After an off day on Monday, the Dallas Cowboys will put the pads on this Tuesday as they ramp up training camp action ahead of the 2024 NFL season.
Although the first week of camp provided plenty of takeaways, football is an entirely different game when players are fully equipped, which will make Tuesday a very special day. Contact with be at full go this week and players will be fired up.
Specially for those working in the trenches, that means evaluation can really begin. Here's four things to monitor starting Tuesday.
1. New EDGE3, Marshawn Kneeland
With Sam Williams' season over after ACL and MCL tears last weekend, Kneeland is under the spotlight as DC Mike Zimmer admitted the second-round rookie will be forced to play a lot in 2024.
So far, Kneeland has left a positive first impression on those watching practice in Oxnard, California. But one of his biggest calling cards in college was his play strength and power. What that looks like in padded work will be the most intriguing in the next few weeks.
The Cowboys will badly need him to step up earlier than expected, whether or not that's fair to him.
2. Do defensive backs continue to dominate?
Early in camp, the Cowboys defensive backs reportedly dictated practice with them winning at least the first couple of days. And that's without Trevon Diggs.
Now that the pads come on and physicality will become a bigger part of the story, do they become even more dominant? Or do the Cowboys wide receivers fight back? Keep in mind, CeeDee Lamb could return at any moment as long as his deal gets done so it could make for an even more fun battle.
Specifically, a couple of players to watch are Caelen Carson and Eric Scott Jr. The former has been said to be impressing early on with several PBUs and highlight plays. The latter needs to put himself in the map and with the pads coming on, more opportunities to do so will come his way.
3. Tyler Guyton versus Micah Parsons, DeMarcus Lawrence
The Cowboys need Guyton to hit the ground running more than any other rookie as he's projected to start at left tackle as soon as Week 1, when he's set to face Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett.
Coming out of college and throughout the draft process, Guyton was perceived as a prospect who'd need time before reaching his potential. But since then, he's spent every day with OL guru Duke Manyweather. During the early days of camp, he showed some of the results of that by "silencing" Micah Parsons in practice on Sunday.
With the pads coming on though, that won't be nearly as easy. How he performs against Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence, and how he improves as we approach September, is one of the biggest stories from Cowboys camp.
4. Mazi Smith's improvement at NT
Smith is off to a positive start by showing up at 310 pounds , an increase from last year's underwhelming rookie season where he struggled to keep his weight up and ended up resembling a three-tech defensive tackle more than a nose tackle.
That's only Step 1 of his plans, however, as he must show better get-off speed at the line of scrimmage. Reportedly, he's already done that with no pads on. Can he keep it up while becoming a gap-eating force in the middle of the defensive line? We're close to finding out.
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