I’m not revealing any major secrets here, but if the past 15 years or so that I’ve been intensely following the Dallas Cowboys training camp have taught me anything, it’s that rosters are largely set before the offseason program even begins, and most of the extra players brought in are little more than sparring and training partners for the roster locks.
Dallas, TX
Doncic leads Mavs to Game 5 win, 3-2 lead on Thunder
Doncic powers Dallas to Game 5 win, 3-2 series lead
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• Box score: Mavericks 104, Thunder 92
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Luka Doncic stopped worrying about calls and just played.
It worked. He scored 31 points in a triple-double, and the Dallas Mavericks beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 104-92 on Wednesday night to take a 3-2 lead in the Western Conference semifinal series.
Doncic didn’t voice his displeasure with the officials nearly as much as usual, though he had words with fans a few times.
“I’m just trying to play basketball, just focus on basketball,” he said. “Sometimes I forget this is the thing I love, the thing I do. My mental focus was just go out there and play basketball with a smile on my face and just go.”
Doncic, the league’s leading scorer in the regular season, had struggled some in the series against Oklahoma City. Playing through a sprained right knee and a sore left ankle, he had averaged just 22 points on 39% shooting through the first four games. He made 12 of 22 field goals in Game 5 and had 11 assists and 10 rebounds for his sixth career playoff triple-double.
“He was aggressive,” Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said. “He was making shots, taking shots. The deep 3, being able to get to the basket, playmaking for his bigs and also for the wings.”
Dallas regained the lead in the series after blowing a 14-point advantage and losing 100-96 at home in Game 4.
“We know the last game we played against them at home, we let it go,” Doncic said. “It was our mistakes and they hit shots.”
Derrick Jones Jr. scored a playoff career-high 19 points and P.J. Washington Jr. added 10 points and 10 rebounds for Dallas, which shot 52.6% from the floor. The No. 5-seeded Mavericks can advance to the Western Conference finals with a win Saturday at home.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 30 points for the top-seeded Thunder, but no other Oklahoma City player scored more than 13.
The Mavericks won Game 5 on the road, just like they did in the first round against the Los Angeles Clippers. Dallas held Oklahoma City to 42.5% shooting.
Coach Mark Daigneault said the Thunder simply didn’t shoot well, but they found some cracks in Dallas’ defense late in the game.
“I thought we were kind of there tonight and maybe missed a couple plays,” Daigneault said.
Oklahoma City tried to jump-start its struggling offense by replacing Josh Giddey with Isaiah Joe in the starting lineup. Giddey did not start for the first time in 229 combined regular season and postseason games.
Dallas led by 15 in the second quarter and took a 54-44 edge into halftime. Jones scored 15 points before the break.
Gilgeous-Alexander scored 14 points in the third quarter, but Dallas still led 79-67.
Dallas pushed its lead out to 18 points early in the fourth quarter before the Thunder surged. A 3-pointer by Gilgeous-Alexander cut the deficit to 89-79 with just under seven minutes remaining and forced Dallas to call a timeout. The Thunder never got closer than seven points the rest of the way.
Now, the Mavericks are close to advancing.
“We’ve got one more to win out of two games,” Doncic said. “That’s it. We’re up 3-2, but that’s still nothing. We’ve got to finish it and go with the same mentality at home.”
The Thunder, one of the youngest teams in the league, face elimination for the first time.
“Our mood won’t change, our mentality won’t change,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “It’s one game at a time. We wanted to win this game tonight as badly as we’re going to want to win the next game.”
Dallas, TX
3 different Cowboys 53-man roster projections pinpoint contested roster spots
That is the stark reality of NFL life.
Injuries, standout performances in camp, and the occasional suspension provide the opportunity for maybe a handful of players each year to work their way onto the roster, but that’s pretty much it.
To get a better feeling for what the contested spots could be on the 2026 Cowboys roster, I took a look at three separate roster projections. One from from our old friend Mike Fisher at CowboysRoundtable.com, one from the always reliable Jon Machota of The Athletic, and one from our very own Connor Livesay.
These three projections should give us a good idea of where public sentiment currently stands regarding the 2026 Cowboys roster. I’ve combined all three projections in the tables below, one for the offense and one for defense and special teams combined. The tables highlight (in yellow) the spots that do not yet appear to be locked down. Look closely, and you’ll see there aren’t many of those spots left, at least if these projections are anything to go by.
| POS | Machota | Fisher | Livesay | ||
| Quarterbacks | Prescott | Prescott | Prescott | ||
| Milton | Milton | Milton | |||
| Running Backs | J. Williams | J. Williams | J. Williams | ||
| Luepke | Luepke | Luepke | |||
| Blue | Blue | Blue | |||
| Mafah | |||||
| Wide Receivers | Lamb | Lamb | Lamb | ||
| Pickens | Pickens | Pickens | |||
| Flournoy | Flournoy | Flournoy | |||
| Turpin | Turpin | Turpin | |||
| Mingo | Mingo | Holden | |||
| Tight Ends | Ferguson | Ferguson | Ferguson | ||
| Spann-Ford | Spann-Ford | Spann-Ford | |||
| Schoonmaker | Schoonmaker | Schoonmaker | |||
| Trigg | Trigg | Trigg | |||
| Offensive Line | Guyton | Guyton | Guyton | ||
| Smith | Smith | Smith | |||
| Beebe | Beebe | Beebe | |||
| Booker | Booker | Booker | |||
| Steele | Steele | Steele | |||
| Thomas | Thomas | Thomas | |||
| Shelton | Shelton | Shelton | |||
| Bass | Bass | Bass | |||
| Keegan | Keegan | Cornelius | |||
| Cornelius | Henessey | Henessey |
Not too many surprises for the offense, and there really only seem to be four spots up for grabs.
