two, Sean McVay and Jon Gruden, featured on the show has been eventually fired. Most the very year in which they’ve starred. Fingers crossed that McCarthy keeps the Anthony Lynn, Freddie Kitchens, Dirk Koetter and Jeff Fisher streak going.

This should be, at worst, a divisional round team and the frontrunner for the NFC East title based on the roster alone. But you must factor in McCarthy, his stupidity and inability to design or call an NFL level offense or run a team like a professional, into any final record.

DALLAS COWBOYS

Last season: 6-10, 3^rd place NFC East

2021 odds: under 9.5 wins -140, over 9.5 wins +110

2021 NFL Draft: Micah Parsons, LB, Penn State – Round 1, Kelvin Joseph, CB, Kentucky – Round 2, Osa Odighizuwa, DT, UCLA – Round 3, Chauncey Golston, DE, Iowa – Round 3, Nahshon Wright, CB, Oregon State – Round 3, Jabril Cox, LB, LSU – Round 4, Josh Ball, OT, Marshall – Round 4, Simi Fehoko, WR, Stanford – Round 5, Quinton Bohanna, DT, Kentucky – Round 6, Israel Mukuamu, CB, South Carolina – Round 6, Matt Farniok, OG, Nebraska – Round 7

UDFAs: Nick Ralson, FB/TE – Arizona State, Osirus Mitchell, WR – Mississippi State, Braylon Jones, OG – Houston, Brandon Smith, WR – Iowa, Brendon Knox, RB – Marshall, Brennan Eagles, WR – Texas, Nick Eubanks, TE – Michigan, Anthony Hines, LB – Texas A&M, Artaybious Lynn, TE – TCU, Jaquan Hardy, RB – Tiffin, Tyler Coyle, Safety – Purdue, Austin Faoliu, DT – Oregon, T.J. Vasher, WR – Texas Tech

Acquisitions: Ty Nsekhe, RT – Free Agent, Bryan Anger, P – Free Agent, Keanu Neal, Safety – Free Agent, Jake McQuaide, LS – Free Agent, Brent Urban, DL – Free Agent, Tarell Bashan, Edge – Free Agent, Carlos Watkins, DL – Free Agent, Damontae Kazee, Safety – Free Agent, Jeremy Sprinkle, TE – Free Agent, Reggie Davis, WR – Free Agent

Key Losses: Tyrone Crawford – DL, Sean Lee – LB, Joe Looney – C, Chris Jones – P, Eli Ankou – DL, Greg Senat – LT, Xavier Woods – Safety, Saivion Smith – CB

PRESUMED STARTERS

QB: Dak Prescott

RB: Ezekiel Elliott

WR: Amari Cooper

WR: Michael Gallup

WR: CeeDee Lamb

TE: Blake Jarwin

LT: Tyron Smith

LG: Connor Williams

C: Tyler Biadasz

RG: Zack Martin

RT: La’el Collins

LDE: DeMarcus Lawrence

LDT: Neville Gallimore

RDT: Trysten Hill

RDE: Randy Gregory

OLB: Leighton Vander Esch

MLB: Micah Parsons

OLB: Jaylon Smith

CB: Trevon Diggs

CB: Anthony Brown

SS: Donovan Wilson

FS: Demontae Kazee

K: Greg Zuerlein

P: Bryan Anger

FORECAST

While the Cowboys have the roster to win, they have the coach to lose and a schedule built to do just that. It’s not a stretch to see Dallas going 4-2 in the NFC East only to lose every key out of division match up they have. I don’t see anyway they don’t open the season 0-2, opening at Tampa and then at the Los Angeles Chargers. Games against the Kansas City Chiefs and Las Vegas Raiders to go with an improved Atlanta Falcons squad and a New Orleans Saints team no one really knows what to expect should seal the deal on McCarthy for good. Hopefully Jerry Jones, as he embarks on his next hire (I’m looking at LA Rams offensive coordinator Kevin O’Connell), he’ll not let his leg tingles factor into the decision.

And if you’re thinking that an elite season from Dak Prescott can save this team, I’ll point you to Deshaun Watson’s performance with the Houston Texans last year. He had the fourth best QB season in the league and Houston finished 4-12.

Final Record Prediction: 7-10

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