Dallas Cowboys Off Season News

[eagle eye]

Dallas lost to Miami 25-20. Big deal. It's preseason and Dallas is just trying to find out who is going to make the team. The starters for both teams played the first half and the halftime score was Dallas 6 and Miami 3. Here's a couple of my observations from the game.

 

1. The Cowboys website writers have been crowing about how good this offense looks in practice but it hasn't really translated to these preseason games. I know it's vanilla but the line certainly hasn't been dominant and the running backs with the 1st offense have been decent but not jaw dropping good. The most disconcerting this is that Cole Beasley is dropping balls he normally would get to. As dress rehearsals go this one wasn't one to write home about.

 

2. The defense looks like it may be finding a couple of guys who can play. The projected starters at the one technique and the 3 technique, Henry Melton and Terrell McClain were not active last night but it allowed other players to step up and couple did. Davon Coleman did a nice job at DT and made a couple of plays behind the line of scrimmage. CB Tyler Patmon also showed up. He forced a fumble in the first half that was recovered by Barry Church and he had two picks, one for a TD. He did give up a long pass in the 3rd quarter but overall the kid didn't do bad. CB Terrence Mitchell didn't do bad. He makes rookie mistakes but he could certainly make the team. I would be scared to cut him and have another team pick him up before he can be signed to the practice squad. Patmon will likely make the team but with Mo Claiborne having chronic shoulder issues and Orlando Scandrick being suspended 4 games Mitchell could make the final 53 too.

 

3 Ahmad Dixon is going to get crucified when coaches go over game film with the team today or Monday. He was the one who led with his helmet to deliver a totally unnecessary blow to Miami WR Matt Hazel on the Dallas goal line on 3rd down with the pass clearly overthrown. Totally a lame brained play. Instead of forcing a field goal attempt by Miami it gave them a first down that eventually led to a Dolphins TD. Dixon was flagged for two penalties on the play, unnecessary roughness on a defenseless player and helmet to helmet contact. So, not only is Dixon going to get reamed by the coaches he's going to have to pay a fine to the NFL league office. BTW, the NFL Heads Up Program is meant to teach kids how to avoid head and neck injuries and avoid concussions. Dixon is a walking poster child why. The head to head hits do nothing but get you flagged and the worst thing is the hitter, in this case Dixon, is likely to concuss himself than the other guy. Dixon had a good game in San Diego in Week 1 but left with a mild concussion. The following week he overslept and missed a team meeting and was benched for the Ravens game and now last night he commits a totally stupid play that helped Miami win the game. When all you can do is hit hard only bad things came happen and as much as Dallas may like Dixon it may be hard for him to make this team. Practice squad maybe.

 

4, Punter Chris Jones better not slack off in practice for the next 10 days because the kid they brought into camp a week or so ago, Tom Hornsey, has got thunder in his foot. He got off a couple of 60+ yard punts last night. Jones is the holder for Dan Bailey so Dallas likely won't want to rock that boat but the kid was impressive.

 

5. Okay, for the last 3 weeks the debate has been, will Dallas keep three or four RB's? Meaning that DeMarco Murray is a lock, Lance Dunbar is a lock and the last spot could be between 2nd year man Joseph Randle and 4th year man Ryan Williams. I'm here to tell you that the way Ryan Williams has played the past two weeks it's possible there is consideration for keeping Williams and Randle and cutting Lance Dunbar. I haven't seen anything Dunbar has done that Williams can't do better and Williams is a better pass blocker than Dunbar. If you want to keep your 100 million dollar QB clean you had better be able to pick up a blitzer or help out with a pesky defensive lineman or linebacker every once in a while. I think it's entirely possible that Dunbar could be the odd man out of the RB's on this team especially if Dallas wants to keep a fullback. Ryan Williams was an NFL second round pick with second round talent that is showing up in games.

 

 

We'll see what happens this week when Dallas and the rest of the NFL has to cut rosters down from 90 players to 75. That will be on Tuesday if you're keeping track.

[eagle eye]

Here's an update on the Cowboys injury situation. The only real ambiguous note was about Tony Romo's absence from practice today but it's consistent with how is training camp work has gone. As noted in the article below he was sacked 3 times vs Miami and seemed to be okay.

 

http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/article-RowanKavner/Practice-Update-Melton-Returns-Romo-Not-On-Field/36e82ee8-37f6-4c22-91b3-b27bc4a1358d

 

The Cowboys, as all NFL teams, will need to get cut down their roster to 75 players from the training camp limit of 90 by tomorrow evening. Today they cut 2 players, DL Martez Wilson who just didn't work out and rookie UFA from LSU JC Copeland which leaves Dallas with only Tyler Klutts as the only fullback on the roster.

