Parade Rain: Plenty of reasons to remain calm about Cowboys CB play in camp

Color me pessimistic. I see the recent rash glowing reports coming out of Oxnard, CA. I hear the accolades about the improvements being made. But as a fan-turned-writer I’ve learned a lot about tempering expectations when it comes to this team. 10 years of covering an organization with just two playoff wins to show for it will do that to a man. Or a woman. Or a child. Or an alien who gets his six chuckles by watching humans go insane over a child’s game.

Throughout training camp we have been hearing about the great starts to camp the Dallas Cowboys cornerbacks are having. I, for one, am not buying it. Not yet.

Now, this isn’t to say that when the regular season comes I’m predicting doom and gloom. On the contrary, I think the Cowboys should be the frontrunners for the division title and that swapping out Dan Quinn for (shakes both fists mightily) Mike Nolan! is a tangible upgrade in every sense of defensive coordination. I’m just not buying that anything can be read into the quality play of the defensive backs through the first week and a half of this training camp.

Here’s why, in a handy bullet-point list.

• Defense is always ahead of the offense early in camp. In everyone’s camp.

• Dak Prescott hadn’t competed since the first week of October 2020 and has rust.

• Dak Prescott hasn’t practiced in a week.

• Garrett Gilbert and Ben DiNucci and Cooper Rush.

• There’s no Amari Cooper out on the field.

Offense is about rhythm and defense is about reacting to what the offense does. The general belief about the start of a season is that the defense gets the jump early because the offense isn’t sure-footed in what they do. They haven’t yet mastered a technique or the play design to truly fool the defense. Therefore when a defender sees something they recognize, they can pounce on it and therefore will be making plays on a regular basis.

Prescott, for all his anticipated and expected 2021 glory, is recovering from a serious, serious injury. He’s working his way back into football shape and no matter how hard he rehabbed that’s a much different thing than what he was on July 23rd. It will get there, but he’s not going to be as crisp and sharp, meaning the defenders are better capable of keeping up with him.

Then, Prescott got injured, suffering a muscle strain. He’s practiced, but he’s not throwing the ball for the last week and maybe into next week. That means that the defenders are not going against one of the league’s better QBs.

In fact, they aren’t challenging anyone with a lot of experience. Garrett Gilbert flashed for one game last season. Ben DiNucci didn’t even flash for one pass last season. Cooper Rush may have never even watched a single episode of The Flash.

These quarterbacks aren’t likely capable of challenging a top-flight group of corners, so anything that is accomplished against them should be taken with a grain of salt. This one.

Not only are the CBs not thwarting passes from future Pro Bowlers, the receiving group they’re covering is missing a Pro Bowl player too. The WR depth chart is thinned without Cooper out there and while CeeDee Lamb and Michael Gallup are Pro Bowl caliber players, the matchups with the second, third and fourth groups of receivers are not just filled with lesser players, but by and large it’s a bunch of rookies. Aside from the second grouping of Cedrick Wilson, Noah Brown and Malik Turner, there’s a bunch of rookies and redshirts out there.

So as we get excited about the exploits of guys like Maurice Canady, who after signing as a free agent in 2020 opted out for Covid safety… or Anthony Brown, who is feeling the heat of rookies drafted to take his place… or Jourdan Lewis who will try to convince his fourth of four defensive back coaching staffs to play him more consistently… or Kelvin Joseph and Nahshon Wright who will try and crack the rotation as Day 2 rookies… I’ll be waiting on some of the other factors to kick in before believing the positive reports.

I can be late for this train.

Oh, except for Trevon Diggs; no worries about that kid from this part of the peanut gallery.

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