It seems all the right things are coming together for Morris Claiborne this offseason for him and the Dallas Cowboys.

We've heard about many headlines at OTAs, such as Ezekiel Elliott taking first-team reps, Tony Romo looking great, and the unfortunate injury to Maliek Collins. And while there seems to be a lot of excitement about this Cowboys team, as there should be with so many quality pieces in the right spots, many are forgetting about a player that has the potential to breakout and fully develop into what the Cowboys thought he would become when they drafted him a few years ago.

It's been four years since the Cowboys traded up and selected Morris Claiborne in the 2012 NFL Draft. In that offseason, the Cowboys drafted Claiborne and shelled out $50 million in free agency to sign Brandon Carr in an attempt to fix the secondary. And since that offseason period, the Cowboys have failed to get consistent production from that duo.

Outside of his first year with the Cowboys, which wasn't that great to begin with, Carr's tenure in Dallas has been extremely rocky. At the same time, Claiborne's time in Dallas has been filled with inconsistency and injuries.

When his rookie contract ended after the 2015 season, the Cowboys decided to bring back Claiborne on a one-year deal in hopes of giving him one more opportunity to prove himself and live up to his draft status. For the Cowboys, a one-year deal worth $3 million is a good contract for a guy who has the ability to be better than he has if he can just make it work.

When Claibourne was a rookie and a few years after that he was under the guidance of Defensive Backs Coach Jerome Henderson. The Cowboys have truly failed to fully develop a defensive back within the past 10 or so years outside of Byron Jones. J.J. Wilcox and B.W. Webb were both players Henderson was extremely fond of, but both have been complete busts in the NFL.

Cornerback Morris Claiborne #24 of the Dallas Cowboys reacts to a play against the Washington Redskins in the second quarter at FedExField on December 7, 2015 in Landover, Maryland. (Dec. 6, 2015 - Source: Patrick Smith/Getty Images North America)
Cornerback Morris Claiborne #24 of the Dallas Cowboys reacts to a play against the Washington Redskins in the second quarter at FedExField on December 7, 2015 in Landover, Maryland. (Dec. 6, 2015 - Source: Patrick Smith/Getty Images North America)

It seems that each year Claiborne looks great throughout the offseason and he talks about paying back the Cowboys and awarding them for taking a chance on him. Just last season he looked great after three games.

However, his overall 2015 season turned out to be less than average, much like the rest of the players on the Cowboys. Perhaps a large part of his struggles came because of the hamstring injury he suffered in the middle of the season last year.

For Claiborne to reach his full potential, he needs to build his confidence in addition to staying healthy. Confidence has continuously been a problem and when he does build some sort of confidence, an injury comes along that seems to get in his way and stunt his growth. The time is now for Claiborne to prove himself in this league. He's gotten bigger and stronger in comparison to last offseason, where he weighed just over 170 pounds at times.

While Claiborne has performed well at OTAs, 2016 is finally the year where he can prove himself and his long-term role in Dallas. If Claiborne can stay away from the injury bug, there should absolutely no excuse why he shouldn't improve in 2016.

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