Cowboys 14-Man Practice Squad Includes Second-Round D-Lineman

DiNucci sticks around; Speaks was a 2018 second-round draft pick of the Chiefs.

FRISCO - The Dallas Cowboys recently worked out defensive lineman Breeland Speaks - a former second-round NFL Draft pick of the Kansas City Chiefs who spent time last year on the Dallas practice squad. And now he's among the names on the 2021 practice squad as well.

The group assembled on Wednesday includes 14 names. One of them, Mexico's Issac Alarcon, doesn't count against the limit of 16, so there remain three possible openings. The group:

OL Isaac Alarcón

CB Kyron Brown

CB Deante Burton

S Tyler Coyle

QB Ben DiNucci

DE Austin Faoliu

DT Justin Hamilton

RB JaQuan Hardy

C Braylon Jones

WR Osirus Mitchell

FB Nick Ralston

WR Brandon Smith

TE Jeremy Sprinkle

S Darian Thompson

DiNucci probably has the highest profile. But it is Speaks who was once the most highly thought-of.

Waived by Kansas City at the September 2020 final cuts, Speaks (6-3, 285) spent a month on the Las Vegas Raiders’ practice squad prior to his Nov. 3 release.

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He came to Dallas and was on the practice squad for the final two months of last season before his deal expired.

But it was his flashing in Kansas City that remains the highlight of his resume - and the reason that, at just 25, he could get another chance.

Speaks was a 2018 second-round draft decision of the Chiefs. He totaled 24 tackles and 1.5 sacks and appeared in all 16 games as a rookie. He spent part of his second-season campaign on injured reserve. The Ole Miss product also, while he was on IR, handed an NFL suspension of four games for violating the league’s substance-abuse policy.

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