but he didn\u2019t have a single touchback in any of his punts last season<\/a>. That\u2019s pretty impressive. Given the down year across the board on defense, betting on bounce-back years from DaRon Bland and Malik Hooker put them in this category. Bland could be the biggest rise or fall candidate, depending on whether he stays healthy.<\/p>\nJalen Thompson was given a hefty free agent contract this offseason. He should have a big role in Parker\u2019s defense, being his Swiss Army knife, along with Downs. Missing most of the offseason workouts so far with a pectoral injury could have lowered Thompson to the tier below, but the money says he should be one of the best secondary players in 2026.<\/p>\n
Tier 3: The Twilight Zone<\/p>\n
This tier is the Twilight Zone of the power rankings. Terence Steele, Cooper Beebe, and Donovan Ezeiruaku sit at the top because they are all starters when healthy, but Dallas wants to see them take a huge step forward. Consistency is key.<\/p>\n
Malachi Lawrence and P.J. Locke earned rave reviews coming out of OTAs and minicamp, but can that momentum carry over into August? Cobie Durant, Otito Ogbonnia, and Dee Winters are veteran players that could have big roles for Dallas on defense this year. Will any of the young players beat them out? That\u2019s what we\u2019ll find out in camp.<\/p>\n
Long snappers are never valued until the kicking operation is mishandled. Trent Sieg has been a steady Eddy for Dallas in the snapping department, which gets him in tier three.<\/p>\n
Tier 4: Ross and Rachel (will they, won\u2019t they)<\/p>\n
44. Joe Milton III \/ Sam Howell<\/p>\n
Will they or won\u2019t they? The question often asked of the popular sitcom couple from Friends. Every player in tier four feels like 2026 is a pivotal year for them with Dallas, none more important than Tyler Guyton and Shavon Revel. Both players are walking on the same ice as Commissioner Gordon in The Dark Knight Rises.<\/p>\n
Some players, like Jonathan Bullard, Sam Williams, Reddy Steward, and T.J. Bass, are all on one-year deals. They could stick around for the entire season or be cut after camp, with the exception of Bass.<\/p>\n
Where do things stand with Brevyn Spann-Ford, Nate Thomas, Hunter Luepke, Markquese Bell, and Jaydon Blue? If things don\u2019t work out for these young players, maybe how Dallas develops their players should start coming into question.<\/p>\n
Joe Milton and Sam Howell are the only two players who share a spot on this list, considering one of them will end up being the backup behind Prescott. Cooper Rush is no longer around to have his name penciled in this spot, or maybe he comes back for Act III?<\/p>\n
Tier 5: Depth players in the Danger Zone<\/p>\n
Once the roster gets past tier four, this section becomes more about the depth of the roster and who can crack the final back part of the 53 come September. Phil Mafah is certainly a fan favorite, but will the Cowboys carry five running backs (that includes Hunter Luepke) to start the year? It might come down to who can contribute on special teams, and he could be in a training camp battle with Malik Davis.<\/p>\n
A lot of the secondary players here should be fighting for depth as well. The flashes from Josh Butler in 2024 were a pleasant surprise, but a torn ACL derailed his momentum and sidelined him for most of 2025. Can lightning strike twice for him? He could be in a battle with 2024 draft pick Caelen Carson and Derion Kendrick for the fourth and fifth cornerback spots.<\/p>\n
How does Christian Parker feel about Jay Toia and Shemar James, who were draft picks last year? They were drafted by the previous coaching staff. Does Parker view them as integral pieces in what he\u2019s developing, or are they no longer a fit?<\/p>\n
Marist Liufau and Luke Schoonmaker might be running out of runway to show something for Dallas. Both players had high hopes as rookies, but that feels so long ago at this point.<\/p>\n
Tyrus Wheat rounds out the Top 60, considering he made the team as an undrafted free agent once upon a time and is in his second stint with the team. Maybe he can show the makings of a solid special teams player with the upside as a depth piece at defensive end. He had his best year as a pro last year with the Detroit Lions, so maybe the arrow is pointing up.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Dallas Cowboys begin their odyssey towards the 2026 season next week with the opening of training camp.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":386012,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[102,124660,124661,104,103],"class_list":["post-386011","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dallas","tag-dallas","tag-dallas-cowboys-preseason","tag-dallas-cowboys-training-camp","tag-dallas-headlines","tag-dallas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386011","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=386011"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386011\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/386012"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=386011"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=386011"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=386011"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}