While we should always be looking to free ourselves of bad habits and improve 365 days per year, the new year is a great opportunity to take stock and resolve one’s self toward improving their life or setting attainable goals in the year that is to come.

Typically, New Year’s resolutions are directly correlated with how happy the person making them generally is. Happier people tend to make fewer New Year’s resolutions while less happy people tend to make more.

In this same vein, the complete and utter disappointment that was the Dallas Cowboys’ 2019 season should give way to a laundry list of New Year’s resolutions.

With that in mind, let’s dive into a few the Cowboys should make as they get ready to embark on a new era.

Hire a head coach who can maximize Dak Prescott

Because we went in-depth on the subject last week, we are going to keep this brief.

The most obvious New Year’s resolution is to hire a new head coach to lead the team. Even if the Cowboys have yet to officially part ways with Jason Garrett by the time you’re reading this, just know the time is coming and the slight delay will have little effect on the coaching search coming after it.

The Cowboys can go a myriad of different coaching directions in their search to find a quality candidate. They can go the college route, which has been fruitful for Jerry Jones in the past, where candidates such as Lincoln Riley, Dan Mullen, Urban Meyer or Matt Rhule could be beneficial hires.

They could also go the more traditional route and snag a heralded offensive or defensive coordinator from another team. Coaches such as Kansas City’s Eric Bieniemy, New England’s Josh McDaniels, Indianapolis’ Matt Eberflus and Baltimore’s duo of Greg Roman and Don Martindale all have impressive backgrounds that could entice Jones to give them the keys to the Cowboys franchise.

A less exciting option for Dallas would be to hire a retread as head coach. The newly analytic friendly Mike McCarthy is the biggest retread available, but other names such as John Fox shouldn’t be completely discounted. Ron Rivera is a name that would have also likely been considered had he not been scooped up by Washington so quickly. Minnesota’s Mike Zimmer is probably the more exciting option in this tier, though he’d require a trade.

The most exciting option, albeit the least likely as well, would be Jones looking to lure a “big fish” to lead the Cowboys franchise. Coaches such as Alabama’s Nick Saban or New Orleans’ Sean Payton (who would also require a trade) fall into this category and would, obviously, be huge gets for the franchise.

Given the NFL is a quarterback league, whoever is hired needs to come ready with a plan on maximizing Dak Prescott’s skill set. The quickest and most sustainable way the new coach can build success is through the continuous improvement and optimization of Prescott.

Therefore, if the Cowboys opt to hire a defensive-minded head coach, he better have a talented offensive coordinator in tow who has a clear plan on how to optimize Dallas’ quarterback.

Retain Prescott, Amari Cooper and Byron Jones

While hiring a head coach is priority No. 1 this offseason, re-signing Prescott, Amari Cooper and Byron Jones shouldn’t be far behind.

Love how Dak holds the MOF safety with his eyes to eliminate any chance of him affecting this dime to Amari Cooper. pic.twitter.com/Ur5q5Yyfl7 — John Owning (@JohnOwning) September 10, 2019

Even though there’s (likely) zero chance that Prescott reaches the open market, the Cowboys front office has to be kicking itself that it didn’t get an extension done sooner, as his play this year has only caused the price to go up. While some of that will be buoyed by the salary cap continuing to rise, it still means there’s less money to go around to the rest of the starters.

While re-signing Prescott in some form or fashion is almost assured, the outlook on re-signing Cooper and Jones appears to be murkier.

While Cooper set career-highs in receiving yards and touchdowns, durability questions have started to pop up after his less-than-stellar finish to the season where he looked less than 100% at times.

Such a sweet release by Amari Cooper to gain separation on the slant. pic.twitter.com/CWLTLfH6nT — John Owning (@JohnOwning) November 13, 2019

Having said that, the Cowboys would be foolish to not retain Cooper, as he is one of the best young receivers in the NFL (and only 25 years old). He is a majestic route runner who creates separation unlike any Dallas receiver in recent memory.

Amari Cooper schooling Jalen Ramsey at the LOS is what enabled Blake Jarwin to get open on this out route. This won't show up in the box score for Amari, but it was a 'win' in his matchup vs Ramsey. #Cowboys pic.twitter.com/TXr2oopg3a — John Owning (@JohnOwning) December 16, 2019

Cooper is the type of receiver who dictates coverage, making life easier on the rest of the receivers. Many will use the fact that Michael Gallup finished with similar numbers as a means toward discrediting Cooper. But that ignores how much Gallup benefited from the space and coverage afforded to him because defenses were so keen on stopping Cooper.

With the NFL becoming more of a passing league every year, the Cowboys need to hoard as many offensive weapons as possible. That starts with not letting their 25-year-old, three-time Pro Bowl WR walk.

