Machota: Examining the Cowboys’ 10 biggest training camp battles and who might win them

[Cotton]

By Jon Machota Aug 4, 2020

It was expected to be one of the Cowboys’ biggest training camp position battles: Kai Forbath versus Greg Zuerlein for the opportunity to be Dallas’ kicker in 2020. But that was settled before the players even put on pads. Forbath was released last week as the Cowboys trimmed their roster down to 80.

Zuerlein, who signed a three-year, $7.5 million deal with the Cowboys in March, doesn’t currently have any competition at the position. While that eliminates one camp battle, there are still several others.

To get you ready for the start of padded practices at The Star on Aug. 17, here are 10 position battles to keep an eye on.

1.) Connor Williams vs. Connor McGovern. The two are expected to compete for the starting left guard position. Williams has started 21 games there over the last two seasons. McGovern, a third-round pick last year, was going to compete for the spot last season before a pectoral injury ended his rookie year. Williams has the edge due to experience, but McGovern could make things interesting if he’s able to stay healthy. Prediction: Connor Williams wins the job.

2.) Joe Looney vs. Tyler Biadasz. Neither are expected to play to the Pro Bowl level of Travis Frederick, but one of them will likely take over the starting center spot with Frederick retired. Looney started all 16 games in 2018 when Frederick was sidelined with Guillain-Barre syndrome, making Looney the favorite to win the job. But the Cowboys, especially new head coach Mike McCarthy, liked Biadasz a lot entering this year’s draft. Dallas traded two fifth-round picks to Philadelphia to move up and draft Biadasz with the final selection in the fourth round back in April. Prediction: Looney wins the job, but Biadasz becomes the starter next season.

3.) Cornerback. There’s competition all over the place here. Chidobe Awuzie, Trevon Diggs, Jourdan Lewis, Anthony Brown, Reggie Robinson II, C.J. Goodwin and Daryl Worley are the names to know. Prediction: Goodwin has been one of the team’s best special teams players, so it’s a good bet that new special teams coordinator John Fassel will want him on the final roster. Awuzie, Lewis, Brown, Diggs and Robinson II are pretty much locked into the other roster spots. Look for the veterans (Awuzie, Lewis, Brown) to get early work with the first-team defense, but Diggs has a chance to move into that group and make an immediate impact.

4.) Defensive end depth. DeMarcus Lawrence is the only locked-in starter here. The depth is completely up in the air with a new coaching staff and no offseason workouts to see where everything fits together. Tyrone Crawford and Aldon Smith are expected to get opportunities rushing at the opposite end of Lawrence. What do the Cowboys have after that? Dorance Armstrong, Joe Jackson, Bradlee Anae, Jalen Jelks, Ron’Dell Carter and Ladarius Hamilton. Prediction: The Cowboys start Lawrence and Smith with Crawford, Armstrong, Jackson and Anae rounding out the roster.

5.) Defensive tackle depth. The Week 1 starters are expected to be the two newcomers, veterans Gerald McCoy and Dontari Poe. Crawford should also see some time working inside. The other notable tackles on the roster include Antwaun Woods, Neville Gallimore and Trysten Hill. Considering that Hill was a second-round pick last year, he would seem to be a decent bet to make the roster. But that might come down to the opinion of new defensive line coach Jim Tomsula. Prediction: The Cowboys keep all five defensive tackles as part of 11 total defensive linemen on their 53-man roster.

6.) Wide receiver depth. Amari Cooper, Michael Gallup and CeeDee Lamb are already locked into the top three spots. If healthy, they’ll get almost all of Dallas’ wide receiver targets. But what about the depth behind them? Cedrick Wilson, Noah Brown, Ventell Bryant, Devin Smith, Kendrick Rogers and Aaron Parker will be competing for those final roster spots. Prediction: Dallas goes with five wide receivers on their final roster, with Wilson and Bryant winning the final two spots.

7.) Offensive line depth. These eight are expected to be on the final roster: Zack Martin, Tyron Smith, La’el Collins, Joe Looney, Tyler Biadasz, Connor Williams, Connor McGovern and Cameron Erving. That leaves maybe only two spots to fight for between a group that includes Adam Redmond, Mitch Hyatt, Brandon Knight, Cody Wichmann and Terence Steele. Prediction: The Cowboys end up rounding out their offensive line with Knight and Redmond. Knight gives them extra help at tackle, and Redmond provides another backup at center and guard.

