3 surprising cuts from the Cowboys 53-man roster

The Dallas Cowboys released several unexpected names on Tuesday as they got their roster down to 53 players. Of course, many of those names will come back to the roster before their Week 1 showdown with Tampa Bay on Sept. 11.

Kicker Brett Maher, long snapper Jake McQuaide, and quarterback Cooper Rush are just a few of the names expected to return once James Washington, Tyron Smith, and Damone Clark all hit the injured reserve.

For that reason, they will be excluded from the following list of surprise cuts and we’ll dive into three players that could be on the way out.

3 surprising cuts from the Cowboys’ 53-man roster reveal

3. Malik Davis, RB

For the first two preseason games, Malik Davis looked like the best running back Dallas had — both Tony Pollard and Ezekiel Elliott sat out all three games. Against Denver, he ran for 51 yards on eight carries, then against the Chargers in Week 2, he had 37 yards and a touchdown on eight rushing attempts. His final game wasn’t as good, with Davis gaining 44 yards on 15 rushes against Seattle.

In all, he had 31 rushing attempts for 132 yards and a touchdown, while averaging 4.25 yards per attempt in the three games. That ended up not being enough as the Cowboys went with Elliott, Pollard, and Rico Dowdle as their three running backs.

Dowdle does have more experience in the system but has just seven career rushes for 24 yards. He’s also had durability concerns in the past, which is why it felt as though Davis could push him for his spot.

Dallas did end up back on the practice squad, but there could have been other players they would have rather risked than put Davis on the wire.