Two preseason games are enough to start seeing things that aren’t included in the box score.
Maybe not enough to know if Dallas fixed every problem from last year, but enough snaps have been played now that a few players are, in my opinion, starting to separate themselves, and some of the numbers are buried and are more interesting than the obvious ones.
We can all easily find that Joe Milton has completed 75% of his passes, or Camden Brown averaging almost 28 yards per catch, but I’m interested in the stuff that can carry over into the regular season.
Malik Davis Is Doing the Boring Stuff
I know some of you are going to be like, “What do you mean by the boring stuff?” Well, let me explain. He is doing all the little things necessary in the preseason to stay on the field.
Malik Davis has carried the ball 12 times for 68 yards, averaging 5.7 yards per carry. Those are good numbers, but one of his best plays against Arizona wasn’t a run.
On Joe Milton’s 70-yard bomb to Camden Brown, Davis stepped up and handled the blitz long enough for the play to develop. I think that kind of play helps Davis more than another 10-yard rush.
A backup running back can average six yards a carry all day and still never see the field if the quarterback can’t trust him in protection. If you’re sharing the backfield with Dak Prescott, you better know who you’re responsible for.
I think Malik Davis is quietly putting together the best case to be RB2.
Jaydon Blue Showed A Little More Against Arizona
I don’t know about you all, but I thought Jaydon Blue’s first preseason game was very forgettable. Eight carries for 19 yards will do that.
But then he came back against Arizona and ran 15 times for 75 yards, with his longest run being 15 yards. The part I liked was that he averaged five yards per tote.
I’m still waiting for Blue to get into the open field because we all know no one is catching him, but just food for thought, try running him outside the tackles.
The last game of the preseason, I’m going to focus on how he does blocking. That will be the way to the roster and, at this point, that roster spot may be RB3.
Camden Brown Isn’t Going Away
Five catches through two preseason games and 139 yards with two touchdowns. The Cowboys are going to have to find a spot on this roster for this young man.
3 REC, 62 YDS, 2 TD vs Seattle.
27.8 yards a catch doesn’t get cut or sent to the practice squad. His 39-yard touchdown against Seattle and 70-yard reception against Arizona account for most of that total, but I’m not sure how that could be a knock against him.
Brown is a pretty simple case. He keeps getting behind people and making them pay for it.
At this point, I don’t care if he can do anything else. If he can catch the long ball, come down with contested catches, and score, I’m not sure that I care if he plays special teams.
If the fifth receiver only gets one reception on a Sunday, wouldn’t you want it to be for almost 28 yards?
Joe Milton Is Making QB2 Less Complicated
Joe Milton is a different player this year in these preseason games. It’s like the game has finally slowed down for him.
He has completed 21 of 28 passes for 286 yards, three touchdowns, and no interceptions. All I wanted to see out of him was if he could handle the simple stuff and keep the offense a float if he had to play a few games during the regular season.
So far, he has.
If Dak Prescott was to miss time, we don’t want Joe Milton to play like Dak. We want him to play like himself and bring a different look to the offense and his arm strength alone would make this offense very interesting.
We haven’t seen the bonehead mistakes to this point in the preseason and that is why I think he has taken a little of a lead for QB2 over Sam Howell.
Arizona’s Rushing Total Doesn’t Tell the Whole Story
Arizona finished their third preseason game against the Cowboys with 135 rushing yards and averaged 5.2 yards per carry.
If you read the box score, it looks like Dallas got pushed around, but that’s not what really happened.
The Cardinals picked up 52 of those 135 yards on their final four rushing attempts after Dallas already had a 34-13 lead. If we take away the final possession, Arizona had 83 yards on 22 carries. That comes out to 3.77 yards per attempt.
If we take out the fourth quarter all together, the Cardinals had 61 yards on 19 carries for a little over 3.2 yards.
Looks a little different without the garbage time stats.
Third-Down Defense Needs to Be Better
Through the two preseason games, both teams have combined for 10 of 22 on third downs. That’s 45.5%, which would have been 29th in the league in 2025.
We have watched Dallas cover some of that up by playing well in the red zone and getting stops on fourth down, but I don’t want to see teams extending drives anywhere near 50% of the time.
The crazy thing is, Seattle converted 6 of 12 on third downs while just finishing the game with 156 total yards.
Dallas wasn’t giving up much yardage, but Seattle kept getting a new set of downs and if you keep giving NFL teams extra snaps, eventually someone is going to make you pay for it.
I will be watching for this percentage to decrease in the final preseason game.
Dallas Has Had the Opposite Problem on Offense
I found the Cowboys offense is 17 for 25 on third down through the two preseason games for 68%. Will that continue? Probably not, but I want to talk about how they are getting this number.
Dallas has picked up 23 of its 44 first downs on rushing plays. More than half.
If the running game can keep Dallas out of 3rd and 8 all game, Dak Prescott won’t have to rescue the offense every third snap. That’s really all you can ask for from a run game.
It doesn’t have to get 150 yards a game. I just want it to keep the offense on schedule and let the weapons on offense do their jobs.
The number I don’t like is the third down percentage on defense, but everything else?
We’ll find out soon if it carries over to the first teamers. Let’s just get through the final preseason game.
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