8.) Linebacker depth. Leighton Vander Esch, Jaylon Smith and Sean Lee should see the bulk of the defensive snaps at linebacker. But the Cowboys will need another three or four players here to help with depth and on special teams. Joe Thomas, Justin March, Luke Gifford and Francis Bernard are all in the mix for those spots. Prediction: The Cowboys keep all seven. If they go with only six, I think the final spot comes down to March vs. Bernard, with March having the edge because of his veteran experience.

9.) Fullback. Jamize Olawale had been the Cowboys’ fullback the previous two seasons, but that won’t be the case this year after he recently opted out of the 2020 season because of COVID-19 concerns. Undrafted rookie free agent Sewo Olonilua (TCU) is currently the only fullback on the roster. Prediction: Look for Dallas to add a veteran to the mix at the position. Mike McCarthy used a fullback in his offense while in Green Bay. He had John Kuhn for nine seasons and then Aaron Ripkowski for three. This position could also be impacted if the Cowboys keep a third running back. Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard are getting all of the carries if they’re healthy, but maybe the Cowboys keep another back from a group that includes undrafted rookie free agents Darius Anderson and Rico Dowdle.

10.) Third tight end. Blake Jarwin and Blake Bell are expected to be Dallas’ top two tight ends. Dalton Schultz will likely be their third. But don’t forget about Cole Hikutini as well as undrafted rookie free agents Sean McKeon and Charlie Taumoepeau. One of those three could potentially push Schultz for the No. 3 spot. Prediction: Schultz keeps the job, as the Cowboys go with three tight ends on their final roster.

 

[L.T. Fan]

For some reason I didn’t follow Bells pro career is guess because he was a College QB and I probably didn’t think he would land in the pros. Did anyone see him in any games and was he a starter or backup? I could look up stats but I’m primarily interested if anyone actually saw him perform as TE.

 

[Simpleton]

Bell was primarily a blocking TE for the Chiefs last year but he was really good in that role considering Kelce is more or less just a jumbo WR who only blocks here and there. I believe he played about 35-40% of the snaps and from what I saw he was an important part of their running game and did a very nice job blocking in space on LB's/DB's. He even held up relatively well against DE's although obviously a TE isn't going to consistently be able to handle DE's either in pass protection or the run game.

He isn't going to be a difference maker necessarily but he'll be an important rotational role-player and I think he'll walk in day 1 and be our best blocking TE. He's definitely a better blocker than Jarwin and maybe even a better blocker than the 2019 version of Witten.

 

[p1_]

Bell was primarily a blocking TE for the Chiefs last year but he was really good in that role considering Kelce is more or less just a jumbo WR who only blocks here and there. I believe he played about 35-40% of the snaps and from what I saw he was an important part of their running game and did a very nice job blocking in space on LB's/DB's. He even held up relatively well against DE's although obviously a TE isn't going to consistently be able to handle DE's either in pass protection or the run game.

He isn't going to be a difference maker necessarily but he'll be an important rotational role-player and I think he'll walk in day 1 and be our best blocking TE. He's definitely a better blocker than Jarwin and maybe even a better blocker than the 2019 version of Witten.

absolutely better blocking than Jarwin and Witten

 

[p1_]

For some reason I didn’t follow Bells pro career is guess because he was a College QB and I probably didn’t think he would land in the pros. Did anyone see him in any games and was he a starter or backup? I could look up stats but I’m primarily interested if anyone actually saw him perform as TE.

 

[Shiningstar]

theres going to be competition at every position, shocking. let me get my shocked face. which ones should we look at? all of them. which ones are going to matter? all of them, because lets face it, coaches arent perfect and sometimes you cut a player or keep a player and the fans are left saying "WHY"!!!!!!!!! Hopefully we dont have that with this coaching staff, or at the very least, very miniminal hand wringing.


Heres what we need to skip, worried about the battles and what should we focus on? The winners and how MM crafts this team, all young? veterans get a boost? or does he want to run with whos the better player at the time? crafting the team from this will show what he wants to do because hes going to walk a very tight rope. He has an owner who cant admit he needs help to win, he also is on a team iwth a big PR machine and losing this season could be a very fast fall for MM. We dont know how much rope MM is going to get, and yes, all of this most likely will give him a free year, but for every free year is a wasted year to a player because they are not eternal. Zeke has Pollard on his heels, and Dak is still working on a contract that gets a shorter life span every year lost. I like Dak, but his skill set is not rare.

More to the point, MM needs to set this team up to accept the youth and filter in some veterans to get ready to be replaced either next year or the following. The game will get younger for the next few seasons, until a new trend tells it otherwise.

If MM runs for a SB this year, i believe its in his grasp, but it will cause more headaches afterwards and doing a 1 and done hopefully wont be MMs legacy here.