NFL
By: Greg Rector
The Dallas Cowboys preseason did not get off to a good start in Denver. Their penchant for taking penalties reared its ugly head yet again. Some of the 17 penalties may not have been warranted, however, the fact remains the Cowboys did not look good at all in the rarified air in Colorado.
This week it’s back to California and a date with the Los Angeles Chargers. This also meant a second week with scrimmages versus the team they will play against Saturday night.
The Dallas Cowboys practiced with the Chargers on Thursday.
Full recap: https://t.co/AlZmJNYoqe
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One thing that has been a positive, at least in the scrimmages and even in the Denver game, has been the improved play of the interior of the defensive line. So far Neville Gallimore, Osa Odigizuwa, Quinton Bohanna, and even the much-maligned Trysten Hill, have all made plays that have impressed the coaching staff. If that group wants to impress the fans seeing that happen, especially against the run when the games count, will make for a happier Cowboys Nation, along with a certain old guy that writes articles about them weekly. The other guy making a name for himself all camp long has been linebacker Leighton Vander Esche, playing on a one-year prove-it deal might unexpectedly just pay off if that can continue into the regular season.
Meanwhile, Micah Parsons at least in the scrimmages has been his usual terror no matter what spot he plays on the defense. The important part, of course, will be in the regular season, and if the front seven is improved especially against the run, that will be very important to determining the success this team will have. For all those who bemoaned Randy Gregory departing, both Dontae Fowler and Sam Williams have been the effective guys opposite Demarcus Lawrence. I wrote about this last year early in the season that the defense playing at a high level even when the offense was struggling at times felt like the being an offensive juggernaut mindset was slowly being switched.
While the secondary, especially starters Trevon Diggs, Jourdan Lewis, and Anthony Brown, have mostly just been putting in their work, there is one name constantly standing out so far that is Daron Bland, the fifth-round pick from Fresno State, who has been much better than last year’s two draft picks corners Kelvin Joseph and Nahshon Wright so far. With two more games to play there is a definite competition happening there. UDFA safety Marquese Bell (Florida A&M) also appears to be a lock to make this roster, the coaches absolutely love him and he is the rookie version of Safety/Linebacker Jayron Kearse, according to many.
Cowboys On Offense
INJURY UPDATE: @dallascowboys WR Michael Gallup (ACL) running routes on Thursday pic.twitter.com/mkelN640uv
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A no more welcome sight than Michael Gallup running routes happened on Thursday. This is the side of the ball where my headline comes into play. With Cooper Rush at the helm against the Broncos, no one really got to assess the wide receiver group. I would expect Will Grier to get his chance to lead the offense and possibly take the backup job away from Rush. Fans will also want to see if Noah Brown, Jalen Tolbert, and the other unknown receivers like Dennis Houston can impress in a game situation. Even with the above welcome sight of Gallup on the field, as of now, it still appears that the earliest he returns is week 4 or 5.
So that means against Tampa Bay, Cincinnatti, Giants, and Commanders that someone will need to step up and make plays not named Ceedee Lamb. I would expect not to see any of Ezekiel Elliott or Tony Pollard for the second straight week, the same applies to Rayne Dakota Prescott. The offensive line questions are the answers fans really want to be answered. It appears that sooner than later, rookie Tyler Smith, will be named the starting left guard as Connor McGovern is now seeing more snaps as a right guard and, yes, even back as the 3rd down fullback as we saw last year. Smith was penalized in week one, and the young guard needs to continue to improve from a technique standpoint. There was no doubting his physicality as he stood up nicely to every bull rush he saw from the Broncos.
The backup positions are where the real anxieties lay. Josh Ball was actually outplayed at left tackle by Isaac Alarcon from the International Player Pathway Program. In fairness, when Ball was drafted, I said he was a right tackle at the NFL level, and it showed against Denver. These two games will go a long way to determining if Stephen “Cap Boy,” Jones will have to dip into his beloved rollover salary cap cash for a true swing tackle or a wide receiver. Somehow I think the Cowboys instead go the route of bringing on a roster cut from elsewhere instead. Wonder why I doubt they’ll spend any of what remains for the salary cap?
Those are the battles going forward for both units and will be decided after playing the Chargers and finishing up the preseason against the Seahawks. None of the question marks have changed my mind about my feeling that the Cowboys will be 11-6 and end the back-to-back curse for winning the NFC East. As the headline says, and it applies to every team, there is “No Sure Thing” for NFL teams.
As always, you can find me on Twitter @GregCowboys
