4 Cowboys who are barely clinging to a roster spot after Week 4

It's never been more apparent that the NFL is a week-to-week league. The Dallas Cowboys find themselves 2-2 and looking up at Dan Quinn's Washington Commanders in the NFC East standings. With DeMarcus Lawrence and Micah Parsons shelved with foot and ankle injuries, respectively, the next month could be tough sledding for the reigning division champs.

It's no secret that Mike McCarthy needs to get his act together as a play-caller, but the players themselves also need to be held accountable. It is possible that fans may have overrated this roster coming into the season.

With little margin for error in a wonky NFC East and a competitive NFC, the Cowboys might have to make some tough personnel decisions in the near future. These players in particular are on the chopping block amid a disappointing start to the season.

4. DT Linval Joseph

The Cowboys are suffering the consequences of waiting until September to bolster the defensive tackle position. Jordan Phillips is already on IR with a phantom wrist injury. His absence has created more snaps for Joseph and the 35-year-old has looked his age.

Joseph is currently Dallas' lowest-graded player with a 29.4 grade, per PFF. He has one tackle and zero defensive stops on 72 saps. Joseph has been especially inept against the run. He's getting moved off the ball with ease, which has forced linebackers to plug two gaps while shedding blocks.

The Cowboys don't have any better options behind Mazi Smith, who had a career game Thursday against the Giants. Assuming the front office is searching for an upgrade, Joseph's days in Dallas could be numbered.

3. TE Brevyn Spann-Ford

It wasn't a surprise that the Cowboys kept four tight ends on their 53-man roster. With fan darling John Stephens Jr. missing the first few games with a hamstring injury, Spann-Ford has played a healthy 55 snaps in the first four weeks.

Spann-Ford is a distant third in the pecking order behind Jake Ferguson (133 snaps in three games) and Luke Schoonmaker (91 snaps in four games), but that's more playing time than most undrafted rookies. Unfortunately, the former Golden Gopher has not made the most of his opportunities.

After commiting two penalties against the Ravens in Week 3, Spann-Ford was penalized again in Thursday's win over the Giants. He has three penalties in the last six quarters, still hasn't caught a pass and has disappointed as a blocker, which is the reason Dallas kept him on the roster.

Spann-Ford currently owns a 47.4 pass-blocking grade and a 46.8 run-blocking grade, per Pro Football Focus. Given his extremely limited ceiling as a receiver, there's no sense keeping him on the active roster if he isn't going to offer anything as a blocker.

2. CB Andrew Booth

With no DaRon Bland and Caelen Carson, Booth got the start at cornerback opposite Trevon Diggs against the Giants. A healthy scratch for the first three weeks, Booth had a great opportunity to cement a spot in the rotation and he failed with flying colors.

Booth got left in the dust by Malik Nabers early in the game. It would have gone for a touchdown had Daniel Jones threw a better ball. While he made some nice open field tackles both in coverage and as a run defender, he was completely overmatched in coverage.

Booth allowed four catches (on four targets) for 85 yards, including 26 yards after the catch. Jones had a 118.8 passer rating when targeting the former second-rounder and Mike Zimmer quickly benched him for Amani Oruwariye, who actually had the game-clinching interception.

The Cowboys don't have the luxury to cut Booth, but he could be off the roster entirely by the time they're healthy at cornerback.

1. RB Deuce Vaughn

Mike McCarthy deserves credit for trying to incorporate Vaughn into the offense. However, it hasn't led to any success and McCarthy has kept going back to the well.

In four games, Vaughn has seven carries for 20 yards (2.9 yards per attempt) and a 56.0 PFF rushing grade. He has caught both of his targets for 14 yards. Every touch that Vaughn receives should go to Rico Dowdle or fullback Hunter Luepke, who has come on strong the last two weeks.

Vaughn has the skillset to be an effective gadget player, but not in McCarthy's offense, which is as bland as any in the NFL right now.

With Dowdle emerging as the RB1 and Luepke establishing himself as a reliable weapon for Dak Prescott, there's little to no room for Vaughn to make an impact. He didn't log a single touch against the Giants and has played a combined nine snaps the last two games.

It feels like a matter of time until Dalvin Cook takes Vaughn's spot on the active roster and Vaughn gets demoted to the practice squad.

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