Cowboys news: Late-arrival veteran making good use of OTA practices
Last-minute Cowboys addition is climbing the depth chart quickly – Jerry Trotta, The Landry Hat
Dallas may have more weapons.
What’s more noteworthy is that another wideout appears to be making an early push up the depth chart during the first week of OTAs.
None other than Marquez Valdes-Scantling is standing out and not just because he’s wearing Micah Parsons’ former No. 11 jersey.
A late arrival who signed with Dallas right after the NFL Draft in late April, Valdes-Scantling got a lot of burn with the first-team offense and saw plenty of targets from Prescott. He and CeeDee Lamb operated as the two boundary WRs, with Flournoy working a lot in the slot.
Marquez Valdes-Scantling running with the Dallas Cowboys’ first-team offense at OTAs
How’s that for an early surprise?
Valdes-Scantling’s experience showed up when he batted down an errant throw from Prescott that safety P.J. Locke was in prime position to intercept, per Nick Harris of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Look, obviously Valdes-Scantling wouldn’t be “starting” if Pickens was practicing. Maybe the Cowboys just wanted a veteran presence out there to help keep the offense operating smoothly during team drills.
Regardless, it speaks volumes that Valdes-Scantling was the one getting those opportunities. It does not bode well for Jonathan Mingo, who worked off to the side with the rehab team on Thursday.
Brian Schottenheimer says Cowboys have competition at left tackle – Shane Taylor, Inside The Star
Nothing is guaranteed.
On the surface, it will probably make Guyton stay focused and put in the work that we know he has but struggle to stay constant.
Even when healthy, though, Guyton’s been far too inconsistent to be trusted to be the blind side blocker for Dak Prescott or whoever is playing the position.
He was flagged a whopping 25 times in as many games, 21 of which were accepted by the opposition.
A lot of those penalties derailed promising drives, often forcing the offense to settle for a field goal or knocking it out of Brandon Aubrey’s range altogether.
On the other hand, we will see how the summer goes, but he might have little to no room for error in otherwise he would have had if it was his job 100%.
Nate Thomas
Nate Thomas is a guy that has not been talked about much, but should be now that he has a chance to earn the starting left tackle spot.
Thomas was taken in the same class as Guyton but in the seventh round. He did not play his rookie season, but appeared in all 17 games a year ago and started four of them, but don’t get your hopes up, because he was just as bad as Guyton was. I will say one thing,
I honestly think that Drew Shelton, the fourth round pick from Penn State, should also get a chance to compete with both of these guys for the left tackle spot.
Either way, whoever gets the starting left tackle spot in the end needs to stop with all the penalties.
“There’s competition everywhere and I think Nate’s an incredible player and we learn from each other. We’re both really young and we have a specific set of skills that compliment each other,” Guyton said today.
What To Watch For During Dallas Cowboys’ Second Week of OTAs – Mike Moraitis, Sports Illustrated
Football headlines are back (sort of).
Cornerback reps
With Bland sidelined, the Cowboys gave first-team reps to Cobie Durant, Shavon Revel and Caelen Carson on the outside, with Carson being the biggest surprise in that group. We also saw Durant split time with rookie Caleb Downs in the slot.
With Bland expected to be sidelined once again, it’ll be interesting to see if the Cowboys stick with that trio on the boundary, and if Dallas gives anyone else a look in the slot.
Speaking of Revel, Nick Harris of the Forth Worth Star-Telegram noted the second-year corner looked more fluid and confident now that he’s another year removed from a torn ACL.
RB2 battle
Malik Davis has widely been considered the favorite for the top backup job behind Javonte Williams, but it appears both Jaydon Blue and Phil Mafah will at least give him a run for his money.
Last week, Nick Harris of the Forth Worth Star-Telegram relayed that there are positive things being said about both players in the Cowboys’ building, and both made some notable plays at OTAs.
“Phil Mafah looked good with his first-team reps, grabbing a touchdown in red zone work, as did Jaydon Blue,” he said. “Mafah has specifically drawn a lot of praise for his work this offseason, with one source saying he is ‘night-and-day’ different from last year.”
Do the Eagles still have the top offensive line in the NFC East? – Mike Crum, Cowboys Wire
Dallas is gaining ground.
2: Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys have a top-notch interior with All-Pro Tyler Smith, Tyler Booker coming off a fantastic rookie season, and Cooper Beebe going into Year 3. Beebe had only one penalty and allowed a single sack, but had no PFF grades over 70.
Booker played over 1,000 snaps as a rookie with a run block grade near 80, and Smith played over 1,100 snaps while injured at LG and LT. The Dallas issues are at offensive tackle. Tyler Guyton was often injured and not consistent when he played. He had four games in the mid-70s as a run blocker and five games under 55. The pass blocking range went from 77.6 at the top to 26.1 at the bottom. Terence Steele is a solid run blocker, but is a worse pass blocker than Guyton. If one of those two can be successful blocking one-on-one in pass protection, Dallas might have the best unit in the NFC East.
Daily discussion question: How many Cowboys jerseys do you own? Who are they?
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