Dallas Cowboys' Top Candidates for Breakout Season in 2017

The Dallas Cowboys' approach to the 2017 offseason has been interesting, to say the least. After a dominant 13-3 season, the team has lost numerous starters, specifically on defense. The team is banking on the draft to infuse talent to their roster, but they are also counting on a few players currently on the roster to take the next step. 

The Cowboys have a number of players on their roster who are poised for big seasons in 2017. Here are the top-five breakout candidates for the Cowboys.

FS Jeff Heath

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Jeff Heath has been a core special teams player throughout his career, which led to a new four-year contract extension prior to the 2016 season.

Heath hasn't played much on defense over the past three years, only playing 568 defensive snaps, but when he has played, he's created turnovers. From 2015 to 2016, Heath has accounted for five turnovers (four interceptions and one forced fumble) and one sack.

His best position is as a free safety who can roam as a deep center fielder. He's highly athletic and has shown that he has the instincts to take the ball away at an impressive rate. Over the past two seasons, Heath has created a turnover once every 89 snaps. Dallas' defense lives off turnovers and if Heath can produce anywhere near this level in 2017 with starter snaps, he will help change the Cowboys defense. 

TE Rico Gathers

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For the most part, the Cowboys seem pretty set at tight end heading into 2017. Jason Witten is the clear starter, and he will play close to 95 percent of the team's offensive snaps, if not more. Behind Witten, Geoff Swaim and James Hanna will compete for snaps as the move tight end who will handle the H-back duties. However, both Swaim and Hanna are recovering from major injuries, which could leave the door open for Rico Gathers. 

A sixth-round pick in 2016, Gathers is a former basketball player from Baylor who is trying to convert from power forward to tight end in the NFL. He didn't play in his rookie season and was stashed on the Cowboys practice squad for the entire year. 

However, that doesn't mean Gathers' rookie season was a lost year. At 6'8", 280 pounds, Gathers is a massive target who took hundreds of snaps at offensive tackle on the scout team in 2016. From all accounts, Gathers was able to find success as a tight end during practices. Former NFL scout Bryan Broaddus had this to say about him on a draft podcast for dallascowboys.com:

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I will say this. I had people come up to me and say, cause I was always curious about Rico [Gathers], I had people come up to me and say ‘You ought-of seen what [Tony] Romo did with him today, cause Romo was with him on scout team. And Romo just kept throwing him the ball because he was so much bigger. He was battling [Barry] Church, he’s battling [Byron] Jones, he’s battling [J.J.] Wilcox and [Jeff] Heath. The kid just kept making plays. The problem is not the athletic ability, it’s the mental side…he just hasn’t played football.

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Aside from from Broaddus' comments, there have also been clips circulating on Gathers from practice. He won't overtake Witten in 2017, but he may be able to compete with Hanna or Swaim for snaps on Sundays as an extra blocker or as a red-zone weapon. Gathers still needs time to develop, but he has all the tools to be a breakout player on offense for the Cowboys.  

DE Charles Tapper

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Like Rico Gathers, Charles Tapper didn't play a single snap for the Dallas Cowboys in 2017. Tapper missed the entire season after injuring his back during camp, and he suffered a setback in September. It was later discovered that Tapper had an undiagnosed back injury, called Pars Defect, that was discovered last season. 

Tapper is expected to be 100 percent for OTAs, and he's been focusing on improving his body. At the 2016 scouting combine, Tapper weighed in at 271 pounds. But he recently tweeted that he's down to 255 pounds. A quick search of his Instagram account shows that he looks much leaner this year than during his rookie season. 

Tapper is a fantastic athlete as he tested in the 85th percentile for edge-rushers in 2016, according to 3sigmaathlete.com. With 4.59 speed, Tapper has the size and quickness to be a dominant edge-rusher for the Cowboys. If he can stay healthy, Rod Marinelli will enjoy coaching a player with this much natural athleticism and motor. 

Dallas doesn't need Tapper to be a superstar in 2017, but they could use another explosive rusher off the edge. If Tapper can find his way into the rotation early in the year, that would be a major bonus for the Cowboys. 

DL David Irving

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2016 was a mini-breakout year for David Irving as he accumulated four sacks on 481 defensive snaps. He was still just a rotational piece for the Cowboys, but his play drastically improved over the second half of the season. At just 23 years old, Irving showed that he has starter potential in his limited snaps in 2016. 

Irving's best game of the season came in Week 15, where he took over the second half of the game against Tampa Bay. He racked up 1.5 sacks, a forced fumble and drew numerous penalties. Irving finished the week as the sixth-highest rated 4-3 defensive end in Week 15, according to the NFL1000. 

He's got every attribute to be a great defensive end in the NFL as he's one of the best athletes in the league at the defensive end position. He had one of the best pro days in recent memory as he posted a 38" vertical jump and a 128" broad jump at 6'7", 272 pounds. 

With increased playing time and more development under defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli, Irving could easily be the Cowboys' best edge-rusher by the end of the season. It's not inconceivable that Irving could eclipse double-digit sacks for the first time in his career.

He's got the versatility to play anywhere on the defensive line and the athleticism to beat offensive linemen with speed and/or power. Look for Irving to become a full-time starter at defensive end in 2017. 

DT Maliek Collins

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Of the five players listed, defensive tackle Maliek Collins is the most likely player to take the next step into becoming a star for the Dallas Cowboys. After a highly successful rookie season where Collins started 14 games, he was able to accumulate five sacks on 661 snaps. But how his rookie season unfolded makes his 2017 breakout even more likely. 

Collins was a third-round pick by the Cowboys in 2016 out of Nebraska. But shortly after he was drafted, he broke a bone in his foot that caused him to miss all of training camp. However, he was able to make it back onto the field for the opening game of the season, and he quickly replaced Tyrone Crawford as the team's starting 3-technique. 

Throughout the season, Collins showed off his exceptional quickness and relentless motor. By the end of the season, he was one of the most consistent defensive players on the roster. 

Since 1970, there have only been five defensive tackles who have had five career sacks before their 22nd birthday. Maliek Collins joined that list with five sacks in 2016. Collins just turned 22 years old this month, and he's determined to be a better player in 2017.

He's been training this offseason in Phoenix, Arizona at the Fischer Institute, a pass-rushing specialist training facility. Collins recently released a video of his workouts at the facility to show his improved quickness and hand speed. 

For Collins to truly break out next season, he will need to continue to improve in the passing game and build on his five-sack season. If Collins can give the Cowboys a true pass-rushing presence at the 3-technique, it would force teams to double him. That extra attention should allow the Dallas pass rush to improve drastically in 2017.

Collins' stats don't necessarily have to improve for him to breakout in 2017, they just need him to be a better player. And at just 22, that seems likely.