What We Want to See Against Chargers

As fans, we have now reached a milestone — live action football is in the air. Tonight the Cowboys play the San Diego Chargers, and it’ll be the first time we get to see the players on a stadium field since January.

Tonight’s game will be televised locally and nationally through NFL Network after the 7:30pm game completes, which means if you are not watching this game locally then you’ll likely miss a chunk of the 1st quarter.

Once the game begins, here are a few things I want to see:

Defense

This is what bit the Cowboys in the ass last year, in particular in the post season. The Cowboys could not get home against a gimpy Aaron Rodgers, and the week before, the Lions put up points in AT&T.  With a full year under Rod Marinelli’s direct guidance as DC, this defense should show signs of turning the corner more than ever.

What I want to see is more pass rush from the new guys like Greg Hardy, Randy Gregory, and Ryan Russell. Obviously, the Cowboys won’t show the full gamut of plays until the regular season, but we should see the foundation in place tonight and moving forward. Don’t forget about Tank Lawrence, he finished the strong and has been solid in training camp, I want to see him disrupt from the get-go.

I’ll also be interested in seeing where Byron Jones lines up tonight, and Tyler Patmon. We know what we have in Orlando Scandrick and Morris Claiborne. Corey White is another guy to check out. Will he get time at the nickel or maybe even at safety?

The linebackers are somewhat revamped due to free agency attrition, so where will we see Hitchens play, and Jasper Brinkley. Can Damien Wilson be this year’s Hitchens and crack into the starting lineup. I’ll be watching all of this closely.

Offensive Line

Ronald Leary looks deeply entrenched as the right guard, but I wonder how many snaps we’ll see from La’el Collins tonight and how well will he play? The other spot that should be concerning is the swing tackle play, this is probably Darrion Weems slot to lose, but if he plays poor, the Cowboys could be looking elsewhere until Green gets healthy. Watch Weems tonight.

Return Game

I’ve been on the Lucky Whitehead train since all the draft discussion with Bryan Broaddus. He hit that acquisition on the head, and Whitehead has been making some plays in training camp. Will we see Beasley return kicks? I’d rather not see him back there, as he was Romo’s 1st down churning machine last year and I expect him to take his game to another level, but we’ll see what the Cowboys do here tonight.

Undrafted Players

It happens every year, we see guys getting kudos through training camp, but once the lights turn on during the preseason some of these guys disappear. It’ll be up to the players to keep their momentum going by playing lights out. Whitehead and Greenberry are two guys I have liked through camp.

Gus Johnson will likely carry the load early on with the running back corps beat up at the moment. You never know if you’re going to need to elevate a guy from the practice squad, and that’s where Johnson could end up, but with some injury prone backs above him, he could very well get the call-up. I want to see hard running and ball security, plus pass blocking. Let’s go!

Dustin Vaughan

I really want to see Vaughan take his game to the next level, show some improvement to stick around. Ideally, I’d like to see Vaughan be spectacular enough to overtake Weeden. I’m simply not sold on Weeden at all for any period of time if needed. I want to see Vaughan take control and make smart plays and good passes.

Geoff Swaim

There aren’t many giving any attention to Swaim, but the Cowboys are invested in the player, so it’ll be interesting to see if the Cowboys’ decision to move back into the 7th round pays off. Can Swaim overtake James Hanna who is on his final year? It’ll be some great competition to watch tonight and as we move deeper into the preseason.

Who are looking forward to seeing tonight? What do you want to see from the Cowboys in general?

Let’s go Dallas!