There’ll be no shortage of things to watch when the Dallas Cowboys take on the San Francisco 49ers in their first preseason game of the 2019 season. This game will mostly played by the backups, but it’s still an exciting time nonetheless. Football is finally back!
Since the first couple weeks of preseason are mostly designed to evaluate the backup and roster bubble guys, I thought I’d go ahead and share with all of you some of the under the radar Dallas Cowboys players to watch against the 49ers.
Below are the five players I think have a chance to emerge from the shadows with a strong outing in San Francisco.
#46 Jordan Chunn, RB
While all eyes have been on Tony Pollard, Mike Weber, Darius Jackson, and even Alfred Morris during Ezekiel Elliott’s absence, Dallas Cowboys Running Back Jordan Chunn has been quietly putting together a solid training camp for himself. Chunn spent all of last season on the Cowboys practice squad, but is looking to make a jump to the active roster this season. The second-year RB has his work cut out for him and is still a long shot to make the final 53-man roster, but he’s definitely not somebody to forget about in Dallas’ backfield.
#64 Daniel Wise, DT
Daniel Wise is one of the undrafted free agents the Dallas Cowboys signed after the completion of the 2019 NFL Draft who are trying to make this year’s team. It’s not always easy for a UFA to get enough repetitions or playing time in practice to stand out, but so far he’s doing just and is starting to turn a few heads with his play. He’s still flying a little bit under the radar and will need a strong performance in preseason, but he has the makings to become yet another versatile defensive lineman for the Cowboys. They have him playing a little at defensive end and defensive tackle already.
#37 Donovan Wilson, S
Surprisingly, Safety Donovan Wilson is the only drafted player I have on this list. But as a sixth-round pick there are no guarantees he is a lock to make the Dallas Cowboys 2019 roster. Having said that though, he is someone who is doing everything within his power to stand out amongst the Cowboys current stock of safeties. Every time his name comes up it’s in a positive way and it’s definitely not going unnoticed. I don’t believe he’s a real threat to start opposite Xavier Woods just yet, but he’s not completely out of the running either. A strong showing in preseason could change that though.
#57 Luke Gifford, LB
The Dallas Cowboys are pretty set with their top four linebackers in Jaylon Smith, Leighton Vander Esch, Sean Lee, and Joe Thomas, but the depth behind them is completely up in the air. Somebody needs to step up due to Sean Lee’s inability to stay healthy and I believe that person could be Luke Gifford. He was turning a few heads in OTAs, but has since kind of cooled off in training camp. I think with a strong showing in preseason he could put himself into position to become the primary backup at strong side linebacker behind No. 50, but he has his work cut out for it.
Cowboys Young WRs
I decided to cheat a little here because I couldn’t choose between three of the Dallas Cowboys young wide receivers who are all showing up a little in training camp. Jalen Guyton (#83), Jon’Vea Johnson (#81) and Reggie Davis (#11) have all made some pretty impressive plays up to this point in practice. None of them have been able to distance themselves from one another, but all are still in the running to make the 53-man roster. If they can show some kind of consistency this week against the San Francisco 49ers and continue to carry that over until cut day, they could find themselves on the Cowboys 2019 roster.
