2014 Dallas Cowboys 53-man Roster Projection (Pre-Training Camp)

Training camp kicks off next week, with the team scheduled to travel to Oxnard on Tuesday. Since the end of OTAs and mandatory minicamp, one of the many, many things the Cowboys coaches have been doing is watching film from those training sessions and reviewing their practice notes from last week, all with an eye towards slotting their players into some kind of a depth chart; who will run with the first team, who will run with the second team and who is relegated to the third team during practice.

So we're going to do a similar exercise today and take a look at what the Cowboys' final 53-man roster could look like, based on nothing more than our (mostly second-hand) impressions of the offseason activities so far. To do that, we're going to look at six separate projections. One from Jon Machota of the Dallas Morning News, who published his ranking of the 53-man roster earlier this month, one from Todd Archer published on Friday by ESPN Dallas, and four projections from the writers here at BTB.

But before we look at the projections, here's what the opening-day rosters of the previous years looked like as documented in the NFL game books.

With those numbers in mind, I've combined all six projections in the table below. The table highlights (in yellow) the spots that do not yet appear to be locked down, and where there is still competition for a roster spot. Look closely and you'll see that there aren't many of those spots left, if these six projections are anything to go by.

As we saw last week when we looked at the Top Five Pitfalls Of Early 53-man Roster Projections, these early roster projections may feel like they have a certain degree of certitude and finality, but they don't, not really. Players are bound to rise and fall as we progress through training camp, and there may yet be some surprise cuts and late additions that nobody saw coming. With that in mind, here a few thoughts on some of the positions that may still some movement.

Quarterbacks: The Cowboys may still choose to have a developmental guy on the roster, but right now it looks like that guy will be doing his developing on the practice squad. For now, it's just Romo and Weeden.

Running backs: Four backs may seem like a luxury, but the Cowboys may go down that route this year even though they've gone with three backs in most of the previous years. The battle here is likely going to be between Joseph Randle and Ryan Williams for the third spot on the depth chart.

Wide receiver: Do they keep a sixth guy? The consensus doesn't seem to think so.

Fullback: Will they or won't they?

Tight ends: In all likelihood the Cowboys will either have a fourth tight end or a fullback, but probably not both. If the Cowboys go with a fourth tight end, there's a good chance that player is not on the roster yet.

Offensive line: Three first-round picks and a strong group of NFL veterans means this unit will be a core strength of the team and has even prompted some analysts to proclaim this the Best O-Line in the League. Is the line strong enough to go a little shorter here than in previous years?

Defensive Line: After the top six guys, the projections here get very murky. If you're an optimist, you take this as a sign of depth on the team, and that the Cowboys are spoilt for choice on the defensive line. If you're a pessimist you take this as confirmation that the league's worst defense in 2013 won't noticeably improve, and as another sign of Jerr's incompetence. One thing that's undisputed: Outside of Jeremy Mincey, Nick Hayden, and Amobi Okoye, all players listed above have four years or less of NFL experience - if nothing else, they'll have youth on their side.

Linebacker: Along with the D-line, this may be the most hotly contested unit. There is no real clarity at the MLB spot, and the backup spots are all up for grabs.

Cornerbacks: The battle here looks to be for the fourth and possibly fifth spots, but there are also three guys competing for the two starting corner spots. This could become a very interesting competition.

Safety: Church and Wilcox look set for now as the starters, but if everybody stays healthy, we could see some hard-fought battles for the backup spots.

Agree, disagree? Have at it in the comments.