Dallas Cowboys' biggest roster weaknesses as they head to camp

By David Helman
FOX Sports Dallas Cowboys Writer

DALLAS — “Have they forgotten anything?”

Somehow, the Cowboys‘ flight to training camp is just a week away, and as I finalize my own preparations, I keep asking myself that question about this 2022 roster.

It’s tough to pack for a monthlong trip. Every year, without fail, I manage to leave something important behind. And while I might do that with a pair of socks or my contact solution, it’s a bit of a bigger issue if the Cowboys are forgetting a key piece of their depth chart.

To be fair to them, they haven’t been completely idle this past month, and we’ll get to that. But with a week to go, there are a handful of problem spots on this team that look a bit concerning.

Let’s run through them, starting with a couple of positions that give me a lot of pause.

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Offensive tackle

There are more high-profile spots on this list. But if you’re looking for a position that looks shockingly thin at the outset of camp, this is the one for me.

It’s not the starters that should trouble Cowboys fans. Tyron Smith, when healthy, is still one of the better left tackles in the league. Terence Steele was one of the biggest success stories of 2021, jumping from an obvious liability to a solid starter in his second season.

The problem is obvious, though. Entering his 12th NFL season, Smith has played in just 68 of his past 100 games. He missed five games last season, and he has missed at least three every year dating to 2016. It’s fine if the Cowboys want to hope for Smith’s good health, but at this point, they should be working under the assumption that he will miss some time.

That’s what makes the team’s lack of activity in free agency puzzling. Yes, the Cowboys technically drafted a left tackle by selecting Tyler Smith No. 24 overall in this year’s draft. But he will also be needed at the left guard spot, and how practical would it really be to shuffle a rookie between multiple positions?

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Aside from Tyler Smith, there are two other youngsters on the roster who fit the bill in Josh Ball and Matt Waletzko. Cowboys owner/general manager Jerry Jones said specifically during draft weekend that this trio gave him confidence in his tackle depth.

I’m not as sold. Waletzko is a rookie, just like Tyler Smith. Ball injured his ankle during the preseason last summer and has not played an official NFL snap.

Strictly speaking, there is depth. But it’s a bunch of depth that has never been tested, and it’s a near-certainty that these guys are going to have to play in 2022. If I were the Cowboys, I’d be taking a long look at this as camp progresses.

Wide receiver

This isn’t a big-picture issue, but it sure could be a problem in the next six weeks.

As of this writing, Michael Gallup is still rehabbing the ACL injury he suffered in January. The Cowboys have been mum about his timeline for return, but they’ve acknowledged the possibility that he won’t be ready for the start of the regular season.

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On the surface, that’s fine. The Cowboys signed former Steeler James Washington and drafted Jalen Tolbert out of South Alabama. CeeDee Lamb is ready and able to step into the spot vacated by Amari Cooper.

But we’ve already seen how quickly that depth can evaporate: Washington missed most of offseason OTAs due to a foot injury, and Tolbert missed time due to a hamstring issue.

With those two sidelined in addition to Gallup, we spent most of the spring watching Noah Brown, who has 39 catches in four seasons, and a slew of undrafted rookies running routes with the first-team offense.

That’s fine in May. It’s a hell of a lot scarier in August, let alone September.

The problem here, as I’m sure the Cowboys’ front office would remind me, is that there aren’t a ton of inspiring options. Names such as Julio Jones and T.Y. Hilton might sound exciting, but those guys aren’t the reliable game-changers they were a few years ago.

Still, it’s also fair to point out that the Cowboys don’t need a game-changer. They just might need a guy who can step in and hold the line until Gallup is available again.

Linebacker

The Cowboys did some work on this just last week, signing former Texas Longhorns standout Malik Jefferson to round out the depth chart.

It’s something, at least. The Cowboys were perilously thin at the position, with just four experienced options in Micah Parsons, Leighton Vander Esch, Jabril Cox and Luke Gifford. Factor in the part where Parsons figures to spend some time at edge rusher, and the number takes another hit. The Cowboys did draft two linebackers this year, but Devin Harper was a sixth-round pick, and Damone Clark is still recovering from offseason neck surgery.

The numbers aren’t great, so Jefferson, originally drafted 78th overall by Cincinnati in 2018, can help in that regard. Still, I’m not sure how much this actually fixes; the Cowboys are his sixth NFL team in the past five years, and he has just 16 regular-season tackles to his name.

Perhaps Jefferson can be another Dan Quinn reclamation project. Just last year, we saw the Cowboys’ defensive coordinator produce extraordinary results with previously unknown players, and Jefferson was a college All-American, talented enough to be drafted in the top 100.

The depth chart seems to suggest that more help could be needed, though. Parsons is going to pull double-duty. Cox is coming off an ACL tear. Vander Esch has dealt with injuries at various points in his career. These are all things worth considering when it comes time to finalize the roster.

Kicker

This is another spot where the front office has done some work. The Cowboys re-signed longtime Canadian Football League kicker Lirim Hajrullahu at the beginning of July following a short stint with the team last fall. The 32-year-old figures to compete with rookie signee Jonathan Garibay for the kicker job.

Hajrullahu has been kicking professionally since 2014, with most of that coming in the CFL. He spent a solid chunk of last season with the Cowboys, including handling kicking duties in the Week 10 win against Atlanta after Greg Zuerlein contracted COVID-19.

At the very least, it’s nice to have competition. It always seemed strange that the Cowboys would hand the starting job to a rookie, and now they don’t have to. Having said that, Hajrullahu has attempted a grand total of five field goals in the NFL. He went 4-of-5 for the Carolina Panthers at the end of last season following his time in Dallas.

There will be a competition in Oxnard, but it will be between two guys without much in the way of NFL experience. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, as success stories arise from nowhere all the time. But for a team that has seen its share of kicker trouble since parting ways with Dan Bailey, it’s not exactly comforting.

David Helman covers the Dallas Cowboys for FOX Sports, providing insight and analysis on the NFL’s most visible franchise. Prior to joining FOX, David spent nine seasons covering the Cowboys for the team’s official website, DallasCowboys.com. In 2018, he won a regional Emmy for his role in producing “Dak Prescott: A Family Reunion” about the quarterback’s time at Mississippi State.