Cowboys players on the brink need a big final preseason game ✭ Inside The Star
We have finally reached the final week of the preseason and can hopefully look forward to the signing of CeeDee Lamb and the first game of the year against the Cleveland Browns.
The Dallas Cowboys will play at home for the first time this preseason when they host the Los Angeles Chargers. They rebounded well last week, dispatching the Las Vegas Raiders. Now, with one final game before the regular season, several players are on the fence.
With a solid performance this Saturday, some of them could secure one of the last spots in the squad.
Jalen Moreno Cropper
It’s no surprise that the Cowboys are missing a strong wide receiver without CeeDee Lamb, but one of them still needs a big day on Saturday.
Jalen Cropper didn’t have his best game last week.
Cropper dropped the ball while attempting to return a punt. In a game as close as that one, such mistakes can be costly, even in the preseason. The loss of the ball led to a Raiders field goal that gave them a 6-3 lead.
Jalen Cropper with a nice route and a good catch after a throw by Dak Prescott #DallasCowboys pic.twitter.com/AQCYnhei49
— Nick Harris (@NickHarrisDC) 20 August 2024
Cropper has already overcome adversity. He was an undrafted free agent coming into the team a season ago, but now with the likes of Ryan Flournoy and Tryon Bill-Johnson, Cropper doesn’t have much room for error.
I expect to see a lot of Cropper and Trey Lance again on Saturday. Let’s see if he can show the coaching staff enough to earn a spot on the roster.
Kemon Hall
Kemon Hall is an interesting player. He was claimed off waivers by the 49ers in late July and had given the Cowboys no reason to keep him on the final 53-man roster until Sunday.
Hall made two impressive plays in the flat in the second quarter and then read Aidan O’Connell’s pass well at the start of the fourth quarter and turned it into a pick-six.
In my opinion, he has now played his way from outside the bubble into the bubble.
Kemon Hall was perfect here. 🔥
I also want to point out how Durrell Johnson and Al-Quadin Muhammad broke up the edges to force this throw – with AQM then sticking his arm in O’Connell’s screen.
The pressure caused the pipe to burst. #Cowboys https://t.co/FXTSMGUxjS pic.twitter.com/vYrgb73Lrk
— Patrik (No C) Walker (@VoiceOfTheStar) 18 August 2024
Stephon Gilmore signed with the Vikings earlier this week for a whopping $10 million, so any hope of him coming to an amicable agreement to return is gone.
The cornerback squad is the best on the team, but depth never hurts.
They will need depth at the cornerback position, it’s just a question of who they keep. Hall has given himself a chance after last week.
Viliami Fehoko
Honestly, I’m not even sure if a five-sack performance could prevent Viliami Fehoko from moving to the practice squad.
Viliami Fehoko does not have a pass rush bag. #Cowboys
– Tony Catalina (@Tony_Catalina) 18 August 2024
Rookie Marshawn Kneeland has been really strong this preseason and with Dallas just signing Carl Lawson to go the extra mile, Fehoko is running out of chances to make the roster.
He probably had better chances before Lawson was signed, but now things aren’t looking so good.
The Cowboys will probably cut some names not on this list and reserve them for the practice squad, but that’s the way it is.
Saturday afternoon is a big day not only for these three names, but also for the handful of other players on the bubble list.
It could either go very well or very badly and if I had to guess right now, I would say that out of these three, Hall is probably the only player to make the roster.
I don’t think Cropper and Fehoko were ever good enough to secure a place in the squad.
