Brian Martin

Level C2/C3 quadriplegic. College graduate with a bachelors degree in sports and health sciences-concentration sports management. Sports enthusiast. Dallas Cowboys fanatic. Lover of life with a glass half-full point of view.

Dallas Cowboys: Training Camp Position Battles

The Dallas Cowboys are not your typical 4-12 team. The majority of their starting positions are locked in and because of that, the organization will have some difficult decisions to make when they start to figure out their final 53 man roster. Fortunately, they still have an entire training camp and four preseason games to keep a close watchful eye over all of their players. They have plenty of time to figure out who’s in and who’s out. Now, they won’t be calling me to ask for my personal opinion, but I will be keeping an eye on some of the position battles taking place to determine for myself who makes the final cut.

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Darius Jackson Will Take Advantage Of His Opportunity

Thanks to Darren McFadden’s poor judgment to try to save his phone from dropping and his broken elbow that seems to be made of glass, rookie running back Darius Jackson now has the opportunity to receive more practice repetitions and catch the eye of the coaching staff. The Dallas Cowboys were intrigued enough by Jackson’s athletic ability, that they decided to draft him in the six round of the 2016 NFL Draft, despite already drafting Ezekiel Elliott 4th overall in the first round. I will admit that when Darius Jackson’s name was announced as becoming a member of the Dallas Cowboys, I was a little shocked. I thought to myself where is this guy going to fit in knowing that they just drafted Zeke Elliott and they also signed veteran running back Alfred Morris to a three-year contract in the off-season? Not to mention, the Cowboys still had the fourth leading rusher in 2015 Darren McFadden still on the roster.

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Dallas Cowboys: Pre-Training Camp 53 Man Roster Projection

The Dallas Cowboys have officially closed out their OTA and mini-camp practices, and won’t take the field again as a team until July 30 in Oxnard, California at the start of training camp. That’s not to say that players won’t continue working out or practicing on their own, it just means that we have about a month before any official practices get underway once again. This is a slow time in regards to any Dallas Cowboys related news, and unfortunately any news that makes headlines is probably going to be of the negative nature (let’s hope that doesn’t happen). So, I thought I would take the opportunity to try and predict the final 53 man roster for the Dallas Cowboys. Quarterback (3):

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Is Lucky Whitehead’s Roster Spot Secure?

A month ago, I wrote an article about whether or not an expanded role was in the future for Lucky Whitehead, and now I’m questioning if there will even be a roster spot available for Whitehead once the final cuts are made. Don’t get me wrong, Lucky Whitehead has an intriguing skill set that could be used in several different ways for an offensive coordinator as creative as Scott Linehan, but he’s facing some stiff competition at the wide receiver position. In 2015, Whitehead was mostly utilized on special teams returning punts and kickoffs. Toward the end of the season he started to get more time on offense in the Lance Dunbar type of role. They used Lucky Whitehead on jet sweeps and as a receiver out of the backfield the same way they used Dunbar before his injury.

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Jaylon Smith: Battling The Uncontrollable

The Dallas Cowboys provided a jaw-dropping moment in the second round of the 2016 NFL Draft, when they decided to write linebacker Jaylon Smith’s name down on their draft card. Why in the world would they draft a linebacker so highly when there’s a chance he may have to sit out the entire 2016 season? Well, Smith’s selection is based more on his future potential and that he can fully recover from a devastating knee injury that also caused nerve damage. If he can fully recover and become the player he was at Notre Dame, then the Cowboys would’ve drafted a player that is arguably the best defensive player in the entire 2016 NFL Draft. Can you say draft day steal?

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Cowboys Mini-Camp: Dez Bryant’s Recovery Benefits Young Wide Receivers

Sometimes an injury to a specific player can be a blessing in disguise. That player has to miss important time on the practice field and it gives other players the opportunity to step up and receive extra repetitions, hopefully developing a bond with their teammates. That is exactly what the Dallas Cowboys are hoping with their top wide receiver Dez Bryant not practicing during organized team activities (OTA’s) and mini-camp practices. Fortunately though, all signs point to Bryant being on schedule with his recovery from off-season foot and ankle surgery. With #88 on schedule to be ready to participate once training camp officially kicks off, all the others receivers on the roster need to realize that they need to start taking full advantage of every practice rep they receive if they want to contribute in 2016.

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Will Darren McFadden’s Injury Cost Him His Job?

The Dallas Cowboys kicked off their mini-camp practices yesterday and the good news is that they nearly had perfect attendance, including a couple of players that decided to skip organized team activities (OTA’s) earlier this off-season. Disgruntled offensive guard Ronald Leary asked for a trade from the Cowboys earlier in the off-season after learning that he will most likely be regulated to backup duties in 2016, but despite his trade request he was in attendance for the mandatory mini-camp. Linebacker Rolando McClain also made an appearance for the kickoff of these mini-camp practices after he decided to skip OTA’s in order to deal with some family issues back in Alabama. The attendance of these two players is encouraging because despite their status on the team, both players are valuable to the organization whether as a backup or as a starter. Unfortunately, it seems every time there is some good news, there is some bad news to accompany it.

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2016 Dallas Cowboys Will Play With A New Attitude

The Dallas Cowboys disastrous 2015 season can be attributed to one thing and one thing only…injuries. It’s difficult enough to win games in the NFL when your football team is 100% healthy, but when you’re missing several of your key members it’s nearly impossible to be a competitive ball team. That’s exactly what happened to the Cowboys and one of the reasons why there are high hopes for the upcoming 2016 season. Tony Romo, Dez Bryant, Orlando Scandrick are arguably the top players at their respective positions on the Cowboys roster, and all three missed significant time due to injuries last season. Even running back Lance Dunbar was beginning to show what kind of weapon he can be until once again an injury cut his season short.

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Roster Moves: Cowboys Sign Two Defensive Backs

The Dallas Cowboys addressed the vacant roster spots left by Terrance Mitchell and Brandon McGee, who were released last Friday by signing two defensive backs today. No, it isn’t Brandon Boykin who worked out for the Cowboys earlier, but it does add depth to the Cowboys secondary. According to Rob Phillips via twitter, the Cowboys decided to sign veteran cornerbacks Isaiah Frey and Dax Swanson. Isaiah Frey was a sixth round draft pick by the Chicago Bears in the 2012 NFL Draft. He played his college ball at Nevada.

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4 Cowboys Players Primed To Make First Pro Bowl

The Dallas Cowboys are no strangers to sending several of their players to the Pro Bowl each year and despite the drastically different seasons the last two years, the Cowboys still had quite a few players headed to Hawaii. Just in case you may have forgotten, the Cowboys finished with a winning record of 12-4 in 2014, but the following season in 2015 those numbers flip-flopped and they finished with a losing record of 4-12. I guess I’m just like any other fan and I really enjoy the anticipation of finding out who might be voted into the Pro Bowl each year, but it’s those first year participants that I truly enjoy finding out about. After the completion of the 2014 season, the Dallas Cowboys had six players voted into the Pro Bowl. Tony Romo, DeMarco Murray, Dez Bryant, Tyron Smith, Travis Frederick, and Zack Martin all made the trip to Hawaii.

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