The Dallas Cowboys’ trip to Brazil ended in frustration, with the Baltimore Ravens winning on a last-second field goal. For the rookie class, there were reasons for encouragement. Caleb Downs helped create an early scoring opportunity, while Jaishawn Barham produced two second-half stops that gave Dallas a chance to take control. The challenge remains turning those individual moments into a complete defensive performance.
But here is how each rookie fared this week, listed in draft order, and any
undrafted players worth noting after that.
Caleb Downs
(Defensive snaps: 64 | Tackles: 3 | TFL: 0 | Sacks: 0 | INT: 0 | Passes defended: 0)
Downs’ biggest contribution came early, stopping Derrick Henry for no gain on fourth-and-one and handing Dallas possession at Baltimore’s 30-yard line. That short field became an important Cowboys touchdown which added weight to Down’s stop. His tackle total was modest, but the importance of that stop was considerable. This was a game with a valuable individual highlight, alongside a couple of things to clean up.
Malachi Lawrence
(Defensive snaps: 17 | Tackles: 2 | TFL: 0 | Sacks: 0 | Passes defended: 0 | Pressures: 0 | Special-teams tackles: 1)
Lawrence assisted on two defensive tackles and contributed a kickoff tackle, but his opportunities to rush Lamar Jackson were limited. He made only three pass-rush snaps, with no pressure generated. That small sample matters when judging the performance as Dallas needs more disruption from its edge defenders, but Lawrence had relatively few chances to provide it. His contribution was mainly supporting the run defense and covering kicks.
Jaishawn Barham
(Defensive snaps: 50 | Tackles: 7 | TFL: 2 | Sacks: 0 | INT: 0 | Passes defended: 0 | Pressures: 1)
Barham provided the strongest rookie performance, particularly when Dallas desperately needed a response. His fourth-and-goal stop against Henry denied Baltimore a touchdown, and another tackle behind the line on the following Ravens possession helped keep the Cowboys in the fight. Those were substantial plays against one of the league’s most difficult runners to bring down. Brian Schottenheimer also praised his command of the defense while handling the green-dot communication duties.
There were mistakes alongside the highlights. Barham did make two missed tackles against the run and four completions for 50 yards in coverage. His response was the encouraging part. He continued making decisive plays rather than allowing the difficult moments to define his night.
LT Overton
(Defensive snaps: 15 | Tackles: 2 | TFL: 0 | Sacks: 0 | INT: 0 | Passes defended: 0 | Pressures: 0)
Overton’s limited appearance earned an encouraging initial PFF grade of 77.4. His contribution came against the run, but he generated no pressures on six pass-rush snaps. It was a promising small sample, with pass-rush production still to develop.
