Dallas Cowboys at Seattle Seahawks: 5 thoughts from the day after

Another preseason game has come and gone for the Dallas Cowboys and there is only one left before these things start counting for real. While we’ve spent most of the spring and summer longing for football to return to our lives once more, it did not take long for Saturday night’s game to feel like a tried and true exhibition contest. Perhaps the late start meant we all got out of the gate with no real wind in our sails, the DeMarvion Overshown injury was a huge bummer early on as well, but let’s just say it was hardly sleepless in Seattle.

Despite the lack of fireworks, Saturday night provided an opportunity to assess and evaluate the Cowboys which is why we gather around this digital campfire so often. With a night’s rest to think on some things, here are five thoughts on the game.

Jalen Tolbert is going to be a serious impact player in 2023

It really is amazing that we are in the final days (sort of) of August and that the Jalen Tolbert hype is still holding strong.

Saturday night was another strong showing for Tolbert as he hauled in four catches for 66 yards, including this big-time one where he also had pass interference being committed against him.

What was also impressive with Tolbert was the drop that he had (which was objectively very bad). What I mean is that the drop didn’t inhibit him in any way. He seems well past anything derailing him which is a sign of serious growth.

We all recall last year when he had his mistake in overtime on the road against the Green Bay Packers. All told Tolbert only played in three more games for the team after that (he had one catch for eight yards in that run) and was inactive all of the rest of the time.

It is easy to see tangible growth in Tolbert. He seems physically strong and quick, attributes that are certainly desirable in an NFL wide receiver, but that he is also able to move past little missteps is also a point of serious development.

Through two preseason games Tolbert has six receptions (off of eight targets) for 95 yards and a touchdown. He has arrived. Wrap him up and let’s get to Week 1.

The Deuce Vaughn show was a little lackluster outside of the first run

Everyone in Cowboys Nation is greatly enjoying the Deuce Vaughn experience with the Dallas Cowboys. Everything about what he is and represents is so much fun.

That being said, Saturday night was a little bit misleading in retrospect. Vaughn started off strong with his first touch going 14 yards all the way into the endzone, but that was all for the most part.

Following his score, Vaughn’s runs went for -3, -1, zero and finally 4 yards to bring him to 14 on the night. This is by no means any cause for concern as Vaughn is showing the type of quickness and shiftiness that we know will translate well into the NFL, not to mention the backup offensive line was a bit worrisome to say the least; just some context is all.

Linebacker depth is suddenly a concern again

DeMarvion Overshown’s injury situation is of the season-ending variety, suddenly causing depth issues at linebacker.

In looking at this team’s roster when they landed in California for training camp the overall depth of the linebacker position was a bit of a question that Overshown, and others, have helped answer over the last few weeks. While the stellar play of Damone Clark is certainly a point of promise over the course of the season, the reality is that the prolonged absence from Overshown casts the depth of the position into doubt once more.

The Cowboys have done their best to hold onto their rainy day fund and there are dark clouds in the sky with thunder booming in the distance.

We broke down the entire preseason affair during Saturday night’s edition of The Postgame which can be streamed live on the Blogging The Boys YouTube Channel. Subscribe right here so that you don’t miss any of our live shows or other videos we have coming out!

There might not be a reserve offensive lineman that we feel good about

This is the corner of the house that is already feeling sprinkles. The rain is here and we are not prepared.

The Dallas Cowboys starting offensive line (left to right) in Tyron Smith, Tyler Smith, Tyler Biadasz, Zack Martin (thank goodness he is back) and Terence Steele is a really good group. Cool. But what about, you know, um, after them?

It’s hard to name a lineman outside of the starting five that is even “good”, to use the word above in the subtitle. It is worth mentioning that offensive line depth is an issue across the entire NFL so it’s not like this is a mess that the Cowboys specifically made for themselves, but nevertheless they have to find a way out of it. Beyond not having anyone who is seemingly trustworthy in any capacity, the team also had Matt Waletzko leave the game with a shoulder injury (initial reports are that all seems to be fine). Help is needed. Send it. Literally any help will do at this time.

We didn’t really learn anything about Brandon Aubrey which is not great

This is nobody’s fault other than fate or maybe the butterfly effect of something that happened a long time ago, but Brandon Aubrey did not attempt a single field goal on Saturday night. Lamenting no field goal opportunities is a weird thing to think about but this subject has been a dominant one around here for about a month now.

The Cowboys seem down to trust Aubrey given that, hello, he is the only kicker on the roster and there is a real game happening in just a few weeks. While they obviously have their level of belief it sure would have been nice to see it put the test in a road game but circumstances did not lend themselves to that.

Opportunities are far and few in between in a lot of ways in the NFL, but they were literally non-existent for Aubrey on Saturday night. At least he made both of his extra point attempts, though. All told he is now 4/5 on those through the preseason and successfully made his only field goal attempt which obviously came last week.