What do you feel most differently about the Dallas Cowboys than you did just one year ago?

There are 525,600 minutes in a year. I’m not sure what happens in a leap year because the Rent lyrics don’t really explain that. So we’ll just stick with that number. When you listen to that song, the company talks about how much can change in a year and that is certainly the case with the Dallas Cowboys. In February of 2020, there is a new coach, basically a new staff, Kellen Moore with some national respect, and a whole lot of people needing a ton of money.

If you look back on the February 2019 version of yourself (tell them to go all in on the Chiefs a la Biff in BTTF), what do they feel most strongly about the Cowboys that you disagree with here now just one year later? There might not be a long list there, but odds are there is something.

Kellen Moore’s status as a very good offensive coordinator

Nobody is saying that Kellen Moore was perfect in 2019, but he was very good and coordinated one of the more efficient offenses in the NFL. That deserves praise.

While this is important to note, speaking just through my own personal lens it didn’t really feel like people were down on Moore specifically a year ago, as much as they were down on what he represented, the Cowboys doubling down on their own thoughts and intentions. Moore was successful and that obviously justified what the organization thought, but that could be coincidence.

DeMarcus Lawrence as a star pass rusher

There are a lot of subjects that cause division among Cowboys fans and surprisingly one of their better players is among them. Not so surprising really.

DeMarcus Lawrence didn’t have a sack total that satisfied enough people last season and considering he entered the year with the richest contract in franchise history that was not enough in a lot of people’s minds.

What’s more is that Robert Quinn did have the sack numbers which had people comparing the two all season long. Did you fall off the Tank bandwagon?

Amari Cooper as a number one wide receiver

At this time a year ago it feels safe to say that every Dallas Cowboys fan thought that Amari Cooper was among the best wide receivers in the world. Maybe you still feel that way, but the second half of last season definitely took some air out of that thought for a lot of people.

Cooper is definitely one of the better wideouts in the game, but as November and December wore on there were people that wondered if he was falling into the habits that saw the Oakland Raiders reach a point where moving on from him made sense. That’s troublesome.

Similarly to DeMarcus Lawrence, Amari Cooper seeing somebody at his position group elevate their game opposite of him (Michael Gallup is Robert Quinn here) made some people second-guess their initial thoughts on Cooper. That’s the way these things go sometimes.

Dak Prescott as one of the game’s better quarterbacks

It feels safe to assume that there will never be universal agreement on whoever the Dallas Cowboys quarterback is, we simply find ourselves in a day and age where that role is occupied for Dak Prescott.

Dak needs a new deal right now which has likely played a role in how people perceive him, but I’d be willing to say that there are people here in 2020 that thought much more negatively of him a year ago. That’s legitimate progress.

As mentioned, it is pretty impossible for Dak to earn the admiration of all Cowboys fans everywhere but the fact that he talked any into his camp after residing in the opposite end just a year ago speaks a lot to how successful he was individually last season.

Jaylon Smith as a future franchise cornerstone

If you want my own personal answer to this question then it is without question having to do with Jaylon Smith. At this time a year ago people were ready to push all of their chips in on him and his future. And they were right to feel that way.

Smith’s story - overcoming the enormous medical obstacles he was facing - was, and remains, incredible. It sort of accelerated the rate that people allowed themselves to fall for him as one of their favorite players and the fact that he spoke so glowingly of the history of the team during his extension press conference only added to the cause.

All of that good will dissipated rather quickly, though. These days there is a great sector of Cowboys fans that view Smith as focused more on corporate-based priorities and patenting his celebrations as opposed to results on the field. That’s no bueno.

Even all of that aside, Smith’s football reputation took a hit as he had one of the poorer seasons of all players in 2019. He was exposed, especially in Leighton Vander Esch’s absence, and there were a lot of people that didn’t think that was possible.