Cowboys vs Buccaneers: 2 players Dallas should use more in Week 5

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After a gut-check win over the Houston Texans last Sunday, the Dallas Cowboys face a short week as they prepare to host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Thursday night. While Tampa Bay does come into this game winless at 0-4, history has shown us that short weeks in the NFL make anything possible.

If the Cowboys want to win their second in a row, they'll need to mix some things up. With that thought in mind, here are two players Dallas should use more on Thursday night.

1) EDGE Malachi Lawrence

Four games into the season, the Cowboys' pass rush group has been very disappointing. Dallas is tied for the second-fewest sacks in the league with four, and has only two players, Rashan Gary and Quinnen Williams, with nine or more pressures on the year.

Coming into the year, there was plenty of concern about the lack of quality pass-rushers on Dallas' roster. While the Cowboys traded for Rashan Gary to raise the floor of their pass-rush group, they chose to bet on first-round pick Malachi Lawrence to make an immediate impact rather than acquiring another proven commodity to start alongside him.

So far, Lawrence has not been given a fair shot to do so. The 23-year-old has logged just 42 pass-rush snaps in Dallas' first four games of the season. In those limited opportunities, Lawrence has flashed some big-time potential. The first-round pick has a 20.5 Pass-Rush Win%, the highest of any defender on the Cowboys' roster, to go with five total pressures and four hurries.

While these numbers don't jump off the page, it's clear Lawrence has the tools to be an impactful pass rusher, and he should be given more opportunities to do so. This week against the Buccaneers, the Cowboys should increase Lawrence's snap count and see if he can make more of an impact.

2) DT Otito Ogbonnia

The Cowboys made a few notable moves this offseason. At the time, signing defensive tackle Otito Ogbonnia didn't seem like that significant of a move, but four games into the 2026 campaign, the veteran has been far and away their best defender against the run.

Four games in, Ogbonnia leads all Cowboys' defensive linemen with 10 defensive stops and a 74.2 Pro Football Focus run defense grade.

Otito Ogbonnia has been one of the best additions to this #Cowboys defense. Has been just awesome vs the run all year. pic.twitter.com/vm5ND8adDQ

- John Owning (@JohnOwning) October 5, 2026

Despite being their best run defender, Ogbonnia has had two games this season (Washington/Houston) where he played 12 or fewer run-defense snaps. However they want to manage the rotation to rectify this, the Cowboys need to give Ogbonnia plenty of opportunities this week.