Cowboys going to have to lean on rookie class even more after latest injury

There have been a lot of departures from the Dallas Cowboys organization this offseason, whether you're talking about coaches or players. This team has been tight up against the salary cap all offseason, causing the Cowboys to take an ultra-conservative route toward building their team for the 2024 NFL season. Last year, we saw the Cowboys go after a couple of veterans via trade when they acquired the likes of Stephon Gilmore and Brandin Cooks.

This offseason, the primary additions have been guys like Ezekiel Elliott and Eric Kendricks.

The last thing this Cowboys team could really afford was an early injury in training camp, especially at a premium position like EDGE. Unfortunately, that's exactly what happened as the team has already lost promising former second-round pick Sam Williams to a season-ending knee injury.

Dallas Cowboys losing Sam Williams paves the way for promising rookie

Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy reacted to Williams' injury at training camp, noting that it was a "tough break" for their team but specifically for Williams as well:

"That’s a really tough break. Especially for him. Because he was clearly going to be a primary contributor."

- Mike McCarthy

The Cowboys lost a lot this offseason, so they are going to be banking on their rookie class in a big way. Especially after the injury to Sam Williams, who was going to play a big role off the edge, we should see a huge uptick in snaps for second-round pass rusher Marshawn Kneeland, a big body out of Western Michigan who flew under the radar in the pre-draft process a little bit.

The Cowboys are already banking on Tyler Guyton, a raw tackle prospect out of Oklahoma, coming in and starting right away at left tackle after losing Tyron Smith. They are already likely banking on Cooper Beebe coming in and starting at the center position after the loss of Tyler Biadasz. Now, they're not only dealing with losing key role players like Dorance Armstrong (Commanders) off the edge, but you've got to recoup from the loss of a recent second-round pick.

Now, Marshawn Kneeland is going to have to be likely the first guy up in the rotation after Micah Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence. He was probably going to play a little bit anyway, but his role is now substantially increased.

Coming off of a year in which the Cowboys didn't exactly get the best contributions from their rookie class, it's understandably a tense time in Dallas right now. The franchise is on the cusp of the unknown in a wide variety of ways. They need to hand out massive contract extensions to Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb or face the potential of an ugly rebuild. They have a real chance to compete for a shot to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl in the meantime.

If the Cowboys are going to capitalize on this current window they're in, the rookies are going to have to show up in a big way.