Cowboys training camp: 3 questions we hope to have answered after practice number 3

The Dallas Cowboys were off Friday but are officially back in action on Saturday. As if the football practice itself were not enough, the Cowboys are also holding opening ceremonies out in Oxnard, CA on Saturday to commemorate yet another training camp on the west coast.

As fun as all of that is our primary concern obviously is the football that is happening. We may “only” be two practices into camp but certain things are starting to pop and catch our attention.

In case you were unaware, prior to every Cowboys practice we’re posing a few questions that we hope the practice session will answer.

Before we get to today’s questions let’s re-visit the ones we had before Thursday.

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What does the non-Tony Pollard running back work look like?

After a few months of being on ice the Deuce Vaughn hype train took off again on Thursday afternoon. Can you blame everybody, though? This is so much fun to watch.

While it is still difficult to discern exactly which backup running backs are being prioritized over others it seems clear that, as expected, Vaughn is going to be given opportunities at the RB2 role.

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Just how much leadership are we seeing from the tenured veterans?

On Friday afternoon I was fortunate to be able to sit down with DeMarcus Ware to talk about a variety of things (obviously his upcoming HOF enshrinement was a big talking point) and near the end of our conversation he gave praise to the highly-focused level of leadership that he has seen from the Cowboys this year.

This obviously was not something that took place on the Cowboys practice field, but it speaks to the overall culture that we are getting glimpses of. The Cowboys have a nucleus of players who want to do and taste more than they have up to this point in their careers.

Consider what Micah Parsons had to say on this front.

Hope you packed your swimming suits.

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Will the vibes of positivity continue to swirl?

Unfortunately Thursday saw some updates from Mike McCarthy that noted both Donovan Wilson and Israel Mukuamu will be out multiple weeks. McCarthy also mentioned that the team does not have a timeline for rookie tight end Luke Schoonmaker to get on the field.

In a vacuum these things are very disappointing. But while we may only be a couple (literally) of practices in for the Cowboys it does not seem like any wind is being taken out of their sails. That is good to see.

Now let’s get to our questions ahead of practice number 3.

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Can Will Grier seriously challenge for QB2?

Cooper Rush obviously stole our hearts last year as far as Cowboys backup quarterbacks are concerned, but do we feel that the QB2 job is 100% his right now? Even despite getting a new contract from the team this offseason?

Perhaps this just works itself out by the Cowboys carrying three signal-callers, but Will Grier seems prepared to at least make this a conversation again.

We will see.

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Are we ready to believe (again) in Jalen Tolbert?

Nobody needs to go through the Jalen Tolbert story again, but forgive me if you saw this coming, he is sort of on fire early on throughout camp.

We have all been burned before (literally with Tolbert just a year ago) so we are skeptical to go all-in, but right now Tolbert is looking like he is prepared to justify some of the hype tht he had a season ago.

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Is Jalen Moreno-Cropper going to make the roster?

Death, taxes and falling in love with an undrafted free agent Dallas Cowboys wide receiver.

As predictable as this sounds, are we not starting to believe that Moreno-Cropper has a very real chance to make the team’s 53-man roster? He is checking all of the boxes that those who have come before him have done along this path.

We are still very early, but maybe start taking a look at the price on a custom Jalen Moreno-Cropper jersey.