Roster cutdown day always delivers, and this year was no different. Between waiving Jaydon Blue, trading Nate Thomas, releasing Sam Williams, and finding a way to keep Camden Brown, the Dallas Cowboys didn't pull any punches on Sunday.
Just like every year, the initial 53-man roster is hardly the final product. The Cowboys are likely evaluating the waiver wire and free-agent market for potential upgrades. Several players who made the initial roster won't be on the team come Monday evening.
In the meantime, it's only fitting that we do our own evaluating and pick out the biggest winners and losers from Dallas' 53-man roster reveal.
Biggest winners and losers as Cowboys release their inital 53-man roster
Winner: Camden Brown - WR
The Summer of Camden Brown had a happy ending. As it should have.
Entering camp, Brown was an undrafted rookie buried behind CeeDee Lamb, George Pickens, Ryan Flournoy, and KaVontae Turpin. He also had to leapfrog established veterans Jonathan Mingo, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, and Tyler Johnson just to enter the roster conversation.
The odds of Brown surviving all of that to make the 53 were astronomical. And by the middle of August, you couldn't find a Cowboys fan who wouldn't have been devastated if Brown didn't make the team.
The brighter the lights got, the better Brown played. He turned up in the preseason to the tune of six catches (on nine targets) for a team-high 166 yards and two touchdowns. He may not see the field much as a rookie, but he has a future in this offense.
What a story.
Loser: Jaydon Blue - RB
On the complete opposite side of the spectrum, we have Jaydon Blue, who was given every opportunity this summer to win the backup running back job. In the end, he failed to beat out Malik Davis, who deserves credit for lapping his competition. More on him in a second.
It was widely assumed that Blue would make the 53-man roster after he didn't play in the preseason finale despite being in pads. That's typically a telltale sign of a player's job security. Dallas threw everyone for a loop, but the truth is that Blue didn't do enough.
And given the lingering concerns about his football character, you have to wonder if the Cowboys make a clean break and don't re-sign him to the practice squad.
Their RB depth may push them in the other direction, but Blue has a very specific skill set. Phil Mafah and Israel Abanikanda both profile as more traditional backup running backs.
Winner: Sam Howell - QB
Getting back to feel-good stories, how about Sam Howell, man? With his back against the wall in Friday's preseason finale, the 25-year-old didn't blink, throwing for 155 yards and two touchdowns to propel Dallas back from a 15-point deficit in the fourth quarter.
Howell threw a bad interception in the second preseason game. His margin for error was razor-thin, and he made the Cowboys carry an extra quarterback. Ice in his veins.
The hope is that the Cowboys will never have to use Howell or Joe Milton in the regular season, but both QBs were deserving of making the 53-man roster.
Milton was excellent in the preseason, but Howell deserves a lot of credit for holding his ground in a competition that easily could have gotten away from him.
Loser: Sam Williams - OLB
Who should be more disappointed about not making the team, Williams or Jaydon Blue? The correct answer is yes.
While Williams had a steeper mountain to climb than the second-year running back, he also had a clear runway to a roster spot. Sure, Rashan Gary, Donovan Ezeiruaku, Malachi Lawrence, and later, Von Miller, were all locks, but the Cowboys kept six outside linebackers.
In the end, Williams couldn't unseat James Houston, Tyrus Wheat, or Marist Liufau, who landed on injured reserve/designated to return with a fractured forearm.
The Cowboys surprised everyone when they re-signed Williams in free agency. Call it stubbornness or poor self-scouting, but the former second-round pick remains undisciplined and without a plan when rushing the passer. In Year 5.
Winner: Malik Davis - RB
The last time we doubted Malik Davis was, in fact, the last time we'll ever doubt Malik Davis.
Surrounded by young, energetic running backs eager to carve out a role in Klayton Adams' renowned scheme, Davis was the steadiest of the bunch.
The first preseason game left no doubt that the 28-year-old would find his way onto the 53-man roster. While Blue and Phil Mafah struggled in the first half, Davis was shot out of a cannon in the third quarter.
