Malik Davis is once again fighting an uphill battle in Cowboys camp.
The Dallas running back is back for his fifth training camp and coming off the best season of his career, but the early signs in Oxnard are not helping his case. After a feel-good 2025, Davis does not appear to be carrying that momentum into this summer, and at this point he could leave camp without a roster spot yet again.
Changing to Tony Pollard’s old #20 this offseason has not moved him any closer to the backup job. Jaydon Blue has been the clear RB2 behind Javonte Williams so far, and Davis looks like the third option at best. On top of that, reports out of Oxnard have also pointed to strong showings from Phil Mafah and Israel Abanikanda.
This is familiar territory for Davis. Four times before, he has been in the mix and still come up short.
He has always looked comfortable with the ball in his hands, but that has never been enough to separate him from the other backs in camp. Earlier in his career, he kept losing out to Rico Dowdle because he could not match Dowdle as a blocker or on special teams, and that same issue has already shown up this summer.
Davis turns 28 this November, so this is no longer the profile of a player who can be treated as a developmental project. He needs to clearly outplay the younger challengers, and realistically he probably has to win the RB2 job outright to make the roster. Right now, though, Blue is off to a hot start and Abanikanda and Mafah are also making noise, which makes it hard to see Davis landing in a better spot than he has in past camps.
That reality will hit harder for fans who got attached to Davis after last season’s run. He fought his way back onto the roster after Miles Sanders’ injury and Blue’s delayed development, then delivered a big play in Dallas’ Thanksgiving win over Kansas City and later led the rushing attack in the Christmas victory over Washington. On two massive national stages, Davis made his mark and boosted his standing with Cowboys fans.
Even so, the broader pattern has stayed the same. For the last four years, Dallas has chosen not to keep Malik Davis on the 53 unless injuries made the decision unavoidable.
Unless the running back room suddenly gets hit by a wave of bad medical luck, that trend appears to be pointing the same way again in 2026. And if Davis does fall behind, it may simply mean younger backs with more complete skill sets are climbing the ladder and strengthening the Cowboys’ depth at the position.
In Other News...
Cowboys Fans Will Notice One Big Change When Dallas Opens 2026
Dallas fans have gotten used to Carrie Underwood greeting their Sunday nights, and NBC is keeping that tradition in place for the 2026 season. The network confirmed she will be back for a 14th straight year as the voice of Sunday Night Football, while also rolling out a refreshed version of the opening anthem that has become part of the pregame ritual for one of the NFLs marquee windows.
A preview of the new anthem is set to air during the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game on August 6, with the full debut coming September 13. For Cowboys viewers, it means a familiar soundtrack is staying in place, even as NBC gives the presentation a new look heading into next fall. [Read more 🡒]
Cowboys Camp Injury Wave Just Made One Roster Battle More Serious
The Cowboys second padded training camp practice brought more than the usual early-August bumps and bruises, and the injury report quickly became a reminder of how fragile roster competition can be this time of year. Dallas already had a few players working through various ailments, with DeMarvion Overshown, Tyler Guyton, P.J. Locke, Thompson, and Jonathan Bullard all dealing with injuries of different severity and recovery timelines.
Among the more unsettling developments was rookie defensive back Alijah Clark leaving with an ankle injury and needing help off the field. For a team trying to sort out depth across the roster, especially with camp battles tightening by the day, every absence matters a little more now, and the Cowboys will be watching closely to see how many of these players can get back before the competition starts to narrow. [Read more 🡒]
CeeDee Lamb Is Grinding To Fix One Cowboys Concern That Wont Go Away
CeeDee Lamb has never lacked for confidence or production, but the Cowboys top receiver knows the one issue that keeps following him around is the kind that can stick in the mind of an offense. He has been putting in extra work with a jugs machine, even wearing a net over his helmet to make the drills harder and force his concentration to sharpen. It is the sort of detail that says plenty about where his head is at as Dallas gets deeper into camp.
Lamb has been open about the fact that focus plays a role in the drops that have cropped up at different points in his career, and he was back at it early the morning after a drop on the first day of training camp. For the Cowboys, that is the part worth watching now, because Lambs talent has never been in question, only the consistency of his hands. If this extra work starts carrying over when the real bullets are flying, it would do more than clean up one frustrating trait. [Read more 🡒]