How much should Dak Prescott be running the ball in this Cowboys offense?

Tim Cowlishaw, sports columnist for SportsDayDFW.com and The Dallas Morning News, author of Drunk on Sports and panelist on ESPN's "Around the Horn," answered your questions about the Cowboys, Rangers, Mavericks, Stars and college sports in a recent mailbag. Here are some highlights.

Do you think Dak should run the ball more or less?

More than he has in the past but just about the amount he ran it Sunday night against the Giants. The zone-read is a great weapon where Dak Prescott can hand the ball to Ezekiel Elliott, the NFL’s leading rusher over the last two seasons, or keep it and go around the end himself. This may be a limited team when it comes to wide receiver firepower. The pass-run option play helps make the Cowboys offense dangerous again.

How big of a role will Brice Butler have in the Cowboys offense? Is he immediately their No.1 receiver?

He’s not even close to a No. 1 receiver. This was a strange move. Butler was here the last three seasons and never caught more than 16 passes. He showed occasional flashes by catching a deep ball but never sustained anything. It’s odd that the Cowboys reached out to him the day after the Carolina game. That’s not exactly giving their core group of receivers much of a chance, is it? I expect he will be in the rotation, play maybe 20 snaps or so in Seattle and go from there. I don’t expect him to be the lead receiver.

After seeing how good the defense has been for the Cowboys so far, should they make the move for Earl Thomas? Would that make their defense elite?

Well, I have been saying they should get Earl Thomas for months and I wouldn’t stop now just because the defense looks good. It’s the exact opposite really. It’s BECAUSE it looks so good in the front seven that the addition of Thomas at the back end could really move this defense closer to the elite level. Throw in an extra late pick with the No. 2. I can’t believe Seattle is willing to lose him for a late 3 (compensatory pick) and won’t take a 2 now, anyway.

What is the biggest reason for the Cowboys' offensive woes?

There are two reasons. The mistakes they have made, especially against Carolina, shortened possessions. And even against the Giants, when you look at it, they really only had 48 offensive plays (not including 2 kneel-downs at the end of each half), and that’s a really low number of plays to execute. So that’s one. The second is simply that beyond Ezekiel Elliott, do you have any other Cowboys weapons at receiver or tight end on your fantasy team? I didn’t think so. This team is going to have to prove it has some consistent game-breakers. We have seen Tavon Austin do it once. Will he do it again in Seattle? Will it be someone else? It’s going to take some time to figure out exactly where this offense ranks.