Dallas City News

The Dallas Cowboys already had a notion of what their cornerback position would look like in 2024, and the early days of training camp are quickly making things clearer. Without even one preseason game played yet, the depth chart is crystallizing around the standout performers.

We already knew Trevon Diggs, DaRon Bland, and Jourdan Lewis would be the top three this season. But nobody’s resting on their laurels; both Bland and Lewis have been validating their incumbency with strong showings in practice. Diggs has put in the work to come off the PUP list on Tuesday and rejoin his teammates early into camp. We still need to see how much Diggs has recovered from last year’s knee injury, but the early return is a good sign and this trio should be a strength for the defense.

The real questions come after Lewis’ spot on the depth chart, but rookie Caelen Carson is answering one of them loudly. The former Demon Deacon has been getting a lot of first-team reps with Diggs out and has more than held his own. Showing toughness at the line of scrimmage and strong coverage skills away from it, Carson has been the best of the backup candidates and is looking like a lock for the CB4 spot. It’s been a nice “told you so” for all who called him a steal when Dallas got him in the fifth round.

Josh Butler is showing us why the Cowboys kept him on the practice squad all last year and brought him back this summer. He made one of the biggest highlights so far in camp with a leaping interception and is always noted for his toughness and attitude. Butler has position flex as a potential safety as well, which is always valuable in doing roster math, and can help on special teams. While he does turn 28 in November, this is only his second NFL training camp.

With one roster spot potentially going to special teams leader C.J. Goodwin, there may not be any left for the likes of Israel Mukuamu, Nahshon Wright, or Eric Scott. Dallas could go long, especially given Diggs’ return from a major injury, but it would probably mean one of these other prospects forcing their hand with standout play. So far, none have made any real noise, despite Mukuamu getting some interceptions on Wednesday.

Mukuamu and Wright getting beaten for the fourth spot by Carson is probably curtains for them. Both are fourth-year players now, and they keep getting leapfrogged by other guys like Bland and now the rookie. Mukuamu does have versatility going for him, but if Butler can offer that too it mitigates one of his benefits. They will have to be demonstrably better on special teams to have a shot now, probably enough to make Dallas move on from Goodwin. That won’t be easy.

Scott is the guy to keep an eye on. A sixth-round pick in 2023, he was one of the hot names in last year’s camp but didn’t take that into the regular season. He never saw a snap, even on special teams, but was protected with a roster spot. Dallas clearly saw potential in him to do that but so far he hasn’t been generating the same kind of buzz. It’s still early, but he’s about to turn 26 next week so the team isn’t going to be thinking about him as a future asset again. He needs to be able to contribute now.

With one-thru-four fairly certain, the cornerback competition is coming down to just that last spot or two. Thankfully, the top guys are justifying their position every day and that will be most important come September. But CB depth is always one of the most important issues for an NFL team, so hopefully between Josh Butler, Israel Mukuamu, Eric Scott, and Nahshon Wright there are a couple of quality backups to provide top-down solidity to the position in 2024.