[eagle eye]

Dallas got down to the 75 man limit on their roster today by making the final cuts. The most notable of the cut were veteran QB Caleb Haney and S Matt Johnson. A guy like Haney that has starting experience could be picked up by a team like St Louis who could depend on Shaun Hill or a guy like Haney could actually be a starter. He did for Chicago not all that long ago. Johnson has seen the patience of Job from the Cowboys in his 2+ years with the team after Dallas made him a 4th round choice in the 2012 draft. Because of a nagging hamstring injury that never seemed to heal he never saw a down in a regular season game. Here's the article about all the roster moves Dallas made to get down to the 75 player limit.

 

http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/article-DavidHelman/Cowboys-Trim-Roster-To-75-Matt-Johnson-Waived-/a919dc13-f1b7-47e5-b0bc-ad7149621b66

 

Jerry Jones said in a radio interview today that DE Anthony Spenser who has been recovering from microfracture knee surgery last year, one year ago to be exact, will begin the season on the 53 man roster. What that means is the Cowboys expectations are that Spenser will be a go to join the line up within the 6 six weeks he would have had to sit out on PUP/Able to Return list. If Spenser comes back close the par he was when he suffered the knee injury Dallas will have filled a big void on the D-line. Only it won't be Week 1 against the 49ers.

 

DL Henry Melton was back at practice today but it's not clear if he will play in Thursday night's final preseason game. It's good to have him back and the probability of his being in the starting lineup in Week 1 is looking pretty good. Which mean 2 voids on the D-line will soon be filled.

[eagle eye]

Final cuts are coming today but as yet nothing official from the team website. It's possible RB Ryan Williams could be cut but he has done a really nice job in preseason. I'd hate to see him go. To me, he's been better than Lance Dunbar and Joseph Randall but he's played mostly 3rd and 4th stringers but he's been better than them. He's a 2nd round talent Dallas could have cheap.

 

The big debate on DallasCowboys.com is who will play linebacker in all three spots (talking about starters)? That is a really good question. My feeling is SAM LB is going to be Justin Durant, WILL will be Bruce Carter and MIKE will be either Anthony Hitchens or Rolando McClain. That will be the big question going forward.

 

The more you hear about Mo Claiborne the more you almost have to think he's a bust considering Dallas traded up to pick No 6 in the 2012 draft to get him. He has had nothing but injury problems since he was drafted. Mostly it's been his hamstrings or his shoulders. He was slowed down so much that he lost his starting job to Orlando Scandrick last season. Now, after shining early in OTAs and training camp he's been hampered by a sprain to his AC joint in his right shoulder and knee tendonitis. The shoulder is still hurting bad enough he already knows he's going to need a pain killer shot to play in the opener with San Francisco a week from tomorrow. With all his injury woes it's getting very close for him to be labeled the 'B' word, that is a "bust". That's what happens when you trade up to the 6th pick in the 2012 draft and you miss more than half the time your on the team and a big chunk of the time you play you're not very good. Last season Claiborne dislocated his left shoulder and he tried to play through the pain but he played so badly he lost his starting job. Dallas defense is hurting, everyone knows that. Part of that hurt, like or not, is Morris Claiborne.

[eagle eye]

Dallas has made their final cuts and they had their first practice solely dedicated to the San Francisco 49ers who they begin their 2014 campaign with this Sunday.

Among the final cuts were S BW Webb and RB Ryan Williams. I am really surprised that Williams was cut based on his past draft status (2nd round) and the way he showed up in all but the first game of the preseason. Dallas elected to keep fullback Tyler Klutts who DallasCowboys.com writer agree there is really nothing special about Klutts. Dallas also kept QB Dustin Vaughn meaning Dallas has 3 QBs on the roster which is something they haven't done in a while. Vaughn is someone from a small school (West Texas A&M) and was an undrafted free agent just like the current starting QB Tony something-or-other. The Cowboys also went long at defensive line hoping a nice rotation could emerge and healthy bodies were needed while Terrence McClain, Anthony Spenser and DeMarcus Lawrence recover from injuries. That's not even talking about DT Henry Melton just now coming back to practice after straining his quad in the summer plus his rehab from 2013 ACL surgery. Oh yeah, George Selvie is injured and questionable for opening day. Holy crap!

This will be my last post on this thread because it ain't the off season any more, Toto. The real deal begins Thursday with the Cowboys beginning Sunday. I was asked what I thought the Cowboys would do this year the other day and I replied, "16-0 and Super Bowl win". That's what 31 other teams and their fans are saying a week before the season starts. That's what is beautiful about hope.

Edited September 2, 2014 by eagle eye