Questionable OT and WR depth remain Cowboys’ biggest concerns prior to the preseason finale

With Amari Cooper, Cedrick Wilson, and La’el Collins all moving joining new teams in the offseason, the Dallas Cowboys depth at wide receiver and offensive tackle took a significant hit. Surprisingly enough, despite losing the three starters from a year ago, Dallas has yet to figure out exactly how to replace them. It’s a problem of their own doing for the most part, but one that still needs to be fixed.

While who starts and where grabs the headlines, and rightfully so, having proper depth throughout the roster at each position is what can make or break a team each season. For the Dallas Cowboys, that’s especially true considering Tyron Smith’s recent injury that shakes up the whole tackle depth chart.. Because of that, OT depth is all the more important and may require additions to the roster.

Terence Steele, Dallas’ primary swing tackle last season, is expected to slide into the starting right tackle spot recently vacated by La’el Collins. Steele showed quite a bit a of promise last year as a spot starter when called upon, however, as of yet there are still questions about how he will perform as a full-time starter.

Knowing what we know about Terence Steele though, any concerns we may have about him are lessened a bit because we have seen him perform well as a starter in spot duty. But, with him taking over a starting role, the concern now shifts to who replaces him as Dallas’ primary swing tackle, an important job considering Tyron Smith could miss a lenghty amount of time.

If the season were to start today, Josh Ball, Dallas’ 2021 fourth-round draft pick, would likely get the nod as the backup to Tyron Smith and Terence Steele. Considering he pretty much had a redshirt year as a rookie last season, and hasn’t performed all that well so far in preseason, that is problematic right now for the Cowboys. The need with Smith’s injury may cause the team to look for an outside free agent to help out.

The same thing could be said about Dallas’ wide receiver position behind CeeDee Lamb. We all know Michael Gallup is working his way back from his season-ending knee injury last year, but when he’ll return to the starting lineup, and how he’ll play once he does, is a little worrisome in itself. And behind them on the depth chart the unknown runs rampant.

The quarterback play from Cooper Rush and Will Grier hasn’t helped the Cowboys first and second-year receivers prove themselves reliable in the passing game in the first two preseason games, but despite that the optimism remains high. So much so, we haven’t heard any whispers about any outside WR help being added anytime soon.

Hopefully, with Dak Prescott under center during the regular season, we will get to see some of the rapport he’s been building with Dallas’ young WRs this offseason. Maybe with him at the helm we can finally understand why there’s so much optimism still surrounding this young receiving core behind CeeDee Lamb and Michael Gallup.

With one preseason game remaining until the kickoff of the 2022 season against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Cowboys OT and WR depth will continue to be tested. We may have to continue to sit on pins and needles until Dallas does something to address what remains their two biggest concerns right now.