Cowboys players to watch in 2nd preseason game Saturday night

The second preseason game of the year is only two days away, and the Cowboys roster is starting to get close to a breaking point.

Players are fighting for starting jobs, roster spots and some are making the coaching staff really think about how many bodies to keep at every position.

The Cowboys will travel to Arizona to take on a Cardinals team that honestly might be one of the worst teams in football this season. The roster top to bottom is just not very good, so they have a lot of guys that are going to be giving it their all.

With that said, over these next two games, I think a few guys should be playing for something on the Cowboys side of the ball.

I have not heard anything official yet, but I will assume for now that we will probably see the same type of script as last week. Same players, etc.

I will change this post if something comes out after this, if these three guys don’t end up playing.

Malik Davis

I think Malik Davis is in a prime spot to have a chance to get the backup running back role. Jaydon Blue still has not shown me anything other than what he did at Texas, and that is being fast.

He struggles to make contact, and he is at his best when in open space. At some point, Dallas needs a guy behind Javonte Williams who is a true running back and can fight for extra yards, or at least have a chance, and Malik Davis will probably get a good chance to once again show why he should be the backup this week.

He carried the ball 7 times against the Seahawks last Saturday for 39 yards. Blue has been hit with the injury bug this week at practice, so it might be time for Davis to grab this job and not give it back.

If he does not play, I will update this post before Saturday night against the Cardinals once we know who is playing and who is not.

Camden Brown

How about this kid coming on the scene out of nowhere last week?

An undrafted rookie out of Georgia Southern, finished with three catches for 62 yards and two touchdowns last Saturday against Seattle — highlighted by an impressive one-handed snag in the end zone — to help lead Dallas to a 17-7 win to kick off the team’s three-game exhibition slate.

A few rookie WRs who have outperformed my expectations so far in training camp include:

– Ja’Kobi Lane, Ravens (RD3 from USC)

– Kaden Wetjen, Steelers (RD4 From Iowa)

– Camden Brown, Cowboys (UDFA from Georgia Southern)

— Todd McShay (@McShay13) August 17, 2026

I think he and Jonathan Mingo are battling for the WR4 spot, maybe? I think the issue is that Mingo probably has the upper hand because he did well in the preseason game also last week, but the front office does not want to look even worse after trading that pick away from him a few years ago, but let’s be honest, he has not done anything.

It will be interesting to see how Brown does not that people will be watching him closely and expecting him to show up like he did last week.

Not that it is a lot of pressure, but he knows he has a real chance to make the roster now, and he will need to do well against this Saturday and prove one preseason game was not a fluke.

Sam & Joe

I lumped these two together, because, honestly they both did pretty well last week when given the chance against the Seahawks.

I think Sam Howell currently has the edge over Joe Milton in terms of who is going to win the backup QB joe, but at the same time, it very well could flip from now until the end of preseason.

I expect the same type of playbook to be used this Saturday, but maybe they will let Joe Milton start instead of Sam Howell. Once that information drops, I will get back in here ASAP and update this, but take a look at the tweet below it seems like Milton may get the start this week.

Potentially a sign Joe Milton will start Saturday: he took more snaps than Sam Howell as practice wore on. His best throw was a corner route to TE Luke Schoonmaker, who fended off a defender.

— Todd Archer (@toddarcher) August 19, 2026

If I had to pick, I would probably go with Sam Howell. Yes, he was awful as a full time starter in Washington, but he has played meaningful games, Milton has a monster arm, but still struggles with some of the easy stuff.

Either way, both of these guys are going to get all of the snaps, and it is worth watching to see how well they do this week.