Cowboys' Players Who Won't Live up to Hype in 2023 Season

The Dallas Cowboys are a team that is never short on hype. Being a Jerry Jones-owned team with a storied history means there's never a shortage of spotlight inside the Star.

That can be a good thing. The Cowboys have a reputation and are worth more than any team in the league according to their $8 billion valuation.

It also means that there can be an extra heap of attention and hype that is hard to live up to.

Every team has players that step up in a season. They also have a few that don't live up to the expectations fans and coaches have at the beginning of the season for them.

Here's a look at three players who could fall short of expectations in Dallas this season.

OT Tyron Smith

Wesley Hitt/Getty Images

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE - DECEMBER 29: Tyron Smith #77 of the Dallas Cowboys jogs to the locker room before a game against the Tennessee Titans at Nissan Stadium on December 29, 2022 in Nashville, Tennessee. The Cowboys defeated the Titans 27-13. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)

Tyron Smith has been a pillar of the Cowboys offense for a long time but Father Time comes for everyone and he's undefeated.

For Smith, signs of aging and decline have been coming for a few years. Smith has played in just 17 regular season games over the last three years due to various injuries.

Previous to last year, he was still playing at an elite level as long as he was healthy. That wasn't the case last season. He earned a 58.6 grade from PFF on 271 snaps.

Granted, the decline in play could have been due to the fact that he was playing on the right side for the first time since his rookie season. Smith has made a career out of being a great left tackle so switching sides this late in his career is difficult.

However, his work could come on the ride side again this season if Terence Steele can't return from a knee injury at the end of last season.

It's always difficult to watch a franchise cornerstone fade, but this could be the year that Smith simply can't answer the bell.

TE Luke Schoonmaker

AP Photo/LM Otero

Dallas Cowboys tight end Luke Schoonmaker catches a ball during NFL football practice in Frisco, Texas, Thursday, June 1, 2023. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Being a second-round draft pick comes with a certain set of expectations. While first-round picks are generally expected to be Day 1 starters, Round 2 picks are expected to contribute early and eventually work their way into a starting role.

That's especially true when a second-round pick plays a position with an unsettled depth chart.

The Cowboys tight end room is devoid of proven commodities. Allowing Dalton Schultz to move on in free agency leaves them with second-round pick Luke Schoonmaker, Jake Ferguson, Peyton Hendeshot and Sean McKeon as the primary candidates to play.

The Cowboys raised some eyebrows when they took Schoonmaker with the 58th overall pick. Schoonmaker was 95th on Bleacher Report's final big board and 101st on the consensus big board put together by NFL Mock Draft Database.

Among the concerns for Schoonmaker is that he only had one year of production at Michigan. Here's what B/R scout Derrik Klassen had to say in his final notes on the tight end:

Schoonmaker's development may take time, however, just as it did in college. He will need to improve his ability to win the ball in traffic and expand his route tree to incorporate more sharp-breaking routes. Schoonmaker would fit best in a vertical system that can also find use him as a blocker, a la Kellen Moore's offense.

Ironically, Schoonmaker ended up with the team that just parted ways with Moore. The idea that he'll take some time to develop into a legitimate NFL tight end remains, though.

Jake Ferguson is a much better bet to be the primary tight end in 2023.

RB Deuce Vaughn

AP Photo/Sam Hodde

Dallas Cowboys sixth-round draft pick running back Deuce Vaughn participates in the NFL football team's rookie minicamp in Frisco, Texas, Saturday, May 13, 2023. (AP Photo/Sam Hodde)

It's easy to fall in love with Deuce Vaughn as a player. He was fun to watch at Kansas State and who doesn't want to see a 5'5", 179-pound guy make an impact in the league?

It's easy to take a look at Vaughn's film, see his diminutive stature and that K-State jersey and immediately think of Darren Sproles.

But it's also important to remember that Sproles had eight carries for 50 yards and three catches for 10 yards in his rookie season. He didn't become a legitimate weapon until about his fourth season in the league when he had 672 total yards in 2008.

There's a reason Vaughn fell all the way to the sixth-round in the draft. If it weren't for the fact that he was so electric in college and his unique measurements, there probably wouldn't be much hype around him at all.

It's important to keep the context around Vaughn's rookie season in context. The Cowboys didn't do much to improve a running back room that lost Ezekiel Elliott, but Vaughn is still a sixth-round pick and has physical limitations.

He's going to require creative touches. He's going to suit the same kind of plays that Tony Pollard is going to run and it's going to be difficult for him to carve out a role outside of returning kicks.

He'll even have to battle KaVontae Turpin for that job.