Dallas City News

What does CeeDee do for an encore? – Staff Writers, DallasCowboys.com

The Dallas Cowboys staff writers give their thoughts on how CeeDee Lamb can top a spectacular 2023 season this year.

Mickey Spagnola: Not only maintaining a modicum of consistency, seeing he has produced three consecutive 1,000-yard receiving seasons and missing a fourth straight by 65 yards his rookie season, but striving to improve. Understand CeeDee set the franchise single season records with 135 receptions (led the NFL) and 1,749 receiving yards, and this might be nitpicking, but he did have five games in 2023 with season lows of four receptions. Don’t allow that to happen no matter if defenses are tilting his way. Also keep those touchdown receptions rising, having done so in his four seasons with 5, 6, 9 and 12 receiving TDs. The bar is high for sure, but the great ones keep the bar moving on up.

Kyle Youmans: There’s only one thing left to do for one of the top wide receivers in the NFL, win the AP Offensive Player of the Year award. Last year he finished third in the award’s voting behind only San Francisco’s Christian McCaffrey and Miami’s Tyreek Hill. Lamb’s historic 2023 season was full of incredible moments and plenty of stats. However, it won’t be impossible to overcome. He’s seen an improvement in each of the major categories, setting career-highs in receptions, receiving yards and touchdowns during each of his NFL seasons. That’s a streak that will inevitably come to an end. But if he can continue it for one more season, he’ll establish himself as the best in the league.

Patrik Walker: More, is what he can do. Allow me to explain. I realize there are some who’ll say more here means less elsewhere in the offense, and that’s fair, but there is no reason to suddenly begin scaling back on Lamb intentionally. If it happens organically by virtue of triple teams that open up Brandin Cooks, Jake Ferguson, Jalen Tolbert/Jalen Brooks/KaVontae Turpin and opportunities in the run game, so be it. But nothing would infuriate me more than finally finding the skeleton key to making Lamb arguably the best wideout in the league only to intentionally get away from targeting him heavily. He’s now shown he can play all three WR roles and make big plays is what he excels at, but also in doing some dirty work in blocking for others downfield. Keep this party going, I say, and all Lamb needs to do is make sure consistency remains a thing going forward.

Cowboys rookie tabbed as under-the-radar prospect to thrive – Randy Gurzi, Sports Illustrated

Ryan Flournoy has a real shot to earn a contributing role with the Cowboys in his first season in the NFL.

The Southeast Missouri State (FCS) product turned heads all camp and even drew comparisons to Dez Bryant. Derrik Klassen of Bleacher Report didn’t go that far but he did name Flournoy as an under-the-radar rookie who could thrive this season. Klassen says there’s room in a depleted wide receiver corps for Flournoy to carve out a role and he has the size and speed to take advantage of the opportunity.

”Like Tolbert, Flournoy is a height-weight-speed dream. Flournoy is 6’1”, 202-pounds with outrageous explosive ability and impressive 4.44s speed. He was a menace both down the field and with the ball in his hands at the FCS level.” – Klassen, Bleacher Report

In addition to his athletic traits, Flournoy has shown a knack for high-pointing the ball and is excellent at boxing out the defender when going up for a pass.

He didn’t play against elite competition during his collegiate career, so Flournoy still has a lot to prove. But at this point, it would be more of a surprise to see him fail than it would to see him become a contributor early in his career.

How Trey Lance has trained for 2024 Cowboys, 2025 free agency – Todd Archer, ESPN

Trey Lance has been hard at work this offseason, understanding what is at stake and the importance of taking advantage of every opportunity he gets this preseason.

For more than 90 minutes, Lance throws all sorts of passes under the watchful eye of his private quarterback coach, Jeff Christensen. Among the five receivers is former Cowboys wideout Terrance Williams, a 2013 third-round pick who looks as fast today as he did as a rookie. The ceiling fans inside the facility move the air but don’t bring down the temperature all that much.

It does, however, beat working outside where the temperature is in the high-90s.

“I’ve got no reason not to [be here],” Lance said. “I think of it that way. I guess I’m not in any position to have any slipups or anything like that, so for me, it’s a no-brainer. I feel healthy. I feel great. And every time I come out here, I get better. So it’s one of those things where I would feel guilty if I was out there doing something else.”

The only break Lance will take before training camp is a quick return to Minnesota for a friend’s wedding. There’s too much to do and too much at stake before the Cowboys report to Oxnard, California, on July 23.

Role Call: Jason Johnson brings run-stop reliability – Nick Harris, DallasCowboys.com

Undrafed free-agent LB Jason Johnson has some work to do to earn his spot on the final roster for the Cowboys. But with a need for LB depth, he has a real opportunity to do just that this preseason.

