To say the Dallas Cowboys are coming up on an important season for the team is an understatement. The Cowboys have everything on the line, with new head coach Brian Schottenheimer in the fold, and they don’t have much time to turn things around before owner Jerry Jones starts to get antsy.
One big change heading into the 2025 is having a healthy franchise quarterback in Dak Prescott. The signal-caller started out the season strong in 2024 but suffered a season-ending injury while playing in the Cowboys’ Week 9 game against the Atlanta Falcons in November.
Now, Prescott will be back in full force for the 2025 season, which should help. But, what, overall, do the Dallas Cowboys have to be optimistic about this season?
A Big Plus for the Dallas Cowboys
In a June 10 feature for PFF, Dalton Wasserman gives one reason for optimism for each NFL team in 2025. The reasons usually have to do with certain players who are expected to help their teams immensely. “Every NFL team will enter the 2025 season with a clean slate — no wins, no losses,” he says in the story. “While those records will shift dramatically in the following weeks, each franchise has some hope of finding success until then.”
For the Cowboys, it’s all about the team’s beefed up offense. He says that team’s passing-game will have a big bounce back in 2025.
“Between Dak Prescott’s return to full strength and George Pickens‘ arrival from Pittsburgh, Dallas should see improvement from last year’s passing-game performance,” Wasserman notes. “Assuming he is healthy, Prescott should be able to bounce back from a career-worst 67.2 PFF passing grade.”
He adds, “Pickens tied for the NFL lead with a perfect 99.9 deep PFF receiving grade and could be a perfect complement to CeeDee Lamb in the receiving corps.”
Hence, the Cowboys should have some wicked passing-game numbers in 2025. It should be exciting to see Prescott playing alongside Pickens in the new season.
A Weakness for the Dallas Cowboys
Now going to something a bit more negative, Wasserman also has a separate piece out, out June 4, about every NFL team’s Achilles’ heel from the past few season. It’s a fascinating piece, because it points out the NFL player who has performed best against each NFL team. Some of these players are surprising, including the guy for the Dallas Cowboys.
In the piece, they look at the highest-graded player, offensive or defensive, against each NFL team over the past five seasons. “The only requirement is that said player has to have played at least 100 snaps against a team, effectively ensuring that at least two games occurred between the opponents,” Wasserman states.
For the Dallas Cowboys, it’s Browns guard Wyatt Teller, who “clearly got the memo that Dallas’ run defense has struggled in recent years.”
Wasserman notes, “His 94.2 PFF overall grade in two recent matchups is carried primarily by a fantastic 93.5 PFF run-blocking grade. In Week 4 of 2020, Teller earned a 96.7 PFF overall grade and a 94.9 PFF run-blocking grade — both of which represent the best single-game grades of his career.”
