Cowboys Hall of Fame Game Review: Standouts, notes, and observations

The new season for the Dallas Cowboys began last night as they took on the Arizona Cardinals in the annual Hall of Fame Game. Here are the game’s notes, standouts, and observations…

The offensive and defensive lines played poorly on Thursday night. Granted, most of the starters were out, but Dallas prides themselves on their depth and rotation. The good news is the players they needed to play well, did play well. Jonathan Cooper looked good as did La’el Collins, who was protecting the left-handed Moore’s blindside.

Damontre Moore, as expected, occasionally lined up in a two-point stance from the right defensive end spot. He has considerably better burst standing up and is a much different player when he keeps opposing linemen from locking him up. When he lets linemen get their hands on him, he’s effectively neutralized so his hand technique and explosion are critical in his impact.

Rico Gathers is a somewhat polarizing individual these days. Despite extremely limited experience, fans are jumping out of their skin to sing praises of his potential. That potential flashed on the Cowboys first score when he caught a 26-yard pass from Kellen Moore for six. The play that was more impressive than the TD happened later when scooped up a low ball in the flat, fell to the ground, and got back to his feet to break a tackle en route to a first down. Big men aren’t supposed to be able to do that.

With players like

Geoff Swaim

and

James Hanna

on the roster, it’s unlikely Gathers will ever be able to pass them as blockers. It’ll be the passing game where Rico will make his mark. With that said, Gathers needs to get better as a blocker. Some of his efforts were embarrassing.

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Damien Wilson gave us a glimpse of what he could offer the Cowboys defense this season. Talk of his development this offseason was rampant, at least until he ran into legal issues. As a SAM, he has amazing sideline-to-sideline speed, coverage ability, and game-changing pass-rushing skills.

We are all so eager to put Alfred Morris out to pasture but the man has a undeniable feel for running the rock. He’s slow and a bit too one-dimensional but the guy knows how to navigate the field in a zone blocking scheme. I still don’t see him being on the 53-man roster at the end of the season but it’s going to be hard to keep him off the first few weeks.

I stand by Rod Smith making this team as well. Rod has been a beast in Cowboys Camp and looked great on Thursday. He looks like a good option as a blocker, runner, and goal line ball carrier.

The performance of the secondary was concerning. The revamped unit played starters and potential starters on Thursday, yet they were carved up early. Without consulting the All-22 film it’s difficult to pinpoint the assignments and subsequently determine who’s is to blame and how. But it appears there’s blame to go around in the secondary and motivation for returning to camp should be shared by all as they hope to improve.

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Andy Jones and Brice Butler looked excellent. Both ran good routes and presented good targets. Most importantly, both had sure hands. Noah Brown is light years behind these two in the race for a roster spot.

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