He finished with a team-high 39 rushing yards and 5.6 yards per carry. He ended the preseason with 5.7 yards per carry and 3.50 yards after contact per attempt, per PFF, even adding a receiving touchdown in Week 2 to slam the door shut on any and all RB2 convos.
Loser: Nick Leverett, OL
As far as biggest surprises go, Nick Leverett's omission is up there. He was solid across the board throughout training camp and preseason.
On 80 pass-blocking snaps, Leverett allowed just two pressures and one sack, good for a 72.1 PFF pass-blocking grade. He brought the same nasty demeanor to the run game, earning a 70.2 mark across 71 snaps.
What adds to the surprise is that Leverett was sound at center (119 snaps) and right guard (32 snaps).
That versatility typically bodes well for down-roster OL, and Leverett seemed to be the preferred interior body over Trevor Keegan, but both players lost out to Ajani Cornelius, who played well at guard this summer and has experience playing tackle.
Winner: Tyrus Wheat - OLB
The debate for most of the summer: Sam Williams or Marist Liufau for the final outside linebacker spot? While Liufau's injury ultimately landed him on IR/designated to return, Wheat didn't get nearly enough respect in the OLB competition as he deserved.
The Cowboys waived Wheat last August and watched him get claimed by the Detroit Lions. They weren't going to make the same mistake twice.
Wheat's arrow had been pointing up for weeks. His strong play in Oxnard got rewarded with first-team reps in practice, and he was as steady as any edge defender in the preseason, totaling seven pressures, two sacks, and five run stops.
You typically want the last edge player on your roster to do multiple things. Wheat can line up in multiple spots, gives strong effort against the run, and has leveled up as a pass rusher. Not to mention, he does a little bit of everything on special teams.
Loser: Julius Wood - S
No Cowboy who missed out should feel more betrayed than Wood. Betrayed is a strong word, but he and a lot of fans are probably wondering the same thing: How did Markquese Bell and Alijah Clark make this roster over him?
The easy answer is special teams. It also helps that Bell can drop into the box and play linebacker in a pinch, and Clark is a natural free safety on top of being a special teams contributor. Our rebuttal? Bell was flagged nine (!) times on special teams last season.
Wood, meanwhile, was arguably Dallas' top defender in the preseason and made standing out in practice such a habit that it became expected.
Only Jaishawn Barham and Malachi Lawrence, who played just 22 snaps, had higher defensive grades than Wood in the preseason. He led Dallas with 11 tackles and tied for the team lead with six defensive stops. He was all over the place.
It's a real shame that Wood was snubbed in a year where the Cowboys went deep at safety. He deserved to be on this team.
Winner: Ameer Speed - CB
Perhaps the most surprising inclusion on the initial 53. However, that takes nothing away from Speed, who was signed in June following a successful tryout during mandatory minicamp.
Nobody would confuse Dallas' cornerback depth with the Legion of Boom, but it's impressive nonetheless that Speed beat out rookie Devin Moore, who's being stashed on IR, Reddy Steward, Derion Kendrick, Trikweze Bridges, and Josh Butler.
We'd have Speed above Caelen Carson, so he's currently CB4 behind DaRon Bland, Cobie Durant, and Shavon Revel Jr.
He impressed the defensive staff throughout camp, and Nick Harris of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram noted after the 53 reveal that Speed "has been building trust on special teams over the last handful of practices of camp."
Speedy may be let go if Dallas adds a veteran cornerback, but his placement on the initial 53 was justified.
Nate Thomas - OT
The Cowboys entered training camp hoping that Nate Thomas would compete with Tyler Guyton for the left tackle job. Less than a month later, he was traded out of necessity before he was released.
That's an indictment both on Dallas for misevaluating the player and on Thomas for fumbling a golden opportunity to be at least the swing tackle behind Guyton and Terence Steele. If not for Drew Shelton's horrific summer, a lot more attention would've been paid to Thomas' regression.
While hardly a flawless player, Thomas took a step back this offseason. His technique and footwork were a mess. Typically, offensive lineman hit their stride in Year 3.
Thomas was headed in the other direction, forcing the Cowboys' hand to trade for former Steelers first-round pick Broderick Jones before shipping Thomas off to Houston.
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