At QB, the consensus seems to be that the team has invested too much in Milton to just let him go – though there is an expectation that Sam Howell will challenge for the backup spot.
At RB, the question is whether the Cowboys will carry three or four players; Phil Mafah would really have to show up in camp to grab one of the last roster spots on the 53.
At WR, the final spot seems to be the contested one, and don’t discount Marquez Valdes-Scantling here, he might be a safer option for 2026 than either Mingo or Holden.
At TE, the spots look fixed, but the team could easily opt for just three tight ends, and the odd man out in that case may not be Michael Trigg but Luke Schoonmaker.
Finally, the only two truly contested spots appear to be the last two offensive line spots, and at this point you can make a case for almost every lineman to fill one of those two spots. A lot here will depend on how training camp plays out.
On defense and special teams, the situation is very similar, with competition likely only for the last backup spots.
| POS | Machota | Fisher | Livesay | ||
| Defrensive Line | Q. Williams | Q. Williams | Q. Williams | ||
| K. Clark | K. Clark | K. Clark | |||
| Bullard | Bullard | Bullard | |||
| Overton | Overton | Overton | |||
| Ogbonnia | Ogbonnia | Ogbonnia | |||
| Outside Linebacker | Gary | Gary | Gary | ||
| Ezeiruaku | Ezeiruaku | Ezeiruaku | |||
| Lawrence | Lawrence | Lawrence | |||
| S. Williams | S. Williams | S. Williams | |||
| Houston | Houston | Houston | |||
| Wheat | Wheat | ||||
| Inside Linebacker | Overshown | Overshown | Overshown | ||
| Winters | Winters | Winters | |||
| Barham | Barham | Barham | |||
| James | James | James | |||
| Barron | Barron | Robinson | |||
| Cornerback | Bland | Bland | Bland | ||
| Revel | Revel | Revel | |||
| Durant | Durant | Durant | |||
| Moore | Moore | Moore | |||
| Kendrick | Steward | Butler | |||
| Bridges | Carson | ||||
| Safety | Downs | Downs | Downs | ||
| Thompson | Thompson | Thompson | |||
| Hooker | Hooker | Hooker | |||
| Locke | Locke | Locke | |||
| A. Clark | |||||
| Special Teams | Aubrey | Aubrey | Aubrey | ||
| Anger | Anger | Anger | |||
| Sieg | Sieg | Sieg |
At outside linebacker and safety, the only question is whether the Cowboys go long at those spots and keep an extra guy, and the fifth ILB spot also seems to be contested to some degree.
The cornerback position may be the most contested in camp, but again, it’s likely to be about just the two last spots at the position, but there will be a lot of players contesting those two spots.
As far as projections go, these three have probably summarized the general sentiment about the roster pretty well at this point of the season.
Suspensions (knock on wood), trades, injuries (knock on wood three times), and other things of that nature (knock on wood) tend to disrupt these projections. But that’s also where depth guys then get to step up and seize their opportunity.
What’s your take on the combined projections above, and which of your pet cats didn’t make the cut on any of the three projections?
Dallas, TX
Wings’ top pick Azzi Fudd hosts clinic as Cash App donates to Dallas nonprofit
Dallas, TX
Trackdown: Dallas 7-Eleven robbery suspect wanted
DALLAS – Dallas police need a name for a dangerous robber who pulled a gun on a 7-Eleven clerk and walked out with the cash register drawer.
He was caught on camera. But it’s been six months, and he’s still at large.
7-Eleven Robberies
What we know:
The robbery in question happened on Jan. 13 around 10:30 p.m. at the store at 302 North Marsalis Avenue.
A Black male who is about 5 feet 8 inches tall and about 170 to 180 pounds walked in and waited until no other customers were inside.
“After it’s empty, he displays a handgun and points it at the cashier,” said Det. Eduardo Lopez Villa. “I don’t know what he said. He just demanded the cash from the cash register.”
Det. Villa said the suspect took the whole cash register drawer before fleeing eastbound on foot on 8th Street.
What you can do:
The detective believes anyone who knows the suspect will be able to recognize him.
“Yes, most definitely based on the video and the screenshot. If you know him, you’ll recognize him,” he said.
Tipsters can call or text Det. Villa at 469-755-8445.
“I need his information so I can talk to him about this incident,” he said.
FOX 4’s Trackdown
You can watch Shaun Rabb’s Trackdown series every Wednesday on FOX 4. Episodes are also posted weekly online, on YouTube and on FOX Local.
FOX 4 viewers have now helped to make 220 arrests.
The Source: The information in this story comes from Dallas Police Det. Eduardo Lopez Villa.
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