Jerry Jones and the Dallas Cowboys have had one primary directive this offseason: make life easier for Dak Prescott. The quarterback's sophomore season was a disaster when compared to his magical rookie year. He played worse, and the absence of star teammates Ezekiel Elliott and Tyron Smith certainly didn't help matters. Combine that with the decline of star receiver Dez Bryant and a defense that fell to pieces whenever Sean Lee missed a snap and the Cowboys went from a 13-3 juggernaut in 2016 to a machine that appeared to be missing several key components in 2017.

That has to change, and it has to change at several levels. There is a roster component to this. More depth will be needed on the offensive line and the team needs a wide receiver that can stretch the field. But schematic adjustments are just as important. The Cowboys have run one of the NFL's blandest offenses under Scott Linehan. That worked when everyone was healthy and available, but building a scheme around the idea that simply having stars at quarterback, running back, receiver, tight end and on the offensive line makes an offense great is simply not going to work. The Cowboys relied too heavily on talent that just wasn't there last season.

Next season, they will have to build a system that enhances their players. In the past, it was the other way around. Jerry Jones has spoken about making the offense more Dak-centric in the past, but only now in an interview with Clarence Hill of The Fort Worth Star-Telegram did he begin to divulge what exactly that means. Cowboys fans will be quite pleased with what they hear.

"I think it's an offense that lets him be unpredictable," Jones said. "It gives him the best way to be hard for the defense in the sense of game planning for him. I'd certainly love for him to be able to hurt them from the pocket. We'd love for him to be able to hurt them on the run, and to run."

"Some of the college stuff needs to be thought about here. That's a big part of the conversation that's going on [among the staff]."

The biggest gripe fans have had with the offense in the past has been its predictability. The team typically runs the ball with Ezekiel Elliott on most first downs. They throw too many slants to Dez Bryant. They take two or three deep shots per game, almost exclusively to Brice Butler. Defenses know what to expect from the Cowboys. That has to change next season.

Adaptations from the college game will be important. Nowadays most offensive creativity in football can be traced to a few teams in the college ranks, and the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles are a great example of that. They succeeded running the same run-pass options with Nick Foles that Chip Kelly brought with him from college when he coached the Eagles from 2013-2015.

The Eagles provided something of a blueprint for the sorts of plays that the Cowboys should be running. They need to take advantage of Prescott's versatility and quick thinking. Prescott is not Tony Romo, and if the Cowboys treat him like he is they are going to have several more seasons like they did in 2017. They have to adapt to his skillset, and they need to do it quickly.

Jones wasn't shy in the interview about the fact that Prescott will soon get an "extraordinary" new contract. He is currently one of the cheapest starters in football, and the team needs to take advantage of that now. If the team is truly committed to Prescott as the future, it would behoove them to fit the offense around him rather than force him into a scheme that just didn't work last season. Jimmy Garoppolo set the market with his new $137 million deal. If Prescott makes similar money to be the quarterback he was in 2017, then it won't matter who the Cowboys put around him. They won't win the Super Bowl. But if the right scheme can accomplish that with Foles, then it certainly can with Prescott as well.

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