7 Bold Pre-Training Camp Predictions for Dallas Cowboys
As training camp approaches and is just a few short weeks away, it is time to give some wild predictions about the upcoming year.
These predictions may not come true, but the goal is to make some lofty predictions within the realms of the possibility.
While these all could happen, it certainly doesn't mean that they are a lock to occur. With that said, here are seven bold predictions for the Cowboys in 2017.
Ezekiel Elliott Will Score 20 Touchdowns in 2017
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In the past 20 seasons, there have been only 10 running backs to score 20 or more touchdowns in a single season. Here is the list of the players and the years in which they've accomplished this feat:
Shaun Alexander (2004 and 2005)
Terrell Davis (1998)
Marshall Faulk (2000 and 2001)
Ahman Green (2003)
Priest Holmes (2002 and 2003)
David Johnson (2016)
Larry Johnson (2005)
LeSean McCoy (2011)
LaDainian Tomlinson (2005 and 2006)
DeAngelo Williams (2008)
The average age of those 10 players when they accomplished this feat? 26.6. There were even multiple running backs who were close to the age of 30 when they went over the 20-touchdown marker.
The next running back in the NFL who has a chance to be a part of this club is Cowboys star Ezekiel Elliott. Elliott is much younger (21) than all of the players listed above and arguably plays behind a better offensive line than any of these rushers.
In 2016, Elliott scored 16 total touchdowns (15 rushing) as he went on to lead the NFL in rushing. Where Elliott can gain a few more touchdowns is in the red zone. Dak Prescott ran for six touchdowns last year and that number will drop as Dallas tries to limit the number of hits their franchise quarterback takes.
What also helps Elliott is that the Cowboys clearly want to run the ball even more in 2017. Elliott had 322 rushing attempts last year in 2016, and the Cowboys seem intent on giving him the ball more this year. Scoring 20 touchdowns isn't just a prediction for Elliott in 2017, it's the expectation with how dominant he was as a rookie. Expect Elliott to look much more dominant in 2017 in his second year in the NFL.
Damontre Moore Will Lead the Team in Sacks
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Leading the Cowboys in sacks isn't the tallest of tasks in Dallas. Over the past three seasons, no Cowboys pass-rusher has had more than eight sacks in a season, and the leader on the team finished with just six sacks twice. Those who have done so are somewhat journeyman types too, with Benson Mayowa, DeMarcus Lawrence and Jeremy Mincey as the team's sack leaders for the past three seasons.
Damontre Moore, who Dallas signed to a cheap two-year deal in March, has bounced around the league in his four-year career, but he's back in Texas with one of the best defensive coordinators in football in Rod Marinelli.
Moore has 10 sacks in his NFL career and that ranks him second on the team in career sacks behind just Tyrone Crawford. Moore struggles against the run, but he's a burner off the edge, and his athleticism is what got him a job in Dallas. The Cowboys have been so impressed with his athleticism so far that they have even used him as a gunner on punt coverage during practice, per Todd Archer of ESPN.com.
We've seen time and time again, Dallas brings in some of these talented rushers and somehow get production out of them. Whether that be a George Selvie, Mincey or Mayowa, Dallas knows how to find rushers who can be productive.
Don't expect Moore to put up double-digit sack numbers for the Cowboys, he could get six to eight sacks as a speed rusher on third downs. He's shown he has the ability to do that in the NFL. At just 24, Moore may have found a home in Dallas.
Dez Bryant Will Score More Than 12 Touchdowns in 2017
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Scoring 12 or more receiving touchdowns in a single season isn't easy. Only four receivers caught 12 touchdowns in 2016, and only one caught more than 12 (Jordy Nelson had 14). It's awfully hard to score double-digit touchdowns, let alone 12 or more.
But Dez Bryant has done and can do it. He's scored 12 or more touchdowns in a season three times over the course of his career. However, he's scored just 12 total (one passing) in the past two seasons. To the untrained eye, it would appear that Bryant's production has fallen off a cliff after signing a big extension in 2015.
But the truth of the matter is Bryant hasn't been healthy and has been forced to adjust to multiple and vastly different quarterbacks in the past two seasons. He's caught passes from Tony Romo, Matt Cassel, Kellen Moore and Dak Prescott. That's four quarterbacks in the past 20 games for Bryant. He just hasn't had stability at the quarterback position in the past two years.
Even last year, Bryant struggled out of the gate with Prescott. In his first five games, Bryant caught just 16 passes on 41 targets. Prescott and Bryant weren't able to establish any sort of rhythm in the first half of the season. The Cowboys' star receiver was healthy, but he just never looked like the same player we saw in 2014.
Bryant caught fire in the second half of the season, though, starting in Pittsburgh. Including the playoffs, Bryant caught 43 passes for 646 yards and nine total touchdowns in his final eight games (not counting Week 17 when he rested). Extrapolate those stats for 16 games, and Bryant would've scored around 17-18 touchdowns in 2016. Not bad considering he was playing with a rookie quarterback.
Assuming Bryant is healthy in 2016, 12 touchdowns should be a lock for Bryant. While we haven't seen him do it since 2014, I predict this is the year Bryant reclaims his spot as a top-three receiver in the NFL.
