Dallas Cowboys people we trust the most entering an important playoff stretch
This is a precarious time of year. For the first time this season, everything will be on the line for the Dallas Cowboys. Obviously there have been high-pressure moments and times where things were more significant because of how they were positioning themselves for this time of year, but at the end of the day there was always a safety net underneath in that more football was, at the very least, guaranteed.
Gone is the net. Elevated is the pressure. The time now is to believe and more specifically to trust. Ultimately that’s all we can do, right?
There are a handful of people on the Cowboys who hold our trust a bit more than others obviously, and on the latest BTB Roundtable we decided to discuss and rank them. A thank you to this week’s round-tablers in David Howman, Tony Catalina, Sean Martin and Danny Phantom.
Let’s discuss.
The prompt that each person was given here was simply to rank the five people that they trusted most on the Cowboys entering the playoffs. We widened the parameters to “people” so that coaches could be included.
Each person, yourself included, was allowed to define trust however they wanted and as a result these were the lists that were fielded.
Dallas Cowboys we trust the most entering playoffs
| Name | David Howman | Tony Catalina | Sean Martin | Danny Phantom | RJ Ochoa |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | David Howman | Tony Catalina | Sean Martin | Danny Phantom | RJ Ochoa |
| 1 | Dak Prescott | Dak Prescott | CeeDee Lamb | CeeDee Lamb | Dak Prescott |
| 2 | Mike McCarthy | DeMarcus Lawrence | Dak Prescott | Dan Quinn | CeeDee Lamb |
| 3 | DeMarcus Lawrence | Micah Parsons | Dan Quinn | Dak Prescott | Mike McCarthy |
| 4 | Dan Quinn | Dan Quinn | DeMarcus Lawrence | Micah Parsons | Micah Parsons |
| 5 | Jake Ferguson | CeeDee Lamb | Micah Parsons | Brandon Aubrey | DeMarcus Lawrence |
There was only one person named on every single list and it should come as no surprise that it was quarterback Dak Prescott.
By nature the NFL is a quarterback-centric league and that reality is amplified in the postseason tournament. This is a time when legends are made and iconic moments are had and more often than not the signal-callers are responsible for them. Generally speaking, of course.
Acknowledging this general truth the fact that the Cowboys have arguably the most trustworthy quarterback in the playoffs – relative to this season only – certainly makes Prescott’s inclusion by everyone more than obvious.
Prescott is continually elevating those around him, talented players in their own right, and is offering the most of literally anybody in the tournament. But who else do we feel confident in?
Only David Howman left CeeDee Lamb and Micah Parsons off of his list (his logic was pretty sound, please don’t just jump to a conclusion) and given that they are candidates for the Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year across the entire league, they make a lot of sense as well. This trio was by far the most chalk of the group.
Where we all tended to differ was over the final two spots. Here are how many votes each non-Dak, CeeDee or Micah received:
- DeMarcus Lawrence, 4
- Dan Quinn, 4
- Mike McCarthy, 2
- Jake Ferguson, 1
- Brandon Aubrey, 1
Honestly it is pretty wild that Brandon Aubrey only received one vote, and I say that as someone who clearly did not include him on my list. Aubrey authored one of the greatest regular seasons that a kicker has ever had, and while the final game before the playoffs was a teeny bit bumpy, it is more than fair to trust him all the way here.
You may be able to tell that I was the only person who left Dan Quinn off of their list. This is in no way a slight towards Quinn, but we have seen the defense look a bit suspect at times this season. I don’t not trust him, I simply trust others more (this was logic shared by everyone for certain choices that we all made).
Clearly Howman and I both have a high level of faith in Mike McCarthy which is not a popular take to have on a national television show as the Dallas Cowboys prepare for a playoff game. Given that McCarthy has lived up to the shot that he called entering the season by taking over the offensive play-calling, and getting the best seasons ever out of Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb, I am more than prepared to follow him into this whole thing.
We have to mention Lamb as well, and something we talked about was that he is the most dangerous Cowboys pass-catcher since… when? Prime Michael Irvin? I recognize how dramatic of a thing that is to say out loud, but the stratosphere he is currently in supersedes even 2018 Amari Cooper or 2012-2014 Dez Bryant. Trust has more than been earned by the current day 88.
How do you feel? Who are the five Cowboys people that you trust the most as the playoffs begin? You can watch our entire conversation on this week’s roundtable right below.