Preseason Over; What We Now Know

The Cowboys wrapped up the preseason at home against the Denver Broncos and for the most part we came out of the game without any substantial injuries. The Cowboys will now take in everything they have seen over the offseason, training camp, preseason and will now construct their 53-man roster.

Here’s what we know:

— Davon Coleman has passion for this game and for the Cowboys, he’s hungry for a spot on the roster. He cemented his roster spot. The guy has a motor and is disruptive. I am very impressed with his play and he was a nice find after the draft ended back in May. Put that star on your helmet Davon, you earned it.

— Question marks remain in the secondary and we’ll see some moves in this area before we get to Sept. 7. Outside of Brandon Carr, we are not sure who is going to start opposite Carr against the 49ers. It’ll probably be Claiborne, but do you really want to see him out there with all that rust and average play? We may have no choice. No one really took advantage of their time. Tyler Patmon should be in position to contribute, but we’ll see.

— It’s quite possible the Cowboys will keep four running backs. Murray, Dunbar, Randle, and Williams all sat out against the Broncos. For Williams, this could suggest he showed enough to make the team, or it could be that he showed enough to make another team and the Cowboys didn’t want to risk injuring him and his chances of landing elsewhere. I’d like to see him in Dallas. Clutts didn’t get much action, we’ll see.

— Our reserve offensive lineman are bad, and as a result, we are lacking quality behind our starters. Mackenzy Bernadeau will end up being the only good reserve guy as our swing guard / center. The tackles are bad. I’m really not impressed with anyone we have as a backup right now. Hopefully, the Cowboys can land a player as an upgrade.

— It’s going to be close for Terrance Mitchell, he makes a lot of bad penalties, but this should be something he can get coached up on and his physical play is an attribute the Cowboys like. We know soon enough.

— Is it me or did Jamar Newsome play better than Devin Street this preseason? This will be interesting to see where Newsome ends up, he has some potential. I’d like to keep him in Dallas as well.

— Ken Bishop looks to be another late round steal for us. He took advantage of all the playing time, plus he’s improving and pretty active, his career in Dallas looks promising. If I had to choose between him and Hayden, I’d take Bishop.

— What’s the deal with Terrell McClain? He’s been nursing a high ankle, and I wonder if he’ll be effective once the season starts. We aren’t even sure he’ll be available for week 1.

— Starting linebackers for the 49ers game remains a mystery and I wonder if once the game comes around if we don’t see a linebacker by committee approach here because that’s what it has been all camp and preseason. We have no idea who is starting and at what position.

— Dustin Vaughan looked average tonight, and mainly because it was open season on sacking him with our horrid offensive line. Could this be enough to keep him on our practice squad?

— Special Teams coverage is still very shaky and will be concern if that unit keeps playing so poor. Bad field position against our defense will not be good at all.

— Your starting offensive lineman for 49ers: Smith, Leary, Frederick, Martin, Free

Final cuts are due Saturday, but the Cowboys could begin dropping players at any minute. They know what they have and where they need to try to get better.