Cowboys Camp Week 1 DBs Review: Malik Hooker 'Chance to Dominate'
OXNARD, Calif. - Jerry Jones says Dallas Cowboys safety Malik Hooker "has a chance to be one of the more dominant players'' on this defense, and indeed, there are a handful of DBs who in this first week of training camp here in Oxnard showed up that way.
A Week 1 review ...
Malik Hooker
This is all about Hooker, who re-upped in Dallas this season after a one-year prove-it deal last summer (now under the terms of a two-year contract) simply becoming fully healthy. He played last year after having sustained a serious Achilles injury, and the Cowboys believe he'll be even more explosive - and maybe more of a playmaker, as he was at Ohio State - as a result.
Said Jones: “He really gives me a lot of hope for this team. I think he may be kind of the story of the team. … He’s got a chance to be one of the more dominant players over there. … I think he’s got a chance to really show up.”
Trevon Diggs
Teammate Micah Parsons can't say enough about his All-Pro buddy, who still gets disrespected by some national observers.
“The guy had 11 interceptions,” Parsons said. “We’ve never seen it. I’ve never even seen someone come close to that since I’ve been alive. We haven’t all seen it, and it’s a shame that it got degraded because of, they say, the yards that he gave up … We’ve seen 20 sacks before. But in this era, we’ve never seen no one reach over 10-plus interceptions, so it’s disrespectful, to me, because I think he deserves all the credit in the world and deserves to be named a top-five corner, if not the best corner in the league.”
What does Diggs think? He concedes to wanting to be even better (he lists his 2022 goals here). He's got one notable pick in this camp already and now he's setting a (rather unrealistic?) goal of breaking his own record of 11 once the season starts.
What do the Cowboys think?
"A true competitor,'' said coordinator Dan Quinn, whose 2021 defense topped the league with 26 interceptions. "Don’t confuse that quiet demeanor. This is a true wolf in sheep’s clothing - a real competitor.''
Jayron Kearse
Jayron Kearse has a goal that is simple in terms of words ... but challenging in terms of actually accomplishing it.
"Anything short of me being the best safety in the league next year,'' he tweeted this week, shortly after signing his new two-year contract with the Dallas Cowboys, "ain’t gone cut it.''
That'd be nice. But a recent NFL survey didn't include Kearse in the top 20, let alone the top one. Camp is providing another glimpse at his reinvention in conjunction with Quinn and this defense, as Dallas has often featured "Big Nickel'' stuff using three safeties - Kearse, Donovan Wilson and the aforementioned Hooker.
Kelvin Joseph
"BossMan Fat'' is a “prominent” name ... and this week, for some of the right reasons.
Kelvin Joseph, has made news in another direction. There is the murder investigation problem, most tragically - though an update indicates that he is in the clear as far as law enforcement is concerned.
The Cowboys would love to see Joseph develop into the "breakout'' player some project him to be. But for now? He's developing as a special-teamer, where he can make his mark right away because ...
Anthony Brown
"AB'' is no household name. But he's rock-solid at the other corner, and showed it in a week highlighted by a first-day pick-six off a Dak Prescott throw. He's not flashy. He's just good.
Markquese Bell
The UDFA free agent has the front office buzzing ... and knowing that if they cut this rookie safety, he'll get snapped up in a minute.
Said COO Stephen Jones: He“keeps showing up ... It’s nice to find one of those (undrafted rookies).”
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