‘The Poster Child’: How Dorance Armstrong Is Proving The Cowboys Right - SI.com, Adam Schultz

Gotta give kudos to the front office.

Dallas Cowboys defensive end Dorance Armstrong is enjoying a career season. Part of the much-vaunted Cowboys defense that leads the NFL in sacks with 45, Armstrong has taken giant, consistent strides, and it hasn’t gone unnoticed.

In fact, maybe he deserves notice as “the prototype’’ - or, “the poster child,’’ as coach Mike McCarthy puts it - for the Cowboys’ much-ballyhooed “draft-and-develop’’ philosophy.

Drafted in 2018 in the fourth round, Armstrong was used mostly on special teams through his first two seasons as he played 48 percent of the snaps in 2019 and then 62 percent of snaps in 2020 before being elevated into the full defensive line rotation.

“He was a young player when I first arrived in 2020,” McCarthy said. “He was primarily looked at as a special-teams player, but every opportunity he was given at defensive end, he’s been productive. I think he took another step last year. To me, he’s the kinda poster child for what you’re looking for. You talk about ‘draft and develop,’ you want to see a young player come in and grow each and every year.”

Prescott: Cowboys Not Overlooking Colts, Anyone - DallasCowboys.com, Patrik Walker

Hard not to look ahead at more threatening teams.

FRISCO, TX — Don’t count on Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys walking into any contest with the concern of it being a possible trap game, and mostly because they can’t afford to. So as the Indianapolis Colts pack up their 4-7-1 record in their carry-on luggage to head to North Texas for a primetime matchup on Sunday, it’s paramount the Cowboys establish themselves early and often.

That includes, primarily, cleaning up penalties and miscues.

After all, it’s the same team that — despite being 8-3 on the season and chock full of Super Bowl potential — struggled to get going against the Detroit Lions in Week 7, suffered a collapse against the disjointed Green Bay Packers in Week 10 and saw self-inflicted wounds nearly push the injury-ravaged New York Giants to an upset on Thanksgiving Day.

“We’re not gonna get caught up in records or thinking we can just walk out there and beat these guys,” said Prescott at the conclusion of practice on Thursday. “We’ve got to continue preparing and give them respect, but know we are — in the same sense.”

Tony Pollard vs other pending RBs, look at Cowboys 2023 free agents - CowboysWire, K.D. Drummond

Checking out the stock of a few Cowboys up for free agency in 2023.

Almost two months later seems like a great time to check back in on the free agent class to see how their seasons have developed. Have any of the players improved their prospects of a sizable contract? Who might be less expensive to try and retain? Here’s a look at the shifts in market for the Cowboys’ pending free agency class of 2023, starting with RB Tony Pollard.

RB Tony Pollard

Pollard has always been considered a dangerous weapon, but in 2022 he’s ascended in production and reputation. After four weeks, the question was consistency. In Weeks 1 and 4, Pollard totaled 30 yards on 19 focuses (rushes + targets), an average of 1.58 yards. In between, he had 203 yards on 30 focuses, an average of 6.8 yards, with a score.

Since, Pollard has been the focus of a play 120 times for 773 yards and seven more scores. During that stretch, Pollard plays average 6.4 yards.

Cowboys Defensive End DeMarcus Lawrence Uses Platform to Help Texas Youth - NBCDFW, Kristen Conti

Lawrence makes a good case for the Cowboys’ Man of the Year and Walter Manning Award nomination.

During 2020, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Dallas Cowboys defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence used his platform as a professional NFL player to assist essential workers in their businesses and in the community.

Since then, Lawrence streamlined his efforts to focus more on the youth of Collin County, which is located in the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington metropolitan area of Texas.

“Now I can give my heart back to the kids,” said Lawrence in an interview with NBC LX. “I just want to be able to spread love and leadership throughout the community and not just through the football team.”

One of the many feats Lawrence has accomplished in the community is setting up events to show the kids of the county some fun. He and his friends teamed up with the Boys & Girls Club of Collin County in hosting a night of bowling and gift giveaways as well as school essentials.

2 Cowboys lead Pro Bowl votes for their respective positions - TheLandryHat, Lauren Barash

Only 24,000 votes for Zack Martin?

This season looks to be another positive year for the members of America’s Team.

The Pro Bowl is fan-voted and the polls have been open for almost two weeks now. Although there are still three weeks left to vote, the league leaked the current standings to let fans know which players are leading certain categories.

Two Cowboys players, who were on our recent Pro Bowl predictions list, happened to be leading their categories — Micah Parsons (OLB) and Zack Martin (G).

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