Depth is a concern in a few areas for the team. However, the Cowboys may have landed a diamond in the rough with the free agency addition of linebacker James Houston.

He has looked awesome through the first two weeks of preseason and is going to make it hard to overlook him for a roster spot.

Houston finished the second preseason game against the Baltimore Ravens two tackles, but did more than what the stat sheet will show.

This is a guy that, when he signed nearly a month ago, I thought would be a cut after they started trimming the roster down, but now? Heck, he may have a chance to start!

The former sixth-round pick of the Detroit Lions has been attempting to get back to his rookie self. In his rookie season back in 2022, Houston had 8 sacks for the Lions in just seven games.

Injuries put what could have been a potential Pro Bowl talent on the sidelines for the majority of his time in Detroit. With how weak the pass rush will likely be for Dallas, Houston could play a big role.

On Monday, the Cowboys have signed veteran Michael Ojemudia, who has played for three NFL teams but also had a standout season in the UFL.

Ojemudia, a third-round pick of the Broncos in 2020, has 13 career starts in his career, but hasn’t played a regular-season game in the league since 2022, when he played in one game with the Bears. That season, Chicago’s head coach was Matt Eberfllus, who is now the Cowboys’ defensive coordinator.

Ojemudia also spent the 2023 season on the Rams practice squad and was with the Cardinals in the 2024 offseason and preseason.

To make room on the roster, the Cowboys placed cornerback Bruce Harmon on the waived/injured list. Harmon was injured in the middle of Saturday’s game with the Ravens and did not return.

For this week’s preseason finale against the Falcons, the Cowboys are running thin at cornerback once again. With veterans DaRon Bland and Kaiir Elam not expected to play, plus Caelen Carson still out with a knee injury, that leaves players such as Andrew Booth, Troy Pride, Kemon Hall, Zion Childress and Israel Mukuamu to man the position.

Stock Down: QB Joe Milton

This one was obvious. Milton looked downright wretched, completing just two passes in the first half and finishing 9-18 with 122 yards and one interception. Milton’s incredibly strong arm remains his only quality trait as a quarterback, as his extended action is proving.

Stock Down: RB Miles Sanders

Sanders had a golden opportunity to prove he is worthy of pushing Javonte Williams for reps as the starting running back, and he responded by carrying the ball seven times for 15 yards, with no run going longer than seven yards. Even the RB2 job is far from guaranteed.

”I thought we could run the ball a little bit better. Give [the Ravens’ defense] some credit. You know, they did a nice job,” Schottenheimer said.

Dallas averaged only 2.6 yards per carry, a sharp drop from the 148 rushing yards the team posted in its preseason opener against the Rams. Veteran running back Miles Sanders led the team with 15 yards on seven carries. His night included a five-yard loss on the opening drive and a fourth-and-one run in the second quarter that was stopped for no gain.

Schottenheimer pointed to that failed fourth down as an example of where execution broke down. The play was designed as an inside zone run that should have cut back behind the interior blocks, but penetration from the Ravens’ front disrupted the timing and ended the drive.

Beyond missed assignments, penalties also factored into the struggles. “I felt like we kind of shot ourselves in the foot with penalties when we would get some momentum and so we’ve got to be cleaner,” Schottenheimer said.

RAVENS AT COWBOYS

Tyler Booker Grade B+

Alabama · OG

Booker was solid despite facing a strong Ravens defensive line on Saturday night. He was shed by veteran Brent Urban on the first run play and did not generate significant movement on some others, but he did create creases for his backs with his strong upper body and powerful legs. Booker’s mobility to reach linebackers and pull across the formation is impressive, given his size (6-foot-4, 321 pounds). He was a wall in pass pro and showed a bit of nastiness taking a blitzer to the ground on the first series (though another blitzer got a safety on the play) and keeping a defensive tackle on the turf during a third-down play in the third quarter.

In the two and a half weeks since Parsons declared that he no longer wanted to play for the Cowboys, there has been a lot of discussion, pontification and confusion from everybody involved. Based on reports in the window in question, one thing there hasn’t been is any discussion between Parsons’ agent and the Cowboys front office.

On the subject of reports, Adam Schefter offered another of sorts on Monday morning on ESPN. During the conversation on Get Up the panelists were discussing the Parsons situation and Dan Orlovsky expressed frustration in having to talk about the matter. Orlovsky suggested that the Cowboys will get this done right before the opener (in an attempt to steal attention away from the Eagles as they get set to raise their Super Bowl banner).

Mike Greenberg suggested that while the Cowboys have a history of being performative that this one “feels different.” As he was saying that Schefter jumped in and noted that it is different and that he is not exactly confident a deal is going to get done before the season kicks off.

The verbiage that Schefter reinforced last week was that there is “no deal in sight” between Parsons and the Cowboys, where on Monday he made it a point to go as far as suggesting there is “no reason to think” that a deal gets done. There isn’t exactly a huge leap between those things, but we are just trying to distinguish what was said and when it was offered.

Ultimately, the fact that things are where they are with this story remain frustrating for just about everyone.