Dallas camp standouts are in: Meet the two 2026 camp MVPs

Head coach Brian Schottenheimer kicked off the camp MVP countdown when he was asked about players that have exceeded his expectations coming into training camp and read off 10 names from his roster list. Jon Machota of The Athletic followed suit with his own 10-name list. Not to be outdone, the staff at DallasCowboys.com put together an 18-player list. Nick Harris of The Star-Telegram came up with perhaps the most creative list, coming up with eight award categories featuring eight winners and seven

honorable mentions. And finally, Joseph Hoyt from the DMN, feeling pressure because “all the cool kids are doing it”, provided us with five standouts and three honorable mentions.

Taken together, that gives us five sources for this year’s Camp MVP vote. For the purposes of this vote, every player named by a source counts as one vote, including honorable mentions.

61 votes were cast in total for 28 different players, and only two players were unanimous picks: Shavon Revel and Rashan Gary tied with five votes apiece, but they got there in different ways. Revel was named among the primary standouts by all five sources, while Gary appeared on three primary lists and received honorable mentions from two others.

2026 Camp MVP: CB Shavon Revel

“The Cowboys looked at Revel as a rookie heading into this training camp. He missed all of last year’s training camp as he recovered from an ACL injury. The third-round pick didn’t play until mid-November. When he did, he looked like a rookie who was still recovering in a defense that didn’t always suit him.“

“By the end of training camp, the Cowboys had to raise their expectations of Revel. The second-year corner took a major step in training camp. The Cowboys were last in the NFL in pass breakups last season. Unofficially, Revel had the most in training camp. He looked the part of a defensive playmaker that scouts believed could’ve been a first-round pick before his knee injury.“

“There’s still room to go with Revel. There undoubtedly will be up-and-down moments for him in his second season. That shouldn’t be a surprise. But it shouldn’t be a surprise when he impresses, either…” – (Joseph Hoyt, DMN)

“I wasn’t sure what to expect entering camp, but he absolutely looked the part of a quality starting cornerback. He’s physical and quick. Most importantly, he’s healthy. The play of Revel, DaRon Bland and Cobie Durant have the Cowboys looking like they will have a quality trio of corners.” – (Nick Harris, Star-Telegram)

2026 Camp MVP: OLB Rashan Gary

“Rashan Gary’s leadership has jumped out at me.” – (Brian Schottenheimer)

“Even though he’s one of the newcomers who should be able to take this defense to another level, Gary still gets overshadowed some because of Christian Parker or Caleb Downs and now even Von Miller. But make no mistake, Gary is going to be a handful for opposing tackles and he also seems to be someone who can immediately help stop the run. We know that can be a lethal combination for defensive ends.” – (Nick Eatman, DC.com)

Four players garnered four votes each, and three of them are very unexpected but also very welcome surprises.

2026 Camp MVP Runner up: DB Caleb Downs

The expectations for rookie first-round pick Caleb Downs were already sky-high going into training camp, and the Cowboys [braintrust] feels as though he has already exceeded what they laid out for him going into Oxnard.

From playing as the first-team nickel cornerback to getting a heavy dose of work as a deep safety in one-high, two-high and three-high looks, Downs has been tasked with being Christian Parker’s defensive chess piece as a rookie, and it looks like it’s well within his capabilities.

Battling against CeeDee Lamb, George Pickens, Jake Ferguson and KaVontae Turpin, Downs always looked like he belonged. While he did suffer some learning moments in the joint practice with the Saints working against Chris Olave, the expectations for Downs in his rookie season continue to drive confidence on the defensive side of the ball. (Nick Harris, Star-Telegram)

2026 Camp MVP Runner up: DT Otito Ogbonnia

“And as a player, you guys know that. (Otito Ogbonnia), I mean, you talk about a guy that we thought we were getting maybe a run stopper. This guy’s a good football player, damn good football player, massive, really strong with his hands.” – (Brian Schottenheimer)

“The first-year Cowboy arrived at training camp expected to be a rotational body that gets snaps whenever the starting duo needs a breather, but Ogbonnia has proven a lot more value. He can line up anywhere from nose tackle to the 5-Technique spot, he’s proven to have knacks in the run game, and he’s pushed the pocket back in pass rush as well.

