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By Jon Machota 1h ago
When the NFL’s new collective bargaining agreement was approved in March, one of the immediate league changes was expanding the game-week rosters from 53 to 55. We were given a clearer picture with this past week’s draft of who might be on that final roster for the Cowboys, although executive vice president Stephen Jones said Saturday night that additions are still possible via free agency.
“We’ll keep our eyes open,” Jones said. “I actually have had communications already with some guys that could give us some veteran experience that might help these young guys.”
But why wait for a potential roster move or two? Let’s take a peek at what the Cowboys’ 55-man roster could look like if the season started this weekend.
QUARTERBACK (2): Seventh-round pick Ben DiNucci will compete with Cooper Rush for the backup job. It’s unlikely that the Cowboys will keep three quarterbacks on their final roster. Rush gets the edge because of his three years of experience of being Prescott’s backup. Rush signed his restricted free agent tender this offseason, giving him a one-year deal worth $2.1 million for the upcoming season. Prescott didn’t make that much over any of the last four seasons under his rookie deal.
Dak Prescott
Cooper Rush
RUNNING BACK (4): Four seems like a solid number at the position. Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard are locks. Jamize Olawale, who is entering his ninth NFL season, should continue to be the fullback. The fourth spot comes down to Jordan Chunn and three players added after this year’s draft: Darius Anderson and Sewo Olonilua from TCU, and Rico Dowdle from South Carolina. Dowdle was the highest-rated prospect of that group by The Athletic’s Dane Brugler going into last week’s draft, so we’ll give him a slight edge.
Ezekiel Elliott
Tony Pollard
Rico Dowdle
Jamize Olawale
WIDE RECEIVER (6): The top three spots are obvious. The next three are up for debate. Before drafting CeeDee Lamb in the first round, Cedrick Wilson was probably No. 3 on the depth chart following the loss of Randall Cobb in free agency. Ventell Bryant played in 12 games for Dallas last year, mostly on special teams. He did have one catch, though, a 15-yard touchdown late against the Bills. The competition for the final few roster spots is Devin Smith, Noah Brown and Jon’Vea Johnson, who all were on the roster last season. The Cowboys also added undrafted rookie free agents Stephen Guidry (Mississippi State), Aaron Parker (Rhode Island) and Kendrick Rogers (Texas A&M). Smith, the 2015 second-round pick, grabs the last spot because he’s been the most productive in the NFL of the remaining group.
Amari Cooper
Michael Gallup
CeeDee Lamb
Cedrick Wilson
Ventell Bryant
Devin Smith
TIGHT END (3): These three seem like a decent bet right now. The Cowboys also have Cole Hikutini, who spent last season on the practice squad, and they added undrafted rookie free agents Sean McKeon (Michigan) and Charlie Taumoepeau (Portland State).
Blake Jarwin
Blake Bell
Dalton Schultz
OFFENSIVE LINE (9): The Cowboys could keep nine or 10 at the position, but only eight stand out right now. Tyron Smith and La’el Collins are the starting tackles with Brandon Knight as the swing tackle. Zack Martin and Connor Williams or Connor McGovern are the starting guards. Joe Looney and Tyler Biadasz will compete for the starting center job, with McGovern as another possibility. Williams also has the ability to be the swing tackle. That leaves at least one other roster spot for someone like Adam Redmond (14 NFL games), Marcus Henry, Cody Wichmann (24 NFL games), Mitch Hyatt, Wyatt Miller and undrafted rookie free agent tackle Terence Steele (Texas Tech). Hyatt gets the slight edge for no other reason than it was surprising they were able to sign the four-year Clemson starter after last year’s draft.
Tyron Smith, OT
La’el Collins, OT
Brandon Knight, OT
Mitch Hyatt, OT
Zack Martin, G
Connor Williams, G
Connor McGovern, G
Joe Looney, G/C
Tyler Biadasz, C
SPECIAL TEAMS (3): The only real position battle here is between kickers Greg Zuerlein and Kai Forbath. Forbath did a nice job replacing Brett Maher last December. Forbath made all 10 of his extra-point attempts and all 10 of his field-goal attempts, the longest coming from 50 yards. However, Zuerlein is the favorite because he has been new special teams coach John Fassel’s kicker for the last eight years with the Rams.
