3 Cowboys who must be replaced during the bye week

If the Dallas Cowboys want to improve after the bye week, they need to replace these 3 players.

Oct 6, 2024; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott (15) and quarterback Dak Prescott (4) take the field to play the Pittsburgh Steelers. / Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

Week 6 was one to forget for the Dallas Cowboys. They not only fell to 0-3 at home but were blown out of the building for the second time with the Detroit Lions winning easily, 47-9.

As fate would have it, Dallas now enters a Week 7 bye. Ideally, they were hoping to go into their week off with a win as they prepare for a daunting stretch ahead of them. Instead, they have to sit and stew over this defeat as they prepare to face the San Francisco 49ers in Week 8.

At 3-3, the season is far from over but hope is dwindling fast. That’s why the coaches need to use this bye week to pick apart the roster and find where they can improve. In doing so, they should come to the conclusion that these three players need to be replaced.

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Malik Hooker, S

Dallas Cowboys safety Malik Hooker (28) warms up before the game against the San Francisco 49ers at Levi's Stadium. / Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

There was a time when Malik Hooker was one of the top coverage safeties in the NFL. Sadly, that’s not the case in 2024.

MORE: 4 takeaways from Cowboys' disappointing loss vs. Lions

Through the first six games of the season, Hooker has already given up 144 yards and allowed a QB rating of 116.4. The yardage is especially worrisome given that he gave up just 149 in 2021 followed by 220 and 213 in the following two campaigns.

At his current pace, Hooker is set to surrender 408 yards which would be the worst total in his career. Perhaps he’s lost or step or maybe he’s just a poor fit in Mike Zimmer’s scheme. Whatever the problem is, Hooker can’t keep playing deep safety if Dallas wants to slow down the aerial attack.

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Mazi Smith, DT

October 8, 2023; Santa Clara, California, USA; Dallas Cowboys defensive tackle Mazi Smith (58). / Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

When Dan Quinn was the defensive coordinator, the primary knock was his inability to shut down the run. His replacement, Mike Zimmer, was expected to bring some stability to the team’s run defense. Through six games, that hasn’t been the case.

There’s no shortage of blame to go around but the biggest disappointment thus far has to be Mazi Smith. A first-round pick in 2023, Smith has been an issue on the Dallas D-line. He has just 13 tackles and is currently ranked 124th out of 125 defensive tackles according to PFF. His rush grade is among the worst in the league at 30.1.

This was one of the positions Dallas ignored in the offseason and so far, they’re paying for that decisions.

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Ezekiel Elliott, RB

Oct 6, 2024; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott (15) runs the ball against the Pittsburgh Steelers during the fourth quarter at Acrisure Stadium. Dallas won 20-17. / Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

Dallas frustrated the fan base when they avoided every possible running back in the 2024 NFL Draft. Their reasoning for doing so was a misguided belief that Ezekiel Elliott still had the ability to start. Every one outside of the Jones family knew that wasn’t the case and they’ve been proven correct.

Elliott has been a non-factor with 115 yards on 38 attempts. That’s good for a career-low 3.0 yards per attempt for Zeke.

Despite his poor performance, the Cowboys have kept him as their RB2. What’s worse is they even gave into his concerns when he expressed displeasure with his touches.

Jerry Jones initially said they were “saving” Elliott, which was an asinine statement. The only thing worse than this was giving him more carries in Week 6 after Rico Dowdle just had the best two games of his career.

Elliott was once a premier back in the NFL but that time has passed. Now, he’s someone who should, at the very least, be benched. Most teams, however, would outright release a player for such a slow start.

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