The Dallas Cowboys will kick off mandatory minicamp on Tuesday. Here's a look at five starting battles and some backup competition to keep an eye on.
on June 16 and the event will run through June 20. This is the first time this offseason in which all players are required to be in building.
While competitions don't really kick off in earnest until the pads come at in training camp, minicamp offers another chance for players to continue building their cases for starting jobs and roster spots. Here's a look at five starting competitions and some key backup battles we'll be keeping an eye on over the course of the week.
Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer said Guyton has struggled over his first two seasons in the NFL, so it only makes sense to challenge him in 2026. Even with his issues, Guyton should beat out Thomas, who has failed to show he's a starting-caliber player over two years. , the Cowboys gave three players looks with the first-team defense at OTAs in Shavon Revel, Cobie Durant and Caelen Carson.
We know Bland is locked into one boundary spot, so Revel, Carson and Durant are battling it out for the job opposite him. We're also interested to see who finishes second in the competition since that'll determine who the first man off the bench is. We'll also be keeping an eye on the slot, where Durant and rookie Caleb Downs both saw reps with the ones at OTAs.
We know Downs and the Cowboys' big-ticket free-agent signing Jalen Thompson are going to see work at safety this season, but who is going to play next to Thompson when Downs is in the slot? Dallas Cowboys linebacker DeMarvion Overshown. | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images DeMarvion Overshown and Dee Winters are the clear favorites to be the starters, but Shemar James and Jaishawn Barham saw some first-team reps at OTAs, also, which keeps them in the running.
Along with keeping an eye on the pecking order at this spot, we are also interested in seeing if the list of playersin 2026, but with Ezeriuaku sidelined until training camp due to his offseason hip surgery, Malachi Lawrence has a chance to close the gap on him. Lawrence's offseason has been pretty quiet thus far, but he did notch a sack in practice last week to finish off OTAs strong.
He's going to have to keep that up if he wants to unseat Ezeriuaku as the primary EDGE across from Gary.this offseason, but there hasn't been an indication one is ahead of the other. That could change if one receives more second-team reps than the other at minicamp.. An undrafted rookie, Trigg is an athletic freak whose playmaking ability could earn him an upset over Schoonmaker. If that happens, Schoonmaker might be playing elsewhere in 2026.
Mike Moraitis is a freelance writer who has covered the NFL for major outlets such as Sports Illustrated and The Sporting News. He has previously written for USA TODAY Sports Media Group and FanSided, and got his start in sports media at Bleacher Report.
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