The first two weeks of 2026 training camp have already put a handful of Dallas Cowboys on thin ice.
Dallas is one week out from its preseason opener against the Seattle Seahawks, and while the roster still has time to settle, some jobs are already looking shaky. The Cowboys finished 7-9-1 in 2025, but they believe a stronger defense can push them into contender territory.
On offense, all 11 starters are back. The real chaos is in the depth chart battles.
Reddy Steward is one of the names feeling that pressure. He showed some promise last season, particularly in the slot, and he came back on a one-year deal.
But the room around him looks a lot different now. Rookie Caleb Downs is expected to handle the slot, and Dallas also has Jalen Thompson and Cobie Durant as options there.
Steward is still fighting, but the climb is steep.
Luke Schoonmaker is in a similarly awkward spot. The former second-round pick is heading into his fourth season without having fully delivered on that draft status.
Last year, he was competing with Brevyn Spann-Ford for the TE2 role. This time around, he appears to be trying to hold off UDFA Michael Trigg just to stay in the TE3 conversation.
That is not a comfortable place for a player trying to prove he belongs.
The receiver battle has gotten crowded fast, and that makes life tough for seventh-round pick Anthony Smith. Dallas liked his upside enough to bring him in with some buzz, and the comparisons to former fan favorite Cedrick Wilson came from the kind of downfield playmaking he can offer.
But first, he has to survive the numbers game. With CeeDee Lamb, George Pickens, Ryan Flournoy, and KaVontae Turpin locked into the top four receiver spots, there may only be one opening left.
Smith is battling Jonathan Mingo, Traeshon Holden, and Marquez Valdes-Scantling for that final spot, and Holden currently seems to have the edge. That leaves Smith looking more like a practice squad candidate than a lock.
Valdes-Scantling is in the same fight, and his camp arc has shifted. He stood out during OTAs and minicamp, but he has not been drawing the same kind of attention in training camp. That could end up costing him.
At linebacker, Justin Barron is trying to climb back onto the roster after a roundabout rookie year. The undrafted Syracuse product flashed enough in camp to land a spot on the practice squad, then got called up and played in two games.
He came into the league as a safety, and his coverage ability made him an intriguing fit for Christian Parker’s scheme. Even so, his path this year is crowded.
Barron is battling Curtis Robinson for what would be the fifth linebacker spot, if Dallas keeps that many. Robinson has been a standout, which only makes Barron’s job harder.
Malik Davis is also in danger despite what he did last season. He came out of nowhere in 2025 to seize the RB2 job, finishing with 250 yards and two touchdowns.
His best showing came in Week 17 against the Washington Commanders, when Javonte Williams was injured and Davis handled 20 carries for 103 yards. Now he has to hold off Jaydon Blue and Phil Mafah, two second-year backs who have been trending up.
That puts Davis firmly on the chopping block as camp moves toward the preseason opener.
In Other News...
Cowboys Just Revealed Who Will Set The Locker Room Standard
The Cowboys have put a fresh layer of structure around the way they want their locker room to function this season, naming an 11-player Leadership Council made up of veterans and core pieces the staff believes already set the tone behind the scenes. It is a group built around positive influence, communication and professional habits, with Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb, Javonte Williams, Jake Ferguson, Tyler Smith, Tyler Booker and Quinnen Williams among the players expected to help define the standard day to day.
For Dallas, the significance is less about ceremony than alignment. The coaching staff is signaling that leadership is not being left to chance or reputation alone, and that the players chosen for this council will be leaned on to keep the culture steady as the season unfolds. With so many familiar voices in the room, the Cowboys are clearly betting that the strongest example can come from inside the locker room itself. [Read more 🡒]
Cowboys Camp Is Suddenly Creating Tough Roster Decisions
Training camp is starting to sharpen the Cowboys roster picture in more than a few spots, and its doing so with players who were never supposed to make life easy for the coaching staff. Brevyn Spann-Ford has pushed himself into the conversation for the backup tight end job by looking better as both a pass catcher and a run blocker, while rookie linebacker Jaishawn Barham has turned heads with his speed, range and physicality, enough to earn work with the first-team defense.
Ryan Flournoy has added to the squeeze by showing cleaner route running and more dependable hands, giving Dallas another receiver who looks capable of helping right away. For a team trying to sort out the bottom of the depth chart, that kind of progress creates a good problem, but it also means some players who seemed to be on the outside suddenly have a real path to the roster. [Read more 🡒]
Cowboys Defense Is Already Feeling One New Voice At Camp
The first week of padded practices has given the Cowboys a better sense of what this camp might become, and a new voice is already settling in on the defensive side. Christian Parker has stepped into his role as defensive coordinator and, by the sound of it, the biggest early impression is not some schematic wrinkle but the way he has handled communication. For a team trying to sharpen itself in the middle of summer work, that kind of clarity can matter just as much as any headline-grabbing adjustment.
There are other camp notes worth watching around the roster, too. Tyler Guyton is showing progress entering his third season, according to teammate Terence Steele, while Dallas has also added Jashaun Corbin and continued to sort through the early competition elsewhere. Quarterback Joe Milton has drawn attention in the first round of roster projections as someone who has taken a noticeable step forward, but for now the more immediate takeaway is that the Cowboys are starting to see how a new defensive voice can shape the tone of practice. [Read more 🡒]