Dallas City News

The intensity to Dallas Cowboys training camp from Oxnard, California has ramped up at a feverish pace ever since padded practices began for the team last week, taking another step up on Thursday when the Cowboys held a joint practice with the LA Rams – who they’ll also see in the preseason opener on Sunday. The opportunity to get live reps against an opponent other than their own teammates is invaluable, and there were plenty of highlights from scrimmage portions of the practice to remind us all that real, meaningful football is truly just around the corner.

When it comes to reminding anyone what is at stake for the Cowboys this season, few words need to truly be said at this point. Contract drama surrounding some of the team’s best players. Mike McCarthy perpetually on the hot seat. Getting the playoff disappointment monkey off their back. Yawn. Most of this can and should be easily forgotten if and when this Cowboys talented roster plays to their full potential, something still being realized and achieved through the roster-building stage of training camp. There’s little doubt that Sunday against the Rams will be just a small taste of the football to come for the Cowboys even in their remaining two preseason games to follow against the Raiders and Chargers, but with multiple positions proving to have surprise depth and tough roster decisions looming, there are plenty of important reps to be had in this game.

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Many of the surprises for the Cowboys have come by way of second- or third-year players making strides in their development, and in turn making it harder for the entirety of this year’s rookie and UDFA class to collectively have their moment yet. For a team that desperately needed their 2023 draft class to make much more of an immediate impact than it ultimately did, this has been a good development for the outlook of a new season, with even their limited free agency additions adding splash plays like Eric Kendricks thriving in Mike Zimmer’s defense once again.

The Cowboys made eight selections in this year’s draft though, and at some point will have to open the checkbook up to keep some of their current stars, meaning the 2024 rookie class can still have a major say in how this make-or-break season shapes out. Forecasting what these young players will look like even a month from now at the start of the regular season is anyone’s guess, and doing the same for when the games mean the most in December or January may as well be astrophysics, but we do have an unofficial depth chart released by the team ahead of Sunday’s game as well as joint practice live reps to check in on where some of these picks stand at the moment.

Revisiting this as training camp and the preseason continues will be important to understanding the roster decisions Dallas makes, so here are the initial five rookies they seem ready to lean on the most.

Round 1, Pick 29: OT Tyler Guyton

This is an obvious place to start, as every team around the league will have the highest expectations for their first-round picks, but things have been going well for Cowboys rookie left tackle Tyler Guyton. There are few things that wreck an offensive game plan more than faults in pass protection, and the Cowboys have the highest of stakes riding on their ability to remain a high octane offense under McCarthy this season. Doing so with a rookie stepping up at left tackle to replace future Hall of Famer Tyron Smith should be reason for pause, but Guyton has done everything possible to instill confidence in his ability to protect Dak Prescott since the moment he was drafted.

Getting a head start on making the switch from right tackle at Oklahoma to NFL left tackle by immediately beginning training in Dallas after April’s draft is not only helping Guyton look like a day one starter at training camp, but one that seemingly has years of experience as he’s already held his own against fearsome pass rusher Micah Parsons. Next to Guyton is Tyler Smith, who played tackle in college but is now emerging as one of the best left guards in football. Fellow rookie Cooper Beebe is fighting for the starting center position after playing guard at Kansas State, and nobody should forget that another future Canton inductee in Zack Martin at right guard was also a converted tackle.

The Cowboys track record at finding and developing top end talent on the offensive line is impeccable, and there have been very few reps from Guyton so far in Oxnard to think they haven’t hit another home run here.

Guyton has looked smooth and fluid in his footwork, timing his athletic sliding ability with his long arms to keep defenders at bay without being too aggressive upfield and losing balance. His strong hands and initial punch have knocked rushers off their path, and his ability to reset and sustain throughout a rep has been impressive. Only Chuma Edoga is listed above Guyton on the left tackle depth chart ahead of Sunday’s opener, a formality that has persisted since the start of camp with Edoga getting initial first team reps, but Guyton has quickly earned his own share of first team reps and will have plenty of eyes on him whenever he does see the field this preseason for game action.

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Round 3, Pick 87: LB Marist Liufau

Going into the draft, linebacker was seen as a big enough need for the Cowboys where waiting until the third round to address it was a mild surprise. Only Damone Clark and Demarvion Overshown, drafted under previous coordinator Dan Quinn, returned as experienced players. Adding Kendricks wasn’t exactly the big needle-moving signing here either, but the veteran linebacker has looked rejuvenated in camp and is helping an entirely new look defense play fast and read their keys to continue making splash plays.

The question right now at linebacker for the Cowboys is who can complement Kendricks the best in Mike Zimmer’s defense. Listed as a starter over Overshown on the depth chart for Sunday, rookie Marist Liufau is potentially making his case to be that answer.

