FRISCO, Texas - Football season is getting closer and closer.
The Cowboys are set to depart for training camp in less a month. That's when we'll get the first up-close look at Brian Schottenheimer's first season with this revised roster and coaching staff. When we get to Oxnard, that's when we'll start to get some real answers about this 2025 Cowboys team.
But what are the questions? We've compiled our annual list of pressing questions that need answers heading into the regular season. The staff writers, consisting of Patrik Walker, Tommy Yarrish, Nick Eatman, Mickey Spagnola, Kyle Youmans and Kurt Daniels, weigh in on some of the pressing issues.
Today, we continue the series with a closer look at Schottenheimer's offense.
10) What to expect from Schotty's offense?
Mickey: A lot. With Dak healthy, CeeDee Lamb healthy and starting training camp on time this year, Jason Ferguson healthy and trading for George Pickens, don't sleep on this offense. There is a reason the Cowboys prioritized drafting Tyler Booker in the first round to replace the retiring Zack Martin, knowing they needed to reconstruct a powerful offensive line with all this talent available. I'd expect Brian Schottenheimer to place a high premium on running the football effectively, diversifying the use of several players, including a resurgent running back Javonte Williams and newcomer Jaydon Blue. Seems to suggest using a little more pre-snap motion, but this will be no pitch and putt offense. Schotty likes to get the ball down field.
Patrik: Ruthless aggression, hopefully, and that's why I titled my feature as such when describing Schotty's potential offense, ready for your purview in this year's training camp magazine (shameless plug). I've been doing my best to piece together quotes, personnel hints and practice viewing to get an idea of what's to come from Dak Prescott and Co. and this is a team with speed and quickness at every skill position, including at running back, despite having no clue yet who the lead back(s) will be. If the offensive line, rebuilt with three first-round picks, no less, can perform at a high level, there should be a twisting of the screws of opposing defenses by way of Prescott's arm aiming at Lamb, PIckens and Ferguson; and I'm hopeful there will also be plenty of quasi-run plays such as quick screens out of the backfield to get players in space to utilize their, guess what, speed and quickness.
I don't foresee a consistent old-school approach, but rather an offense that wants to be able to do so when they need to bully teams with the rushing attack but, mostly, it feels as if Schotty wants to have an offense that can adapt on the fly to whatever the defense is struggling against — primarily attacking downfield, on the seams and stretching teams horizontally to open up the middle of the field.
Nick: I think you're going to see this team run the football a lot more. Yeah, we've heard that before with Mike McCarthy but even his track record didn't suggest that he'd call the plays to run the ball a lot. And that's pretty much how it turned out as well.
But I do think, when you look at Schottenheimer's history and the fact that his teams have finished in the Top 10 in rushing five times when he's been the play-caller, it suggests that he will put a focus on that. Ok, so don't ask me who will be running it - because it's really a three-man race at this point and I have no clue who's going to prevail as the starter. It might be a 'ride the hot hand' type of situation. But I'm expecting the Cowboys to run downhill as much as possible. The drafting of Tyler Booker is indicative of that kind of style. And when they want to help Dak and the offense succeed, having a solid to good running game is the first start. Don't forget that Tony Romo's best season came in 2014 when he finished third in the MVP voting and DeMarco Murray rushed for over 1,800 yards and was the Offensive Player of the Year. In this league, you can do both. Just because Dak is getting $60 million per year doesn't mean they can't run it.
Kurt: Looks like we should expect movement, disguise and tempo. At least that's what Schottenheimer has been promising thus far, saying, "I'm a big believer in shifts and motions to distort things. … We're going to do a great job of marrying our runs and our passes and make those two the same." And that should include more RPOs and play-action. Over his career, Dak Prescott has completed 72.3 percent of his passes for a 100.6 passer rating on RPO plays. On non-RPO plays, he's at 66.5 and 98.0, respectively. Likewise, he's also been better working off play-action. Throw in more motion and the talent Schottenheimer and Prescott now have to work with on offense, and I think it's safe to say this should be a fun group to watch.
