The Dallas Cowboys played in some exciting games last year, but their defense was so miserable it was hard to watch at times. That seems to have gotten better, but how much better?
An ESPN pundit goes as far as to rank the Cowboys the sixth most fun team in the NFL to watch, behind the league-leading (for watchability, that is) Chicago Bears. And 26 spots ahead of the bottom-dwelling Cleveland Browns
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How fun is Dallas to follow? Right now, the hot training camp battle is for the No. 5 receiver spot, so make of that what you will, but two of the lesser names on the Cowboys' roster have been lighting it up. A few more days to go until only the regular season looms.
Cowboys are still living in Shiyazh Pete’s world
How fun are the Dallas Cowboys to watch?
While we’re a week away from everyone having a final preseason power poll, ESPN’s Ben Solak has a different way to rate NFL teams from 1-32: watchability. His criteria is big plays, competitive games, star players and “nothing offensive” (i.e. being awful on one side of the ball).
Solak has the Cowboys in at No. 6, a year after he had them at 14 because he deemed their defense “offensive.”
He writes: ”The defense will be good enough to not shame The Star but still poor enough that opposing offenses can put up points and force shootouts. Meanwhile, one of the league's most dangerous passing attacks (featuring George Pickens, one of the league's most watchable receivers) returns in full force. Quarterback Dak Prescott was sixth in EPA per dropback last season, and when targeting either Pickens or CeeDee Lamb, he had a QBR of 90.9 and an explosive pass rate of 14.5%. Those are MVP numbers.”
His top three are, in order, the Chicago Bears, Los Angeles Rams and Detroit Lions. Worth noting is his No. 32, the Cleveland Browns. On them, he begins, “The Browns were 32nd on my watchability rankings last year. Here was the blurb I wrote. ‘No, thank you. Well, actually, I'll watch the first Shedeur Sanders start in Week 12 just to enjoy the pageantry of it all. But other than that, no thanks.’ Sanders indeed started his first game in Week 12 — a 24-10 win over the Raiders.”
How hot is the battle for WR5: Mingo vs. Brown
Before camp, the wide assumption was that Dallas would carry five receivers on the roster, with four of those being George Pickens, CeeDee Lamb, Kavontae Turpin and Ryan Flournoy, with the fifth projected to be returning veteran Jonathan Mingo.
Except Camden Brown had other ideas, with a monster opening preseason game against Seattle, then a 70-yard catch against the Arizona Cardinals. But Mingo has also been very solid in his second training camp with the Cowboys and certainly hasn’t done anything to lose a spot.
Could Dallas keep six wide receivers? That’s the new assumption, especially given neither would seem likely to clear waivers if they were cut, so Dallas probably can’t tuck them away on the practice squad.
A year ago, Mingo played in just six games and had one reception for 25 yards, then had a sit-down with coach Brian Schottenheimer that he says adjusted his attitude. He explained this to DallasCowboys.com.
“We had a man-to-man conversation, he gave me things I needed to work on," Mingo told DallasCowboys.com. "We kind of butted heads over some things, but he told me what he needs me to do. Just trying to learn the whole offense, knowing every spot in case somebody goes down, somebody needs a break. That's what he challenged me to do, so that's what I've been focusing on."
How close is the race between Mingo and Brown? The USA Today’s Dallas Cowboys wire has a power ranking of the top 60 players on the current Cowboys 90-man roster where Mingo is 40th and Brown 39th.
George Pickens predicted to be a league leader
Sports Illustrated’s Gilberto Manzano just came out with his annual column predicting statistical leaders across the NFL, and Dallas Cowboys fans could get excited except for the disclaimer at the front of the article on how poorly this exercise usually ends up.
Cowboys fans should hope Manzano got it right this time, because he has Prescott leading the NFL in passing yards and touchdown passes and George Pickens leading in receiving touchdowns.
Manzano writes: “The Cowboys have all the right pieces to produce better numbers than last year’s high-scoring unit. Pickens could top his breakout 2025 season, when he recorded 93 catches for 1,429 yards and nine touchdowns during his first year in Dallas. He has plenty of motivation to surpass those career numbers because he’s playing on the franchise tag.
“Last year, Davante Adams had a league-high 14 touchdowns. Pickens is certainly capable of scoring that many touchdowns playing with Prescott and Lamb.”
Dallas Cowboys vs. New Orleans Saints preseason game
The Dallas Cowboys close their three-game preseason with their home debut, which comes at 6 p.m. MT/7 p.m. CT Friday, Aug. 28, against the New Orleans Saints. The game will be televised on ESPN Unlimited and NFL+. Local network affiliates across Texas will also air it.
When is cut day?
Final 53-player rosters will be set by 4 p.m. MT/5 p.m. CT on Sunday, Aug. 30, when players have to be cut down from 90. The following day teams can sign players to their practice squad.
Bret Bloomquist can be reached at bbloomquist@elpasotimes.com; @Bretbloomquist on X.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: How fun is it to actually watch the Cowboys? Someone ranks them 6th
