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oe Milton III #10 of the Dallas Cowboys is under pressure at Cowboys minicamp.

By the end of the week, the Dallas Cowboys will go into more than a month of the offseason being seldom seen or heard. Their offseason program started earlier in the spring, progressed through voluntary OTAs and is moving now to its crescendo–mandatory Cowboys minicamp. It’s expected that everyone (yes, even George Pickens) will be in attendance, though injuries and perhaps a “hold-in” will keep everyone from actually being on the field practicing. The Cowboys will re-gather for training camp in Oxnard in late July.

But this week will provide the final chance for players fighting for spots on the depth chart to make a pre-camp declaration to the coaches, hoping to up their statuses.

While the defense is still a bit amorphous, with as many as seven new starters possible in a remade system under Christian Parker, there are clear battle lines drawn on the offensive side, with three competitions being especially important.

Cowboys Minicamp Battle: Tyler Guyton vs. Nate Thomas

The most important of the three, no doubt, is Tyler Guyton trying to keep his left tackle job. Guyton was the first-round pick of the Cowboys in 2024, and when he was selected out of Oklahoma, he was considered a raw prospect who would need time to develop. Heading into Year 3, he is still developing.

He suffered injuries in his first year and again last year in training camp, which set him back in his progress. But he was a weak spot on the line last year, at the unit’s most important position, and when he suffered a high ankle sprain late in the year, the Cowboys left him on the shelf and moved Tyler Smith to the tackle spot–and indicated a willingness to stick with Smith there in the future.

The good news for Guyton is that the team seems to have abandoned the idea of moving Smith from guard out to tackle, and instead are focusing on letting 2024 seventh-round pick Nate Thomas challenge Guyton for the job. Thomas was not much better at left tackle when he was given a chance in 2025, and it seems that Cowboys badly want Guyton to win the job.

Cowboys Minicamp Battle: Jaydon Blue vs. Phil Mafah

As with Guyton, it does appear that the Cowboys would place a thumb on the scale of the No. 2 running back battle, with Jaydon Blue the hopeful winner. The Cowboys want to take some of the load off of the shoulders of starter Javonte Williams, who carried 252 times (for 1,201 yards) while no other running back topped 52 carries.

Theoretically, Blue would be a great counterpoint to the bruising style of Williams, a smaller speed back capable of breaking off big plays. But Blue’s work ethic and focus were publicly called out several times by coach Brian Schottenheimer last year as a rookie, and he was limited to 129 yards on 38 carries.

Mafah was a seventh-round pick by the Cowboys last season, but injuries limited him to five carries and 18 yards. The Cowboys do have Malik Davis as a fail-safe but they’d like one of their young backs to win the RB2 job.

Battle Also Worth Watching: Sam Howell vs. Joe Milton

It was a surprise in March when the Cowboys picked up backup quarterback Sam Howell early in free agency. The team had not given a signal that they were looking to add depth at QB, having made a trade for Joe Milton with the Patriots the previous spring.

Milton was the backup all through last year, but made only four appearances and threw 24 passes. Howell, meanwhile, started an entire season–miserable though it was–for Washington in 2023, when he led the NFL with 623 passing attempts … and led the league in interceptions (21) and sacks taken (65).

If the team was confident in Milton’s ability to step into a starting role behind Dak Prescott, it would not have signed Howell, plain and simple. Milton may well win the job, but it will have to be earned. And this week is his first opportunity to stake that claim.