Last yr we heard a common theme after several losses late in the yr and even in the playoff loss, "we weren't physical enough". Their strong ground attack totally disappeared. There was an early stretch in which the Cowboys went on a 5 game winning streak, in which they dominated on the ground that led to their success. We can point to many things why it faltered, but they needed to get more physical up front.
Tyler Smith's calling card coming into this league is that he is a dominate run blocker. He is a people mover who will create space in the run game. Yes, he needs work as a pass protector, but he is an immediate upgrade to our run game. He is a similar player to Collins at this stage, but appears to have that want to be great.
We saw how Dalton Shultz really struggled inline as a blocker. Reportedly, he put on a few pounds of muscle this offseason to become better in this area. Jarwin was more of a hybrid big receiver who was a terrible blocker. Enter Jake Ferguson. He is similar to Dalton as a receiver, but a far better blocker at this stage. This will allow more double te sets and have Shultz play more off the line.
Defensively, we know Dan Quinn covets length, but he certainly is targeting elite speed. Parsons is a freak that runs 4.3 at the linebacker position, Sam Williams is a 4.4 player, Devin Harper, Bland were elite speed prospects.