3 biggest surprises from the Dallas Cowboys 2022 season

The Dallas Cowboys 2022 season is officially over. The ups and downs from the roller coaster ride they took us on this year has finally come to a stop. While the end result was no doubt disappointing, there still is plenty to be grateful for this year although it may be difficult to see right now with the wounds of defeat still fresh in our minds.

Today, we will take a look back at some of the biggest surprises for the Dallas Cowboys in 2022. Sometimes it’s good to look back and embrace some the positives that happened instead of dwelling on the negative.

Cowboys’ 2022 draft class

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Tyler Smith, Sam Williams, Jake Ferguson, DaRon Bland, and Damone Clark were all key contributors in their first season with the Dallas Cowboys. For a team who loves to build their foundation through the NFL draft, this is great news for the Cowboys moving forward. All five of the rookies mentioned above can be full-time starters, or at least regular rotational guys, next season, and there’s still hope the rest of the 2022 draft class can develop into contributors as well. All in all, this was one heck of a haul. Hopefully the same will be said about the 2023 draft class.

KaVontae Turpin

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Upgrading the return game was one of the top priorities for the Dallas Cowboys in the offseason last year and they couldn’t have asked for a better solution than KaVontae Turpin. He was one of the only players in the entire league to have both a punt and kick return of 50+ yards and became the only player in Cowboys history to make the Pro Bowl as a return specialist. Why such an explosive weapon wasn’t utilized more offensively in 2022 is a head-scratcher, but maybe he can become more involved in the game plan next year.

Donovan Wilson

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Last year it was Jayron Kearse who kind of came out of nowhere to surprise us, and this year it was his fellow safety counterpart Donovan Wilson. Up until this season, Wilson had only shown flashes of what he could do on the field, but sadly injuries had always hampered his production. This year he remained completely healthy and ended up having a career year for himself. Not only was he a tone setter for the Cowboys defense, but he also ended up leading the team in tackles (101 total) and had an impressive five QB sacks.