Dallas Cowboys Camp: Depth Chart and Roster Spots
By Reid Hanson
Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports
Quarterback (3)
The big question here is not the order of the depth chart, but whether or not the Dallas Cowboys will keep two or three quarterbacks. Camp started very poorly for #3 Quarterback, Dustin Vaughan. It was so bad, many expected him to miss the cut and push the Cowboys into only keeping two quarterbacks this 2015 season.
After a strong preseason performance against the San Diego Chargers, Vaughan pushed himself right back into consideration. Vaughan was able to keep his eyes downfield and deliver the ball under duress on multiple occasions.
Dustin Vaughan was fairly accurate and well-timed in his delivery. He wasn’t thrown many complex coverage, and he didn’t read through many progressions, but he showed he could check down and make a play in the face of pressure.
Brandon Weeden has the backup quarterback spot locked down (as sad as that seems), but he did offer some evidence that he could be serviceable in his role, should he need to fill in for a short period of time this season. Weeden was accurate and quick with his delivery.
Weeden’s weakness remains intact as well. He rarely looks to the left side of the field and telegraphs his intent all too often. After the Cardinals loss last season, I had this observation:
"“When facing no pressure, Weeden collected 159 of his yards, threw 2 interceptions, and earned a 38.1 QBR. It’s extremely noteworthy to point out, Weeden didn’t even look to the left side of the field. Weeden only threw to the left, twice all game. This is a sign that, even when he had time in the pocket, he wasn’t looking through progressions, and was fixating on one or two targets. College QBs can’t even get away with that.”"
That weakness didn’t change on Thursday when on two plays, receivers ran wide open on Weeden’s port side, and he never bothered to look over. Weeden has clearly hit his ceiling, and that’s as a sparingly used backup.
Next: Running Backs: Gus the Bus has a chance