The Dallas Cowboys season is on the brink in 2024. They have a 3-4 record and everything indicates that it tends to get worse towards the end, leaving them out of the playoffs for the first time since 2020, when they finished with a 6-10 record.
Therefore, to avoid catastrophe, management and the coaching staff are looking for some drastic measure to change the team’s dynamics to save the season. However, it has become clear that the team took a step backward in terms of roster quality compared to last year. In addition, its leaders on the field are also going through a bad time and have had diametrically inferior performances compared to previous campaigns.
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In fact, in 2023, the Cowboys sent seven players to the Pro Bowl and of those, four made the league’s All Pro team: CeeDee Lamb, DaRon Bland, Zack Martin and Brandon Aubrey.
Because the team has too many holes in the roster and basically no wiggle room in the salary cap, the coaching staff’s last option is to shake up the roster in hopes of raising their level.
Donovan Wilson’s drop in play
An example of this measure is the rumor that is circulating in The Star’s facilities to send starting safety Donovan Wilson to the bench. He ranks fifth among the team’s highest-paid players for 2024, with an annual salary of $7.3 million, and had a dismal game last weekend against the San Francisco 49ers.
Wilson received the assignment from defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer to ‘dry up’ the rival tight end George Kittle with man-to-man coverage. It is worth remembering that the Niners came into the game with sensitive casualties in their receiving corps, so Kittle was basically the only target for Brock Purdy. Deebo Samuel also played on Sunday, but just a week earlier he ended up in hospital with a case of pneumonia, and last Sunday he left the game with a blow to the ribs, while Jauan Jennings, Brandon Aiyuk and Christian McCaffrey did not play due to injury.
Thus, the only reliable receiver who played the entire game with San Francisco was rookie Ricky Pearsall. That is, the Cowboys’ defensive scheme for the opposing aerial attack was simplified and could focus on Kittle and Samuel, until he left the game in the second half.
However, Kittle contributed six receptions and 128 yards, one of them for 43 yards and a touchdown. Of this total, Kittle completed 102 yards and a touchdown to Wilson. In addition to three receptions for first downs, he also had a significant amount of yards after the catch.
This forced Wilson to change coverage for Kittle with other players such as cornerbacks Jourdan Lewis, Israel Mukuamu and Trevon Diggs, exposing his safety in the middle of the game, so he would no longer have the same confidence for the following games.
This would allow other safeties with limited playing time on the field, such as Juanyeh Thomas, Markquese Bell or Mukuamo, who has a role as a backup in the inside cornerback position, to get more snaps on the field.
Meanwhile, Wilson is suffering harsh criticism for his performance this season, as on several occasions he has been caught covering the wrong gap or missing assignments almost weekly, so on Sunday in Atlanta, Wilson‘s playing time will be under the microscope and could cost him his starting job, despite what he earns.
