Cowboys' Position Battles to Watch Ahead of 2023 NFL Season

The Dallas Cowboys notched a playoff win in 2022 but failed to reach the conference title game for the 27th consecutive season. The quest to return to the top of the NFL world will resume this fall, and the team will look a little different.

Former offensive coordinator Kellen Moore departed for the Los Angeles Chargers this offseason, and a couple of other familiar faces will be absent. Dallas released running back Ezekiel Elliott in a cap-saving move and watched starting tight end Dalton Schultz sign with the Houston Texans.

The Cowboys did trade for wideout Brandin Cooks and cornerback Stephon Gilmore, and key players such as Dak Prescott, Tony Pollard, Micah Parsons and Trevon Diggs remain in place. However, not every spot on the roster is settled.

Below, you'll find three critical position battles to follow during offseason workouts and training camp.

Starting Tight End

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TE Luke Schoonmaker

Losing Schultz will have an impact on the offense, even with Cooks coming in to bolster the receiver room. Schultz, who played on the franchise tag last season, finished with 57 catches, 577 yards and five touchdowns. He was second on the team in receiving yards and one of Prescott's most trusted targets.

The Cowboys don't have a ton of proven talent at the position. 2022 fourth-round pick Jake Ferguson ranked second among Cowboys tight ends last season with just 174 receiving yards.

Ferguson will be challenged by 2022 undrafted free agent Peyton Hendershot and second-round rookie Luke Schoonmaker. While the latter has the edge in draft status, he's not quite polished enough to have the inside track on starting.

"He will need to improve his ability to win the ball in traffic and expand his route tree to incorporate more sharp-breaking routes," Derrik Klassen of the Bleacher Report Scouting Department wrote of Schoonmaker.

2020 undrafted free agent Sean McKeon, 2022 practice squader Seth Green and undrafted rookie Princeton Fant will get opportunities as well.

Fans should expect an open competition at tight end over the next few months, with Dallas settling on the best option, regardless of draft pedigree, to be the starter. However, it's very likely that several players will see the field in 2023, with the Cowboys using a committee to replace Schultz's production.

No. 2 Running Back

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RB Malik Davis

Replacing Elliott at running back may be a committee job as well. Tony Pollard should be the starter after receiving the franchise tag, but he's never handled a full-time workload for the Cowboys.

Elliott handled 248 touches last season and rushed for 12 touchdowns. There will be competition to be Pollard's new backfield mate.

2022 undrafted free agent Malik Davis should be Dallas' top option after he appeared in 12 games last season and averaged 4.3 yards per carry. While the offense may be a little different with head coach Mike McCarthy calling the plays, Davis is already familiar with the core concepts and the personnel.

Sixth-round rookie Deuce Vaughn should also get some opportunities this season and will have a chance to carve out a prominent role in camp. Though he's undersized at 5'5" and 179 pounds, Vaughn can provide an explosive change of pace.

"If Vaughn were four inches taller and 15 pounds heavier, he would be a Day 2 pick without question," Klassen wrote.

Rico Dowdle, who has played primarily on special teams, is back. Dallas also signed former Tampa Bay Buccaneers starter Ronald Jones II this offseason. The Cowboys have several options, and while Pollard should be the lead back, he shouldn't be tasked with carrying the ground game alone.

Kicker

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K Tristan Vizcaino

The Cowboys are going to have a kicker competition, though its participants have yet to materialize. Dallas signed Tristan Vizcaino in January, but he has only 10 games and 12 field-goal attempts on his resume.

Dallas has said it will seek other options this summer.

"Well, we've got Tristan on the roster. Anybody else on earth who is not on the team right now is under consideration," special teams coordinator John Fassel said, per Nick Eatman of the team's official website.

Landing Robbie Gould would probably be ideal, as the 40-year-old has never missed a kick in the playoffs and made 84.4 percent of his field-goal attempts and 97.5 percent of his point-after tries with the San Francisco 49ers last season.

Other veteran free agents include Mason Crosby, Ryan Succop and Randy Bullock.

Expect the Cowboys to bring in competition for Vizcaino in the coming weeks and to exhaust all options in the pursuit of a dependable specialist. This will be a very important camp battle to follow, as the last thing fans will want to witness is a repeat of Brett Maher's 2022 struggles.

Maher missed five extra points and a field goal in two playoff games and remains a free agent.