Pass protection and WR play remains pivotal way for Cowboys to improve
The Cowboys had a pass protection problem in 2022. A barrage of injuries throughout the season led to an ongoing game of musical chairs across the offensive line.
It resulted in a No. 28-rabjed pass-block win rate and saddled Dak Prescott with a 4.8 percent sack rate (which is good but still his highest rate since 2018).
Sack rates are generally considered “a quarterback stat” since they tend to remain consistent throughout a QB’s career regardless of the play in front of him. But there is some wiggle based on blocking and 2022 clearly wiggled in the wrong direction.
It wasn’t all injury substitutions to blame in Dallas, either. Jason Peters, Matt Farniok and Josh Ball combined for just two sacks and 27 pressures (per PFF stat tracking). For improved pass protection, the Cowboys need Tyler Smith, Terence Steele, Tyler Biadasz and Tyron Smith to simply play better.
It should be no surprise Prescott’s passing numbers decline when under pressure. In his 127 attempts under pressure, Prescott threw nine touchdowns and seven interceptions for a paltry 68.1 passer rating. What stands out most is the majority of the sacks Prescott incurred, happened when he was facing a standard pass rush and not being blitzed (12).
Compounding the situation were the issues the Cowboys had at WR. With Michael Gallup somewhat hobbled from offseason surgery and Noah Brown miscast into the WR2 role most of the season, pass-catchers struggled gaining separation and becoming attractive options.
Per Next Gen Stats, Brown finished eighth-worst in the NFL in separation average and Gallup wasn’t far behind finishing 12th worst (Separation at the point of catch).
While the separation stat can be a little overblown, or even misleading, it’s still noteworthy because it often results in lower completion percentages and higher interception rates (as was the case here).
For as noble as Brown’s effort was as WR2 last season, he was fighting above his weight class. It’s safe to say no one expected him to take on even a top-3 role in 2022 (Jalen Tolbert was supposed to be in that conversation).
Adding Brandin Cooks and getting Gallup back to full strength should help this aspect enormously in 2023.
The work Prescott and receivers like Tolbert, Cooks, Gallup and Simi Fehoko have been putting in this offseason is imperative in the quest to improve chemistry. It helps with timing, understanding instincts and in-game communication. That alone should boost Prescott’s numbers back up to normal levels.
At the end of the day, nothing beats clean pocket passing. It remains the desired situation for any QB worth his salt and that holds especially true for Prescott.
In a clean pocket, Prescott historically does his best work. He has his highest passer rating and throws for the most yards in that situation. He typically posts his most big time throws, scores his highest grades, and posts his best TD/INT ratio as well.
The good news is there is every reason to believe this will all improve in 2023. The WR corps is noticeably better and many of the top players have been working together in Prescott’s backyard football field throughout the offseason.
The Dallas offense is expected to take on more West Coast Offense characteristics from Mike McCarthy’s coaching restructure, making for quicker passes and less time for pressure to develop.
Young offensive linemen like Tyler Smith, Steele and Biadasz are expected to take another step in their development as pass protectors. And with any luck, injuries won’t be as prevalent as the Cowboys’ injury situation regresses to league average in 2023.
Losing Ezekiel Elliott and Dalton Schultz in blitz pick-up will not be easy to overcome so the pressure is on Tony Pollard and Jake Ferguson (their expected replacements) to pick up the slack.
Pass protection and poor WR play were issues last season but there are many reasons to believe they will improve in 2023.
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