Dallas Cowboys: 6 winners from the cancelling of preseason games
By Matt Aaron
Recently, the NFL announced there would be no preseason games. Which Dallas Cowboys players benefit from this decision?
Most Dallas Cowboys‘ fans know by now that there won’t be any preseason games this year. It was announced by the NFL about a week ago and wasn’t a big surprise. Those who’ve been paying attention might have also heard there’s a proposal to limit training camp to 80 players, according to Dan Graziano at ESPN.
What with coronavirus hanging over everything like a shroud, none of this is surprising. But what might have flown under the radar is that the NFL is limiting contact in practices as well.
The league is limiting methods in a number of ways, from how practices and weight training are held to the length of practice. Perhaps the most dramatic of these guidelines is limiting the number of padded practices to fourteen this year, according to Judy Battista at NFL.com.
All of this will make it much harder for younger players, the team’s new draft picks, and undrafted free agents to get noticed and get a leg up on the competition. Our own Steven Mullenax wrote about this just last week.
But all of this begs the question: Who benefits? In times of change, someone always gains an advantage. I believe the following six Cowboys are most likely to benefit:
Chidobe Awuzie (cornerback)
Since new head coach Mike McCarthy was hired early in the offseason and brought in his own assistant coaches, a few clues as to potential changes have been floated. One interesting morsel was the idea that three-year starting cornerback Awuzie might be moved to safety.
The team had brought in several free agents and drafted several rookies including highly regarded Trevon Diggs to compete for roster and starting spots in the defensive backfield. But now with all the limitations in training camp, it seems more likely that McCarthy might decide to go with an experienced hand, like Awuzie, at corner.