2026 Cowboys Preseason Week 1 Gameday Chatter Thread | Cowboys @ Seahawks | 08/15/2026

[Cowboysrock55]

I think that's definitely something we should keep in my before anointing Davis.

Although he was solid in the regular season last year.

Yeah I mean I already know what Davis is from previous seasons. Even went over 100 yards in a game last year. This wasn't meant as a knock on him. More just putting into perspective the difference between the first half and second half of the game. I don't think the difference was all just superior running.

 

[Smitty]

He does but I also think in the second half the Seattle run defense was not holding running lanes well at all. Which happens sometimes with a bunch of third and fourth string guys out there.

Davis is sort of old reliable that you put on the practice squad but know he can be promoted and give you 4 ypc without much concern. He won't wow you but he won't suck either.

Israel ran well too against those scrubs. So I need a little more sample size.

If Blue and Mafah have not progressed enough that they can pass Malik Davis, then we need to trade for a backup RB.

 

[Smitty]

The fact that Davis still looks like the second best RB on the team is the exact reason I was saying we needed to prioritize RB in the mid rounds of the draft.

If Williams misses time our running game is going to be an issue.

Blue looked good at the end of last year, granted just against the Giants though. But still. Where's that guy?

 

[Cowboysrock55]

If Blue and Mafah have not progressed enough that they can pass Malik Davis, then we need to trade for a backup RB.

I mean I think they have passed him. But that's because Blue for example brings a different skill set.

Israel is interesting though. Again I need to see more. But he is young, super fast, good size and I remember liking what he did at Pitt a lot. I want to say he fell to the fifth or sixth round of the draft. At 23 years old he isn't much different than Blue and Mafah.

I want nothing to do with trading for a RB. You just end up with washed up players at RB doing that.

 

[ravidubey]

Blue is a guy everyone wants to succeed, and he is steadily improving. I don’t know if he’ll ever break NFL tackles consistently, though.

 

[Rev]

Blue is a guy everyone wants to succeed, and he is steadily improving. I don’t know if he’ll ever break NFL tackles consistently, though.

Not everybody

 

[Cowboysrock55]

Blue is a guy everyone wants to succeed, and he is steadily improving. I don’t know if he’ll ever break NFL tackles consistently, though.

I don't know but people are way overreacting to one preseason game.

 

[Genghis Khan]

If Blue and Mafah have not progressed enough that they can pass Malik Davis, then we need to trade for a backup RB.

I don't think we need to trade for one, but I would bet there's a guy who gets cut that would be an upgrade.

 

[NoDak]

I don't know but people are way overreacting to one preseason game.

Happens every single year. Guys are tagged as insta-busts and insta-stars.

Every. Single. Year.

 

[Cowboysrock55]

Happens every single year. Guys are tagged as insta-busts and insta-stars.

Every. Single. Year.

It's true, I enjoy watching this stuff but at the end of the day, preseason results don't really show us much of what will translate to the regular season.

 

[ravidubey]

It's true, I enjoy watching this stuff but at the end of the day, preseason results don't really show us much of what will translate to the regular season.

Same thing happened with Blue during the season. He could somehow pass block, but could not break tackles.

If it wasn’t for his surprising blocking ability, I’d have concluded he had no physicality at all.

And here he is, same story different setting. This isn’t about his being a bust— if a 5th round pick can be much of a bust— it’s about his clear limitations

Tony Dorsett, a guy who was taller and weighed even less, could sometimes carry defenders several yards into the end zone for a score. That ain’t Blue. At least certainly not thus far.

I'm not saying Blue has to be Dorsett, just that the limitation isn't because of his size.

 

[Smitty]

Happens every single year. Guys are tagged as insta-busts and insta-stars.

Every. Single. Year.

I don't think anyone is doing that here though.

The flip side is that you get three games before it's live action time. Guys have to get up to speed, fast. If they look like crap after a few weeks of training camp in their first game action, that doesn't bode well for them being ready to go come regular season time either.

 

[Cowboysrock55]

Same thing happened with Blue during the season. He could somehow pass block, but could not break tackles.

If it wasn’t for his surprising blocking ability, I’d have concluded he had no physicality at all.

And here he is, same story different setting. This isn’t about his being a bust— if a 5th round pick can be much of a bust— it’s about his clear limitations

Tony Dorsett, a guy who was taller and weighed even less, could sometimes carry defenders several yards into the end zone for a score. That ain’t Blue. At least certainly not thus far.

I'm not saying Blue has to be Dorsett, just that the limitation isn't because of his size.

I think Blue has a role in an offense that wants to pass the ball to their RBs. He isn't going to make living running up the gut against the defense. His speed and route running are his best assets. With that being said he can run up the middle but he isn't going to be as good at it as other RBs. What I would say is he had almost no room to run in this first preseason game. I'm hopeful he will be able to show more in the next two games. And if not, he was a fifth round pick.

I'll note, Mafah, who can break tackles and who split reps in the first half had basically the same production as a runner without the receiving yards.

