Blogging The Boys
Time to recap of Saturday’s action.
Quarterbacks
Overall Grade: D
Joe Milton: 59 snaps (89%)
Will Grier: 7 snaps (11%)
Cowboys QB stats PS Week 1 Rams
Prescott, despite missing the final two months of last season, kept his streak alive of not appearing in a preseason game since 2019.
Second-year QB Joe Milton got the start, and his accuracy was all over the place, while he also struggled with staring down receivers. At one point he missed a wide open Ryan Flournoy in embarrassing faashion. He finally settled into a groove on his final drive of the fourth quarter, possibly finding a rhythm as the coaching staff began calling plays that had worked during camp practices. There’s been a lot of hope placed in Milton being a find, but he left the gae late in the fourth quarter to a thorwing-arm injury. Grier’s play in his one drive was indicative that the backup QB role isn’t gifted to the youngster.
There are plenty of fallers after Sunday’s action.
1. Andrew Booth
The Cowboys are beaten up at corner, to say the least. Trevon Diggs and Josh Butler are still recovering from injuries sustained last season and rookie Shavon Revel Jr. is carrying over an injury from college. Right now, the best corner in camp has been Kaiir Elam, but he did not see the field on Saturday. That left Andrew Booth to start on the outside as CB1. His day did not go well.
On the first drive, the Cowboys’ defense got the Rams into a 4th and 6 near midfield. Stetson Bennett went right after Booth going against Xavier Smith. Smith beat Booth clearly and was able to haul in the pass to get the Rams inside the ten.
Had Booth played the receiver better, Bennett might not have looked his way and maybe the Rams do not convert. Just a few plays later, Blake Corum scored his first of two rushing touchdowns on the day. Booth’s blunder set the tone for what was to come for this defense the rest of the game.
The Cowboys had high hopes for Booth as their third/fourth-string corner when they traded for him last year from Minnesota. So far, his time in Dallas has been disastrous. Injuries last season forced him into action and top receivers like A.J. Brown were able to beat him consistently.
If Booth cannot cover backup receivers in preseason, this coaching staff has to wonder if they can trust him on the field in Week 1 against the Eagles. Right now, he would be penciled in as likely the third corner alongside DaRon Bland...
