Once upon a time Brian Martin and I worked on an article about how many roster spots were truly “available” at an upcoming Dallas Cowboys training camp. A rough guess is that this was around 2016 or 2017. We go way back.
The thought behind the exercise was that while there are 90-man rosters and a final 53-man roster, the reality of NFL roster composition is that most of the spots on the team are secured. Only something like 10-15 on average are truly unknown and “up for grabs” in the way we conventionally
think of that term.
In a similar sense, let’s explore which player on the Cowboys roster has the most to gain at training camp when it kicks off a month from now. Stars on the team like Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb, and Quinnen Williams have already proven themselves, and even a rookie like Caleb Downs has immense hype surrounding his spot on the team.
Context matters is the ultimate point, so let’s keep that in mind when answering the question.
Shemar James has the most to gain of all players
On some level the way to start answering this question is by looking at the position group where the Cowboys have the least amount of options. The path is easier there. Linebacker really jumps out. We have all discussed at times across the offseason how dire of a situation this is, and while the Cowboys traded for Dee Winters during the NFL Draft, they are hardly ripe with options.
Last year I thought the veteran trades that the Cowboys made for Kenneth Murray and Kaiir Elam were sound in theory. Taking a chance on players with NFL experience if they can be had for cheap can be a winning proposition. Sometimes it works out, like Stephon Gilmore and Brandin Cooks a few years ago, and other times, like with Murray and Elam, you are left wondering why you were ever willing to pay any price at all.
This is to say that we have no idea if the Dee Winters trade is going to really work. Winters is someone who has played for a very serious NFL defense during his time with the San Francisco 49ers, but the point here is that the linebacker spot is hardly taken care of simply because of his presence.
Similarly we all have high hopes for DeMarvion Overshown, but the reality of the first three years of his career is that because of injury he is hard to rely upon. It would behoove the Cowboys to treat that from the perspective of not necessarily relying on him, and that anything they can get out of Overshown is icing on the proverbial cake.
Shemar James is my answer for this reason. He is a light breeze away from having a number of serious opportunities.
James played moderately well across his rookie season, even though the defense at large was historically awful, but he is now a tried-and-true NFL veteran. That has to count for something, particularly in this context where there are so many question marks in his position room.
Looking elsewhere, you could make the case about James’ former teammate at the University of Florida, Devin Moore. We have no idea what the Cowboys are going to get out of DaRon Bland, Shavon Revel, or Cobie Durant, and it is possible that Moore rises to the top; however, that feels like something that may take a couple of regular season months to transpire as opposed to training camp specifically.
Who do you think has the most to gain out of Oxnard? Let us know in the comments below.
