What's New With The Coyboys Offense?

The Cowboys are at a time where they can choose where they want to go on offense. With the departure of Terrell Owens there isn’t the pressure to call plays just to appease him. This is a pretty critical time for the team but there are some additions to the playbook that they could make.

Who isn’t running some type of wildcat offense; well you can take the Dallas off the list of those who aren’t. You can expect running back Felix Jones to be used as he was back at Arkansas in order to give Dallas another threat in their offense. Who joins Jones in the backfield in the wildcat; they can use either former college quarterback Isaiah Stanback, recently drafted rookie Stephen Mcgee, or possibly even wide receiver Patrick Crayton who was the quarterback his senior year for his college team though odds are that it will be Stanback. This is just another added dimension that, if used correctly and not often, could keep the opposing defense honest.

What else can you expect; well I foresee a lot of shorter routes for the receivers and tight end Jason Witten. Owens was the receiver that stretched the field, but with him gone and the type of guys that the Cowboys have at the receiver spot, expect more routes around 7-10 yards. That doesn’t mean we won’t see the deep ball since Miles Austin showed glimpses last year of being able to do just that. Now he will need to prove that he can do it on a consistent basis so that opposing defenses have to account for him while he is on the field. Look for Witten to take an even bigger role in the passing attach, seeing as he is not only Romo’s guy, but also the only proven receiver on the roster. When it comes to the goal line offense Martellus Bennett will play a larger role now that Terrell Owens is gone because, Bennett with his size at 6’6 265 lb is a mismatch for anyone on the field as linebackers have trouble keeping up with him and CB’s and Safeties can’t deal with his height.

When Jones went down last year, it allowed Tashard Choice the chance to step up and show his worth and he did just that. With those two, combined with Marion Barber, expect the ‘Boys to be heavier on the run than in previous years as to take the pressure off the sometimes frail quarterback Tony Romo. With this three man rotation, the run game should be there throughout the year so they won’t have to worry about any of them being rundown. I would like to see Dallas line up in the backfield with two of these guys in certain packages, possibly all three. Jones, I could see being split out and used as a receiver to stretch the field with his speed and the other two being used for screens and dump off passes along with blocking any incoming blitzing defensive players.

The run game is going to be the jewel of this team’s offense so adding these few wrinkles should prove to keep the Cowboys as balanced as they can be and if Austin can come through as a legitimate deep threat then this will only make the Cowboys offense even more of a threat then it has been in previous years, which is actually saying a lot.