Cowboys who stood out vs. Rams

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Football is BACK. This is an especially potent phrase this year as it relates to the Dallas Cowboys, seeing as they’re desperately hoping to wash the sour taste from their gums stemming from the disappointing 7-10 finish to the 2024 season — their revamping of the staff headlined by the promotion of Brian Schottenheimer to head coach.

Doing so has, thus far, led to a surge in energy within the organization and throughout the locker room, and the latter has new faces, e.g., George Pickens, that aims the Cowboys directly at their NFC East rivals, and hopefully beyond.

It all began on Saturday at SoFi Stadium, when the preseason got underway and the Cowboys got their very first, and detailed, look at where they stand at several positions entering the 2025 regular season.

Make no mistake about it, the Cowboys have a lot to clean up and to learn from the film against the Rams, though they started to look good late, but below are some key players who left it all on the field in Los Angeles.

[Note: This list is unranked.]

Wow. One of the most pressing needs for the Cowboys’ defense this summer is to identify depth at the cornerback position, and particularly with Jourdan Lewis leaving in free agency. Mukuamu signed on a one-year deal and the play he made against the Rams shows why he’s often so disruptive. This time, it was downfield in the second half when he tracked a deep ball from quarterback Stetson Bennett and displayed unreal body and control of his hands to snag the INT while diving to the ground vertically. Again … wow.

Talk about playing like your hair is on fire. Liufau has been showing out in his second NFL training camp and it easily transferred for him in the preseason opener. He played in only one half, but that’s all he needed to make a sensational impact for an otherwise struggling defense. His ability to read and react is off the charts, as is his ability to be a heat-seeking missile.

Jaydon Blue and Miles Sanders were both absent with injury, and despite the signing/reunion with Malik Davis, it was Mafah getting the bulk of the carries; and he made the most of them. His stat line was solid, but could’ve been explosive, if not for his biggest run of the day being called back due to offensive holding, for example. The rookie running back was punishing, but also quick and had great vision, and he’s off to a tasty start that could make waves in the RB room.

Talk about making waves, well hello there Mr. Davis. With the injuries at the position, the Cowboys brought Davis back on short notice and though he didn’t play a lot of the game against the Rams, the limited reps he did receive, late in the fourth quarter, were met with a fiery and intense message that basically intimated “I’m back”. On only seven attempts, Davis rushed for a team-high 63 yards and averaged an eye-opening nine yards per carry, his longest being a 16-yard scoot. What might this mean for a still unsettled room of running backs?

If not for the struggles of Joe Milton, Flournoy would’ve had a breakout game against the Rams that would’ve potentially included two touchdowns and a lot of yardage, to boot. His ability to separate and run routes was put on full display, putting defenders in a blender on at least two occasions, but Milton was unable to get him a more accurate ball — it sailing on both occasions. If Flournoy keeps this up, however, given how outstanding his film will look from the preseason opener, he’ll continue to get opportunities in the next two preseason outings … and maybe beyond.

It was a mostly quiet afternoon for Holden, uncharacteristic of the noise he’s been making almost daily in Oxnard. The undrafted rookie out of Oregon made a dynamite play in the middle of the fourth quarter, the most explosive play of the day by the Cowboys, when he streaked down the right sideline to reel in an over-the-shoulder deep ball from Joe Milton for a 42-yard completion that extended a drive ending in Milton finding tight end Rivaldo Fairweather for the touchdown.

The depth of the defensive interior was concerning overall, but Winfrey was a definitive bright spot. He was seen not only halting a run or two at the line of scrimmage but, on one play in particular, he bull rushed the offensive lineman into the lap of Bennett and nearly into a sack. Bennett was able to get the ball out of harm’s way at the last second, but Winfrey made sure his presence was being respected on Saturday.

With Buddy Johnson exiting due to a knee injury, Harris continued having a quietly solid outing that gives confidence to the linebackers’ depth chart. Childress nearly did the same for the cornerbacks’ depth chart, with solid tackling and displaying great play recognition when he fired himself out of a cannon on a quick pass from Bennett that, if Childress was there a tenth of a second sooner, might’ve been a pick-six.

Milton would love to forget the first 3.5 quarters of this contest, and that is putting it lightly. He did find some sort of a groove early in the fourth quarter though, getting his first touchdown on the evening and in a Cowboys’ uniform when he found Fairweather in the end zone on a drive that also included the aforementioned 42-yard bomb to Holden. What Grier did in limited reps was very impressive, and notable, when seeing him complete two of his only three attempts of the night and then calling his own number and showing fancy footwork for a rushing touchdown that at least made the score a respectable one — proving the battle at QB2 was never settled in the first place.

When the Cowboys selected rookie linebacker Shemar James out of Florida, I wrote one thing in particular about him in the scouting report: he loves to hit stuff. That is holding true throughout camp and, now, through the first preseason outing of his NFL career. James will be a special teams menace at some point in the near future but, given the fact he had five tackes against the Rams and was seen flying all over the field on defense as well, there’s plenty of potential for him to do damage for Matt Eberflus whenever his number gets called.