FRISCO, Texas — The loss of Marshawn Kneeland will be felt into the halls of Forever, but the Dallas Cowboys must slowly find their way forward as they prepare to visit the Las Vegas Raiders following their bye week, and they'll do so with reinforcements in tow, namely DeMarvion Overshown and Shavon Revel.
Both have been officially activated from injured reserve to the 53-man roster by the Cowboys on Tuesday, having already practiced for some time now after their 21-day practice window was opened in mid-October.
This marks the start of a new-look defense in Dallas, one that not only features the return of Overshown and the debut of Revel, a rookie third-round pick, but also the addition of both Logan Wilson and All-Pro defensive tackle Quinnen Williams — the latter two acquired just ahead of the NFL trade deadline.
For Overshown, it's all about getting back to the peak form demonstrated in his 2024 showing, prior to having his knee rolled up on by a defensive lineman, leading to the second torn ACL of his young career. He's been eyeing a return in primetime, under the bright lights of Las Vegas, and he gets his wish.
"That's what we're looking like — Monday night prime time," he said after returning to practice in October. "[Agent] 0 will be making his debut and I'm excited for it. It's not going to be anything short of extraordinary. I'm ready to show, truly, how blessed I am.
"A lot of people claim that this knee injury is one of the worst or the worst, and not too many people come back the same afterwards. I'm ready to put that to the test. ... the sky's the limit for me. And I'm not saying that to be cocky or anything, but I know what I bring to the field. ... I know what y'all saw last year and you're gonna get more of that.
"I know what I'm capable of and last year was still me just getting my feet wet, so we really haven't seen yet what all I can do."
Revel has a more than solid chance of joining him and his new teammates on the field against the Raiders, but it seems less of a guarantee, given what executive vice president and director of Player Personnel Stephen Jones told 105.3 the Fan on Monday.
"We don't wanna project that," Jones said. "It's a work in progress. We'll see how the week goes and if we think he can help us, he'll be active."
Even if Revel is on the inactives list to begin his career with the Cowboys, having successfully overcome a torn ACL suffered in September 2024 is a cause for celebration, in and of itself. The rest is simply bringing the first-year talent along slowly and not expecting too much of him too soon.
As for Overshown, the Cowboys already know what he's capable of, and they're ready to see what kind of juice his electric personality and play can inject into a defense that's sorely missed it through the first nine games of the 2025 season.
