Cowboys bold predictions start with the idea that attention can change roles by midseason

In the weeks leading up to the 2026 season, NFL teams are already being judged on more than play on the field. They are being judged on how the league will react to what they did last year, and how quickly their own game plans can evolve when opponents adjust. A recent Cowboys-focused piece from Yahoo Sports leans into that concept with a central theme: some predictions feel “bold” now, but may look obvious by midseason once defenses are forced into familiar, recurring matchups.

The column frames its Cowboys forecast as a product of attention. When a pass offense is potent, the opponents’ first response is usually to take away the obvious answers, which can shift coverage responsibilities and open room for the next set of targets. The author points to Dallas’ offense as an example of how a group that was difficult to defend last season could lead to different production patterns as opposing staffs change who they double, who they help, and who they sit back on.

A key example in the piece is the idea that George Pickens could draw increased game-by-game focus. The author argues that, even with a strong established receiver identity already on the roster, a second, respected threat can force defenses to find more ways to account for Dallas’ passing looks. In that framework, “more attention” is not just a compliment to the player, it is a report that the rest of the offense can be rebalanced week to week, including opportunities for players who are not the primary headline.

The Yahoo column also makes a historical comparison to 2021. It notes that the Cowboys had a well-known receiving trio featuring CeeDee Lamb, Amari Cooper, and Michael Gallup, but that the structure of the offense, and the way coverage evolved across the season, contributed to Dalton Schultz becoming more central. The point is not that a single season guarantee exists. It is that a system can create role clarity when defenses stop treating everyone the same way.

From there, the piece turns to Jake Ferguson as a possible “primary beneficiary” type. It argues Ferguson has already shown that sort of production path, citing 2023 as the season in which Ferguson delivered while Schultz was gone, and it connects that to how offensive circumstances can make one tight end look like a more frequent solution. In the author’s telling, the same logic could apply again, with the specific matchups and coverage choices driving whether a tight end becomes a weekly focal point.

Whether that forecast lands depends on a basic reality of the NFL: midseason is when coaching adjustments and personnel continuity start to converge. Early in the year, teams experiment with coverage shells and route combinations. By November, they tend to lean on what stopped opponents the most. The author’s “bold now, normal later” premise is essentially about that timeline, and about which Cowboys playmakers benefit when defenses lock in.

For Dallas fans, the practical question to watch is how often the offense identifies the player who is least “accounted for” after the first wave of coverage. If opponents consistently over-scheme toward Dallas’ top receiving threats, the secondary options, including Ferguson in this particular outlook, can see more high-leverage targets. If defenses instead find a way to cover everything with the same matchups, that prediction would lose momentum.

The bottom line from the piece is not that one prediction is destiny. It is that the Cowboys’ offensive identity can produce different starring roles as the season progresses, and that midseason tends to reveal who those roles truly belong to. By the time Dallas reaches the stretch where play-calling tightens and scouting patterns deepen, the “bold” ideas can either become routine, or fall flat, depending on how opponents respond.

The author’s argument is that by midseason, an offense like Dallas’ does not just have better players, it has better clarity on which players defenses cannot sustain stopping. That is the part that feels bold at kickoff, and ordinary later on. If you are trying to read the tea leaves, watch who becomes the default option when the coverage is designed to deny the obvious.

The Cowboys’ path to that outcome will be revealed in the details: target distribution, formation usage, and how often the staff calls plays that stress a specific coverage point. If the season turns into the story the column suggests, Ferguson’s role would look less like an accessory and more like an endpoint for Dallas’ passing game. If not, the prediction becomes one of many offseason theories that did not survive contact with a full defensive scouting calendar.