Dallas City News

The preseason opener has come and gone for the Dallas Cowboys, and while they ended up on the losing end of the stick against the Los Angeles Rams, they did manage to ease a few concerns we had about the current roster. One such concern was the depth at cornerback behind their starters Trevon Diggs, DaRon Bland, and Jourdan Lewis.

With none of their starters playing Sunday afternoon against the Rams, Dallas’ backups received the opportunity to prove their worth and hopefully earn themselves a roster spot with the team in 2024. If the way many of these roster hopefuls played in this Week 1 preseason matchup is any indication, then the Cowboys have some promising CB depth.

Point to pretty much any name on the Dallas Cowboys depth chart at cornerback and you can come away with at least one positive thing they did Sunday afternoon against the Los Angeles Rams. Scratch the last-second touchdown that tied up the game and they kept the Rams out of the end zone while having a hand in the four interceptions.

Considering the Cowboys have had early season-ending injuries at the CB position in the last couple years, Trevon Diggs in 2023 and Jourdan Lewis in 2022, then the importance of the depth at the position can’t be overlooked. Fortunately, the Cowboys have some promising prospects.

If anyone has the inside track to the CB4 job right now, it could be Dallas’ fifth-round draft pick out of Wake Forest this year, Caelen Carson. He has received quite a bit of praise in both training camp practice and now preseason with his play on the field. He could potentially be yet another late-round find for the CB position, much like DaRon Bland a few years ago. Carson gave up some underneath catches to the Rams, but was quick with the tackle as eased into his professional debut.

Josh Butler, Kemon Hall, Eric Scott Jr., and Josh DeBerry also showed some encouraging things to varying degrees against the Rams Sunday afternoon as well as in practice.

Josh Butler was particularly sticky in coverage against the Rams, although his holding penalty late in the game negated a Kemon Hall interception that quite possibly could of sealed the Cowboys victory.

Speaking of Hall, he’s also someone who has managed to stand out in practice and preseason. It was unfortunate his INT against the Rams ended up being negated by a penalty. He might be an under-the-radar player to keep a closer eye on as things continue to progress through training camp and preseason.

As far as Eric Scott and Josh DeBerry are concerned, both could be behind the eight ball to earn a roster spot this year. If not for Scott’s INT in the later part of the game, he would have had a rough outing in the preseason matchup against the Rams. DeBerry also didn’t stand out much, but has made a few plays in practice worth noting.

Although he played very little Sunday, Andrew Booth pretty much stepped off the plane and onto the field for the Cowboys after being acquired via trade from Minnesota. The former second-round pick by the Vikings has had a rough start to his career, but has the talent to potentially be an integral depth piece in Dallas.

All in all, the depth at the Cowboys CB position behind their starting trio looks to be better than what we may have thought prior to this Week 1 preseason matchup with the Los Angeles Rams. It’s still way too early to figure out the pecking order though, however, things look to be falling into place at the position as far as building the roster is concerned.