There is only so much you take away from the first week of training camp. These practices are mostly for install and getting everyone on the same page.
The Dallas Cowboys won’t throw the pads on until next week.
That will allow for a more legitimate evaluation of player performance, but sometimes a player sticks out so much that it is worth getting excited about. That is the case with second-year defensive end Marshawn Kneeland, who is off to a roaring start in Oxnard.
It was Kneeland who came away with the first interception of camp. He dropped into coverage in the flat and capitalized when Dak Prescott mistakenly tried to check down to Miles Sanders.
He even showed some return chops, making multiple defenders miss before he was taken down (h/t to Nick Harris of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram for the video).
Cowboys DE Marshawn Kneeland already making waves in training camp
That is one way to get the coaching staff’s attention, but Kneeland wasn’t done.
Later in practice, he breezed past left tackle Tyler Guyton for a would-be sack.
Defenders are not allowed to hit quarterbacks in camp so Kneeland had to pull up. Regardless, two splash plays in a largely laid back practice is a dream start for the 2024 second-round pick.
Kneeland making a leap in year two would be massive for a Cowboys defense that could not stay healthy last season, Kneeland included. He suffered a partially-torn lateral meniscus in Week 5 that required surgery and he did not return until mid-November. He missed six games in total.
While Kneeland showed some flashes when he was on the field, the injury really threw a wrench into his debut season. He recorded 11 pressures, four quarterback hits and failed to notch a sack in 112 pass-rush snaps, per PFF. He added six defensive stops and a pass defended.
The Cowboys added more reinforcements to their DE room this offseason, using a second-round pick on Boston College star Donovan Ezeiruaku and bringing back Dante Fowler in free agency.
He’ll also have to fend of former second-round pick Sam Williams, who is hungry to perform after a torn ACL suffered in camp last summer wiped out his 2024 season.
Kneeland has become a dark horse. If his start to training camp is a sign of things to come, he will shed that label before long.
