Cowboys’ QB2 battle points to Joe Milton, while Jaishawn Barham makes his case in win vs. Cardinals

The Dallas Cowboys entered their Saturday-night matchup with the Arizona Cardinals looking for answers, and a number of those questions were addressed on the field as the Cowboys scored frequently and generally played the type of game their coaches would like to see from a deep group. According to Yahoo Sports’ Cowboys stock report, the performance did more than just move the scoreboard. It created clarity in a couple of roster roles that tend to define training camp’s final stretch, especially behind the starters at key positions.

At quarterback, the most direct takeaway centered on Joe Milton’s push for the backup spot. In the stock report’s framing, Milton took QB2, an outcome that matters because preseason reps and situational snaps often become the deciding factor when a team is separating its second and third options. The report does not present a single moment as the whole story, but it makes clear that Milton was viewed as the cleanest performer among the group competing for the top reserve role.

The Cowboys’ depth at running back also received attention in the same analysis, as the stock report highlights that multiple players “answered important questions” beyond quarterback. In practical terms, those running-back evaluations are less about identifying one standout rush and more about reliability: ball security, pass-game involvement, and consistent decision-making in tight space. If a team can show its reserve rushers can keep drives moving, it reduces the risk that an injury or late-game substitution forces the offense into a predictable rhythm.

Arizona’s defense, for its part, offered the Cowboys the standard kind of preseason-season test that is meant to expose gaps. Yahoo Sports’ overview focuses on how often Dallas scored and how the team looked prepared to exploit opportunities that opened during the game. That matters for roster purposes, because a backup’s ceiling is often measured by whether he can contribute while the offense is mixing personnel and tempo.

Jaishawn Barham was another central name in the Cowboys stock report. The title notes that Barham “announces self,” and the premise of the write-up is that he produced enough during the game to change how the team’s pecking order looks. For a player fighting for meaningful reps, that kind of impact can quickly turn a long shot into a serious in-house option, particularly when coaches are trimming the list of candidates at the end of camp.

Beyond individual performances, this type of “stock report” is essentially about narrative direction as much as it is about one game. Teams do not build rosters on highlights alone, but the preseason offers a compressed timeframe to see who handles pressure, who communicates, and who executes under rotation. When a quarterback locks into QB2 and a depth player looks ready to contribute immediately, it gives the coaching staff a firmer foundation for subsequent practices.

Still, it is important not to overstate what one Saturday can settle. Without additional reporting that specifies exactly where each player sits on the final depth chart, the safest conclusion is that the game clarified the conversation. The Cowboys’ next steps, in normal preseason logic, would be to continue measuring consistency across practice and additional live reps, especially as the competition narrows and teams begin to emphasize long-term availability.

For fans watching from here, the next meaningful question is whether the Cowboys can carry the Saturday progress into continued quarterback-and-depth evaluations, and whether Milton’s QB2 positioning holds as reps shift and the snaps become more targeted. On the other side of the ball, Dallas will also be watching whether the areas that produced points can translate into dependable drive-building when the lineup changes again. If the answers keep coming, the depth chart will start to feel less like a guess and more like a plan.