Powered by Roundtable

The Cowboys put their rookies under the microscope at The Star, with two undrafted free agents taking center stage.

All eyes were naturally on the Dallas Cowboys' high draft picks as rookie minicamp got underway at The Star over the weekend.

Caleb Downs, Malachi Lawrence, Jaishawn Barham and others were all put through their paces, but sometimes it is the undrafted free agents that create the most buzz.

Seen as long shots to make the final roster, the offseason is a marathon that sees rookies pushed to their limits, and this was no different.

The two names that fans will be watching intently over the next couple of months are undrafted tight ends Michael Trigg and DJ Rogers.

Trigg looms as the wildcard of the tight end room. At 6'4, 240 pounds, he is a matchup nightmare who can make contested catches and is an athletic freak.

Then there's Rogers. A versatile right end with safe hands and offers Schottenheimer several ways to deploy him. 

So, both have a lot going for them, and for Schottenheimer, both bring a lot to the table.

"Talk about Michael first, we've all seen the highlight reel catches and things that he did at Baylor, and it's impressive,” Schottenheimer said. “You talk about a guy that can stretch the field vertically and make game-changing wow-type plays attacking the middle of the field, I think jumps out at you.

“DJ is obviously here at TCU. I love the versatility that DJ brings. You see him play some Y, you see him play some F, you see him play some fullback."

So, both tight ends will bring something of value to a room that, apart from Jake Ferguson and the up-and-coming Brevyn Spann-Ford, could do with a little injection of excitement.

But as we know, talent is the only thing you need in your kit bag; physical conditioning has to be on point.

And as Schottenheimer revealed, the rookies aren't exactly where they need to be.

"None of these guys are in great shape right now, you might have saw a few guys getting sick, a little bit of vomiting going on," Schttenheimer added. "I'm really excited about those two young men and adding it to a group that I feel is maybe one of the most stable positions on our roster.”

With OTAs and then training camp coming down the pipeline, the Cowboys' rookie class will have some downtime to learn the playbook and to also get their conditioning right.

Both Trigg and Rogers clearly have something to offer, but time will tell if that's enough to make an impression on Schottenheimer and his staff.

2