The recent retirement of Cowboys special teams ace C.J. Goodwin highlights an underlying issue of constructing a complete 53-man roster. While football’s third phase is often overlooked, its importance cannot be underestimated. The 2010 Chargers team, who boasted the leagues number one rated offense and defense, failed to make the playoffs due to historically bad special teams play. It’s not a stretch that teams who want to excel have to make sure they have quality personnel playing on their teams.
The Dallas Cowboys punt units were failures in 2025. As a whole, Dallas’ special teams were the second-most penalized on special teams under first-year coordinator Nick Sorensen, and they had some of the worst starting field positioning throughout the league. A snapshot of last season’s punt personnel shows just how many role players are needed to not only support primary positions but become essential on transitional snaps.
The punt team begins with the long snapper, Trent Sieg, who snaps the ball to punter Brian Anger. Sieg is flanked by four linemen, two on each side, but since actual lineman aren’t practical for coverage responsibilities, it is assembled from a combination of offensive and defensive players with blocking ability.
Next come the wings who play on the edges of the O-line, much like an H-back. Flanked out wide are the gunners — designated speedy players who spearhead the tackling of the opponent’s punt returner.
Lastly is the personal protector, a player who not only ensures the proper alignment of the unit but is lined up midway between the line and the punter designated to be the last line of protection and to ensure the completion of the punt.
Of those 42 plays, Dallas used 18 total players — none being one of the 22 projected starters. Sieg and Anger, along with backup tight end Luke Schoonmaker and fullback Hunter Luepke were the only players to be in on all 42 punt snaps.
Goodwin missed the first punt of the season but appeared on the remaining 41 snaps. TE Brevyn Spann-Ford lined up 40 times while safety Markquese Bell took 39 snaps.
Sieg, Anger, Spann-Ford, and Luepke appear to be roster locks in 2026, yet questions remain for Schoonmaker and Bell. Linebacker Marist Liufau played 34 punt snaps, yet his transition to a new defensive position places him on the roster bubble. LB Damone Clark (29 snaps) is already off the roster, as is safety Juanyeh Thomas (20 snaps).
If RB Malik Davis (20), safety Alijah Clark (17) and RB Jaydon Blue (2) make the club in 2026, they could see their spots secured by playing well on punt coverage, along with other special teams units.
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This article originally appeared on Cowboys Wire: Inside the Cowboys punt team turnover and its effect on the final 53
