A half dozen Dallas Cowboys will arrive at training camp in Oxnard in less than two weeks, each carrying extra baggage. All six either suffered a season-ending injury last year or are dealing with issues that arose during this offseason.
This list doesn’t include Dak Prescott’s recent foot issue either.
For two of the six players, they may not be on the roster by the time the team breaks camp and returns to Texas. Assuming that they are fully recovered by then.
Trevon Diggs
Trevon Diggs is the biggest name on the list. Prior to the start of the 2023 season, Dallas signed their star cornerback to a five-year, $97 million contract.
Diggs played in the first two games of the 2023 season, wins over the Giants and Jets, but tore an ACL during practice just days later.
He never saw another snap for the rest of the season.
Trevon Diggs had surgery on the ACL roughly nine months ago. The surgery reportedly went well. Making for even better news, none of the other ligaments were damaged.
Diggs has slowly been working his way back and, as this recent video shows, looks to be coming along nicely.
https://twitter.com/AtoZSportsNFL/status/1811147539653038392
Head Coach Mike McCarthy’s most recent update was also promising. McCarthy reported earlier this week that Diggs “looks great” in his rehab.
While no one is officially saying it, Diggs could still hit the PUP list in camp. However, even if he does, it still wouldn’t rule out him playing against Cleveland in the season opener.
That would be the best outcome for both Trevon Diggs and the Dallas Cowboys.
DeMarvion Overshown
The third-round pick in the 2023 draft showed a lot of promise last summer. Then came the preseason game in Seattle.
DeMarvion Overshown made an ordinary tackle on the sideline. The player he tackled got up. Overshown couldn’t.
He never saw the field again in 2023.
Overshown, like Diggs, tore his ACL. The linebacker out of Texas spent the OTAs in May working with a group of rehabbing players.
If he can return to 100% he’ll likely find himself among the starters in 2024.
However, Dallas drafted another linebacker in the third round in April, Marist Liufau, and signed Willie Harvey Jr. out of the UFL. And then there’s Damone Clark. In his second year, Clark started all 17 games and recorded 109 tackles.
Overshown clearly has his work cut out for him to earn both playing time and a starting spot in 2024.
Mazi Smith
Mazi Smith’s rookie season was less than stellar, though not all of it was his fault. As we mention often, Smith was inexplicably asked to drop 30 pounds during camp last year.
His loss of bulk showed as he was pushed around on the line far too often. 2024, however, shapes up to be different because Smith has reportedly been bulking back up.
He also has the added advantage of a new defensive coordinator who specializes in run-stopping defensive lines.
Mazi Smith is dealing with a shoulder issue; he had surgery that kept him out of OTAs and minicamp this spring.
He is currently listed as a starting defensive tackle. He’ll need to prove he was worthy of being the first-round pick in 2023.
Luke Schoonmaker
Smith’s fellow Michigan alum and the Cowboys’ second-round pick last year is also dealing with off-season shoulder surgery. He’s dealing with a hamstring issue as well. Like Smith, he missed both OTAs and minicamp.
Adding to the concerns, Luke Schoonmaker was hamstrung by a plantar fascia issue that caused him to miss a lot of offseason activities last year.
Those issues were known by the Cowboys.
They went ahead and drafted him anyway.
The fact that he’s best known for coming up an inch short of the end zone in a loss to the Eagles, more than any other on-field accomplishment, adds to the pressure.
Schoonmaker will not be the starting tight end this season unless something happens to Jake Ferguson. He’s also got three other tight ends looking to take his spot as the primary backup to Ferguson.
Fortunately for Schoonmaker, two of the other tight ends are also dealing with injuries. The third is a rookie signed as an undrafted free agent in April.
Two More Ailing Tight Ends
Peyton Hendershot is entering his third season, but he’s coming off a lackluster 2023 campaign and offseason ankle surgery.
John Stephens Jr. was having a great camp in 2023. He, like Spann-Ford, was a UDFA. At one point, he was likely going to surpass Schoonmaker on the depth chart, but he, too, tore an ACL in the preseason, ending his year before he could begin.
If he comes back to pre-injury form, the battle in the tight end room could be one to watch, in Oxnard, and beyond.
Brevyn Spann-Ford is a monster tight end out of Minnesota. The Cowboys signed him as an undrafted free agent in April. At 6’6” and 270 pounds he could race up the depth chart despite being a rookie. His climb could be made easier with the injuries to the two men standing in his way.
This means Hendershot and Stephens could both be off the roster, even if they come back fully healthy in camp.
