Cowboys could have a sleeper on both sides of the ball

With the Dallas Cowboys mandatory minicamp kicking off today, I wanted to take one additional look at both sides of the ball and give you a personal type of post.

Heading into this season, the defense should be better, and good news is that George Pickens is in the building and ready to go. He will be eased into things because he missed voluntary OTAs, but we know he will take care of business when it’s his time to do so.

Still, every team in football needs players nobody expects to pop off and have a solid year to help them to get them over the top and make the playoffs or even advance further than anyone was expecting.

Remember, these are my own thoughts, and you can completely disagree with me and that is fine, but I want to drop one sleeper on both sides of the ball that could help the Cowboys this season.

James Houston

Firstly, I don’t even know if James Houston is a lock to make the Cowboys roster, but I think he can provide a well needed pass rush if he can make the final-53.

The Cowboys moving into more of a 3-4 look should change how we view James Houston. He doesn’t need to be stuck with his hand in the dirt every snap. Let him stand up, get wide, and go hunting.

He only played 307 defensive snaps, which came out to 27.73% of the Cowboys’ defensive snaps. That isn’t starter volume, not even close.

Congrats to James Houston https://t.co/oeplznd1uG

— Clarence Hill Jr (@clarencehilljr) June 7, 2026

He played in all 17 games a year ago, and he finished the season with 5.5 sacks, the defense was on the field a lot, and it is probably watered down a bit, but if he is actually given a legit chance this season, I think he could top out at 7 or more sacks.

Just let him rush the passer. If the run defense can be a little bit more improved, he will see the field a bit more.

If Houston makes the roster, keep an eye out for him to produce a time or two.

Michael Trigg

The offense is going to be great with or without a sleeper, but I am still going back to Michael Trigg, I think he makes the roster and becomes the TE2 behind Jake Ferguson.

Trigg had 50 catches for 694 yards and six touchdowns at Baylor last season, so it is not like he is walking in as a guy who never saw the field. The issue is his maturity.

He has issues off the field, and his ability to not be able to run block and dropping easy passes are probably the main reason why he went undrafted, because it seemed like every time I looked at the screen another tight end was being drafted. 22 of them in total, so some of these issues have to be legit if nobody gave Trigg a chance.

If I had to make one bet on a UDFA making the roster and taking the job of someone, it would be this right here.

Michael Trigg Is A STEAL For Cowboys pic.twitter.com/uUee4qXDGH

— DLLS Cowboys (@DLLS_Cowboys) June 12, 2026

The Cowboys are going to have to make some cuts later this summer, and if Trigg keeps it together and continues to ball out, Schoonmaker time as a Dallas Cowboy will come to an end.

I love that Dallas is heading into a summer without drama, it makes things feel so much better and allow the coaches and the players to focus on football and not all the outside nonsense.

We have a long summer to go, so I hope I did not jinx it, but the only thing I was worried about was GP not showing up this week and he is in the building, good start to the summer!