Dallas Cowboys at Los Angeles Rams Stock Report: Phil Mafah up, Joe Milton down

The Dallas Cowboys played their first preseason game of the year on Saturday night, and while it started off a bit rough (they had a single yard of total offense in the first quarter), the waters eventually stabilized and some good things happened.

It goes without saying though that some not good things happened. This is the nature of football, after all. There are positives and there are negatives and when we are talking about the preseason we can learn from them all in the name of assembling the group that is going to try and finally deliver the ring to Mordor on behalf of this franchise, if you know what I mean.

Welcome to our first Stock Report of the 2025 Dallas Cowboys season.

Let’s begin.

The biggest winner from Saturday night’s Cowboys game was easily running back Phil Mafah. The recent injury to Jaydon Blue made it so that Mafah got more opportunities than he otherwise might have, but he looked like a runner that this team can seriously benefit from.

Mafah has been regarded as a bruiser in terms of running style, but he floated with a level of ease and casualness. Simply put, he looked like he has potential.

It is always important to remember that this is only the preseason, but those who claimed Mafah as a pet cat are likely feeling pretty proud of themselves.

Israel Mukuamu is a preseason interception specialist.

There has never been a question that Mukuamu has a level of athleticism that the Cowboys can benefit from. We have seen it at different points in his career so far.

The state of the cornerback room is an interesting one for the Cowboys with Trevon Diggs on PUP and Shavon Revel on the NFI list. There may be a spot for Mukuamu to start early in the season and he is looking like he is ready for it.

It feels like we have all had questions about the linebacker room and if you are in that camp then you likely came away from this game very pleased with Marist Liufau. He popped down the stretch of his rookie season last year, and he was arguably the most physical player in Matt Eberflus’ defense on Saturday night. Not much is going to happen on his watch and that is a very good thing.

At the moment it is difficult to know exactly how many receivers the Cowboys are going to carry and which one is going to be the final wideout that makes the group whole.

Jalen Brooks has fought tooth and nail for everything since the Cowboys picked him in the seventh round a few years ago and he continues to do so. He had a couple of really nice catches in the first half of the game when Joe Milton was starting to find himself a bit.

Watch out.

Back to the subject of linebackers, Shemar James is a name that might prove very interesting. At one point in the game James almost had an incredibly athletic interception, but the ball slipped out of his hands and ultimately still went for a Rams reception which was unfortunate.

Still though, he showed that he has a lot to work with and we obviously know that Eberflus has a history of getting the most out of his linebackers. It is exciting to consider what the future has in store for the Gator-turned-Cowboy.

There is zero doubt that Joe Milton has a rocket arm. His level of touch though is… a bit absent. Early on in this game, through the third quarter if we are being honest, it was a little bit like drinking water out of a firehose for everyone as far as the Joe Milton experience was concerned.

He’s raw. That is impossible to deny. This was something that everyone knew about him when he was first entering the NFL only a year and a half ago. Thankfully Milton did find himself and threw a touchdown to help boost morale.

There is certainly work to be done here, though. Who knows what that is even going to look like in the short-term as Milton seemed to have an injury issue near the end of the game. We’ll update the site when we find out more.

Deuce Vaughn drew the start for the Cowboys at running back on Saturday and did not exactly do a ton to make you feel like he absolutely has to have a roster spot. This was particularly unfortunate as both Phil Mafah and to a different degree even Malik Davis (who literally just joined the team) did. The point is that Vaughn stood out in a not great way.

Given the presence of Mafah, fellow rookie Jaydon Blue, potentially Davis and free agent acquisitions Javonte Williams and Miles Sanders, it is going to be tough for Deuce Vaughn to make this team. He did not exactly make that decision more difficult in this game.

This is certainly an opinion that will vary from person to person. Ultimately I have it as a stock down because of the literal fact that the Cowboys did not play any serious players. You may be okay with that, but the point is that this was the disposition that they chose to have towards a subject that features plenty of thoughts.

There is no one right way to do things across the NFL, but consider that on the night that the Cowboys played their first game of the preseason so did the Kansas City Chiefs. Their quarterback, the all-world talent Patrick Mahomes, even played in the game.

I don’t feel particularly passionate about a team playing or resting in the preseason, but I have always leaned towards a side of cautiousness. Given that the Cowboys continue to talk about a change in culture though, I wonder if it would have benefitted everyone (the start to this game was slow as noted) for the top players to get a series or two.

We need to continually hold context in that this was a preseason game, but as we have mentioned several times the start to it was rather rough for the offensive side of the ball. Notable players weren’t in (see the previous point!) but we should come away with the conclusion that Brian Schottenheimer has work to do as offensive play-caller.

There is zero need to panic or say something silly, but it would have been nice to see a few more opportunities designed for success. Maybe Schotty is saving all of that for the regular season. That would make sense. Again… nobody panic.

The game began with the Cowboys picking up an injury scare by way of Payton Turner. Markquese Bell also appeared to get banged up. Robert Rochelle left the game with a hamstring injury. As noted, Joe Milton got hurt near the end (his status is still to be determined).

This team has been ravaged by injuries and it was a bummer to see that trend continue early on. It isn’t anyone’s fault specifically, but at a certain point you have to wonder how the team can help out as it is getting a bit out of hand.