Dallas City News

In the week-plus since the Dallas Cowboys’ 2024 training camp opened we’ve already gathered some important information on player performances, plus seen an unfortunate injury. It’s a good time to circle back to our 53-man roster projection and make the necessary adjustments.

Of course, the biggest item so far was DE Sam Williams being lost for the season to a knee injury. A brutal loss for both player and team, Williams’ absence led Dallas to add two free agents as potential roster candidates. We’ll have to wait and see if Shaka Toney and Al-Quadin Muhammad can quickly stake a claim or if they’re nothing more than camp bodies.

Beyond that development, we’ve had plenty of other reports regarding players’ work at camp both favorable and negative. Have these been enough to cause any shifts in our projections?

OFFENSE (25)

Quarterback (3)

Dak Prescott, Cooper Rush, Trey Lance

After considering Dallas’s potential to go with just Prescott and Lance last week, we’re putting Rush back in now. For one, it’s good to see how we can do the math with three quarterbacks. But more, Rush has been outperforming Lance so far and still appears to be the best option for backup QB.

While there’s still plenty of time for this to change, Lance has to start picking up steam immediately. While some have brought up Prescott’s own camp struggles in 2016 and how it wasn’t until the preseason that we saw what he was made of, he was a fourth-round rookie. Lance is a four-year veteran who can’t afford to still be having growing pains, even if this is his first Cowboys camp.

Running Back (4)

Rico Dowdle, Ezekiel Elliott, Deuce Vaughn
Hunter Luepke (FB)

Despite uninspiring reports about how Zeke’s looked so far, we’re sticking with this projection for now. Elliott’s value will be more tangible in real-game situations but there’s no guarantee he gets there. If Royce Freeman can do similar things and looks more athletic, which would make sense with less NFL mileage, a switch could happen. We could also see Luepke assume that role and allow Dallas to only keep three backs.

Wide Receiver (6)

CeeDee Lamb, Brandin Cooks, Jalen Tolbert
KaVontae Turpin, Jalen Brooks, Ryan Flournoy

We bumped Brooks at the start of camp after Flournoy’s hype from the spring camps, but so far in Oxnard it’s been all Brooks in that matchup. And now Tyron Billy-Johnson, a 28-year-old prospect from last year’s practice squad, is another WR standout. Flournoy still has time to get his hype train going again and has youth on his side compared to Billy-Johnson. But if the Cowboys only keep five receivers then it probably won’t matter.

Tight End (3)

Jake Ferguson, Luke Schoonmaker, John Stephens

To keep three QBs and six WRs we had to go shorter somewhere else, which cost Brevyn Spann-Ford his roster spot from the last projection. Dallas should be able to carry him and Peyton Hendershot on the practice squad and use them on game days as needed, plus Hunter Luepke can play as a smaller TE in certain packages.

Offensive Line (9)

Tyler Smith, Zack Martin, Terence Steele
Tyler Guyton, Brock Hoffman, Cooper Beebe
T.J. Bass, Asim Richards, Chuma Edoga

The only change to this bunch is swapping Edoga in for Nathan Thomas, a seventh-rounder who Dallas can get to the practice squad. While we hold out the potential for Edoga to get cut if he’s not starting, which appears the case now barring injury, he still brings a lot of experience to the depth chart. Dallas has continued to rotate him as the first-team left tackle, so they still seem to see him as their swing guy for now.

DEFENSE (25)

Defensive End (6)

Micah Parsons, DeMarcus Lawrence, Marshawn Kneeland
Chauncey Golston, Al-Quadin Muhammad, Tyrus Wheat

Of the two free agent additions, Muhammad has real-game production with six sacks in 2021 for the Colts. Toney was a college teammate of Micah Parsons but hasn’t done anything of note in his two NFL seasons. While both could make it, Muhammad is the safer bet if it’s only one of them.

We dumped Villiami Fehoko for Golston after the second-year DE’s reportedly rough start to camp. Fehoko seemed better suited to Dan Quinn’s scheme with his potential to move inside and could be a casualty of the regime change on defense. The same could be said for Golston, though, so perhaps neither of them is retained by Mike Zimmer.

Defensive Tackle (4)

Osa Odighizuwa, Mazi Smith
Justin Rogers, Carl Davis

We’re hearing a lot of ups and downs regarding Smith but he’s obviously making the roster. It sounds like rookie Justin Rogers and veteran Carl Davis are solidifying their spots, This group is still thin and could see a new addition around final cuts, but these four appear to be claiming jobs by default so far.

Linebacker (5)

Eric Kendricks, Damone Clark, DeMarvion Overshown
Marist Liufau, Willie Harvey Jr.

If Parsons keeps getting reps as an off-ball linebacker then they may not need to keep a fifth guy here, but the Williams injury could pull Parsons back to the line of scrimmage more. For now, Willie Harvey is still the frontrunner of the dark horses. Veteran Damien Wilson has had some good moments, though, and the team brought him back for a reason.

Cornerback (6)

Trevon Diggs, DaRon Bland, Jourdan Lewis
Caelen Carson, Israel Mukuamu, Josh Butler

With Carson locked into a roster spot now, it comes down to the last spot or two on the depth chart. Mukuamu and Butler seem to be battling for that, both offering position flex as safety options as well. There’s a good chance both could make it, allowing Dallas to keep just four true safeties and having plenty of CB depth in the process. That almost always proves valuable over the course of a season.

Safety (4)

Malik Hooker, Donovan Wilson
Juanyeh Thomas, Markquese Bell

There’s no doubt about these four guys and you’d be forgiven if you can’t name another safety on the team right now. As we just mentioned, Mukuamu and Butler’s versatility allows you to round out the secondary with adequate depth at both positions.

SPECIAL TEAMS (3)

K Brandon Aubrey, P Bryan Anger, LS Trent Sieg

What? No C.J. Goodwin? While it’s tough to bet against the veteran, it just felt right given the numbers and needs at other positions. If he offered any value on defense then he might be projected over Mukuamu or Butler, but he hasn’t been anything but a specialist for a while now. With rule changes and younger talent to hang on to, Goodwin finally had to go.