In the regular season, most of the energy during the practice week is focused on the opponent.
Mike McCarthy’s coaching staff hasn’t been around long enough to establish a trend in its ability to develop players, but the Cowboys franchise does have some notable development success stories.
With that in mind, we are going to take a look at the most interesting developmental projects in each position group on the Cowboys’ roster.
In addition, he possesses notable quickness and movement fluidity that enabled him to make a play or two himself while at Kentucky.
However, in the NFL, Bohanna is going to need to become much more consistent reading blocks, playing with the proper pad level snap-to-snap and using his hands to control blockers in the trenches if he’s to become the answer for Dallas’ nose tackle woes in recent years.
In addition, Bohanna’s pass-rush ability needs development as well.
On a normal team, Bohanna would likely sit for most of his rookie year to give him time to develop and get accustomed to the NFL.
Still, early playing time or not doesn’t change the fact that Bohanna needs notable development before he can become an impact player.
It’s hard to not root for Francis Bernard, who earned his way onto the Cowboys roster the hard way as an undrafted rookie in 2020.
He’s a good enough and smart enough athlete to pull it off, and the fact that he plays incredibly hard on every snap doesn’t hurt either.
The area that will be the biggest key for Bernard’s future development is refining his ability to properly key and diagnose the offense pre- and post-snap.
While Mukuamu is listed as a safety with the Cowboys, he actually spent most of his time in college at cornerback, though he moved around and played multiple positions depending on matchups.
Mukuamu often did his best work in coverage when he was allowed to press tight ends and bigger possession/slot receivers, as he possessed the size and length to forcefully disrupt them at the line of scrimmage and contest them at the catch point.
While Mukuamu’s ability to contribute on special teams will make or break his ability to earn a spot onto the 53-man roster, his size, tackling ability and coverage ability give him future viability at the strong safety position in Dallas’ defense.