The term “window” is silly when it comes to sports. We have all heard it said. Team X has to capitalize because the proverbial window is closing. The idea here is that their core is comprised of players who are likely not going to be playing at a high level for much longer which is why the pressure is on to get it done immediately.
The NFL has proven that teams can reset their “windows” (obviously it is hardly easy), and given that they are a league of parity, there is never truly a window that is shut.
With all of that being said, the Cowboys do sort of have a window.
ESPN’s ranking of young talent proves the window is now
The folks at ESPN put together a ranking of NFL teams by under-25 talent. With all due respect to the list, the age of 25 is an arbitrary point and that should be said. If the same exercise was done for under-26 talent then things significantly change based off of just a single year. You get the point.
We can still have takeaways from this type of thing, though. The idea here is that these are teams in the NFL who are on the rise as their young groups gather experience and time in the league. The New England Patriots came in at the top spot for some context.
The Dallas Cowboys are nowhere near the top, though. In fact they are much closer to the bottom. Dallas ranked 24th for under-25 talent with not much to show for their name in this particular capacity.
24. Dallas Cowboys
Last year’s rank: 17
Blue chips: G Tyler Booker, S Caleb Downs
Notable graduated players: OT Tyler Guyton, WR George Pickens, G Tyler Smith
Most of Dallas’ offensive line graduated from our list this year, but right guard Booker is still only 22 years old, as is fourth-round offensive tackle Drew Shelton. The rest of the young talent is mostly on defense.
On the edge, Donovan Ezeiruaku is 22, and Malachi Lawrence is 23; but their birthdays are only two months apart (Sept. 25 for Ezeiruaku, July 21 for Lawrence). First-rounder Downs is 21. Linebacker Shemar James, who started six games last season, is 22.
As you can see our point up top carries particular merit for the Cowboys. George Pickens and Tyler Smith would do some serious carrying for this team if they were able to right now, but they are not due to the exercise’s parameters. That’s just the way it goes sometimes.
It is certainly great to see the team’s recent first- and second-round picks here in Tyler Booker, Donovan Ezeiruaku, Caleb Downs, and Malachi Lawrence. They are all a part of the new foundation that the team is building. Drew Shelton joining that fold would help, too.
But the meat of this team is part of the elder statesmen crowd right now in Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb, Quinnen Williams joining Pickens and Smith above the threshold. This is where the idea of this team having a “window” comes from.
The most prevalent of those players is obviously the one who plays the most important position in Prescott. When the Cowboys are forced to find a successor is when things are going to get particularly dicey. For the most part the Cowboys have had stable quarterback play between Prescott and Tony Romo, both of whom the team fully lucked into. We have not seen the front office have to design a solution at the game’s most important position since the dawn of the internet.
So the pressure is on, but the pressure is always on in the NFL It is just a little bit more loud with this team at the moment.
