Give us your bold and wild predictions. Out of all the rookies, who will be starting (or high snap count) by Week 1? By Week 18? — ADAM VOLPE / WHITMAN, MA
Nick: I would think we all know Tyler Smith is going to be playing left guard. He’s if not, that is a problem. The player after that who will likely get the most snaps is Jalen Tolbert. He enters a situation where he should get tons of reps, if he’s ready for it. I would imagine he will be and would guess that he’ll get some special teams play as well. I also expect John Ridgeway to get a lot of reps for a late fifth-round pick. But if we’re being honest, Devin Harper might get more snaps than anyone because he could be a plug-and-play guy on special teams from the jump.
Rob: It’s fair to hope/expect the top four picks —Tyler Smith, Sam Williams, Jalen Tolbert and Jake Ferguson —all play significant snaps as early as Week 1. I don’t think you draft Smith in the first round without thinking he can start at left guard as a rookie and transition to left tackle down the road. Williams should be a big part of the edge rusher rotation right away. Maybe Tolbert can step into Cedrick Wilson’s previous role as a super sub. The Cowboys played two tight ends about 25% of the snaps last year, according to Sharp Football Analysis, so there’s opportunity for Ferguson to play a decent amount behind Dalton Schultz, especially if he can produce as a blocker.
Stephen Jones claimed the Cowboys were not done with adding veterans through free agency prior to the draft. With the uncertainty of Kelvin Joseph’s situation and no blue-chip linebackers selected in the draft (at least available to play in 2022), should we expect Dallas to fish in those waters in the near future? — ROB RIGGIERI / RUTLAND, MA
Nick: I’ll probably regret saying this, but I would think they’re probably done making any significant moves. We might see something here and there, but I’m not anticipating anything like that, especially since they drafted…