The Dallas Cowboys are going to be without cornerback DaRon Bland this week against the New York Giants, leaving fans to try and figure out who they’ll call to bring in and replace him. As it turns out, the call is coming from inside the house.
As posted by Ali Jawad of DLLS Sports on X, head coach Brian Schottenheimer stated in his press conference Friday that we’re “going to see Reddy Steward play a lot of football” on Sunday.
So, who is Reddy Steward? After starting for the Troy Trojans from 2019-2023 he went undrafted, signing with the Chicago Bears and eventually making his NFL debut in Week 9 against the Arizona Cardinals. The 18 defensive snaps he played that day are still the only ones he’s played in his career, although he did post an encouraging 75.1 defensive grade from PFF in those snaps.
Of note, Cowboys defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus was the head coach of the Bears to start last season. That familiarity led to Dallas claiming Steward on Aug. 27, meaning that by kickoff he will have been a Cowboy for less than three weeks.
As Schottenheimer noted in the previously referenced X post, Steward will likely play mostly in the slot. While Bland has historically been strictly a boundary corner, he actually played 24 snaps in the slot in Week 1, compared to 26 at the boundary.
While that newfound positional versatility will be interesting and potentially exciting for the Cowboys once Bland returns, it also makes filling in for him somewhat easier for Steward specifically.
Of the 18 snaps Steward played last season, only one was on the boundary while 15 came in the slot. Therefore, the slot snaps that Bland played last week are seemingly accounted for.
As for the boundary role that Bland has historically played, it seems like it will be a combination of Kaair Elam, and whatever Trevon Diggs can contribute as he ramps up his return from injury. If Diggs can play a full load, or even 75% of one, that should be sufficient for a week.
So while it does seem like a bit of patchwork operation this week, football is a “next man up” sport. Situations like this are the best examples of that mentality.
Of course if Bland is out for an extended period of time and Steward struggles, Dallas could look for outside help. But based on comments from the head coach and the lack of movement from the front office, it appears that the Cowboys are going to give Reddy the chance to prove that he’s ready.