Dallas Cowboys offensive arsenal ranked as sixth best in NFL

ESPN’s Bill Barnwell ranked all 32 offenses in the NFL and the Dallas Cowboys came in at sixth overall, and second in the NFC East

ESPN analyst Bill Barnwell recently released his annual offensive arsenal power rankings and gave a pretty high ranking to the Dallas Cowboys. After placing them at 30th overall to start the 2018 season, he now has them at No. 6.

That puts them ahead of two-thirds of their division as only the Philadelphia Eagles had a higher ranking in the NFC East. The second-place team from last season was ranked fourth overall in Barnwell’s offensive rankings.

As for the Cowboys, Barnwell discusses the reason for their huge jump from last year to now — which is the addition of wide receiver Amari Cooper. After adding him in a trade with the Oakland Raiders, the entire Dallas offense opened up.

Dak Prescott suddenly looked better as a quarterback, running back Ezekiel Elliott had more room to run and other wideouts looked improved due to the attention being focused on Cooper. Not all was great though as the tight ends for the Cowboys were less than spectacular. According to Barnwell, they won’t be outstanding in this area in 2019 but should be better with Jason Witten returning to the field.

"“And though Jason Witten might not have much left in the tank at age 37 after returning from a year of broadcasting, Dallas’ starting tight ends last season posted a combined line of 38 catches for 345 yards and one touchdown. Even a limited Witten should be a comfortable upgrade in offensive coordinator Kellen Moore‘s offense.” — Barnwell, ESPN"

In addition to Witten, the Cowboys offense will also have center Travis Frederick back after missing all of the 2018 season. They hope his return will help catapult the offensive line back to elite status, but the health of both Zack Martin and Tyron Smith will also be vital in that regard. Each missed time last year while also playing banged up at times.

As for the other two teams in their division, the Washington Redskins were the worst NFC East team in Barnwell’s ranking, coming in at 28th. He was interestingly high on the New York Giants, putting them in the top 10 at No. 8.