"He's a steal.''

Dallas Cowboys QB Dak Prescott is biased toward his offense -- and therefore his remark was obviously about utility weapon Tavon Austin. On defense, though, the Cowboys think it's Jihad Ward who represents "a steal.''

Maybe both sides of the ball will end up being right.

Ward fills the more immediate need. He was acquired in trade on draft weekend in exchange for receiver Ryan Switzer in large part because Dallas had just learned that defensive tackle Maliek Collins had sustained yet another foot injury requiring surgery. As I wrote here, the presence of Ward -- a Raiders' second-round pick who has drawn private support from both Cowboys personnel guru Will McClay and defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli -- made it unnecessary for Dallas to bother with big-name wide-bodied 1-techs like Johnathan Hankins ... They think his long frame and his 3-tech skills fit just fine.

And, as you know by now, Ward spend most of OTAs and minicamp working with the first-team Dallas defense.

"I pride myself on effort,'' said the 6-5, 295-pound Ward. "I really don’t brag about my game. .. The one thing I do is I give a lot of effort. The rest of the stuff y’all can say about me as a player is for y’all to decide. I just go out there ready to work every time and work on what I need to work on."

The Cowboys wait on Collins, knowing he won't be healthy by the July 24 reporting day for training camp in Oxnard but hoping he's ready for the season, But where there is wait, there is worry; Maliek foot injuries have become an unfortunate trend. So Ward was a starter, and Datone Jones was a first-teamer, too, as the two of them flip-flopped from the 3-Tech spot to the 1-Tech spot, Ward demonstrating an athleticism that makes him seem almost David Irving-like.

Ah, David Irving. His foolishness means more snaps coming for Ward, Jones, Lewis Neal ... anybody who might be able to step up to make up for Irving's four-game drug suspension.

No Maliek and no Irving make it seem as though Ward is destined to be "the steal.'' But Prescott picks Austin as that guy, and after three minicamp sessions, you can see why.

Just as Ward was a handful for young blockers Connor Williams and Chaz Green inside, Austin is a challenge for defenders in space. The "web-back'' thing remains sort of goofy, and privately, Austin bristles a bit at the announced notion of him as a running back .. and a fifth-string one at that.

He believes he's a wide receiver first, and to the Cowboys' credit, they're given him a shot there. He's smallish, so the first inclination is to play the former Rams first-rounder in the slot. But the draft-day trade for him (Dallas surrendered a sixth-rounder) was done with the goal of putting him in space all over the field. So he's actually lined up not only in the slot, but also out wide. He can line up in the backfield (maybe not in place Ezekiel Elliott, but alongside him?) and seek easy-win matchups.

Running back, wide receiver, wherever he is Tavon Austin is going to make people miss. (h/t @Tayaustin01 IG) pic.twitter.com/z9RZC5F6S9 — RJ Ochoa (@rjochoa) June 15, 2018

Look at the video of him from inside The Star in Frisco during minicamp, courtesy of his own Instagram account, and watch him as a return guy, flashing the ability to make people miss.

'He'll be in all the rooms at some point. He starts with the receiver room, though,' said coordinator Scott Linehan of Tavon, who would also like to win the return job. 'That's what he played in college, what he's been playing in the NFL. He starts there, but he plays a lot of things for us.''

Said Tavon: "I'm a playmaker.''

This is a breathtaking guy in The Underwear Olympics, his work as flashy as Jihad Ward's is subtle. With Ward, the issues with Collins and Irving make his path to contribution clear. With Austin, there are so many receivers and runners ahead of him on the depth chart that he may have to cut and spin and move and sprint his way to some daylight.

But with training camp about five weeks away, hey, maybe the two Cowboys trades for vets on draft day resulted in two "steals.''