Dallas Cowboys pre-training camp position breakdown series, looking at the specialists
There are three phases to the game of professional football: offense, defense and special teams.
Oftentimes the offense and defense each take control of the show and special teams fall by the wayside. This is how things used to go for the Dallas Cowboys until John Fassel arrived in 2020. Ever since then we have seen all sorts of aggression and wild nature in the name of finding an edge. This is the way that the game should be played.
With training camp (finally) almost upon us we have been slowly looking at each and every position group on the roster and have finally reached the specialists.
You can see/visit every discussion that we have had below:
We will wrap up the series later this week with the coaching staff, but this will be the last time that any players are discussed. Some could say that we saved the best for last in the specialists, whatever you want to say it is time to begin.
Here we go.
Brandon Aubrey
In doing the prep work for this series it became apparent that the Cowboys haven’t entered training camp with this level of certainty around the kicker position in some time, so we wrote about that in advanced of talking about the specialists as a whole. Brandon Aubrey deserves that much love.
Aubrey was so good and consistent last year that it became boring. He smashed the NFL record for most consecutive field goals to start a career and was easily named both a First-Team All-Pro and Pro Bowler. Beyond how boringly successful his season was the days of Dan Bailey are not so far in the rearview mirror that we have totally forgotten what it was like to have one of the more reliable kickers in the game. There is an argument to be made that this has been the most stable position on the roster over the last 13 or so years with a few seasons of volatility in between Bailey and Aubrey.
Will Brandon Aubrey completely replicate his consistency in 2024? Odds are low just due to regression of the mean. Consider that he attempted 38 field goals last year and missed two. These are elite numbers.
Interestingly regarding his misses Aubrey seems to have a weird weak spot. Here are his numbers from each level of range:
- 20-29 yards: 9 for 9
- 30-39 yards: 13 of 15
- 40-49 yards: 4 of 4
- 50 yards and beyond: 10 of 10
While we recall the days of Brett Maher and remember his ability to convert from downtown, what if I told you that he never hit 10 from beyond the arc in a single season? He went 6/7 (2018), 4/8 (2019) and 9/11 (2022). Seriously, we do not appreciate Brandon Aubrey enough.
We will be dropping videos breaking down position groups on the Dallas Cowboys roster every Tuesday and Thursday for the next few weeks as we get closer and closer to training camp. Make sure to subscribe to the Blogging The Boys YouTube Channel (which you can do right here) so you do not miss any of them.
Bryan Anger
Did you remember that Bryan Anger was also an All-Pro last year? It may have been as “only” a Second-Team selection, but the honor is impressive nonetheless.
Anger may not lay dudes out on returns the way that his predecessor in Chris Jones was known to do from time to time, but he remains highly impressive in what will now be his 13th NFL season.
On the subject of Anger’s NFL origins, one of my favorite things is that he was the inspiration for Rich Eisen’s famous “punters are people, too!” rant. In case you forgot, Anger was a third-round pick of the Jacksonville Jaguars which obviously turned some heads. Eisen defended the move with that rallying cry and the rest is history.
These days life is pretty easy for Anger as the punter that plays alongside one of the better and more efficient offenses in the league. Last season actually saw a career low for Anger in terms of the number of punts that he booted in a season with 44. The low number helped him field his largest yards per punt at 51.4.
The Eisen rant above includes a playful remark from him where he says that Anger is a “weapon” which rang true for Dallas last season. Bryan recorded his fourth-best percentage of punts downed inside of the opposing 20-yard line. His 2022 season with Dallas ranks third here and seasons with other teams take the top two spots.
The point here is that Bryan Anger is a reliable part of the operation that the Cowboys field on a game to game basis. Like Brandon Aubrey he provides an underrated contribution towards achieving the ultimate goal.
Trent Sieg
It is still difficult to not think of the great L.P. Ladouceur when talking about Dallas Cowboys longsnappers, but Trent Sieg has done a fine job of carving his own place in history.
In case you were unaware, Sieg has a pretty fun personality that he lets show up on social media. It is worth following him on Twitter if you have not done so already.
At its core the job of a longsnapper is to remain invisible when it matters most and that is during the actual football games. Through his first season in Dallas it is safe to say that Sieg managed to do so which is partly why (obviously) he is returning for another run with the group.
Here’s to another season of fun and laughter with on-field excellence.
A note about the upcoming changes to the kickoff
This is not necessarily a point about anybody on the roster, but it is worth mentioning.
We are on the precipice of uncovering a new world in the NFL relative to the kickoff. There is a new system at play and therefore new opportunities lurking. This could lead to Player X or Person Y developing and turning into a star in a way that was previously impossible.
Could that be someone like C.J. Goodwin from a coverage standpoint? Maybe KaVontae Turpin is finally able to reach the endzone? Perhaps Deuce Vaughn has a high level of value?
At this time the answers are not known. But when we perform this exercise next year it is highly likely that there is another name in this mix for this reason.