The first of three preseason games for the Dallas Cowboys is on the books and it was an important one: Not because of the scoreboard indicating they lost to the Los Angeles Rams 13-12 but because of the performances of several young players trying to leave a mark on the team.
After all, this time of year, coaches don't particularly care about the outcome of the game but instead focus on player development and evaluation.
Let's dive into three winners and three losers from the Cowboys' preseason opener.
Loser: QB Trey Lance
Lance finished as a loser for me for a simple reason. He didn't play bad necessarily but he didn't move the needle one bit when it comes to pushing Cooper Rush for the QB2 job. And the thing about it is that he is a fourth-year NFL player, not a rookie.
Lance's accuracy was decent but far from special as multiple times he left receivers with no chance to deal damage after the catch. He overthrew two of the deep shots he took in the game and missed two open targets on what could've been pivotal plays: Ryan Flournoy on a big third down and Princeton Fant on what could've been a touchdown toss. It feels like Lance needs to play cleaner football to improve his stock.
Winner: LT Tyler Guyton
Listen, Guyton absolutely looks like the starter so far. In his first and only drive of the first half, he had several good moments, including handling an inside move from his defensive end on third-and-long that allowed Trey Lance to break free for a 16-yard gain.
He was also seen sending defenders flying as a pulling blocker. Overall, it was a good performance from the rookie. Surprisingly, he returned to the field in the second half and kept showing off.
Loser: WR Ryan Flournoy
The rookie wide receiver had some rough moments in his first NFL action. He had a couple of bad drops and a fumble that didn't result in a turnover as it rolled out of bounds, but still added to concerns about his hands. Flournoy is battling Jalen Cropper and others for that final WR slot on the roster and today's game likely didn't move the needle in his favor at all.
Winner: DE Marshawn Kneeland
Kneeland didn't get a chance to do much on Sunday but that's a big reason why he's on the list in the first place: The Cowboys clearly expect him to play a whole lot of football in his rookie season as they took him out of the game one drive into the game. Sam Williams was expected to play 70-75% of the snaps, and Kneeland might just be looking at filling in such a high snap count as a second-round rookie.
He had a third down stop as a run defender and showed off his power in a couple of plays generating a ton of knockback when contacting opposing linemen.
Loser: Eric Scott Jr.
The second-year cornerback had a rough outing right off the bat. He had a costly missed tackle and a late hit penalty tacked on him early on, which is not great for someone trying to earn one of the last spots at his position. He also allowed an easy catch on fourth down against an isolated wide receiver.
Scott Jr. did have a big-time interception toward the end of the first half, which might buy him some trust back from the coaching staff after a performance with multiple accidents.
Winner: LB DeMarvion Overshown
So... Overshown's knee looks just fine, right? The second-year linebacker picked up right where he left off after an impressive preseason as a rookie, flying to the ball as a run defender and getting some work in as an off-ball blitzer.
Overshown appears to be clearly a Top 3 linebacker on the team and it'll be tough to keep him off the field.
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