Dallas City News

The DaRon Bland story is a crazy one, but one that can get Cowboys fans feeling positive. He played wide receiver in high school but failed to shine. He ended up as a zero-star recruit and had only one major offer and enrolled at Sacramento State. He failed to shine again and became a rotational special teams player before disaster struck.

Covid swept the globe and for many sports leagues that meant shutting down for the season, such was the case for Bland. So he did the only thing any fringe player trying to catch a break would do, he transferred. He got packing and left for a fresh start at Fresno Sate as one of the team’s cornerbacks.

The move saw him start nine games and in those games he only managed to grab two interceptions. By the end of the season Bland announced he would enter the NFL Draft. The odds were against him and he wasn’t even invited to the combine due to such little interest. Fast forward to the draft and it’s the fifth round. The Cowboys announce DaRon Bland’s name and everyone was confused by the pick. With so much talent on the board why take a guy that’s proven very little through high school and college.

Training camp rolled around and Bland made plays, in preseason he proved he had something and for the regular season he made the final 53-man roster. Bland was on the bench as expected, but he got his first chance to do something in Week 4 against Washington. He ended the game with three tackles, one pass breakup and one interception. It was a wild performance. In Week 9 he got a chance to play as a starter and by Week 11 he started every game to end the season. Bland ended the year on a limited snap count with 54 tackles, seven pass breakups and five interceptions.

In 2023, Bland was set to play in a rotational role but Trevon Diggs went down with an ACL injury and put Bland back into the spotlight. Bland was the starter by Week 3 and had already registered one interception and a pick-six. The rest of the season is truly inspirational as Bland led the league in interceptions (9) and set a new NFL record in interceptions for touchdowns (5). What’s not talked about from Bland’s 2023 season is the 69 tackles he registered, which ranked fifth on the team, and his 15 pass breakups which led the team and was sixth-most in the league.

Bland is set to take the starting role this year along side Trevon Diggs, who has also led the league in interceptions. Finding good cornerbacks in the league is one of the hardest tasks to check off as a head coach. Finding cornerbacks that can score or create turnovers is an even tougher gig and Dallas has two starting this year. It’s fair to say the cornerback position for Dallas is anything but bland.