The most noticed difference in training camp from the Cowboys defense so far has been their ability to disguise coverages and fronts, with linebackers coming and going from the box and creating confusion as to where pressure is coming from for an offense. Kendricks may not be the most gifted or quickest blitzer at this point in his career, but he is shooting gaps and playing downhill to hopefully help the Cowboys have a much improved run defense this season. A player like Liufau, who is instinctual and can keep contain on the back end when other defenders set the edge, while also having the burst to turn his hips and chase the ball to finish plays himself, could be extremely valuable to this defense.

Now, for the sake of not getting ahead of ourselves, there is a lot of context to keep in mind when it comes to naming Liufau a possible “starter”. Just like this term was a relative one at several positions under Quinn, the same is looking likely to continue at specifically linebacker under Zimmer. With even the team’s best overall defender Micah Parsons getting more reps than ever as a stand up linebacker, and Overshown still very much factoring into the team’s plans, there is going to be a rotation here assuming all players stay healthy. We are also working with a depth chart the Cowboys are taking into a preseason opener, the same game Overshown tore his ACL in a year ago. Easing him back into any game action so the former Texas Longhorn can see the regular season for the first time is wise.

The arrow is pointing up for rookie Marist Liufau, but this is certainly a spot on the roster to revisit once cuts have to be made.

Round 2, Pick 56: DE Marshawn Kneeland

This dynamic has been well covered ever since Sam Williams’ season-ending ACL and MCL tear, with the Cowboys getting thinner at defensive end and now needing second-round pick Marshawn Kneeland to really step into a prominent role. The Cowboys unofficial depth chart doesn’t exactly paint a grim picture without Williams (still written in as DE2 behind only Micah Parsons), but if the team had to play a game that counted tomorrow, Chauncey Gholston being next in line behind the always dependable DeMarcus Lawrence isn’t exactly great.

Lawrence and Parsons can help make up for a lot of weaknesses elsewhere in a defense, but also benefit the most from having strong play on the defensive interior. With this very much being a work in progress for the Cowboys, a player like Gholston whose spent more time as a tackle then true defensive end with the Cowboys could be more valuable inside still. This would be yet another reason the Cowboys need Kneeland, who has his own flexibility to rush from multiple positions and is never afraid to battle from snap to whistle no matter where he’s lined up.

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Kneeland’s motor and ability to disengage linemen late in a play to finish around the ball were his best traits on tape out of Western Michigan, and the Cowboys need to get him as many opportunities to work on these things at full speed starting Sunday.

Round 6, Pick 216: WR Ryan Flournoy, Southeast Missouri State

It has been a somewhat quiet first training camp for rookie receiver Ryan Flournoy, who perhaps unfairly had elevated expectations placed on him as the only addition to the receiver room for a Cowboys team that lost Michael Gallup in free agency and already was very dependent on WR1 CeeDee Lamb. A sixth-round pick out of a small school, Flournoy has been thrown into the gauntlet in his first NFL training camp, seeing previously unknown players like Tyron Billy-Johnson and Jalen Cropper make big plays consistently.

Without as many of the same opportunities because of injury, Flournoy has made the most of some of his reps and came down with a highlight in the joint practice against the Rams with this high-point catch.

This is a player the Cowboys can use as a big red zone target, an area they struggled in at times last year, and this niche role may actually help Flournoy flourish the most. In the absence of CeeDee Lamb at training camp, the Cowboys receiving corps is looking like they will continue to be extremely top heavy again in 2024. The funnel of targets without Lamb on the field has flowed to veteran Brandin Cooks followed by strong WR3 candidate Jalen Tolbert. Where other players that have shined more than Flournoy outside of Lamb, Cooks, and Tolbert, they may still have an extremely difficult time actually seeing the field once the big three is all together. A designated package for Flournoy in specialty situations could help separate the rookie and make him an immediate replacement to Gallup in the scoring area.

Round 5, Pick 174: CB Caelen Carson

The search for quality depth at cornerback beyond Trevon Diggs, DaRon Bland, and Jourdan Lewis was a top storyline for the Cowboys upon arrival in Oxnard. Bland and Lewis have looked excellent in camp with Diggs still recovering from his ACL, and Caelen Carson has fit right in.

The rookie out of Wake Forest is the first defensive back drafted by the Cowboys under Zimmer, well-known for his eye for talent in the secondary. Carson has played like a prototypical Zimmer cornerback so far in camp, using his big frame and length as a boundary cornerback to make escaping his coverage difficult. Carson came away with this interception against the Rams, and is finishing plays on the ball to the incredibly high standard set by Diggs, Bland, and Lewis as well as coaches Zimmer and Al Harris.

It is not a question of if but when cornerback depth is needed through the attrition of an NFL season, and the Cowboys are seeing a player they can trust more and more develop in front of their eyes in his first ever camp. Carson is listed only behind DaRon Bland as one of the outside corners on the depth chart right now. While the competition elsewhere at this position makes it a little harder to slot the fifth-round pick anywhere else, he has turned plenty of heads in Oxnard with the added versatility to also play as an inside corner with good speed and pursuit angles to the ball.