The final weekend before the NFL's trade deadline has become its own fascinating microdrama. Whether a team wins or loses their particular matchup could well be the deciding factor for a front office on whether they look to add that one last piece to make a real run at the postseason or look to start selling off what they can in order to accumulate draft capital for the next spring.
Often, a team tips its hand regarding certain players by either showcasing them heavily in an attempt to elicit an attractive offer or shelving them entirely to keep them healthy for a deal they expect to make.
When looking at the Cowboys' snap counts in their narrow win over the Colts, two of the players who will be talked about most this week took zero reps at all
in Indianapolis. George Pickens was inactive- officially, due to shoulder and hamstring injuries- but were the Cowboys protecting their most likely piece of trade bait? Rumors will continue to swirl, probably right up until Tuesday's deadline. And linebacker DeMarvion Overshown was nursing a hamstring injury of his own... but that didn't stop him from running onto the field in sweat pants after a Dallas fumble recovery and drawing a 15-yard penalty.
Of the players who did take snaps in the 27-23 win, several were getting back to their normal workloads. Cornerback Cobie Durant saw 100% of the defense's action, his highest usage of the season, with Joey Porter Jr. out. His 64 snaps were the culmination of a three-game ramp-up after returning from his hamstring strain and four missed outings early in the season.
Linebacker Marist Liufau made his 2026 debut but played just a handful of defensive snaps, spending far more of his Sunday on special teams. James Houston got 31 snaps with the defense, his most of the year; he responded with four total tackles on the day. Rookie Jaishawn Barham has seen his playing time plummet; after wearing the green dot as the unit's primary signal caller just as recently as just few weeks ago, he got just three defensive snaps versus Indy and put in a few special teams reps for the first time since Week 1.
Offensively, Ryan Flournoy led all Cowboys wideouts in reps as the fill-in for Pickens. His 77 snaps and 97% workload are both career-high numbers for the 27-year-old, and his three busiest days as a pro have all come in the last month. Whether his Week 9 usage was simply because of Pickens's injury, as a tryout to be Dallas's WR2 with a Pickens trade in the works, or even to boost Flournoy's own showing for any potential trade partners isn't clear.
Flournoy had a good day, catching two balls on three targets for 53 yards. Among the team's pass catchers, he currently trails Pickens in targets, receptions, and yards, but not by much... and he's tied with GP, two touchdowns apiece.
Brevyn Spann-Ford continues to play an increasing role in the offense. He got 55 of 79 snaps on Sunday, in part because of Jake Fergsuon's third-quarter knee injury. But he's neck-and-neck with Ferguson on the season for usage, and his special teams contributions have helped him definitively leapfrog Luke Schoonmaker on the depth chart. Schoonmaker was inactive for the second week in a row.
Camden Brown saw a huge bump in his offensive usage versus the Colts one week after his NFL debut, and fellow rookie Jordan Hudson saw his first snaps as a pro.
On special teams, Alijah Clark and Juanyeh Thomas joined the aforementioned Liufau as heavy contributors, with Markquese Bell, Hunter Luepke, and Juston Barron also doing their usual significant parts. Cornerback Shavon Revel played exclusively on special teams for the first time this season as his role on defense continues to shrink.
Here's how the Cowboys distributed their snaps in all three phases in Week 9's win.
Snap counts are published by the league following the game and are considered unofficial. They are subject to change after further film review.
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This article originally appeared on Cowboys Wire: Does Flournoy's W9 snap count reveal Cowboys' plan for George Pickens?
