The 2024 offseason is at a point in the summer where players are enjoying their final few weeks of freedom before reporting for training camp duty in late July.

For the Dallas Cowboys, their date to report to Oxnard, California for training camp is July 25th. Drama during training camp is never in short supply and I don’t expect this year to be any different.

Thousands will show up to Oxnard wearing their Cowboys merchandise, hoping to get just a glimpse of star players like Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb, Micah Parsons, and Trevon Diggs.

They will endure the heat and humidity just to see how the team is faring with new free agent and draft additions. While the star players are easily recognizable, it’s important to remember nearly 40 players at camp will be fighting to make the roster.

Dallas (along with the other 31 franchises) are allowed to start training camp with 90 men on the roster, but will have to cut down to just 53 players by the time training camp wraps up in late August.

One thing I despise hearing people say about NFL players is “that dude sucks”. None of the players who line up on the field for training camp suck. They might not be as great compared to the superstars in the NFL, but they have enough talent to be on the field.

The Cowboys have done a tremendous job of finding talent in the undrafted free agent pool over the past few years so I expect a couple of undrafted free agents to make some noise this training camp as well.

Today, I want to talk about five players who are closer to the roster bubble than some of us may suspect.

CB Eric Scott Jr.

The Cowboys drafted Eric Scott Jr. last year after trading back up to the first pick of the 6th round. He wasn’t active for any games after the preseason so we really have no idea what to expect from him on the field.

It might seem unfair, but with a new defensive coordinator and scheme, players who didn’t even see the field as rookies run the most risk of not making the roster.

Mike Zimmer was brought on as the new defensive coordinator, a position he held with the Cowboys in the late 1990s and early 2000s before moving on to the head coaching ranks.

Scott Jr. was a Dan Quinn pick and that immediately places a spotlight on him as a player who has to prove himself more than others in the same room. The cornerback room is crowded so it’s not surprising that another cornerback makes this list.

CB Nahshon Wright

Nahshon Wright was a top-100 pick of the Cowboys in the 2021 NFL Draft, Quinn’s first year as defensive coordinator under HC Mike McCarthy.

Quinn appeared to have been given the keys to the draft in 2021 after Mike Nolan’s defense was one of the worst in franchise and NFL history the year before, leading to his eventual firing after just one season.

One of his dart throws in that draft was Wright. He stands at 6’4″ tall with the long, slender frame and length that Quinn covets in his defensive backs.

In three seasons, Nahshon Wright has only started three games, and aside from an interception of third-string QB Joshua Dobbs one night in Tennessee, he has done little to secure a spot on the roster.

CB CJ Goodwin

I might end up eating my words again because I predicted that Special Teams Ace CJ Goodwin would not make the roster last season. Instead, he would be replaced by a younger version of himself, Kelvin Joseph.

Joseph was traded to Miami and Goodwin continued his special teams dominance until an injury forced him out for the rest of the season.

Goodwin is getting a little long in the tooth and the new kickoff rules somewhat nullify his impact as a gunner. There are other younger defensive backs on the roster that can and will challenge him for his position.

Along with Scott and Wright, don’t be surprised of Goodwin is among the list of cuts at the end of training camp.