The Dallas Cowboys like to run the ball 1990s style. But such an offense does not rank high in ESPN’s Bill Barnwell’s list of ‘offensive arsenals’.
The Dallas Cowboys offense needs serious help. But ESPN’s Bill Barnwell says that the only offensive weapon the Cowboys have is Ezekiel Elliott. As such, he ranks the Cowboy’s “offensive arsenal” as the third worst in the league.
To be fair, Barnwell does place a few parameters on his list to help him get to the core of what an offensive arsenal is. Much like the philosopher Edmund Husserl, Barnwell wants to bracket out certain information to reach the essential core of an offense.
In particular, he wants to look at the core of skill players while bracketing out offensive line and quarterback play. The bracket is also designed to remove scheme and play calling from the equation. With the kernel of skill players left, he ranks them 1-32.
Some writers have taken offense to Barnwell’s ranking the Cowboys arsenal at No. 30. In particular, Mike Fisher of 247sports.com, takes Barnwell to task point by point in his recent article. His main argument is that such a bracket cannot be executed. He believes the Cowboys arsenal must take into account the offensive line and quarterback play.
But Fisher’s critique is only half correct. While it is right to critique the idea that one can bracket out things like offensive lines and quarterback play is unrealistic, that argument alone cannot refute Barnwell’s claim.
Barnwell makes a point that is difficult to hear. His argues the Cowboys’ skill positions simply are not very good. It is a point that Cowboys fans have convinced themselves is not true. But in the end, Barnwell is correct. The Cowboys skill position players are not good.
Outside of Ezekiel Elliott, the Cowboys have sparse talent at tight end and wide receiver. Tavon Austin will come up as a rebuttal. But what has he really done? Or what can he really do? Nobody seems to have figured that out yet. The Cowboys are simply the next team in line to take their shot at the Tavon Austin lottery.
The reality of the situation is that the Cowboys’ offensive arsenal is No. 30 in the league. But Barnwell’s article does have a major flaw.