L.P. Ladouceur, LS
Greg Zuerlein, K
Chris Jones, P
DEFENSIVE LINE (10): The most interesting aspect of trimming down this position group is determining whether the Cowboys will have Aldon Smith or Randy Gregory available. Since neither has been reinstated, this is nothing more than a guess. But we’ll say one of them makes the final roster. For this exercise, we’ll go with Smith. Maybe both return and make the roster. Maybe neither of them do, and the Cowboys are forced to look elsewhere to add some veteran depth at edge rusher. Despite the position being arguably Dallas’ biggest need entering the draft, it was not addressed until Bradlee Anae was selected with the last pick in the fifth round.
DeMarcus Lawrence, DE
Dorance Armstrong, DE
Bradlee Anae, DE
Joe Jackson, DE
Aldon Smith, DE
Tyrone Crawford, DL
Gerald McCoy, DT
Dontari Poe, DT
Trysten Hill, DT
Neville Gallimore, DT
LINEBACKER (7): The Cowboys go a little deeper here because of how much this position helps on special teams. If Dallas goes with only six linebackers, the final spot could come down to Luke Gifford or Chris Covington. The Cowboys also added Francis Bernard (Utah) as an undrafted rookie free agent. Brugler had Bernard ranked as the 14th-best linebacker in this year’s draft class, giving him a 4th-5th round grade. Stephen Jones said when the draft ended, the Cowboys still had 11 players on their board. They were able to add seven of those 11. It seems like a good bet that Bernard was one of those players.
Leighton Vander Esch
Jaylon Smith
Sean Lee
Joe Thomas
Justin March
Luke Gifford
Chris Covington
DEFENSIVE BACK (11): This is another position that added an extra player because of their impact on special teams. Seven cornerbacks could seem like too many, but it might not be if one or two of them can also help at safety. “I’m very comfortable with the flexibility we have throughout our secondary players,” Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy said Saturday. “I’m not as caught up in traditional free safety or strong safety as some may be. What I like about our numbers in the back end is that we have great competition and excellent flexibility. We may have some players that can not only play corner but can also slide over and play some safety.”
Trevon Diggs, CB
Chidobe Awuzie, CB
Jourdan Lewis, CB
Anthony Brown, CB
Reggie Robinson II, CB
C.J. Goodwin, CB
Maurice Canady, CB
Xavier Woods, S
Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, S
Donovan Wilson, S
Darian Thompson, S
When the NFL’s new collective bargaining agreement was approved in March, one of the immediate league changes was expanding the game-week rosters from 53 to 55. We were given a clearer picture with this past week’s draft of who might be on that final roster for the Cowboys, although executive vice president Stephen Jones said Saturday night that additions are still possible via free agency.
“We’ll keep our eyes open,” Jones said. “I actually have had communications already with some guys that could give us some veteran experience that might help these young guys.”
But why wait for a potential roster move or two? Let’s take a peek at what the Cowboys’ 55-man roster could look like if the season started this weekend.
QUARTERBACK (2): Seventh-round pick Ben DiNucci will compete with Cooper Rush for the backup job. It’s unlikely that the Cowboys will keep three quarterbacks on their final roster. Rush gets the edge because of his three years of experience of being Prescott’s backup. Rush signed his restricted free agent tender this offseason, giving him a one-year deal worth $2.1 million for the upcoming season. Prescott didn’t make that much over any of the last four seasons under his rookie deal.
Dak Prescott
Cooper Rush
RUNNING BACK (4): Four seems like a solid number at the position. Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard are locks. Jamize Olawale, who is entering his ninth NFL season, should continue to be the fullback. The fourth spot comes down to Jordan Chunn and three players added after this year’s draft: Darius Anderson and Sewo Olonilua from TCU, and Rico Dowdle from South Carolina. Dowdle was the highest-rated prospect of that group by The Athletic’s Dane Brugler going into last week’s draft, so we’ll give him a slight edge.
Ezekiel Elliott
Tony Pollard
Rico Dowdle
Jamize Olawale
WIDE RECEIVER (6): The top three spots are obvious. The next three are up for debate. Before drafting CeeDee Lamb in the first round, Cedrick Wilson was probably No. 3 on the depth chart following the loss of Randall Cobb in free agency. Ventell Bryant played in 12 games for Dallas last year, mostly on special teams. He did have one catch, though, a 15-yard touchdown late against the Bills. The competition for the final few roster spots is Devin Smith, Noah Brown and Jon’Vea Johnson, who all were on the roster last season. The Cowboys also added undrafted rookie free agents Stephen Guidry (Mississippi State), Aaron Parker (Rhode Island) and Kendrick Rogers (Texas A&M). Smith, the 2015 second-round pick, grabs the last spot because he’s been the most productive in the NFL of the remaining group.
