Stats Can Help Predict The Next Cowboys Player

The first wave of free agency is behind us and signings have slowed down to a trickle. On the CBSSports free agent tracker for example, 83 of the Top 100 free agents have already been signed. But that doesn’t mean that that all roster holes have been filled across the NFL, far from it.

There are still some big-name free agents available, like DE Joey Bosa, LB Bobby Wagner, or former Cowboy Jadeveon Clowney, to name just three. But while free agents like these might provide the type of big-name signings many Cowboys fans crave, the Cowboys – their dalliance with Maxx Crosby this year notwithstanding – haven’t traditionally brought in big-name free agents at any time in free agency, but they did bring in the occasional veteran after the first wave of free agency had died down.

One way of trying to figure out what the Cowboys next moves might be is to look at snaps gained and snaps lost versus last year, as this should give us a good indication of the remaining roster holes that need to be addressed.

Snap counts lost and gained on offense

The Cowboys offense is returning 90.8 percent of its snaps in 2026. The only notable players from last year’s offense that aren’t returning this year are Brock Hoffman (474 snaps) and Jalen Tolbert (464). They signed OL Matt Hennessy (173 snaps in 2025) to fill the OL gap, and WR Ryan Flournoy already took over most of Tolbert’s snaps by midseason last year.

Barring a protracted standoff with George Pickens, the No. 2 offense by yards gained in 2025 should be in good shape for 2026. And you might even wonder if you could move players like Luke Schoonmaker or Joe Milton for some draft pick compensation or in a player-for-player deal.

Snap counts lost and gained on defense

The story is of course very different for the defense, which is returning only 53.7 percent of its snaps. That sounds like a high number, but a good argument could be made that the number should be a lot higher for a defense that ranked 32nd in points allowed last year.

In any case, before digging into specific players, let’s first look at snaps lost and gained by position:

Linebacker: Not only is this the biggest gap with 1,406 lost snaps, it’s also the position where the Cowboys haven’t been able to sign anybody yet. Technically that snaps lost number should be even higher, as the team is moving Marist Liufau’s 202 snaps to OLB.

The Cowboys are banking on DeMarvion Overshown (218 snaps) to take a lot more snaps this year, but the Cowboys need at least two NFL-ready linebackers to fill that gap – and cover for the Overshown injury risk. And if the Cowboys don’t want to be forced to reach for linebackers with both of their top picks, they need to add additional bodies to the roster in the coming weeks.

Defensive tackle: This is, of course, partly an issue of the Cowboys’ own making, because they traded away Osa Odighizuwa (692 snaps) and Solomon Thomas (419). Kenny Clark already logged 748 last season and that’s not likely to increase. Quinnen Williams eases the situation a little, as he’s only on the books for 275 snaps in Dallas last year, but had 724 in 2024 and a combined 640 for the Jets and Cowboys in 2025. And even with Otito Ogbonnia doubling his snaps from last year to around 300, that still leaves the team about 500-600 snaps short. The Cowboys need to add at least one more DT who can take that amount of snaps – and then pray everybody stays healthy the entire season.

Safety: This looks like the one spot they have covered. The Cowboys let Donovan Wilson (921 snaps) and Juanyeh Thomas (266) walk, and replaced them almost one-to-one with Jalen Thompson (978) and P.J. Locke (302).

If, like me, you were hoping for the Cowboys to pick a safety high, you can bury that dream now. They have much more pressing needs in the draft, and that’s without even considering the positional value of a safety relative to a corner or pass rusher.

DE/OLB: The Cowboys brought back Sam Williams and his 474 snaps, so I didn’t include him in the lost/gained tally. Key losses for the Cowboys were Jadeveon Clowney (373) and Dante Fowler (359) for a combined 732 snaps, which is largely covered by Rashan Gary’s 697 snaps in Green Bay last year. Add Marist Liufau’s 202 snaps, and on paper, the Cowboys have the position group covered. But not all snaps are created equal, as the Cowboys found out when they replaced Micah Parsons’ 696 snaps from 2024 in 2025. This is the position most in need of a talent upgrade, and the Cowboys won’t find that talent in what remains of free agency, the only way to get to that talent is through the draft.

CB: Not all snaps being equal works in another direction as well: The bulk of the 910 lost snaps at corner came from Kaiir Elam (460) and Trevon Diggs (427), and with the way both played in 2025, nobody should consider those snaps as “lost” snaps. And again, the Cowboys covered those 910 snaps with Cobie Durant, who logged 985 snaps for the Rams last year.

The question here is more about the overall quality of the CB room. Injuries plagued Daron Bland (746 snaps) and Shavon Revel (334) last year and questions remain about their health and level of play in 2026. And how much quality play can the Cowboys get from the likes of Reddy Steward (519), Trikweze Bridges (248) or Caelen Carson (211)?

The Cowboys certainly have enough bodies at the position – which, considering everything, is already a big plus – but do they have enough quality? It’s got to be a corner early in the draft along with a pass rusher. And nobody will complain if the double-dip or even triple-dip at both positions in the draft.

The Cowboys perform a similar exercise they call the “Snap-count Audit” that helps them understand if they have sufficient resources to play a 17-game schedule and potentially the playoffs. Their audit goes way beyond just the snap count analysis we are doing here and includes an assessment of the talent level as well as injury probabilities along with many other considerations, all designed to figure out if the roster can remain competitive across the full season, and where additional resources may be needed.

But I’d be very surprised if their audit, though certainly much more detailed, thorough, and analytically sound, came to vastly different conclusions.