Ogbonnia may not have been a player that was firmly on the radar as one of the reasons for a potential defensive improvement in 2026, but keep an eye on big No. 91 when the season begins. He may just continue to surprise”. (Nick Harris, Star-Telegram)

2026 Camp MVP Runner up: WR Camden Brown

“Pretty much every practice he made a highlight grab. That obviously carried over into the preseason. Brown was not expected to make the roster entering camp. He seems like a lock now.” – (Jon Machota, The Athletic)

“How did Brown go from roster afterthought to the cusp of making the team? By consistently making plays, that’s how. Brown has been a consistent standout since the beginning of training camp. He set a school record last season at Georgia Southern with 14 touchdown catches. He flashed that ability in practice then showed it on the big stage against the Seattle Seahawks in the preseason opener with two highlight-reel touchdown catches. 

There’s still work to be done for Brown if he wants to make the roster. He’s competing with Jonathan Mingo and seventh-round pick Anthony Smith for one or two spots. But the fact that Brown is in the conversation is impressive.“ – (Joseph Hoyt, DMN)

2026 Camp MVP Runner up: OT Tyler Guyton

Left tackle was one of the biggest areas of concern entering camp. Guyton has been solid, quieting that noise. As long as he can stay healthy, Guyton should be fine. Leaving California, right tackle seems like a bigger concern. – (Jon Machota, The Athletic)

For the first time in his career, Guyton was able to get through an entire training camp healthy, minus a sore elbow that he got taped up but was still able to play through. That experience paid off, as Guyton was consistently solid on the left side of the line and continued to improve over the course of his time in Oxnard. – (Tommy Yarrish, DC.com)

Overall, this is how the “voting” played out over the 28 players:

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2026 Cowboys Camp MVP “voting”
Status	Votes	Players
2026 Camp MVPs	5	Shavon Revel, Rashan Gary
2026 Runner Ups	4	Caleb Downs, Otito Ogbonnia, Camden Brown, Tyler Guyton
Honorable Mention – 3 votes	3	Quinnen Williams, George Pickens, Malik Davis
Honorable Mention – 2 votes	2	Dak Prescott, DeMarvion Overshown, Jaishawn Barham, Ryan Flournoy, Julius Wood, Joe Milton, Javonte Williams
Honorable Mention – 1 vote	1	CeeDee Lamb, Jonathan Mingo, Tyler Smith, Tyler Booker, Jake Ferguson, Brevyn Spann-Ford, Michael Trigg, Israel Abanikanda, Bryan Anger, Donovan Ezeiruaku, Kenny Clark, Cobie Durant

Interestingly, the consensus isn’t merely “the obvious stars played well.” Ogbonnia and Brown in particular, but also players expected to have a tough camp like Guyton, Milton, or Mingo, emerge from the aggregation as genuine camp surprises.

And for completeness’ sake here are the tallies for each of our five sources, all in their original order:

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2026 Training Camp Standouts
Brian Schottenheimer	Jon Machota, The Athletic	Staff, DC.com	Nick Harris, Star-Telegram	Joseph Hoyt, DMN
Caleb Downs	Joe Milton	George Pickens	George Pickens (Most Valuable Camper)	George Pickens
Rashan Gary	Israel Abanikanda	Dak Prescott	Shavon Revel (Most Improved)	Shavon Revel
Otito Ogbonnia	Camden Brown	Quinnen Williams	Quinnen Williams (Best Defender)	Quinnen Williams
Shavon Revel	Michael Trigg	Tyler Smith	Caleb Downs (Best Rookie)	Camden Brown
Jonathan Mingo	Tyler Guyton	Shavon Revel	Camden Brown (Best Story)	Malik Davis
Camden Brown	Otito Ogbonnia	Caleb Downs	Otito Ogbonnia (Underrated Story)
Tyler Guyton	Rashan Gary	CeeDee Lamb	Cobie Durant (Best New Addition)
Javonte Williams	DeMarvion Overshown	Kenny Clark	Julius Wood (Biggest Surprise)
Ryan Flournoy	Shavon Revel	Tyler Guyton
Bryan Anger	Julius Wood	Rashan Gary	Honorable Mentions:	Honorable Mentions:
		Javonte Williams	Dak Prescott (Most Valuable Camper)	Otito Ogbonnia
		Jake Ferguson	Tyler Guyton (Most Improved)	Caleb Downs
		Tyler Booker	Donovan Ezeiruaku (Best Defender)	Rashan Gary
		DeMarvion Overshown	Jaishawn Barham (Best Rookie)
		Brevyn Spann-Ford	Malik Davis (Best Story)
		Jaishawn Barham	Rashan Gary (Best New Addition)
		Ryan Flournoy	Joe Milton (Biggest Surprise)
		Malik Davis

Let us know in the attached poll or in the comments section below which four players you would put on your shortlist of Training Camp MVPs.