Cowboys lean into heavy formations, with play-caller Brian Schottenheimer and new OC Klayton Adams driving the emphasis

The Dallas Cowboys are building a new offensive assault around heavy formations, a shift that centers on how the team wants to control games on the ground and dictate the tempo. In a preview of the approach, Yahoo Sports points to the combination of offensive play-calling from Brian Schottenheimer and the influence of new offensive coordinator Klayton Adams as a key reason Dallas “got better at running the ball last season,” even while the franchise looks to refine what has not worked consistently in the past.

The core idea behind the new emphasis is that heavy personnel and power-forward alignment can make protection and blocking easier to execute, especially when the offense is trying to sustain drives rather than search for big-play answers. Heavy formations also force defenses to adjust their front without always being able to match the Cowboys’ full range of run concepts, and that can create more favorable leverage for both inside and outside runs.

Yahoo Sports frames the change as more than a personnel tweak, describing it as an attempt to correct an organizational imbalance that developed under Mike McCarthy. The piece notes McCarthy “famously complained” about his prior play-caller not running enough, then later encountered the same problem under his own leadership. In that context, the Cowboys’ current plan reads as an effort to align play-calling philosophy with a physical, run-capable week-to-week identity.

Brian Schottenheimer’s presence matters in that alignment. As play-caller, he is positioned to translate the staff’s run-first intentions into the sequencing of plays, down-and-distance choices, and formation management that keep defenses from settling into comfortable reads. Klayton Adams, identified in the report as the Cowboys’ offensive coordinator addition, is presented as the other half of the formula, shaping how the offense practices and installs run packages that can travel from script to late-drive situations.

The heavy-formation approach also has roster implications, at least in how the Cowboys want to use their offensive line and backs. Even without pointing to specific names or injuries, the strategic takeaway is that the front has to be able to move in a steady pattern: win early leverage, keep run fits clean, and protect play-action shots that rely on defenders hesitating to come up too aggressively. That is the kind of offensive foundation teams typically prioritize when they believe the simplest path to points is controlling the clock and field position.

For Dallas, the immediate watch point is how consistently heavy looks show up and how quickly they convert into successful run plays, not simply how often the formation appears. Another watch item is whether the Cowboys can use the run emphasis to create second-order benefits, including more sustainable third downs and play-action opportunities, rather than becoming overly predictable if opponents crowd the box.

There is, however, a caution in judging this kind of identity shift based on staff-fit previews alone. Without confirmed camp usage details, snap-rate changes, or quantifiable production, the best way to measure the “assault” will be through execution across preseason and into the regular season, especially in games where opponents attempt to neutralize the run by overloading the line of scrimmage. The Cowboys’ offseason messaging suggests a plan with clear intent, but the results will determine how much of the improvement was structural and how much was situational.