The Cowboys put on a show on Sunday Night Football, especially in the second half of their game against the Colts. They tallied more than a touchdown’s worth of TDs—eight in total—including on their final four drives plus on a fumble return. This type of output would make one think that someone on the offense had a statline worthy of NFC Player of the Week honors, but that wasn’t the case. Nobody put up 100-plus yards rushing or receiving, and Dak Prescott didn’t even crack 200 yards passing.
No, this game relied on a bunch of contributors on both sides of the ball, and one group of 5 made its presence known. That’s how many rookies from the Cowboys’ 2022 draft class made a significant impact on this game.
Dallas picked nine players in the draft this spring, and although this class might not have the star power of a Micah Parsons or a CeeDee Lamb, the early returns suggest Dallas added a handful of key contributors in one fell swoop. It not only has been a boon to this year’s squad, but also could have major ramifications for years to come.
Let’s start with cornerback DaRon Bland, a fifth-round pick out of Fresno State. Bland grabbed the second and third interceptions of his young career in the fourth quarter, on consecutive Colts possessions less than two minutes apart. These picks effectively salted the game away for the Cowboys, who turned the takeaways into a pair of touchdowns. Bland has proven himself a legitimate starting nickel cornerback since being thrust into the job in Week 8 after Jourdan Lewis went down with a season-ending injury.
Among defensive backs who have played at least half of their snaps in the slot, Bland has the second-best coverage grade from Pro Football Focus and the fourth-lowest passer rating allowed. Lewis has manned the nickel-corner role for three years now, but Bland has already made the case that he should be playing even when Lewis returns.
Another unsung hero of the rookie class who got his due this week is linebacker Damone Clark. A fifth-round selection out of LSU, Clark sniffed out a screen pass in the fourth quarter and stripped the ball from tight end Mo Alie-Cox, leading to a Malik Hooker fumble return that would be the first of five(!) fourth-quarter touchdowns for the Cowboys.
Clark wasn’t even expected to play this season after an MRI at the NFL combine revealed a herniated disk in his back. He was primarily a special teams guy for the first half of the season, but much like Bland, he was thrust into a starting role in Week 8 after Anthony Barr left with an injury. Since then, Clark has proven to be far better than one might expect out of the 176th overall pick. In 171 snaps this season, Clark has been credited with only a single missed tackle, per PFF. His 5.3 percent missed tackle rate is a top-15 number in the NFL and almost identical to that of starting linebacker Leighton Vander Esch. It’s a small sample size, but the Cowboys look like they knocked it out of the park with their fifth-round selections.
Speaking of players who rarely miss tackles, how about Sam Williams, a second-round pick out of Ole Miss? The defensive line has been so dominant that Williams hasn’t been called upon as often as one might expect for the 56th overall selection, but when he’s out there, he has been tough and disciplined. Williams has yet to miss a tackle in almost 200 snaps. On Sunday, he blew up a run to open the second half, tackling NFL rushing champion Jonathan Taylor behind the line of scrimmage. It was the eighth tackle for a loss for Williams, second-most on the team behind Parsons.. Williams has made stops against the run at the highest rate among the Cowboys and at one of the highest rates in the NFL.
With a year to study behind Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence, Williams could develop into a key piece of the defensive line.
Another rookie has performed remarkably well on the other side of the line. Drafted in the first round out of Tulsa with the expectation he would start at left guard, Tyler Smith shifted to left tackle after Tyron Smith was sidelined in the preseason with a leg injury. We’ve addressed his play already in this column, but we can’t let this week pass without mentioning how he ushered Tony Pollard down the field on his 30-yard touchdown run.
The fifth rookie who deserves a mention is tight end Jake Ferguson. A fourth-round selection out of Wisconsin, Ferguson had as many catches against the Colts as Dalton Schultz, but he did it by catching both of his two targets while Schultz only reeled in two out of six. Ferguson has been an intriguing addition to the tight end room and appears to have become a reliable safety net for Prescott. On the season, Prescott has an 84 percent completion rate when targeting Ferguson and the highest EPA/play among targeted receivers. Granted, that’s based on just 19 targets, so we’re definitely in the “small sample size” zone. But given the targets Ferguson has received, he appears capable of contributing to the passing game.
That’s five rookies who made an impact in Week 13. Five rookies who have been making plays all season, and five rookies who are going to set up Dallas with roster-building options for the coming years. Schultz appeared to be in line for a big payday after an eight-touchdown season in 2021, but if Ferguson can step into his role, he’ll save the club valuable cap space. Dante Fowler and Anthony Barr are also both set to be free agents next summer, but Williams and Clark look ready to fill in if needed. And Bland has already shown what he can do.Dallas has been one of the league’s best drafting teams of late, and this year appears to be no different. The 2022 class might not have the star power of, say, 2016, but getting five legitimate starters is quite the haul. That could be huge for the Cowboys come playoff time–and beyond.
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