There's a variety of reasons, but these four Cowboys aren't having the camp experiences one writes home to mom about.
The Dallas Cowboys' 2025 training camp is nearing the two-week mark and the team has finally been able to evaluate players in pads and in the film room. The change from light contact has naturally boost some players' stocks. Nate Thomas and Kaiir Elam have greatly elevated from where perceptions had them before making the trip to Oxnard.
But what goes up, must come down or push others in the opposite direction. Injuries, better play from players at the same position, or simply underperforming, has several player's stocks dropping. This doesn't necessarily mean folks are losing their jobs or being cut from the 53-man roster, but this group of players is not performing as well as some might have hoped.
WR Jalen Tolbert
Jalen Tolbert is a mix of underperforming and others at his position performing extremely well. Tolbert hasn’t made many splash plays in camp, but the receivers battling for snaps after CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens are making them regularly.
KaVontae Turpin and Jonathan Mingo, Turpin's primary competition for snaps and targets, have been making big plays routinely. In one single practice Turpin made more impact plays than Tolbert has throughout came, breaking a screen for a big play, and scoring a touchdown on a deep ball from quarterback Dak Prescott. Mingo also saw a deep ball for a score and made another sliding catch for a touchdown. Both he and Turpin have contracts that last longer than one year.
And this is without yet mentioning UDFA rookie Traeshon Holden, who has raised eyebrows as well. Tolbert, on the final season of his rookie deal, isn’t worried about not making the team, but the offensive coaching staff is going to give snaps to playmakers first.
DT Mazi Smith
Mazi Smith is a first-round pick going into his third season and is running out of time to make plays for his team. Dallas can no longer view him as a first-round impact player, but can he be a competent starter for them at a position with little competition for his role?
The main issue for Smith is that standout plays are a surprise, few and far between. He will also have plays where he is pushed two gaps out of his spot. Defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus is attempting to throw everything at the wall next to Osa Odighizuwa to see what sticks. Solomon Thomas and Perrion Winfrey are both under-300-pounds, penetrating defensive tackles. Jay Toia could earn starter snaps, and he is 342 pounds, but he is a seventh-round rookie.
Those players are making more of an impact than Smith, who needs to start a steady drumbeat of solid play like he did last year from Week 10 to Week 15 to keep his snaps.
CB Israel Mukuamu
Israel Mukuamu isn’t a stock-down player because of poor play on his part. He has been solid, but the play of other corners has been more significant. Mukuamu might have an edge at making the 53-man roster due to his versatility, but it could be hurting him as an overall defender in camp.
Elam has been the best corner at camp, and Kemon Hall, Troy Pride Jr., and Juanyeh Thomas have jumped out with their play. Due to the team suffering numerous injuries, Mukuamu might have to move from three to five positions in a single day. This makes it more difficult for him than for a player who can concentrate on a single spot continuously.
TE Luke Schoonmaker
Luke Schoonmaker has had an excellent camp so far, but his entire position group is playing at an incredibly high level, and Jake Ferguson, Brevyn Spann-Ford, and Hunter Luepke are significant leaps ahead.
A healthy Ferguson plays 800 snaps in a season, at least. Spann-Ford is taking over the second tight end spot that netted over 400 snaps last season. Luepke more than doubled his snaps from his rookie season, 153, to his sophomore year, 328, and he looks to be much more critical to Brian Schottenheimer’s offense than Mike McCarthy's.
Will Schoonmaker even get to the 400 snaps he had last season? His camp has been good enough that it should be a yes, but he is still far enough behind those other three that it is possible he can’t get on the field as much. That isn’t even taking into consideration the fact that Dallas is playing with a sixth offensive lineman much more often, and that will take snaps away from the tight end position.
You can find Mike Crum on Twitter @cdpiglet or on YouTube at Across the Cowboys podcast
This article originally appeared on Cowboys Wire: 4 Cowboys who need to step it up as Week 2 of camp concludes
Category: Football