While Cooper and Prescott’s expiring contracts get all the buzz, Jones should be just as high of a priority as the other two. As mentioned before, the NFL is becoming more of a passing league every year, which means players who thrive in coverage will become more and more valuable.

Great job by Byron Jones to play through the WRs hands at the catch point without interfering. Impressive pace control by Jones to hit the brakes after accelerating to recover from ceding initial separation.



There's no doubt who the best CB is on the team, imo. pic.twitter.com/r278twaxCW — John Owning (@JohnOwning) October 15, 2019

Even though he doesn’t force turnovers, Jones has proved to be, by far, Dallas’ most effective and consistent defensive back. The fact that he allowed just 331 yards in coverage (seventh least among cornerbacks, per Pro Football Focus) should override any concerns about the lack of turnovers created.

By hook or by crook, the Cowboys need to find a way to retain Prescott, Cooper and Jones if they want to maximize their current winning window. While long-term and big-money contract extensions would be the most satisfying route, the franchise and transition tags can also be a means to retain this triad for the future.

Invest real resources in a run-stuffing nose tackle

With all of the turnover coming to Dallas’ coaching staff, 2020 is the perfect opportunity for the Cowboys to right a wrong that has been plaguing the franchise for years.

Despite being dominated on the ground in big spots, the Cowboys have refused to invest real resources into the nose tackle position, as the team has been satisfied with the occasional Day 3 draft pick or low-priced free agent filling that position in the defense.

Quinn set a good edge, but it's hard to be successful when your NT gets displaced out of his gap at POA. pic.twitter.com/57I7pECPxQ — John Owning (@JohnOwning) November 13, 2019

An effective nose tackle would help fix a lot of the problems on defense. Not only would it shore up the interior run defense, but it would also make life easier on the linebackers behind them. If Dallas could find a nose tackle who could maintain his gap integrity while also occupying double teams consistently without giving ground, it would give the middle linebacker behind him more freedom to pursue ball carriers without being immediately encumbered by a blocker.

Tired of seeing Jaylon Smith or Leighton Vander Esch get stuck on blocks? Make it a priority to find a big nose tackle who can occupy blocks rather than prioritizing one who can get upfield and penetrate.

Even if the Cowboys go through a scheme change on defense, the objective should remain the same — they need to invest in an effective 300-pounder who dominates between the A-gaps.

Luckily for Dallas, this is a good year to need a nose tackle, as both the draft and free agency are littered with potential targets who would be an immediate improvement over Dallas’ current personnel.

Impending free agents, per Over The Cap, such as Michael Pierce, DJ Reader and Javon Hargrave would be outstanding options, but would likely cost much more than Dallas has been willing to pay in the past. Moreover, in the draft, players such as Auburn’s Derrick Brown (check out our full breakdown of what he could bring to Dallas) could provide a huge upgrade to Dallas’ interior defensive line as well.

Be more aggressive on defense

The Cowboys have been extremely conservative on defense with Rod Marinelli as coordinator. The thought process was that a simple scheme limits the amount of thinking the defenders have to do, enabling them to play as fast as possible.

Unfortunately, that didn’t play out in reality, as the complexity of opposing offense was enough to create indecision by Dallas’ defenders despite the simplistic scheme. This was proven by Dallas’ dubious results on defense over Marinelli’s tenure.

Since Marinelli took over in 2014, the Cowboys defense has finished in the top 15 in defense DVOA (Defense-adjusted Value Over Average) just once, and that season (2018) ended up being cut short by the defense’s inability to stop the run down the stretch.

Hyder and DLaw did a great job of parting the sea for Lewis on the blitz. pic.twitter.com/JkjDgkNBPj — John Owning (@JohnOwning) November 29, 2019

The best way to illustrate Dallas’ conservative defense with publicly available data is with blitz rate. The Cowboys finished 26th in blitz rate (23%) this season, which is less than half the rate of the Ravens, a team that blitzed an absurd 54.9% of the time.

The Cowboys have one of the best blitzing linebackers in the NFL in Smith, but only resort to using him in that way mostly on third downs.

It’s no wonder the Cowboys routinely finish at the bottom of the NFL in terms of turnovers, as they are relying solely on the opposing offenses to make mistakes or a great individual play by a defender. A higher frequency of blitzes and trap coverages would inevitably lead to more turnovers if executed correctly.

This is why a defensive coordinator such as Martindale deserves consideration from the Cowboys, especially with the report that he could be paired with LSU offensive coordinator Joe Brady. While that kind of aggression and complexity would likely lead to a slight uptick in big plays allowed, it would also lead to many more turnovers and negative plays for the opposing offense.

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