(The picture above is from the website of dallascowboys.com.)Almost none of the starters for the Cowboys played in the Hall of Fame Game last Sunday night, but the Cowboys won the game 24 to 20 anyway. Neither of those two things is important. Pre-season wins or losses mean nothing, and the pre-season is not a place to look at the veteran players. Pre-season is to look at draft choices and acquisitions, and see if they can improve the team as starters or at least add some depth as substitutes. And on that count, I was happy with a lot that I saw in the HOF game.
There were several players who did very well. The offensive line is one place where the Cowboys definitely needed some improvement, and it looks like there are a couple of players ready to do that. One was the Cowboys first choice in this last NFL draft -- center Travis Frederick. In only his first NFL game, Frederick showed he may be a good upgrade at the center position. Ronald Leary, who spent last year on the practice squad, also looked like he may well be ready to step up and take a starting position at guard.
Another group of players that did well was the running backs. Lance Dunbar, Phillip Tanner, and Joseph Randle all ran very well -- and showed they are capable of providing some help if starter Demarco Murray goes down with an injury this season. That's good. Last season, when Murray got injured the running game just disappeared (although the offensive line has to take much of the blame for that).
And some defensive players stepped up too. George Selvie, who was signed after the start of camp, wound up with two sacks and several hurries from his spot at defensive end. He won't start, since those positions belong to Demarcus Ware and Anthony Spencer, but it's nice to know we may have some depth at that position. Devonte Holloman looked good on special teams and at linebacker -- intercepting a pass and running it back 75 yards for a touchdown. He could also be a solid back-up for the starting linebackers. And Jeris Pendleton played well at defensive tackle.
The one area I'm still a little nervous about is the safety positions. The back-ups, all young and inexperienced, showed they still have some learning to do. But there are still four more pre-season games, and maybe a couple of them will come forward and prove themselves.
It still feels good that football is back though. And it was nice to see Cowboys guard Larry Allen take his rightful place in the NFL Hall of Fame.
