As preseason camps are fully underway for all 32 NFL teams, The Athletic’s Jon Machota on Wednesday took a look at some of the biggest takeaways for the Dallas Cowboys so far, and two players with Utah ties got some love.
Those two players — in order of the amount of mention they got from Machota — were former Brighton High wide receiver Simi Fehoko and former Utah Utes defensive end Mika Tafua.
Machota named Fehoko, who played collegiately at Stanford, his “biggest surprise” from Cowboys camp so far. Machota noted that Fehoko’s fellow receiver Noah Brown was also “in consideration” for the recognition, but that “Fehoko has consistently come up big, particularly in the red zone, using his size and speed to create space on deep balls or make contested catches in traffic.
“Fehoko only played in five games last year as a rookie. He was on the field for only seven offensive snaps all season. He looks ready to contribute in Year 2, which the Cowboys desperately need considering how thin they are at the position.”
In the second section of Machota’s piece after the “awards,” he shared some insights from a Q&A Cowboys vice president of player personnel Will McClay recently had with reporters, and Machota noted that McClay made mention of Tafua as an undrafted free agent who has stood out, alongside safety Markquese Bell and wide receiver Dennis Houston.