Can Trey Lance's Running Ability Beat Out Cooper Rush?

Saturday night's performance against the Las Vegas Raiders may have meant the turning of a corner for Dallas Cowboys quarterback Trey Lance.

Whether with his arm or with his legs, his opponent couldn't quite keep up.

After a rough start to his preseason campaign against the Los Angeles Rams, Trey Lance shined on his second attempt. The former first-rounder went 15 of 23 for 151 yards, a passing touchdown and a rushing touchdown.

The latter of those two scores put the finishing touch on a resounding Cowboys win.

Kemon Hall created some space for Dallas after a 69-yard pick six early in the fourth quarter. Following that effort, Lance and the Cowboys offense marched down the field on a drive that lasted 7:29 and ended with the quarterback bumbling into the end zone.

In a short distance, the play does not showcase the best of his running capabilities. But throughout the game Lance escaped pressure and leaked out for decent gains.

He certainly has areas of his game to polish off, but Lance's speed sets him apart from other backups around the league. When stacked up against his teammate Cooper Rush, that difference is a glaring one.

Is that enough for Lance to elevate himself above the reliable Rush as Dak Prescott's backup?

"I feel good," said Lance. "I'm glad we got the win. I think that's the most important thing to me. I'm gonna watch the tape and learn from it and do the same exact thing next week."

Next week is Preseason Game 3, with the Chargers coming to AT&T Stadium for the exhibition finale. Lance is suggesting he'll play again.

How well does he need to play to move up the depth chart?

Related: Randy Gregory, AWOL, Finally Cut By Bucs

Lance has one more showing to come, but his performance against the Raiders rescued him from a cesspool of negativity about his NFL prospects. Instead, there is life to his backup candidacy and reason to believe he can be what some had guaranteed before training camp. ... at the very least, a real live NFL contributor.

The Cowboys will want to see more of this level going forward, but Saturday showed significant progress on the Lance project.