Cowboys News: Leighton Vander Esch, CeeDee Lamb are getting praise for their work in camp

The Cowboys are playing a preseason game Thursday. Here is your latest from Oxnard to start the week!

Practice Points: CeeDee Yet Again & Injury Update – Staff, DallasCowboys.com

The second-year wide receiver is doing work.

Just assume CeeDee Lamb is going to do something ridiculous every day, because that’s the pace he’s currently on. The second-year receiver had a number of nice plays during practice, but he stole the show in the final moments. The offense had driven inside the 15-yard line during team period, and Garrett Gilbert lofted a back shoulder ball toward his star wideout. To be fair to Trevon Diggs, the coverage was solid all the way down the field – Lamb just didn’t care. Chalk the touchdown up as another in a series of impressive moments for Lamb.

Cowboys camp observations: Leighton Vander Esch continues to impress; defense feasts on INTs – SportsDay Staff, Dallas Morning News

LVE, and the “e” stands for excellent.

Cowboys training camp continues with another practice on Sunday. Here are some highlights from our writers on the scene in Oxnard:

Sunday’s practice:

Dallas Cowboys: 4 breakout players to re-sign before it’s too late – Reid Hanson, Sport DFW

The deadline to ink a deal could be fast approaching.

If the Dallas Cowboys are smart, they’d consider re-signing these players before their value rises too high…

That’s why the Cowboys must be savvy with their resources and not do dumb things. You know, like re-sign a running back to a market setting deal two year before they have to. Or re-sign a linebacker coming off one good season to a multiyear mega deal even though he’s permanently physically inhibited. Orrrr… you get the point (said with a wink).

Sign the wrong player and it can blow up in your face like the totally nonspecific examples above. But wait to long and you could see the cost of doing business go through the roof (look no further than the handling of Dak Prescott’s contract).

Today we highlight five players who are set to breakout this season AND set to hit free agency. Locking them up before they post career seasons could save millions. But it also opens Dallas up to a lot of risk if said player never reaches the expectations paid for.

Dalton Schultz, TE

Age: 25

This is something we discussed just a few day ago. Dalton Schultz is flashing in camp. He was already a good blocker but he looks like he might be developing into a decent pass-catcher as well. If the Cowboys want to secure his services they should do so sooner rather than later.

Have the Dallas Cowboys hit on back 2 back drafts? – Angel Torres, The Landry Hat

So far, so good.

The Dallas Cowboys have done a great job with their first-round selections in the last ten years or so. Too bad I am not here to talk about first-round selections. As good as it has been, it is entirely possible that their second-round picks hold the key to the team’s success.

Cornerbacks are expensive to put it plain and simple. Most teams usually have to pay at least one top dollar while some teams employ two high-dollar cover guys like down in Miami.

The Dallas Cowboys got lucky when Alabama cornerback fell to them in the second round last season. The talk during the draft last season was how impactful LSU edge rusher K’Lavon Chaisson would be in Dallas. I was in the minority when I said I would rather have Diggs in round one than Chaisson.

Thankfully Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones got his toy in wideout CeeDee Lamb but I am even more amazed that Diggs fell to the second round. This guy could be the steal of the entire NFL draft. That is a bold statement considering Lamb has the ability to become a top-five wide receiver in the league this season.

Buffalo Bills ‘Threaten’ To Move To Cowboys Country – Austin, Texas? – Mike Fisher, Sports Illustrated

The ‘Boys famed Super Bowl opponent of the 90s is using a move as leverage.

“An ownership source tells me that Austin is a possible destination – or threat – as one of the ‘other cities elsewhere that desire an NFL franchise and would pay handsomely for it,’” ESPN’s Seth Wickersham’s reports.

How legitimate is that Buffalo Bills possibility? Dubious, for a number of reasons – one of which includes Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.

NFL owners are “territorial.’’ Austin is part of “Cowboys Country,’’ and the power of the Jones family and the Cowboys – power both in the NFL and in the political world – would likely be used to prevent such an intrusion.

Oh, and the McNair family, owners of the Houston Texans, surely takes the same position.

A Week into Dallas Cowboys Training Camp and Questions Still Persist – John Williams, Inside the Star

The questions are there, and they are plentiful.

The numbers at cornerback and linebacker have helped raise the competition level for both positions. With both veteran and youthful talent at both positions, the Cowboys seem to be in good shape to find a good rotation at those positions, but how the snaps are divided will be a big question.

The week-to-week matchup may determine how Dan Quinn deploys his linebacker group. Leighton Vander Esch, Jaylon Smith, and Micah Parsons have been getting good reviews from training camp. Throw in Keanu, Neal, and the Cowboys have four linebackers that will allow them to use in specific situations. Given the injury history of three of the primary players at the position, it might be a good idea to figure out a rotation that keeps them healthy for the new 17-game schedule.

In the secondary, despite the numbers, the Cowboys added two defensive backs in the last week. Safety Malik Hooker and Cornerback Kyron Brown.

Impressions from Dallas Cowboys training camp practice #7 in Oxnard – Tom Ryle, Blogging the Boys

Ryle’s own interpretation of some of the happenings down in Oxnard.

Tyron Smith saw limited action but was not held out the entire practice as was expected. And the most impressive moment of the session, at least for my easily impressed self, was when he, Zack Martin, and La’el Collins came striding across the field at the beginning of practice. Have you ever seen someone come in and just own a room? That was exactly how they took the field. It was a real “We have arrived, you lesser mortals just carry about your business” moment.

Still, the most consistently impressive player continues to be Randy Gregory. During situational work, I lost track of how many times he would have gotten a sack or broken up the pass if he had not been holding up to protect the quarterbacks. He is not unstoppable – just really, really hard to handle.

That is sort of known at this point. What is a little less apparent is that Neville Gallimore may be the second-most impressive lineman. He was doing a lot of penetration on both passing and running plays. It is good.

To take it a step further, the defensive line may be my favorite unit on the team after one day. Along with Gregory and Gallimore, Dorance Armstrong and Quinton Bohanna had some nice plays.

That stuff is harder to see. What gets the average fan in the stands juiced is something like the ongoing back and forth battle between CeeDee Lamb and Trevon Diggs. Both had their moments, and it did look to my untrained eye that Diggs was covering a bit too close. The refs on the field apparently agreed, throwing a flag or two his way. But this is a great thing to see as the two are strengthening each other.

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