Three players to watch in Cowboys' first preseason game

The Cowboys will wrap up Week 2 of the NFL preseason with a game against the Rams on Sunday. Here are three players Dallas fans will want to keep an eye on.

DT Mazi Smith

Smith joined the Cowboys as the 26th overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, but finished the year as the league’s 113th-best interior defender, according to Pro Football Focus . He made just three starts and played 28 percent of the team’s defensive snaps last season.

But head coach Mike McCarthy had nothing but praise for Smith following Monday’s practice, stating that Smith is "trending where he needs to go" and "getting better" with each passing practice, per The Athletic's Jon Machota .

Weighing in at 323 pounds at the 2024 NFL Scouting Combine, Smith dropped over 30 pounds last year, something new defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer has looked to rectify. The second-year tackle weighed in at 328 pounds in May, but still needs to improve his conditioning after offseason shoulder surgery.

Fortunately, Zimmer’s “read and react” system seems to fit the big tackle well. How many snaps he’ll get against the Rams remains to be seen, but expect the team to be cautious with his playing time.

LB DeMarvion Overshown

Overshown played safety at Texas, but the Cowboys drafted him as a linebacker in 2023. Unfortunately, he tore his ACL before the start of the regular season and spent 2024 on injured reserve.

Since then, he’s added 15 pounds of lean mass and has been showing off his speed in camp. Overshown had a great preseason in 2023, but teammate Micah Parsons thinks his 2024 campaign has been even better.

"I think he's more confident and stronger than what he was before he tore ACL," Parsons said in a recent news conference. "He's coming downhill, he's being aggressive, he understands his reads, you could just see the confidence in him growing. He's getting more reps with the ones, they're ready to get him out there.

Like Smith, Overshown probably won’t see many reps on Sunday, but he’s certainly worth watching when on the field.

LB Marist Liufau

Right now, Overshown is listed behind Liufau on the team’s unofficial depth chart. According to team reporter Nick Harris , this year’s third-round pick from Notre Dame often finds himself in the middle of high-pressure situations at camp and has thrived with those opportunities.

At 6-foot-2 and 239 pounds, Liufau is a powerful downhill linebacker with a penchant for delivering big hits. He was the only rookie to get first-team reps during minicamp and he’s currently the only rookie listed as a starter. Barring a setback, Liufau is poised for a great 2024 season.