Dallas Cowboys, youth suits them so well

After a season 2020 complicated, where Dallas notably had to evolve most of the year without its quarterback Dak Prescott, the Cowboys have been living again since the start of this new season, in the wake of several young players who are already asserting themselves as the new leaders of franchise. Through the prism of three youth drafted in the last two yearsanalysis of a return to the fore accelerated by hopes that are already confirming.

A nightmarish 2020 season

To understand why the Cowboys can congratulate themselves on having – even if the season is not yet over – rebounded, we must go back to a little less than a year ago, at the beginning of 2021, when taking stock of the previous exercise. The latter is very far from flattering: six wins for ten defeats and a third place in the NFC East, a division that seemed the least competitive in the league. If Dallas finishes “only” one win away from Washington (7-9 record, 1^is in NFC East), the negative conclusions to be drawn from Mike McCarthy’s Year I, which arrived at the start of the season, are numerous.

First observation, the defense has simply hit rock bottom. 28^e on the points collected – unheard of since 2010, the year Jason Garrett took over as interim manager –, 25^e in yards conceded per game, and especially penultimate in defense against the run: generally giving satisfaction, this squad was unrecognizable. Second observation, the absence of Dak Prescott weighed down the attack. With the former Mississippi State under center, Dallas was amassing yards, especially through the air, and even though the record was average (one win in four full games), Mike McCarthy’s aerial system hinted at a record season for the quarterback. None of this was verified, and Andy Dalton’s interim failed to develop the attack to a level that would have covered up the problems on the other side of the ball.

Without his star and with a defense far too permeable, the Cowboys therefore took on water. If there was a burst of pride at the very end of the season – Dallas having won three of its last four games – which gave a glimpse of a possible qualification for the playoffs, said burst is more of a trompe-l’oeil effect than something else. A season to forget, but which has already allowed some young people to acclimatize to this new environment that is the NFL.

The youth in power

After eleven weeks of competition, and at the dawn of the twelfth which will start this evening with the Thanksgiving posters, Dallas is in first place in its division with a record of (7-3), already more victories than the last year. While many factors can explain this return to the fore, such as the return of Dak Prescott or the influence of the Elliott/Pollard duo on the ground, it is interesting to show the impact of three players under two years old. of league experience: CeeDee Lamb (Choix n°17, Draft 2020), Trevon Diggs (Choice No. 51, Draft 2020) and Micah Parsons (Choice No. 12, Draft 2021).

CeeDee Lamb, first option in the air

The only offensive player in this trio, CeeDee Lamb asserts himself today as the go-to-guy of this attack, the target at which the quarterback will try to throw the ball the most. Option n ° 2 behind Amari Cooper last year, the former Oklahoma is this season the most targeted player (77), with the most yards (740) and the most touchdowns (6) in the attack cowboys. If the statistics are slightly skewed by the fact that Cooper has played one game less (absent in Week 10 against the Chiefs after testing positive for Covid-19), that already says a lot about Lamb’s impact in this offensive squad. In a system that relies heavily on aerial play, he makes his power speak and stands out from the others thanks to his ability to get additional yards with the ball in hand. In a fairly dense receiver squad when everyone is healthy (Cooper, Gallup and even Schultz), CeeDee Lamb’s meteoric progression helped revive the offensive machine that Dallas was already at the start of last season. .

Trevon Diggs, the island man

If the flashes observed in attack last year and the presence of Mike McCarthy can minimize the impact that CeeDee Lamb has on this aspect of the rebound of the Cowboys, impossible on the other hand to reduce the role of Trevon Diggs on the level of the defense . Already present last year, where he had shown interesting things in the Texas defensive slump, Diggs has reached a milestone in 2021. And in what way! In the first six weeks of competition, the sophomore recorded at least one interception, even returning two to the endzone opponent. If he has slowed down since, he remains one of the most important elements of this defense at just twenty-three years old. Brilliant on the cover in a secondary who never really recovered from the departure of Byron Jones in 2019, he excels and even asserts himself as a more than serious candidate for the title of defender of the year *. In his wake, the Cowboys often manage to limit the production of the enemy’s best receiver and are punished much less than last year by air (28 passing touchdowns conceded in 2020, 10^e this season).

*According to several sports betting sites, Diggs ranks first or second behind Myles Garrett.

Micah Parsons, already a star

In the other part of the defense, how not to mention the colossal impact of rookie Micah Parsons? Long considered the best defensive prospect of the 2021 vintage, the former Penn State star had finally dropped to 12^e rank, and the Cowboys can rub their hands. The observation is quite simple, no rookie is as important in his franchise as Parsons is in Dallas, and he is already establishing himself as one of the best linebackers in the league. His statistics after eleven weeks are dizzying: 62 tackles, 8 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, 13 tackles for loss and 18 QB hits. Compared to the stats for franchise defensemen last year, Parsons already has more sacks, tackles for loss and QB hits than the top Cowboys in those categories in all of fiscal 2020.

With the Pennsylvania native in the middle of his defense, Dallas metamorphosed to stop the opposing running game. Second worst team in this area last year, the Texas franchise now ranks seventh in the number of yards conceded on the ground. Better, the Cowboys conceded 158.8 yards on the run per game (5 yards per run on average), and only conceded 103.7 this year (4.4 yards per run on average). In just a few months, Micah Parsons has therefore helped to revive a defense previously in distress and, barring cataclysm, has almost already secured the title of defensive rookie of the year. Grand.

In just two years, Dallas has picked up three assertive players today like the leaders of a team in full rejuvenation (9^e NFL’s youngest team, 12^e in 2020, 24^e in 2019). Hardly last year, the franchise was able to relaunch, taking advantage in particular of the XXL performances of the trio Lamb / Diggs / Parsons, and can hope to take advantage of a more than affordable end of the calendar to be next to the headliners. of the NFC. To find out if the Cowboys can end the season with a bang, go tonight at 10:30 p.m. for the second poster of the Thanksgiving evening which will oppose them to the Las Vegas Raiders.

Feature image credit: Dallas Cowboys via Getty Images