{"id":421539,"date":"2026-08-31T04:30:39","date_gmt":"2026-08-31T04:30:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/421539\/"},"modified":"2026-08-31T04:30:39","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T04:30:39","slug":"the-3-biggest-surprises-from-the-dallas-cowboys-initial-53-man-roster-including-darkhorse-player-who-made-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/421539\/","title":{"rendered":"The 3 biggest surprises from the Dallas Cowboys’ initial 53-man roster, including darkhorse player who made it"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\tHome<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\/<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNFL<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\/<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDallas Cowboys<\/a><\/p>\n

The Dallas Cowboys\u2019 53-man roster is here and yes, there are multiple surprises. That includes a darkhorse safety making the cut and a big-name running back who didn\u2019t. <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"Jul
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJul 29, 2026; Oxnard, CA, USA; Dallas Cowboys safety Alijah Clark (38) at training camp at River Ridge Playing Fields.
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tKirby Lee-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

The Dallas Cowboys\u2019 initial 53-man roster is set in stone<\/a>. Changes will surely follow over the next few days but for now, let\u2019s look at the biggest surprises to emerge from roster cutdown day. <\/p>\n

And as is often the case this time of the year, we\u2019re starting by looking at someone who is not on the team. <\/p>\n

Jaydon Blue\u2019s departure is the biggest surprise<\/p>\n

The biggest surprise of the Cowboys\u2019 initial 53-man roster is running back Jaydon Blue not being on it. Blue was waived, and frankly, it\u2019s hard to bet on him returning to the practice squad. We\u2019ll see about that on Monday.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what makes this so notable: Israel Abanikanda wasn\u2019t better than Blue. Phil Mafah wasn\u2019t better than Blue. Heck, both were also waived. In other words, Blue kind of lost this battle to nobody. Sure, he lost the RB2 spot to Malik Davis, who emerged as the second-best running back on the roster behind Javonte Williams. But the Cowboys ended up going short at running back. <\/p>\n

Blue losing this competition to himself strongly suggests this connects to whatever kept him inactive for most of the 2025 season. Him not playing at all on Friday night against the New Orleans Saints was telling in hindsight. At the time, the read was that Blue had secured his spot and Dallas didn\u2019t want to risk injury. <\/p>\n

Now it looks like there may have been a deeper issue, and the Cowboys decided Mafah and Abanikanda deserved those reps more than Blue did. We\u2019ll probably learn more about this decision when Brian Schottenheimer speaks to reporters on Monday. <\/p>\n

5 cornerbacks make the cut<\/p>\n

Dallas carrying five cornerbacks was another surprise. The bigger shock is that fourth-round rookie Devin Moore isn\u2019t among them. Instead, Caelen Carson and Ameer Speed made the cut.<\/p>\n

Speed had a solid preseason, but both players feel like they\u2019re already in danger of losing their recently secured roster spots. The key word is initial. This is the initial 53-man roster. The Cowboys are likely going to look for upgrades through the waiver wire or free agency. Adoree\u2019 Jackson, who has been linked to Dallas earlier this offseason, remains available.<\/p>\n

Carson struggled in the preseason with too many penalties and coverage issues, though he looked solid as a tackler. Speed stood out a bit more but still doesn\u2019t inspire much confidence for regular season football. Moore heads to injured reserve with a designation to return, meaning Dallas isn\u2019t ruling him out for 2026. But expect this cornerback room to look different by Week 1.<\/p>\n

Alijah Clark emerges as the dark horse<\/p>\n

Clark making the 53-man roster as the sixth safety was not on most people\u2019s radar. When Markquese Bell was essentially confirmed as a roster lock after coach Brian Schottenheimer shouted him out as one of the team\u2019s most trusted special teamers, the assumption was Dallas would stop at five safeties and Julius Wood would be the odd man out. The Cowboys did carry six, but it was Clark who grabbed that spot over Wood.<\/p>\n

Before the preseason even started, Danny Phantom from Blogging the Boys asked on social media who everyone\u2019s true dark horse was. My answer was Clark, based on special teams. Now, this was before Julius Wood became a fan favorite of the preseason. <\/p>\n

But Clark had that high-effort play against the Philadelphia Eagles last season, that movie-like sequence where he\u2019s falling to the ground, getting back up, fighting to make the tackle, forcing a strip fumble the Cowboys recovered in the red zone. With C.J. Goodwin no longer around, Dallas needs dogs on special teams. Clark might be that guy.<\/p>\n

\"Play<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\"Aug\t\t<\/p>\n

Dallas Cowboys News<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\tInitial Dallas Cowboys 53-Man Roster: Get to know the 2026 version of America\u2019s Team\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

Moves will likely follow but for now, the Dallas Cowboys roster complies with the 53-man player limit. In other words, the initial version of the team is complete. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Home \/ NFL \/ Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys\u2019 53-man roster is here and yes, there are multiple…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":421540,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[31093,102,113,104,103,20430],"class_list":["post-421539","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dallas","tag-caelen-carson","tag-dallas","tag-dallas-cowboys","tag-dallas-headlines","tag-dallas-news","tag-jaydon-blue"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421539","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=421539"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421539\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/421540"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=421539"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=421539"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=421539"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}