Cowboys Corner: Lost season without Dak Prescott? Trey Lance time? Playoffs?!

Ralph Vacchiano

NFL Reporter

David Helman

NFL Reporter

Rewind to the first weekend of October: The Dallas Cowboys had just won in Pittsburgh and were 3-2, but they weren’t playing well. Anxiety was building, injuries were mounting and something just felt off about this team.

Since then, the Cowboys and their beleaguered fan base were reminded of an old adage:

Things can always get worse.

So, don’t assume that this is rock bottom now with Dak Prescott headed to injured reserve, CeeDee Lamb hurting, Micah Parsons not back yet, no real help from the trading deadline and, of course, their three straight losses. In our weekly Cowboys Corner, David Helman and Ralph Vacchiano take a look at the state of the team and the season heading into Week 10’s matchup with the Philadelphia Eagles.

And if things aren’t better after this weekend … well, don’t say we didn’t warn you.

1. With Dak Prescott out at least four games, is this officially a lost season for Dallas?

Helman: “Officially” is a strong word, so I’ll reserve some small shred of optimism that this team can stay relevant. Micah Parsons is due back from injury soon, and Cooper Rush is 5-1 as a starter. Crazier things have happened.

Realistically, though? This thing feels pretty cooked. A four-game absence is now the best-case scenario for Prescott, and it could be longer. The Cowboys didn’t do anything during the trade deadline to improve their run defense. Their next three opponents are 19-7, and quarterbacks like Joe Burrow and Baker Mayfield are still waiting to face them later in the season.

For all their problems getting over the hump, the Cowboys have only finished with a losing record three times in the last 15 years. Here’s guessing this season will be the fourth.

Vacchiano: Oh yeah. I mean, it was headed that way anyway. Even with Dak they were a badly flawed, one-dimensional team that was being battered by injuries. And at 3-5 they probably have to go 6-2 the rest of the way just to have a chance to make the playoffs on tie-breakers, and oh, by the way, they still have to play the Eagles and Commanders twice each.

And they’re supposed to do that with Cooper Rush at quarterback the next four games?

It’s over. The worst part is, the players almost certainly know it. And it’s the worst kind of “over” because they came into the season with such high expectations. Teams can rebound from a bad start. But teams that thought they were great don’t often bounce back because the emotional hit takes a toll.

2. What’s your biggest takeaway from the Cowboys’ trade deadline?

Vacchiano: Were they awake? Oh, right. They got Jonathan Mingo, a nice receiver who hasn’t done much in his year-and-a-half in the league. And they gave up a fourth-round pick to get him, which, by the way, is one round lower than the fifth-rounder they got from the Browns for Amari Cooper two years ago.

The fact that they knew they needed another receiver is great. Yet, they decided not to acquire DeAndre Hopkins (who went to the Chiefs for a fifth-round pick, by the way) or Cooper, or Dionte Johnson or Mike Williams or Davante Adams. Mingo is a nice young player. He’s not in the class of any of the other ones.

So what’s my biggest takeaway? That the Cowboys need a GM. A real one.

Helman: I like Ralph’s answer, but if they’re not going to change the general manager (they aren’t), then they could at least update their trade chart. Or maybe they could try to come across less desperate when they do business with other teams.

I’m not going to close the book on Jonathan Mingo’s career. The guy is talented, and he’s just 23 years old — which makes him plenty young for a second-year pro. He also has two years remaining on his rookie deal, which I’m sure will be the Cowboys’ rationale for why they were willing to use a fourth-round pick to acquire him.

Even still, a fourth-round pick is a huge price to pay for a guy who has not proven to be a reliable NFL target in 24 career games. Mingo’s career high for a single game is 69 yards. He’s averaging two catches per game. And while it’s fair to say that the quarterback situation in Carolina isn’t great, that hasn’t stopped the progress of fellow young receivers Xavier Legette and Jalen Coker, who both passed Mingo in the Panthers’ pecking order.

Keep in mind, too, that it will likely be harder to evaluate Mingo in 2024, as Prescott won’t be the one throwing to him for the foreseeable future.

It’s nice that the Cowboys found themselves a young, talented receiver who will be on the roster for two more years. That’s not worth a fourth-round pick when you don’t even know if he can play.

3. Which scenario would the fan base desire more at this point: a wild-card berth or 2025 top-10 pick?

Helman: After a decade of living in Dallas-Fort Worth and covering the Cowboys, there are a lot of Cowboys fans in my day-to-day life. I also enjoy interacting with countless more of them every day on social media.