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La'el Collins Will Make the Pro Bowl at Right Tackle
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With Ronald Leary's move to Denver via free agency and the sudden retirement of Doug Free, the Cowboys are relying on third-year player La'el Collins to slide over from left guard to right tackle. While the transition may be difficult for him at first, he does have experience playing tackle; he was LSU's left tackle throughout his career with the Tigers.
Collins is going to have an excellent chance to make the Pro Bowl for one simple reason; he's going to be tested by some of the best pass-rushers in the NFL. He's scheduled to face Jason Pierre-Paul, Von Miller, Justin Houston, Khalil Mack, Joey Bosa and more in 2017.
If Collins performs well against these elite rushers, he will quickly get the notoriety of one of the league's best right tackles. And with so many of the Cowboys' games appearing in prime-time TV slots, he will be watched frequently by the coaches, players and national media.
As long as Collins can survive at right tackle, he will be praised for his transition from guard. The 23-year-old obviously has the talent to be a top tackle in the NFL; he just needs to show that he can convert that talent to production. Expect him to do so right away in 2017.
Maliek Collins Makes the Pro Bowl
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Putting up high sack totals for a defensive tackle is tough. Doing it as a 21-year old rookie is even tougher. Just to prove how tough it is and how good Maliek Collins was last year, here is a list of defensive tackles with more sacks than Collins before their 22nd birthday:
1. Shane Dronett (6.5)
2. Marcell Dareus (5.5)
3. Amobi Okoye (5.5)
4. Dan Wilkinson (5.5)
Collins just turned 22 in April and already has five career sacks. Collins' broken foot in the 2016 offseason makes that number even more impressive. It caused him to miss his first training camp in the NFL, and Collins jumped right into NFL action with very little practice time and was very successful.
Last year, the three defensive tackles who played in the Pro Bowl for the NFC were Linval Joseph, Gerald McCoy and Fletcher Cox (Aaron Donald was voted in but didn't play). Of those three, McCoy led the group in sacks with just seven. Even Aaron Donald only tallied eight.
It's not inconceivable that, with a full training camp and a year under his belt, Collins could get to seven or eight sacks. He's going to play heavy snaps for the Cowboys again in 2017 and should have more help on the outside to take pressure off him after the team drafted Taco Charlton in the first round.
If the Cowboys continue to surprise people on defense, one of the biggest reasons will be Collins. He's going to get a lot of national attention this season, and that could lead to his first ever Pro Bowl selection. He may have the highest ceiling of any Cowboys defensive lineman.
Anthony Brown Will Be the Team's Best Defensive Back
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With the Cowboys going through such a big transition in the secondary, especially at cornerback, the team is going to need to rely on veterans Orlando Scandrick and Nolan Carroll to play well as the young pups learn how to play in the NFL. Expect Scandrick and Carroll to log heavy snaps in the early parts of the season as they wait for the rookies to develop.
But while Chidobe Awuzie and Jourdan Lewis are still getting their feet under them, another young defensive back could rise up and be the best player in the team's secondary. Second-year cornerback Anthony Brown has everything you would want from the position. His abilities to play inside and outside combined with his skills in man and zone coverage make him the ideal fit in Rod Marinelli's defense.
In 2016, Brown graded out as the 47th-best cornerback in the NFL, according to Pro Football Focus. But with more snaps on the horizon and a full year under his belt, a massive leap in Brown's play could be coming. Brown played well as a rookie, seeing most of his snaps outside. He's progressively got better and better each week and was the team's best cornerback by the end of the season.
Bryon Jones and the rest of the secondary should play well early on, but Brown has the chance to be something special. He will prove that this year as he becomes not only the best cornerback on the roster but the best secondary player. Brown has the highest ceiling of the cornerbacks, and this could be the year that he starts to show how much talent he has yet to unlock.
Anthony Hitchens Will Be the Team's Second-Best Linebacker
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It's coming. The Cowboys' 2017 training camp might as well be named "Jaylon Smith Watch" as all eyes will be on the second-year linebacker from Notre Dame. Obviously, there's a ton of excitement surrounding him, and there will be even more once he actually steps onto the field with pads for the first time in his NFL career.
Teammates are only building the expectations. Safety Byron Jones recently told NFL Total Access that Smith is "100 percent" healthy. I'll admit that I too am anxious to see Smith in camp. However, the expectations are too far out of control for a player we've never seen make a tackle in the NFL. That's why I expect Anthony Hitchens, not Jaylon Smith, to be the team's second-best linebacker in 2017.
That actually has nothing to do with me being pessimistic about Smith, but more about how optimistic I am about Hitchens. He actually took a major step forward in 2016. According to Pro Football Focus, Hitchens was the 47th-ranked linebacker last year and finished with an overall grade of 73.2, a big step up from his grade of 40.5 in 2015.
Hitchens started every game in 2016, recording 78 total tackles for the Cowboys. Hitchens was drastically better against the pass last year, and that's encouraging as it has been his biggest weakness throughout his career so far.
Smith will get a ton of attention in the next month, but don't expect him to take over Hitchens' job, at least not right away. Entering his fourth year, we should see an even better Hitchens this upcoming season, and I would expect him to be the second best linebacker on the field each and every Sunday. Smith is coming, but Hitchens still deserves praise for his play.
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