DENVER, CO – Preseason football is finally here for the Dallas Cowboys and after two long practices against the Broncos earlier this week they will finally get to go head-to-head in their first preseason game of the year on Saturday night in Denver.
As exciting as preseason football is to fans around the world, it’s a time to really see how the rookies do in their first NFL game. This gives teams the opportunity to see how the college athletes have adjusted to professional football in the off season and in training camp.
The main goal for the rookies is to either win a roster spot, a starting job, playing time, or practice squad spots. All eyes are on the young bucks to see if they can do something special to really make them stand out.
Head Coach Mike McCarthy told us earlier this week that the first string will not be playing in the first preseason game and it will be the second string players. That goes without saying that the big names in Dallas: Dak Prescott, Ceedee Lamb, Ezekiel Elliott and Micah Parsons will not play in tonight’s game.
It’s no secret that the Cowboys have rookies on their team that are expected to stand out early in the season and potentially be starters for this Dallas squad for week one against Tampa Bay. Here are some of the positions to look out for in tonight’s game against the Broncos.
Wide Receiver:
With the majority of the wide receivers in Dallas being very young and most of them not having any NFL experience this will be a good position to look at tonight to see who stands out. With Lamb probably not playing or taking any snaps we will get to see third-round pick Jalen Tolbert and six-year vet Noah Brown see some action tonight.
Those three guys are the lead receivers currently in Dallas but that still leaves three receivers that have been having really good camps; T.J. Vasher, Simi Fehoko, and Dennis Houston. All three showed their athletic ability during training camp, Vasher is a lengthy player sitting at 6-foot-6 and his height makes way for him to catch some crazy passes. Houston is an undrafted rookie and he took more reps with the starters during training camp than any other receiver. Fehoko showed consistency at camp that is needed here in Dallas.
Offensive Line:
The offensive line struggled last year and was the most penalized OL in the league which largely contributed to the unit’s regression. The Line amassed 54 penalties total, 49 accepted. The 49 penalties added up to 373 yards gained, constantly putting the Cowboys in unfavored downs.
Dallas made this their number one priority which is why they drafted LG Tyler Smith with their first overall pick in the 2022 NFL draft. The Cowboys have yet to name Smith the starting LG and have been rotating him in and out with vet Connor McGovern during training camp.
With Tyron Smith and Terence Steele most likely not playing this gives Smith an opportunity to get some game time reps in to see what he can do for this offensive line that needs to see better days than last season.
Kicker:
Throughout the offseason and during training camp the Cowboys had their minds set on one kicker, Texas Tech Jonathon Garibay. He’s seemed to be the no. 1 guy and was having a great off season until training camp. Garibay struggled the entire camp making roughly 50 percent of his kicks per day and it became noticeable after it seemed that he wasn’t just having a ‘bad day’ but that he just was not consistent.
The Cowboy’s decided to bring in four kickers in the tail end of camp to bring in some options, one of those options being Brett Maher, the Cowboys kicker in 2018 and 2019. Shortly before Dallas headed to Denver to practice with the Broncos the Cowboys signed Brett Maher and waived Garibay. It looks like Maher is the new head man in charge with Lirim Hajrullahu as a backup. Hajrullahu was very consistent during camp and looked strong from as far as the 50-yard line.
Kickoff is set for 8:00 PM CST.
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