In the second half we saw similar production between Davis and Israel. And if we are going to go off production I'd rather roll the dice on Israel who is bigger than Davis at 5'10" 216 pounds, faster than Davis (4.34 at the Pitt Pro day), younger than Davis (23 years old) and was far more productive in college (1431 yards rushing in his last year of college).

At the end of the day Israel was a fifth round pick and is 23.

Mafah was a seventh round pick and is 23.

Blue was a fifth round pick and is 22.

I don't really care which of these guys works out as long as one of them does.

 

[ravidubey]

I think Blue has a role in an offense that wants to pass the ball to their RBs. He isn't going to make living running up the gut against the defense. His speed and route running are his best assets. With that being said he can run up the middle but he isn't going to be as good at it as other RBs. What I would say is he had almost no room to run in this first preseason game. I'm hopeful he will be able to show more in the next two games. And if not, he was a fifth round pick.

I'll note, Mafah, who can break tackles and who split reps in the first half had basically the same production as a runner without the receiving yards.

In the second half we saw similar production between Davis and Israel. And if we are going to go off production I'd rather roll the dice on Israel who is bigger than Davis at 5'10" 216 pounds, faster than Davis (4.34 at the Pitt Pro day), younger than Davis (23 years old) and was far more productive in college (1431 yards rushing in his last year of college).

At the end of the day Israel was a fifth round pick and is 23.

Mafah was a seventh round pick and is 23.

Blue was a fifth round pick and is 22.

I don't really care which of these guys works out as long as one of them does.

We're going to hopefully keep the best of them, but you get the feeling Blue has an extra coating of Jerry shielding on him.

I'm most concerned for Mafah, who never seems to get enough chances to prove himself, and am looking forward to them switching roles and starting Phil in the next preseason game. Mafah is fast for a big dude, but he has to shake his constant injured status.

 

[NoDak]

I don't think anyone is doing that here though.

The flip side is that you get three games before it's live action time. Guys have to get up to speed, fast. If they look like crap after a few weeks of training camp in their first game action, that doesn't bode well for them being ready to go come regular season time either.

Agree to disagree.

 

[ravidubey]

Happens every single year. Guys are tagged as insta-busts and insta-stars.

Every. Single. Year.

And you're always calling out the merest criticism or praise into this kind of hyperbole despite no one calling anyone a bust or a future HOFer/star. I knew you'd stalk with the same response to my criticism of Lawrence.

Every. Single. year.

 

[Cowboysrock55]

We're going to hopefully keep the best of them, but you get the feeling Blue has an extra coating of Jerry shielding on him.

I'm most concerned for Mafah, who never seems to get enough chances to prove himself, and am looking forward to them switching roles and starting Phil in the next preseason game. Mafah is fast for a big dude, but he has to shake his constant injured status.

I know it may not seem fair but I'm splitting the entire games carries between Mafah, Blue and Abanikanda. I know what Davis is, he wakes up in the morning prepared to be picked up by the Cowboys to play football. I don't need to see him. The other 3 guys I would like to see more of so that I can really decide if they are worth keeping.

Davis is more like a booty call. You know what you're getting, you can call anytime and they will show up but you don't really want to date them.

The thing with Blue is that he is your best receiving RB on the roster. If he can pass block, that's really the guy you want out there on third down because he is going to do way more after the catch than any of the other guys on our roster. There is a role you can craft for the guy to take advantage of some of that special ability he has. But I doubt you're showing off much of that in preseason. That would be kind of stupid.

 

[NoDak]

And you're always calling out the merest criticism or praise into this kind of hyperbole despite no one calling anyone a bust or a future HOFer/star. I knew you'd stalk with the same response to my criticism of Lawrence.

Every. Single. year.

Not hardly. If I did that, I'd have 500 posts a day.

But call out retardation? (Mazi comparisons) Absolutely. And, sorry to hurt your feelings, but I wasn't the only one to do so.

 

[Smitty]

Agree to disagree.

Agree to disagree that no one is doing it, or that it's not a great sign when players are struggling badly in preseason games?

 

[ravidubey]

Not hardly. If I did that, I'd have 500 posts a day.

But call out retardation? (Mazi comparisons) Absolutely. And, sorry to hurt your feelings, but I wasn't the only one to do so.

No feelings hurt, I was braced for worse (intimidating Tom Berenger look aside) and knew the Lawrence supporters would come hard.

The Mazi comparison was all about the vibe surrounding Lawrence's get off in that game. That was the extent of it, and I called it as I saw it. At least he contained a runner on one play with solid technique, though he gave more ground than I'd have liked.

Obviously it could be it's still very early in his career and he's hesitant to react because he's still adjusting to the speed of everything going on around him, but his was also true for stretches during his college career.

Though I wish we hadn't drafted him so high, I recognize he was he best remaining pass rusher of a class more deep than talented.

It took a long while for the light to turn on for DeMarcus Lawrence, and I was highly critical of him too right up until the very moment he strip sacked Matthew Stafford in clutch fashion in the playoffs (Lawrence had botched a key play mere plays before and I was unloading on him in this forum). From that very second, I became a huge fan.

I'm hoping for the same kind of moment from Malachi, though hopefully sooner in his rookie season.