Although the Dallas Cowboys were working with less than full ammunition during the NFL draft because of the Quinnen Williams trade, they made the most of their picks, netting talent that will contribute right away. Caleb Downs has the potential to be a star in the league, and Jaishawn Barham could prove to be a solid starter down the line despite being taken in the third round.
For most who were taken in the draft, their place on the roster is safe, and some have shown enough to sit out the next two games. Downs doesn’t need to risk himself for the next two games. Barham is still managing an injury, and although he is expected to play Saturday, it should be very brief while also not likely he’ll play in the finale.
That said, who should play tonight? Which players do we, and the team, need to see more from? Here’s who needs to take the field on Saturday night.
Malachi Lawrence
With the addition of Von Miller, it clarifies the top of the pass rush rotation. For months, we speculated that the starting edge rushers on defense would be Rashan Gary and Donovan Ezeiruaku, with Malachi Lawrence in the rotation behind them. Now that Miller has been added to the mix, it changes the dynamic somewhat.
Dallas has some difficult decisions to make regarding who they will keep at the bottom of the depth chart, but you have to assume that Lawrence’s early development will play a factor in who stays and goes. If Lawrence progresses well, you may go short at the position since much of the playing time will be taken. If Lawrence isn’t quite ready, the team may keep an additional experienced player as Lawrence develops his game more.
Lawrence has had some very good moments over the last few days. He recorded a sack in the joint practice against the New Orleans Saints.
He followed that up by recording a sack against Terence Steele the next day. That’s really good, but we want to see more, and you’d like to see that translate to the games.
Even as a first-round pick, there’s too much left to prove for Lawrence for the team to be content and let him sit on ice for the rest of the preseason. He needs to play some meaningful snaps, especially on passing downs to flash what he’s truly capable of as an athletic edge rusher.
Anthony Smith
Although Camden Brown stole the show against the Seattle Seahawks, Anthony Smith had a pretty nice showing as well. He’s a big receiver with the speed to stretch the field vertically but also horizontally, as we saw against Seattle. The top four receiver spots are locked by CeeDee Lamb, George Pickens, Ryan Flournoy, and KaVontae Turpin. Brown’s arrival made a strong case for the fifth receiver role. Now, its up to Smith to do something to either close the gap on Brown or fight off Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Jonathan Mingo for one last spot on the roster.
In an ideal world, the Cowboys would prefer to keep their young players, Smith and Brown, since both are under cheap contracts whereas Valdes-Scantling and Mingo are in the final year of their deals. It’s not unrealistic to believe Smith can take away some of the ambiguity by following it up with a strong outing again against Arizona on Saturday.
The Cowboys could look to either stash him or try to get him back through the practice. Yet, the Cowboys likely need to see something more over the next two games to make an informed decision, and that starts with Smith getting more time on the field this weekend.
Tommy Dunn & DJ Withers
Two-for-one special here and with good reason. Both are undrafted players from the University of Kansas looking to make the team as rotational interior players. The Cowboys need depth along the defensive line, particularly at nose tackle. Otito Ogbonnia is penciled in as the starting nose tackle, but after him, things are questionable.
Jay Toia is the primary reserve, and he went out with an elbow injury Thursday, along with Kevin Gilliam, who is more of an under tackle and five-technique but still may have gotten some work at the nose tackle this week. Both Toia and Gilliam could miss this week, opening a big door for Dunn and Withers to sprint through. Withers and Dunn should both see extended time in the middle of the defense against a very deep Arizona running back rotation. Expect both of them to log plenty of snaps.