Amari Cooper
Michael Gallup
CeeDee Lamb
Cedrick Wilson
Ventell Bryant
Devin Smith
TIGHT END (3): These three seem like a decent bet right now. The Cowboys also have Cole Hikutini, who spent last season on the practice squad, and they added undrafted rookie free agents Sean McKeon (Michigan) and Charlie Taumoepeau (Portland State).
Blake Jarwin
Blake Bell
Dalton Schultz
OFFENSIVE LINE (9): The Cowboys could keep nine or 10 at the position, but only eight stand out right now. Tyron Smith and La’el Collins are the starting tackles with Brandon Knight as the swing tackle. Zack Martin and Connor Williams or Connor McGovern are the starting guards. Joe Looney and Tyler Biadasz will compete for the starting center job, with McGovern as another possibility. Williams also has the ability to be the swing tackle. That leaves at least one other roster spot for someone like Adam Redmond (14 NFL games), Marcus Henry, Cody Wichmann (24 NFL games), Mitch Hyatt, Wyatt Miller and undrafted rookie free agent tackle Terence Steele (Texas Tech). Hyatt gets the slight edge for no other reason than it was surprising they were able to sign the four-year Clemson starter after last year’s draft.
Tyron Smith, OT
La’el Collins, OT
Brandon Knight, OT
Mitch Hyatt, OT
Zack Martin, G
Connor Williams, G
Connor McGovern, G
Joe Looney, G/C
Tyler Biadasz, C
SPECIAL TEAMS (3): The only real position battle here is between kickers Greg Zuerlein and Kai Forbath. Forbath did a nice job replacing Brett Maher last December. Forbath made all 10 of his extra-point attempts and all 10 of his field-goal attempts, the longest coming from 50 yards. However, Zuerlein is the favorite because he has been new special teams coach John Fassel’s kicker for the last eight years with the Rams.
L.P. Ladouceur, LS
Greg Zuerlein, K
Chris Jones, P
DEFENSIVE LINE (10): The most interesting aspect of trimming down this position group is determining whether the Cowboys will have Aldon Smith or Randy Gregory available. Since neither has been reinstated, this is nothing more than a guess. But we’ll say one of them makes the final roster. For this exercise, we’ll go with Smith. Maybe both return and make the roster. Maybe neither of them do, and the Cowboys are forced to look elsewhere to add some veteran depth at edge rusher. Despite the position being arguably Dallas’ biggest need entering the draft, it was not addressed until Bradlee Anae was selected with the last pick in the fifth round.
DeMarcus Lawrence, DE
Dorance Armstrong, DE
Bradlee Anae, DE
Joe Jackson, DE
Aldon Smith, DE
Tyrone Crawford, DL
Gerald McCoy, DT
Dontari Poe, DT
Trysten Hill, DT
Neville Gallimore, DT
LINEBACKER (7): The Cowboys go a little deeper here because of how much this position helps on special teams. If Dallas goes with only six linebackers, the final spot could come down to Luke Gifford or Chris Covington. The Cowboys also added Francis Bernard (Utah) as an undrafted rookie free agent. Brugler had Bernard ranked as the 14th-best linebacker in this year’s draft class, giving him a 4th-5th round grade. Stephen Jones said when the draft ended, the Cowboys still had 11 players on their board. They were able to add seven of those 11. It seems like a good bet that Bernard was one of those players.
Leighton Vander Esch
Jaylon Smith
Sean Lee
Joe Thomas
Justin March
Luke Gifford
Chris Covington
DEFENSIVE BACK (11): This is another position that added an extra player because of their impact on special teams. Seven cornerbacks could seem like too many, but it might not be if one or two of them can also help at safety. “I’m very comfortable with the flexibility we have throughout our secondary players,” Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy said Saturday. “I’m not as caught up in traditional free safety or strong safety as some may be. What I like about our numbers in the back end is that we have great competition and excellent flexibility. We may have some players that can not only play corner but can also slide over and play some safety.”
Trevon Diggs, CB
Chidobe Awuzie, CB
Jourdan Lewis, CB
Anthony Brown, CB
Reggie Robinson II, CB
C.J. Goodwin, CB
Maurice Canady, CB
Xavier Woods, S
Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, S
Donovan Wilson, S
Darian Thompson, S
