The Cowboys’ preseason snap leader isn’t a quarterback, a running back or even a splashy skill player. It’s offensive tackle Drew Shelton, who piled up 174 snaps across three games, including 160 on offense and 14 on special teams.
That total stands out because Shelton entered the summer as part of a tackle group that needed answers at both backup spots. Instead of easing him in, the Cowboys kept feeding him reps, apparently trying to squeeze as much development as possible out of the fourth-round pick.
Shelton was listed as the backup right tackle, but his preseason usage told a different story. He opened the first game at right tackle, then started the next two at left tackle.
The results were uneven early - his PFF grades in the first two games were 48.5 and 28.9 - before he turned in his best outing of the preseason against the Saints with a 67.1. Even with that work, the Cowboys still moved to add Broderick Jones at the position in a trade with the Steelers.
Shelton is only one piece of a top-10 picture that includes three offensive linemen, all of whom look like strong bets to make the 53-man roster.
The numbers get even more interesting when special teams snaps are folded in. That’s where some of the Cowboys’ most familiar role players start to show up, especially the defensive side of the roster. Zack Kuntz also appears in that group, though he looks more like a preseason stand-in for the regular-season roles Luke Schoonmaker and Brevyn Spann-Ford are expected to handle.
Special teams usage may wind up telling us as much about the final roster as offensive or defensive snaps do. The Cowboys could end up leaning toward more defensive spots than offensive ones, and the special teams leaders are a big clue. Most of those heavy special teams players are defenders, not offensive depth pieces.
That matters most when you start looking at the roster battles underneath the obvious locks. At linebacker, the Cowboys may keep four or five players, but whoever claims the final spot is going to need to help on special teams.
The names that have been treated as roster locks are DeMarvion Overshown, Jaishawn Barham, Dee Winters, and Shemar James. But Marist Liufau’s injury at OLB could leave the team short on a key special teams contributor, which opens the door for Justin Barron or Curtis Robinson to push for a spot.
Wide receiver is another place where the preseason snap counts can be misleading. Jonathan Mingo sat out the final preseason game, which points to him possibly having already locked up a fifth, and maybe final, receiver job.
The snap totals themselves don’t really show that. If anything, they suggest the Cowboys wanted to get a long look at their rookies - Anthony Smith, Jordan Hudson and Camden Brown all saw plenty of action.
That’s the real value of these preseason numbers. Drew Shelton leading the team in snaps doesn’t mean he’s becoming a starter.
Anthony Smith pacing the receivers doesn’t mean he’s ahead of Jonathan Mingo. But when you put the snap counts together with the depth chart, the special teams work, the injuries and the players the Cowboys chose to sit or play in the finale, the picture starts to sharpen.
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Cowboys Just Got A Telling Chance To Fix A Thin LB Room
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