Cowboys Week 5 Stock Report: Malachi Lawrence Leads 3 Rising, DaRon Bland Among 5 Falling

The Dallas Cowboys had one of the uglier losses in recent memory on Thursday when they fell to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 24-16.

It was a terrible performance all around, as the Cowboys couldn't get much going on offense and the defense was its usual putrid self.

Despite the struggles, we did find three players who managed to improve their respective stocks going into Week 6. Meanwhile, we are highlighting five guys who hurt their stocks the most, although we could have named a lot more.

Now, our Week 5 stock report.

Rising: Ameer Speed

Speed has quietly put together three solid games in a row for the Cowboys. While he has only been targeted twice in that span, his coverage has been sticky, so no wonder teams aren't trying him.

Speed saw one target in Week 5 but didn't allow a completion.

If Cobie Durant is needed in the slot upon his return, the Cowboys should give Speed snaps over DaRon Bland.

Falling: Jake Ferguson

Ferguson has proven unreliable this season, and in more ways than one.

In Week 3, he had the crucial fumble, and in Week 5 it was the brutal drop on a pass that went through his hands, off his face mask and into the arms of a Bucs defender. That play sealed Dallas' loss on its final offensive drive.

Adding to those issues, Ferguson has also struggled badly with blocking, which has only made his season look even worse. The Cowboys tight end needs to get his act together, and fast.

Rising: George Pickens

Pickens finally broke out on Sunday, with the veteran wideout reeling in season-highs in catches (nine), receiving yards (130) and touchdowns (one). It was only a matter of time before he exploded, and here we are.

Keep an eye on the status of CeeDee Lamb going into Week 6, as he's dealing with a quad bruise. That's not expected to keep him out, but if it does, Pickens could be in line for another big game.

Falling: DaRon Bland

When isn't Bland's stock falling? In fact, we're not sure it can even go lower than it is now.

Another abysmal performance was headlined by Bland falling on two separate plays, both of which led to crucial receptions. Then, there was his brutal drop on a potential pick-six that the old Bland would have caught and housed.

It doesn't appear the Cowboys are going to make a change with the veteran corner yet, but they desperately need to.

Rising: Malachi Lawrence

The rookie did something nobody else could in Week 5: finish off a pressure with a sack. Adding to that, Lawrence had two pressures in total to go along with a run stop.

The sack was the first of Lawrence's career and he's now tied for the team lead with one. It was a step in the right direction during a season in which the rookie has been mostly quiet.

Falling: Quinnen Williams

Willams has been inconsistent, at best, this season and had a bad game in Week 5 after playing better in Week 4.

The biggest issue we saw with Williams was his failure to get off blocks, which assisted in the Buccaneers running wild on Dallas. Williams did have a few pressures, but he didn't turn either of them into even a QB hit, let alone a sack.

Williams' performance on Thursday did nothing to quell the idea he just isn't a good fit in the system Christian Parker is running.

Falling: Von Miller

Like Williams, Miller was a big culprit in the Cowboys' run defense struggles in Week 5. The Bucs kept running it at the veteran edge rusher, and he kept failing to set the edge. It's amazing the damage Miller did in just 10 snaps.

Miller posted one pressure, but of course he didn't convert it into a sack, and he has yet to take down the quarterback through five games. The Von Miller experiment is not working in Dallas.

Falling: The Coaching staff

Beating a dead horse here at this point, but this coaching staff just continues to frustrate us.

Head coach Brian Schottenheimer even admitted his play-calling wasn't good enough in the first half of Week 5, and we'd say that was the case the entire game and, really, the entire season.

As for Parker, he continues to have no answers for how the Cowboys can fix their deficiencies on defense and our faith in him is nil.

This is just a poorly-coached team, plain and simple, and we're not sure that's ever going to change with this current staff.

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