Cowboys' 53-man roster stock watch: CBs Kemon Hall and Andrew Booth shine vs. Raiders
After failing to score a touchdown in their first preseason game, the Cowboys managed to score touchdowns on both sides of the ball, and got a record-tying field goal from Brandon Aubrey, along the way to a 27-12 victory over the Raiders.
Let’s take a look at the guys who helped and hurt their case to make the roster on Saturday night:
STOCK UP
CB Andrew Booth - The Raiders took advantage of Booth in coverage on a deep ball early in this game, but he recovered nicely the rest of the way, showing disciplined coverage and a willingness to tackle that hadn’t shown up on his tape in Minnesota.
RB Deuce Vaughn - Vaughn’s calling card is his agility and shiftiness, but he showed good toughness and contact balance running the ball inside, and churning his legs to pick up extra yardage. Vaughn’s ability to pick up yards after first contact and avoid injury as an undersized back are two of the big questions facing him. Vaughn’s tape from Saturday was a positive counter to those questions.
CB Kemon Hall - Hall was claimed off waivers from the 49ers at the end of July, and hadn’t made much noise in regards to making the 53 man roster, but Hall showed up in a big way against the Raiders. He made two impressive plays in the flat in the 2nd quarter, and then had a beautiful read of an Aidan O’Connell pass at the start of the fourth that he turned into a pick-six.
DT Albert Huggins - It’s been a bad week for Albert Huggins, from a poor performance against the Rams in last Sunday’s game, to being kicked out of practice by coaches for shoving a Rams intern at last week’s joint practice. Huggins bounced back from his subpar showing in the first preseason game and flashed some ability to disrupt the pocket, and even got his hands up to bat down a 3rd down pass in the 4th quarter.
STOCK DOWN
WR Jalen Cropper - Cropper was a stock up guy last week, and has practiced really well the last two weeks, but Cropper needs to make plays consistently in these games in order to make the 53. That didn’t happen on Saturday, and he had a bad unforced fumble on a punt return.
OT Matt Waletzko - Waletzko deserves a small pass, given he was going up against Maxx Crosby for a lot of his reps, but he has to provide even minimal resistance in those situations in order to show he can be a competent reserve tackle for this team. Waletzko looked completely lost in pass protection, but did provide some decent blocking in the run game after Crosby left.
DL Junior Fehoko - Fehoko was hurt during his rookie campaign last year, but there’s a lot of pressure for Fehoko to perform and justify his roster spot as a fourth round pick. Fehoko was largely invisible against the Raiders, and looked to lack creativity in his pass rush plan.
TE Brevyn Spann-Ford - The tight end room is incredibly crowded right now, which already makes it unlikely that Spann-Ford will secure a spot, but Saturday night’s game certainly didn’t help his cause. Spann-Ford completely missed a block in the first quarter, picked up a holding call in the third quarter, and failed to finish a contested catch on third down just a couple of plays later.
