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Biggest winners and losers from Week 2 of Cowboy training camp
Winner: Caleb Downs, DB
The Cowboys have put Caleb Downs in a nearly impossible position to open camp. They’ve asked him to be a full-time nickel defender and that means he is often lining up across CeeDee Lamb, arguably the league’s best slot receiver. But over the last two days, Downs has risen to the challenge.Downs went viral on Sunday after defending Lamb on a slot fade during the red-zone period, where he was able to break up a pass in the end zone. He’s clearly becoming more comfortable in that role, and you can see his confidence rising nearly every day.
The Cowboys expect Downs to be a foundational player of their defense moving forward and the last week of practice shows just how special he can be in the NFL. All you want to see from your draft picks is steady progress and that’s exactly what Downs has done over the last two weeks.
Loser: Drew Shelton, OT
The rookie class for the Cowboys has already drawn rave reviews, especially after the performances from Downs and Jaishawn Barham. But one player who is having a rough time is Drew Shelton, the former offensive tackle from Penn State.Shelton is a highly athletic tackle who the Cowboys believe can win the swing tackle job down the line. But he is far from NFL ready as Sam Williams, Malachi Lawrence, and James Houston have all beaten him for easy wins over the last few days.
Look for Shelton to get plenty of reps during the preseason as he needs the work. It’s been a tough start for him, especially at right tackle.
Winner: Rashan Gary, OLB
It’s not a surprise that Gary started to look better once the pads came on, as he is a physical player by nature. But it’s been shocking to see just how imposing he can be, especially against the run. On multiple occasions, he’s made huge plays against the run, including one where he threw Tyler Smith to the ground to make a tackle.Gary likely won’t be a double-digit sack player for the Cowboys, but his value will be as a run defender who can play up and down the defensive line. After a somewhat slow start, Gary has been the best EDGE rusher for the Cowboys during the second week of practice.
Loser: Luke Schoonmaker, TE
Schoonmaker hasn’t had any “bad” practices to date, but he also hasn’t stood out in a significant way, either. And that’s a problem considering that both Jake Ferguson and Brevyn Spann-Ford are having good camps. Ferguson looks quite a bit leaner and appears to have some of his explosiveness back.Meanwhile, Spann-Ford has been a dominant blocker and has been the primary reason Dallas has hit several big runs during padded practices. Schoonmaker will still be on the 53-man roster, but it appears he will be the clear-cut TE3 on this roster and will have a very limited role in the offense.
Winner: Camden Brown, WR
It’s always fun when a young receiver can make a highlight play in practice that ends up going viral. And that’s been the case for Brown in back-to-back practices. But he isn’t just a highlight specialist, he is someone who has been competing for the WR5 spot due to his consistency.
We will have to see if it translates into the preseason as there have been plenty of former undrafted free agent receivers for the Cowboys who have flashed and then disappeared in the preseason. But Brown will try to buck that trend over the next three weeks.
Loser: Sam Howell, QB
The expectation coming into camp was that Sam Howell would compete for the backup quarterback job behind Joe Milton. After all, the Cowboys did give Howell $2 million in guaranteed money this offseason, so they clearly believed he could be a strong fit in Schottenheimer’s offense.However, Howell just hasn’t shown enough so far in these practices to suggest that he has any sort of leg up on Milton. In fact, he’s been more turnover-prone than Milton and has almost exclusively operated as the No. 3 quarterback. Howell will get plenty of time in the preseason to show the coaching staff that he should be the backup, but it’s been a rough start for the former North Carolina star.