How He Got Here: Originally from a southern suburb of Chicago, Johnson began his collegiate football career at Eastern Illinois where he was a two-time FCS All-American and a tackling machine during his three seasons with the Panthers. He then hit the transfer portal as one of the hotter commodities from the FCS ranks and landed with UCF where he played two seasons. Those two years saw him total 240 tackles including 10.5 tackles for loss and four sacks. His presence as a commanding MIKE linebacker gave him some draft buzz, but the 6-foot-2, 235-pounder instead went undrafted where the Cowboys were able to rein in his services.

What’s Next: There’s no question that there was a huge absence of healthy bodies at the linebacker position for the large majority of the season after Leighton Vander Esch went down with injury, and the Cowboys’ front office used quite a bit of resources to fill out the depth of that position group this offseason. That includes Johnson, while he may be looking behind other new additions such as Eric Kendricks and Marist Liufau, he will have an opportunity in the preseason to show that he can be relied upon on special teams and as a reliable run-fit linebacker that can come in if an injury arises to the group in front of hin.

2024 NFL season is 50 days away: 50 things to know ahead of Week 1 – Garrett Podell, CBSSports

Records are meant to be broken.

41. Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott became the first quarterback in Cowboys history to lead the NFL outright in passing touchdowns, and he is only the second quarterback ever to lead the NFL in passing touchdowns a year after throwing the most interceptions, joining Bob Waterfield who did the same thing from the 1945 to 1946 seasons.

42. Prescott is the only players with 200-plus passing touchdowns (202) and 25-plus rushing touchdowns (28) in any eight-year stretch in NFL history, and Prescott’s run of doing so spans across the first eight years of his NFL career.

43. Cowboys edge rusher Micah Parsons and Hall of Famer Reggie White are the only players with at least 13 sacks in each of their first three seasons

Who are the NFL’s best cornerbacks? Execs, coaches and scouts help rank 2024’s top 10 – Jeremy Fowler, ESPN

ESPN caused quite a stir in Cowboys Nation with their CB Rankings that had Trevon Diggs as a mere honorable mention and DaRon Bland as an “also received votes.”

NFL roster rankings: Top 10 teams for 2024 – Bucky Brooks, Foxsports

The Cowboys barely squeak in to the Top 10, but at least Diggs and Bland get some love from Brooks.

9. Dallas Cowboys

Analysis: Despite the disappointment over the Cowboys’ recent playoff failures, “America’s Team” remains a viable contender due to a roster loaded with blue-chip players. Dak Prescott has developed into an upper-echelon quarterback, relying on a talented supporting cast to help him post 4,000-yard seasons annually. CeeDee Lamb and Jake Ferguson dominate between the hashes as polished route runners with sticky hands. With a rock-solid frontline providing excellent protection due to the efforts Tyler Smith and Zack Martin at the point of attack, the Cowboys’ offense flashes explosive potential despite the presence of an aging running back in the backfield.

Defensively, the Cowboys might have the most big-play specialists in football with Micah Parsons, Trevon Diggs, and DaRon Bland in the lineup. The trio excels at creating turnovers in critical moments and their individual and collective skills as takeaway bandits. Considering how the turnover battle routinely decides games, the Cowboys’ explosive offense and turnover-obsessed defense allow them to knock off the heavyweights around the league.

How do NFC pass rush groups stack up heading into the 2024 season? – Larry Holder, The Athletic

A look at the Dallas pass rushers.

Parsons is elite. We all know that.

DeMarcus Lawrence hasn’t produced a double-digit sack season since 2018, with his highest total since then coming in 2020 (6.5 sacks). Still, his pressure rates have been consistently high — his average rate the last five years is 13.7 percent; his 2023 rate was 13.8 percent.

I’d expect Sam Williams to find more playing time with a couple of veterans off to Washington. Williams missed the above chart by 23 pass rush snaps, but produced a 13.0 percent pressure rate and 4.5 sacks last season. Osa Odighizuwa brought heat from the interior last season, but 2023 first-rounder Mazi Smith underwhelmed as a pass rusher (5.7 percent pressure rate on 141 pass rush snaps).

Popular Cowboys beat reporter Michael Gehlken stepping down – Arthur Weinstein, Awful Anouncing

One of the good ones is leaving.

Dallas Cowboys beat writer Michael Gehlken announced Thursday he’s leaving The Dallas Morning News after five seasons covering the team.

Gehlken, who has also covered the Chargers and Raiders in his 14-year career as an NFL beat reporter, posted the news on X, saying “it is time to walk away.”

“After five seasons reporting on the Cowboys for The Dallas Morning News, I am stepping down and moving to Washington, D.C., for family reasons,” Gehlken wrote. “Journalism was my childhood dream job. Having lived it for 15 years, I begin the search for a new challenge. Thank you.”