Cowboys’ Snap Counts, Positional Grades from Week 1 win over Giants

The Cowboys got the best of both worlds on Sunday night. The biggest concern for many writers and fans was that head coach Mike McCarthy held out the majority of his starters throughout the entire preseason. This strategy, to make sure key players stayed healthy, did not work out well in 2022. Dallas was lethargic and off rhythm when they faced Tampa Bay in Week 1, and late in the 19-3 loss QB Dak Prescott broke his hand and was knocked out for five weeks.

In the 2023 opener against the Giants, the rust for the offense was still there. Combined with the horrible weather the passing game was relatively stymied once again. Only this time, the defense was able to not just play well, but out of their minds. This allowed Dallas to run a weather-induced safe offense to shake off some rust. The blowout 40-0 win also allowed Dallas to go deep into their bench and get substantial game reps for players who got the brunt of the preseason work and were able to maintain a strong level of play throughout.

Here’s a look at who played, how much and how well in the team’s big victory.

Quarterbacks

(Photo by Richard Rodriguez/Getty Images)

Overall Grade: B

Dak Prescott: 51 snaps (88%)
Cooper Rush: 7 snaps (12%)

Prescott’s Expected Points Added EPA/play of .345 ranked 5th among all QBs, but his Completion Percentage over Expected was low at -10.2%, 28th in the league. Overall he ranked 9th in EPA+CPOE Composite. He had no turnover worthy plays and had a rocket-quick release with a TTT of 2.11.

Running Backs

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Overall Grade: B+

Tony Pollard: 37 snaps (64%)
Rico Dowdle: 9 snaps (16%)
Deuce Vaughn: 8 snaps (14%)
Hunter Luepke: 4 snaps (7%)

There wasn’t much going for Vaughn, as by the time he was getting carries it was obvious Dallas was looking to milk the clock. Pollard and Dowdle did their thing as RB1and RB2, combining for 20 carries for 94 yards an two scores (both Pollard).

Tight Ends

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Overall Grade: C

Jake Ferguson: 42 snaps (72%)
Peyton Hendershot: 28 snaps (48%)
Luke Schoonmaker: 16 snaps (28%)

The tight ends did a wonderful job blocking, but they had three drops between them and no rhythm in the passing game. Presott tried to rely on his tight ends but for a week at least, they missed Dalton Schultz immensely.

Wide Receivers

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Overall Grade: B+

CeeDee Lamb: 46 snaps (79%)
Michael Gallup: 39 snaps (67%)
Brandin Cooks: 34 snaps (59%)
Jalen Tolbert: 16 snaps (28%)
Kavontae Turpin: 11 snaps (19%)

Lamb is him. The rain was driving at the same rate as the Cowboys’ offense, so no shock that there weren’t a ton of targets to go around. It didn’t allow Dallas to take full advantage of an inexperienced secondary.

Offensive Line

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Overall Grade: A

Terence Steele: 58 snaps (100%)
Chuma Edoga: 56 snaps (97%)
Tyler Biadasz, Zack Martin: 51 snaps (88%)
Tyron Smith: 49 snaps (84%)
T.J. Bass, Asim Richards: 9 snaps (16%)
Brock Hoffman: 7 snaps (12%)

Prescott was only hit twice on Sunday and hurried just two more times as he avoided being taken down for a sack. The gameplan was centered around quick releases, yes, but the Giants defensive line was supposed to be on the same plane as Dallas’ and that was decidedly not how things played out.

Edge Defenders

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Overall Grade: A+

Micah Parsons: 40 snaps (57%)
Sam Williams: 34 snaps (49%)
Dante Fowler: 33 snaps (47%)
DeMarcus Lawrence: 30 snaps (43%)
Dorance Armstrong: 18 snaps (26%)

Not much more to say than that.

Defensive Tackles

Overall Grade: A

Neville Gallimore: 34 snaps (49%)
Chauncey Golston: 30 snaps (43%)
Osa Odighizuwa: 27 snaps (39%)
Johnathan Hankins: 18 snaps (26%)
Mazi Smith: 17 snaps (24%)

Golston and Odighizuwa combined for 8 pressures (3 sacks) in just 39 pass-rush snaps. The team also corralled Saquon Barkley in shutting down the designed run game of the G-Men.

Linebackers

(Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)

Overall Grade: A-

Leighton Vander Esch: 48 snaps (69%)
Damone Clark: 46 snaps (66%)
Markquese Bell: 31 snaps (44%)
Devin Harper: 3 snaps (4%)

The speed of this unit cannot be understated with Bell taking over DeMarvion Overshown’s role as LB3. He had 8 tackles and the form was sound by everyone in the unit. There were no missed tackles by anyone in this group.

Cornerbacks

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Overall Grade: A+

DaRon Bland: 55 snaps (79%)
Stephon Gilmore, Trevon Diggs: 54 snaps (77%)
CJ Goodwin, Noah Igbinoghene: 16 snaps (23%)

Absolutely terrific performance by the corners with two interceptions and a forced fumble. The coverage was sticky, the demeanor was mean and the best CB group in the NFL got off to a great start.

Safeties

Overall Grade: A

Jayron Kearse: 53 snaps (76%)
Malik Hooker: 49 snaps (70%)
Juanyeh Thomas: 41 snaps (59%)
Israel Mukuamu: 23 snaps (33%)

Aside from Hooker’s dropped interception the safeties stayed in step with their corner counterparts.

Special Teams

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Overall Grade: A-

Schoonmaker, Goodwin: 17 snaps (71%)
Mukuamu: 16 snaps (67%)
Brandon Aubrey, Tolbert,  Harper: 15 snaps (62%)
Thomas: 14 snaps (58%)
Williams, Igbinoghene: 13 snaps (54%)
Luepke: 12 snaps (50%)
Bryan Anger, Trent Sieg, Bell: 10 snaps (42%)
Golston: 9 snaps (38%)
Dowdle: 8 snaps (33%)
Steele, Edoga, Biadasz, Tyr. Smith, Bass, Hoffman: 7 snaps (29%)
Clark, Armstrong: 5 snaps (21%)
Turpin: 4 snaps (17%)
Vander Esch, Odighizuwa: 2 snaps (8%)
Hankins, Gallimore, Vaughn: 1 snap (4%)

Story originally appeared on Cowboys Wire