Dallas Cowboys first preseason contest: 5 talking points

After the first preseason game for the Dallas Cowboys, here are five talking points to reflect upon from the opening game of the 2018 season.

Well, football for Dallas Cowboys fans is now officially back. Thursday night kicked off the 2018 with a 24-21 loss in San Francisco. Thankfully, wins and losses matter not in August.

No, this is the time to avoid injury and evaluate individual performance. As long as the game ends with no one suffering a major injury, that’s a success. Do your job and perform well and hopefully, you’ll be on the final 53-man roster.

Under those guidelines, I am going to try to keep all reactions at a temperate level. During this preseason, I will evaluate each game for what it was and find five talking points that should be discussed. The level of compliment or concern, I’ll leave to you.

With game one in the books, let’s have a discussion about these five things regarding the Cowboys game against San Francisco.

Rookie watch

It was quite a dichotomy when it comes to how the 2018 draft class performed in their first NFL game.

First round pick Leighton Vander Esch did not play badly per se. There were flashes of athleticism that show he can play at this level. He did get blocked up too easily however and needs to improve on getting free and getting to the ball.

Connor Williams got indoctrinated on his first series, getting abused by DeForest Buckner. After that, however, he seemed to settle in and play well.

Without question, Michael Gallup looks ready for Week One. Although he only had one catch, that catch was a touchdown. A second would-be touchdown did not occur only due to a poor throw. There were a few other times he beat his man off the line of scrimmage but did not see a ball.

Dorance Armstrong, Jr. was active along the line, producing a few positive talking points.

All in all, it was a positive and productive night for the top four picks in this year’s draft.