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By Jon Machota 1h ago
The Texas portion of Cowboys training camp begins Monday at 6 p.m. CT inside the Ford Center in Frisco. The current 90-man roster must be trimmed to 85 by Tuesday. They need to be at 80 by Aug. 24 and then down to a final 53 by Aug. 31.
Factoring in what we’ve seen in two preseason games and over three weeks of training camp practices out in California, here’s an updated Cowboys stock report.
Stock up
Dorance Armstrong. The fourth-year defensive end turned heads with his outstanding play in Friday night’s preseason game in Arizona. Over the previous three seasons, Armstrong has been a rotational backup edge rusher who has 2.5 sacks and eight QB hits in 46 games. Is this the year he takes the next step? The Cowboys could certainly use a breakout year from Armstrong. The 2021 draft class wasn’t a great one for edge rushers. Jerry Jones believes the Cowboys might have gotten the best pass rusher in the draft in linebacker Micah Parsons. But Dallas needs more help getting to the quarterback behind starters DeMarcus Lawrence and Randy Gregory. As of right now, Armstrong looks like the best bet to come in and provide meaningful snaps when Lawrence and Gregory need a break.
Dak Prescott. He didn’t play Friday night, but his work pre-game in Arizona was probably more important than anything that happened during the game for the Cowboys. It was Prescott’s third time throwing in a four-day period. Although he wasn’t attempting any deep throws, he was throwing with more velocity, according to Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones. Even better news, Prescott’s MRI on Saturday reportedly showed that his strained throwing shoulder is healing properly. Jones was optimistic before the game that Prescott could ramp up his workload this week in practice and potentially still play in the preseason. The franchise QB has plenty of time to ease back into practice. Dallas’ season opener is still 24 days away.
Micah Parsons. Yes, you’ve heard his name a lot over the last few weeks. He’s been the defensive star of camp. Nothing has happened along the way to prevent his stock from continuing to grow. He played 14 defensive snaps against the Cardinals after playing 11 against the Steelers in their preseason opener. It’s not difficult to find No. 11 even in his limited work. Not only does he seem to always be around the ball, but he’s doing it from several different spots on the field. There’s a decent chance that Parsons plays more defensive snaps than any other player on the roster. And he’ll likely make plenty of rookie mistakes. But he has already shown glimpses of how he could also be their No. 1 defensive playmaker. Here’s a good breakdown of Parsons’ play in Arizona.
Keanu Neal. The forced fumble and fumble recovery Friday night has been his most notable play since joining the Cowboys. But he’s been very solid throughout camp. He was Dallas’ No. 1 free agency addition and he hasn’t disappointed. New defensive coordinator Dan Quinn has been doing a lot of mixing and matching with the linebackers in practice. Parsons, Neal, Leighton Vander Esch and Jaylon Smith are getting the most work. If they can all stay healthy, linebacker should be the defense’s strongest unit. Parsons and Neal are expected to see the most reps at the position in passing situations. Those two have basically played this preseason a total of four series and have combined to take the ball away twice.
Nahshon Wright. He played 44 defensive snaps and 10 special teams snaps against the Cardinals. He played 31 defensive snaps and seven special teams snaps against the Steelers. In those two games, Wright has totaled five defensive tackles, one special teams tackle and a pass breakup. He was beaten early in the Steelers game on a throw to Chase Claypool where Wright was trying to draw an offensive pass interference call. Other than that, he has shown exactly why the Cowboys thought he was worthy of a late third-round pick. Wright might not be ready to step in and contribute Week 1, but the Cowboys have to feel good about what they’ve seen from their 6-4 rookie corner.
Stock down
Coaching. The overall play in both preseason games has been sloppy. The four costly third-down penalties on the defense that extended drives for the Cardinals stood out most Friday night. It’s obviously early and it’s only the preseason, but that reflects poorly on the coaching staff. And then after Friday night’s game, head coach Mike McCarthy talked about how the three practices leading up to the game were not up to their standards. And he thought that it carried over into the game. It’s easy to just assume that everything will be better when Prescott gets back out there with Ezekiel Elliott, Amari Cooper, Tyron Smith and Zack Martin. But considering that the Cowboys had a head start on training camp because of the Hall of Fame Game, there’s not much excuse for sloppy play in their second preseason game.
Defensive tackle. Losing Neville Gallimore to a left elbow injury is a significant blow to the start of the regular season. The second-year defensive tackle is reportedly expected to be out anywhere from a month to two months. The position already was far from a strength. Trysten Hill (knee) remains on the physically unable to perform list, and he could start the season there. That leaves the tackle rotation to Carlos Watkins, Brent Urban, Osa Odighizuwa and Quinton Bohanna. Urban has 27 career starts. Watkins has 18. Dallas is going to need both to play well early and hope that the youngsters can develop quickly. Oh, and they desperately need all four to stay healthy.
Backup center. Connor Williams is who the Cowboys would like to be their backup center. He’s had quite a few snapping issues in practices and in games. McCarthy didn’t sound like he was ready to go in another direction when talking about Williams after Friday’s game. Connor McGovern has experience starting at center in college, but the coaching staff doesn’t seem interested in that move. Rookie Matt Farniok would be the next most reasonable option. He’s been working as the team’s No. 3 center. Either way, Dallas could be in trouble if starter Tyler Biadasz suffers any type of injury.
Jaylon Smith. The play that stands out most from Friday night was broken down here by Bob Sturm. The biggest issue is that Smith is probably about as healthy as he is going to be all season. If he’s not making that play now, he’s probably not during the regular season. Fortunately for the Cowboys, they invested their first-round pick and their biggest free-agency acquisition on linebacker. If Vander Esch stays healthy on top of that, there won’t be very many opportunities for Smith. And maybe limiting his snaps helps him be more effective when he is on the field. But the team needs better play from their highest-paid linebacker.
Kelvin Joseph. The people in the organization responsible for making the decisions about who the team signs and drafts are very high on Joseph. They believe he’s an NFL starter. And they’re probably right. It just might not be right away. Joseph showed growing pains against the Cardinals. He had a costly holding penalty on one play and then was beaten deep on the next. It’s the type of sequence that should be a good learning experience for a young player. He’ll likely see a significant amount of playing time in the next two preseason games. But as of right now, Anthony Brown is the favorite to start Week 1 at outside cornerback opposite of Trevon Diggs.
