Dallas Cowboys: Is this the year for Byron Jones to step up?

The Dallas Cowboys will field a very young secondary on opening day of 2017. Will Byron Jones step up and make plays in his third season?

After watching Barry Church, Morris Claiborne and Brandon Carr leave Dallas in free agency, the Dallas Cowboys found themselves with a major void in their secondary. Three of their four starters from the previous year are no longer with the team. So in April, the Cowboys drafted several young rookie defensive backs — four of them to be exact, three corners and safety. Even more important though, is the fact that the secondary unit as a whole lost their leaders.

Carr and Church were longtime staples of the Dallas secondary. Their leadership traits will certainly be missed. However, their departures created an opportunity for third year free safety Byron Jones to step up.

In his rookie season, Jones performed admirably, immediately finding a role guarding tight ends. He eventually won the starting safety job, and split time between corner and safety due to injuries. In 2016, the Cowboys managed to keep him almost exclusively at safety.

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So, it begs the question: will 2017 be the year of Byron Jones? He’s had approximately a year and a half to perfect his craft, and he will be expected to lead the secondary come fall. Talent wise, he is more than capable.

The biggest knock fans seem to have on Jones is his lack of turnovers. In fact, he only has one career interception. The Cowboys will be expecting more from him now that he is the veteran of his position group.

If the beginning of training camp is any indication, Jones is ready to go. Early on in camp, he made a very athletic interception of Dak Prescott on a deep ball to Brice Butler. He’s also had some success covering Jason Witten, including a perfectly timed pass breakup in the two-minute drill.

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Hopefully, Jones can put it all together in his third season. If he does, Dallas will have an anchor for their secondary for years to come.