Cowboys Camp: Rookie CB Kelvin Joseph Winning Starting Job?
Anthony Brown is aware.
The Dallas Cowboys selected cornerback Kelvin Joseph in the second round of the 2021 NFL Draft with the hope that he might become a rookie standout, just as his predecessor, 2020 second-round draft pick Trevon Diggs was.
So far at training camp in Oxnard?
"Yeah, (Joseph) is kicking butt," COO Stephen Jones said in a Friday visit with 105.3 The Fan. "He is doing some really good things. He's really going to be a big help for us this year, on a timeline he's going to really help us out. He's jumped out."
Consider those words to be the official beginning of a job competition between tough guy Brown and new kid Joseph, who has gained attention for his "Bossman Fat'' rap career but who is getting attention as a football player now.
The Cowboys have deep respect for the work ethic and commitment of Brown, who fought his way back onto the field last year while recovering from broken ribs and a punctured lung. And Brown's approach is the professional one; he's enjoying serving as a "big brother'' to his younger teammates, including both Diggs and Joseph.
Diggs will start at one corner. It's Joseph's job to beat out Brown at the other corner.
"And Anthony Brown's not gonna give it up (without a fight)" Jones said. "Great battle out there."
Do the Cowboys have a preference? Organizationally, you're proud when a sixth-round pick (like Brown once was, in 2016) forges a career for himself. But a second-round rookie becoming a starter and maybe a star?
The Joneses would puff their chests out at that one with Joseph, as they already do with Diggs.
Joseph is also a bit proud himself, getting comfortable enough with his growing role on what in 2020 was a historically-poor defense to work to create nicknames for the bunch.
“We’re going to fly around,” Joseph said this week. “'No-Fly Zone.' We’re gonna call it, 'Airplane mode.''
Brown's edge is his experience. But talent may give Joseph the edge.
So the camp competition is on.