I have yet to meet or talk to a Cowboys fan in 2024 who still has any hope or enthusiasm for this team. Even if they manage to rally in the second half of the season and make a playoff push, we’ve already seen what it looks like when they go up against real-deal contenders like Detroit and Baltimore.

I’m sure there are some Cowboys diehards out there who will never say never, but I think the majority of this fan base would be much more intrigued by the idea of retooling around a top-10 type of draft class.

Vacchiano: I think if you asked Cowboys fans right now they’d tell you they should tank for a top-10 pick. They’re realists and they’re hurting right now. They know this team isn’t going to win the Super Bowl this year and probably won’t make the playoffs, so what’s the point of winning a few games down the stretch? A top-10 pick would be better for the team’s future.

But fans are funny. Deep down they know that’s what the Cowboys need. But on Sundays, whether they’re sitting in the stands or on their couch, are they going to actively root for their Cowboys to lose? Of course not. They’re going to get caught up in the emotion and excitement (such that it is) and scream for Cooper Rush to lead them down the field for the winning touchdown.

Then, in April, they’ll be sad that their team is picking 17th instead of seventh and they’ll cry, “Why didn’t they tank?”

4. Where do you think this team is right now if Derrick Henry had been on the roster all year?

Vacchiano: They would be much, much better off. I mean, they’d still be in trouble having to play the next month without Dak Prescott. But instead of lamenting a lost season, they’d at least have hope.

I think you could make a real strong argument that they would have won at least two more games, maybe even three, if they had a strong rushing attack that could’ve taken some pressure off Prescott and let them control the ball. They’d be better in the red zone, too, if everyone didn’t know their only way into the end zone was through the air.

And if they were 5-3 at least, they’d have a chance to survive the Prescott absence because Rush wouldn’t have to carry the team by himself. The playoffs might still be a long shot, but not necessarily an impossible dream.

Helman: Derrick Henry ran for 1,167 yards, averaged 4.2 yards per carry and scored 12 touchdowns for a Titans team that had a broken offensive line in 2023. I’m very confident he’d have helped the Cowboys. With Henry in the lineup, the Cowboys’ run game would have been more viable, which would have opened up the play action game and helped their receivers generate more separation. I think the offense would be improved enough that Dallas might be 5-3 or 4-4, rather than 3-5.

It wouldn’t be enough, though. There’s too much wrong with this defense, among other things, to think Henry would have been a cure-all for this season.

5. Do you expect Trey Lance to get meaningful snaps while Dak is out? Should he?

Helman: Absolutely, he should. The Cowboys traded a fourth-round pick for him; it’d be crazy to not even let him get his pads dirty while they’re dealing with an injury to the starting quarterback.

I totally understand if they don’t want him to start. Rush is a better quarterback, and he’s been good enough to win them games in the past. But there’s no harm in installing some kind of package for Lance. He’s got dynamic athleticism that could help the running game, at the very least. That might not be worth trying when Prescott is available, but all bets are off when the starter goes down.

I’d try to scheme up some touches for Lance here in the next few weeks. Perhaps use him as a short-yardage, goal-line or red-zone option. And if things continue to go south, maybe you consider him as the starter in the last month of the season.

Vacchiano: Unless Prescott is out for the season, I wouldn’t let Lance anywhere near the field any time soon. The object of the next four weeks (assuming that’s the extent of Prescott’s absence) is to survive and hope they can pull out a couple of wins and then maybe Prescott can return and pull off a miracle. They have a chance to survive with Rush.

If and when the season is really over — if Rush is terrible and they lose two or three in a row, or if Prescott is out longer — then sure, go ahead and see what Lance can do. The reviews weren’t exactly glowing from his preseason action, and it would be nice if the Cowboys could get a real look at him before deciding whether to re-sign him next season.

But they should only do that if and when all hope is truly gone.

David Helman covers the NFL for FOX Sports and hosts the NFL on FOX podcast. He previously spent nine seasons covering the Cowboys for the team’s official website. In 2018, he won a regional Emmy for his role in producing “Dak Prescott: A Family Reunion” about the quarterback’s time at Mississippi State. Follow him on Twitter at @davidhelman_.

Ralph Vacchiano is an NFL Reporter for FOX Sports. He spent the previous six years covering the Giants and Jets for SNY TV in New York, and before that, 16 years covering the Giants and the NFL for the New York Daily News. Follow him Twitter at @RalphVacchiano.

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