An Elliott holdout shouldn’t derail this team in ’19

DALLAS — Your intrepid reporter can confirm a national report from over the weekend:

Zeke Elliott may or may not miss the start of training camp this week.

Rock-solid reporting, is what it is.

History tells us that even if Zeke holds out, it’s not necessarily the end of the world, though you could probably see it from there. Depends, of course, on how long Zeke sits and how well the Cowboys play without him. For instance, Emmitt Smith held out two games in 1993 and the Cowboys, with rookie Derrick Lassic in Emmitt’s place, lost both. After the second loss, Charles Haley, never one to take disappointment lightly, slammed a locker room wall and screamed, “We can’t win with this rookie running back!”

Jerry Jones apparently heard him loud and clear, because he signed Emmitt to a deal that very week. Not so coincidentally, the Cowboys went on to become the first team to lose its first two games and win a Super Bowl.

Now, this doesn’t mean you should count on a Zeke holdout as a good sign. Quite the opposite. Jimmy Johnson isn’t on the sideline, and Troy Aikman’s not in the huddle. But barring other disasters, it seems safe to say the Cowboys will be better this season.

Super Bowl better?

No rational observer should go there just yet. First it seems prudent, if not paramount, to gauge in training camp what Kellen Moore’s impact will be. Don’t expect radical change from the new offensive coordinator. Jason Garrett has made that much clear. On the other hand, if Moore simply remains alert during games, he might be an upgrade over Scott Linehan.

Not only that, here’s betting what you see in camp will be an improvement over this time last

year, pretty much across the board.

Consider that, going into last year’s camp, Paul Alexander still seemed like a good hire as the Cowboys’ offensive line coach; their best wide receiver would be Allen Hurns; Jason Witten would be working Monday nights; and Travis Frederick would be just fine. Amari Cooper made Dak Prescott into a better quarterback as soon as he got off the plane from Oakland. He’s now had an offseason to work with his quarterback after establishing himself as a true No. 1. By the end of last season, when he caught six passes for 119 yards against the Rams, Michael Gallup had developed into a legitimate No. 2.

Even in his dotage, Witten is better than all the tight ends who lined up to replace him last season.

Too early to say just yet whether Frederick’s return will be as impactful. The long-term effects of Guillain-Barre syndrome are hard to predict. True, Frederick’s symptoms didn’t appear as debilitating as what some victims endure. Then again, most don’t make a living wrestling 300-pound men, either.

But if Frederick is something close to his old self, it should go a long ways toward settling an offensive line that was in upheaval most of last season.

On defense, the Cowboys’ line, anchored by DeMarcus Lawrence, is the best and deepest in Rod Marinelli’s tenure. Leighton Vander Esch, Jaylon Smith and Sean Lee make up the Cowboys’ best set of linebackers since the ’70s.

Besides a handful of additions shoring up the thin spots, the Cowboys should be better if for no other reason than because they were one of the youngest teams in the league last year, when they were one of the last eight teams standing. Young teams generally get better. Good, young teams occasionally become great.

From a vantage point six weeks out, it seems as if the only thing that could screw this up is if Zeke takes it personally. Even if he does, chances are Jerry wouldn’t let any hard feelings linger.

It also seems fair to say that Mike Weber and Tony Pollard are probably better than Derrick Lassic.

And if the Cowboys had started out 2-0 in ’93, as Emmitt put it after he got his new deal, “I possibly would not be here.”

Something to think about, Zeke, while you’re on vacation. Or not.