When the Dallas Cowboys finally return to the field for Monday Night Football against the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 11, it will have only been 2 weeks since they last played a game. That’s a normal break with a bye.
For a lot of reasons, it seems like it’s been much longer.
Since the Cowboys last played in a Monday Night Football loss to the Arizona Cardinals on November 3, they’ve not only endured a horrific tragedy with the suicide of edge rusher Marshawn Kneeland on November 6 but they’ve also had to figure out how to field a team many won’t recognize when they take the field in Las Vegas.
What that means is a defense that could see 4 new starters against the Raiders with a pair of stars obtained in trades; defensive tackle Quinnen Williams and inside linebacker Logan Wilson. There’s also a player coming back off injury in standout inside linebacker DeMarvion Overshown and one heralded rookie making his NFL debut in cornerback Shavon Revel.
“Wait … why am I actually excited to watch the Dallas Cowboys defense?” Sleeper Cowboys wrote on its official X account on November 15. “REINFORCEMENTS HAVE ARRIVED.”
Revel Could Be Biggest Unknown for Cowboys
The Cowboys know what they’re getting in Williams and Wilson. Overshown, if he’s really healthy, has shown he can be elite. The true unknown would be Revel.
Revel, 6-foot-2 and 194 pounds, was a projected first round pick at East Carolina before he tore his ACL just 6 games into the season. That injury sent Revel’s draft stock plummeting, and he fell to the Cowboys in the third round (No. 76 overall).
That could be a telling move for Revel and the Cowboys, who have drafted 2 All-Pro cornerbacks in the last 5 years with second rounder Trevon Diggs in the second round in 2020 and DaRon Bland in the fifth round in 2022.
With Diggs out indefinitely with a variety of injuries and Revel slow to recover from his ACL, the Cowboys and their 31st ranked defense are in desperate need of help in the secondary. Revel could be the answer.
“Revel fell in the draft for injury concerns,” ESPN’s Ben Solak wrote in July. “But before his 2024 season was cut short by an ACL tear, Revel was a dominant small-school corner with 16 pass breakups and three interceptions over 15 games.”
Williams One of NFL’s Dominant Run Stuffers
The biggest immediate impact for the Cowboys should come from Williams, an NFL All-Pro and 3-time Pro Bowler who is one of the dominant run stuffing interior defensive linemen in the entire league.
The Cowboys got Williams from the New York Jets in exchange for a 2026 second round pick, 2027 first round pick and defensive tackle Mazi Smith, a 2023 first round pick.
“Blockbuster: The Cowboys are trading for Jets Pro Bowl DT Quinnen Williams, sending a first-round pick and more to NYJ, per The Insiders,” NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport wrote on his official X account on November 4. “New home for one of the NFL’s best to team that values interior DLs, as NYJ builds for the future.”
