eagle eye Posted May 10, 2017 Author Posted May 10, 2017 Since my last post there has been some goings on around Cowboys headquarters. First, Doug Free is retired at least as far as Dallas is concerned. Last week the Cowboys put Free on the retired list. Free made no official statement but the fact that Dallas designated him as retired sort of takes the mystery out of his status. Free played 10 seasons in the NFL and he was a starter for 8 of them. He’s had some injury problems, mainly with his ankle, the past couple of years. After his big breakout season in 2009 when he excelled at right tackle Free was given a big contract extension and he made the move to left tackle with the retirement of Flozell Adams. Free struggled at left tackle and was eventually replaced by Tyron Smith which meant that Free would go back to a position he had success with at right tackle. In 2015 Free received a 3 year $15 MM contract with most of that money going to signing bonus. Two years into that contract Free has called it a career. Speculation over Free’s status has been flying around since it was reported way back in February that he was going to retire about who would take his place. The logical choice was 2015 2nd round pick Chaz Green out of Florida but Green has been hurt more than he’s been healthy. During free agency Dallas signed veteran tackle Byron Bell. Bell is a guy who has a lot of starting experience with Carolina and Tennessee and he looked like the guy who would replace Free. Now, as of this past weekend when 2015 UDFA from LSU La’el Collins announced that during offseason workouts he has been working exclusively at right tackle. The guys on the Cowboy’s website think this is a good move because he really takes advantage of Collins’ skill set. I’m not ready to trust that Chaz Green can stay healthy so I’m good if Collins moves to right tackle with Bell as the backup swing tackle. This would definitely be an upgrade on the O-line as Free’s last couple of years has not only been injury plagued but he’s the most penalized guy on the line as well. So, who plays left guard? With the FA departure of Ronald Leary and Collins apparent move to RT there is big hole to fill. It could be the man that fills that spot is already sitting there on the Cowboys roster. Right now the Cowboys have free agent signee Jonathan Cooper, Joe Looney who was with the Cowboys last season and he played several games and they have Kadeem Edwards out of Tennessee State. The trouble with Edwards is he hasn’t actually played a down in the NFL. Edwards was a 5th round pick by Tampa Bay in 2014 and he ended up on the Bucs practice squad. He was released by Tampa in 2015 and signed on to the Jacksonville Jaguars practice squad. He was released by the Jags in September of 2016. Dallas signed him to their practice squad last November. Joe Looney was a 4th round draft pick in 2012 by the 49ers. He’s spent 3 seasons with San Fran before being released. In 2015 Looney played for Tennessee starting 6 games with them. Looney was signed by the Cowboys in March of 2016 to replaced Mackenzy Bernadeau as the backup guard. He started one game for Ron Leary last season and he was the blocking tight end in short yardage situations as well. Jonathan Cooper was the 7th overall pick by the Arizona Cardinals in 2013 but he would have to be considered a bust for the Cards because he has been derailed by injuries that landed him on IR in 2013 and slowed him down enough to cost him his starting job in both 2014 and 2015. In March of 2016 the Patriots traded their best defensive lineman, Chandler Jones, to Arizona for Cooper and the Cardinals 2nd round pick in 2016. The pick eventually went to the Saint who selected S Vonn Bell. Cooper suffered yet another injury, this time to his foot that again cost him his job. The Patriots released Cooper on October 8th and 2 days later he was signed by the Cleveland Browns. Cooper started 3 of the 5 games he played for them before he was waived by the Browns. Cooper was signed by Dallas in January of 2017 to add some much needed O-line depth for the playoffs. At the beginning of the free agency period this year Dallas signed Cooper to a one year extension. If Cooper could manage to put his injury woes behind him and win the starting job in Dallas it would give the Cowboys 4 first round draft picks on the O-line and the 5th, La’el Collins, would be another guy projected as a first round pick had it not been for legal issues he was dealing with at the time. Left guard and right tackle will be big holes to fill and will be one of the interesting stories as OTA’s and training camp progress this summer. The profiles of the 14 undrafted free agency that Dallas will probably sign this week continues with looks at a linebacker prospect and a wide receiver. The second profile page examines a couple O-linemen. LB Joe Jones - Northwestern WR Brian Brown - Richmond http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2017/05/08/undrafted-series-taking-closer-look-new-rookie-wr-lb C/G Michael Coe - North Dakota OT Levon Myers - Northern Illinois http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2017/05/09/undrafted-series-breaking-down-2-o-line-rookie-free-agents-expected-sign-0 The 2017 class of rookies, both drafted and undrafted, will be reporting tomorrow and they will be on the field for the rookie mini camp on Friday when the Cowboys get the first look at the newest members of their team. The entire team will be together for the first time when OTA’s begin on May 23-25. Quote
eagle eye Posted May 13, 2017 Author Posted May 13, 2017 Dallas officially signed 13 of the 14 undrafted free agents that were unofficially announcing their intentions to sign with the Cowboys earlier this week. The only player not to sign was Arkansas TE Dan Skipper. Skipper wasn't signed because of an issue with his bloodwork. Cowboys reps went with Skipper to a clinic to redo his bloodwork and he was back in time to participate in the mini-camp as a tryout. The Cowboys can still sign him if they choose http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2017/05/12/cowboys-sign-13-rookie-free-agents-leading-rookie-minicamp Here's a photo gallery from DallasCowboys.com of the first day of Rookie Mini-Camp. http://www.dallascowboys.com/galleries/2017/05/12/2017-rookie-mini-camp-day-1 This article contains quotes from the rookies and 1st year players participating in this weekend's mini-camp. http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2017/05/12/sound-cowboys-rookies-soaking-first-day-cowboys-minicamp This final link is to Mickey Spagnola's article that talks about Dallas' 6th round pick Xavier Woods from La Tech. A player the Cowboys had ranked as a 3rd or 4th round pick. Obviously Dallas was elated when he was still available in the sixth. In fact they were so elated the made a deal trading away their 2018 5th round pick to get to pick near the top of the 6th round to get him. Nice article about a kid who wanted to come to Dallas all along. http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2017/05/12/spagnola-got-safety-who-already-pretty-darn-aware Quote
eagle eye Posted May 15, 2017 Author Posted May 15, 2017 The Cowboys rookie mini-camp came to a conclusion on Saturday and some positive things came out the workouts. Of course, the players were only working against air as the collective bargaining agreement doesn’t allow players to work against each other in this Phase 2 of the NFL offseason work. In this linked article from DallasCowboys.com Bryan Broaddus gives some of his observations during the rookie mini-camp. Note how much Broaddus is impressed with the Cowboys 4th round pick Ryan Switzer. Judging by this article I’d have to tell Lucky Whitehead not to get too comfortable in Dallas, he may not be here in August. http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2017/05/14/broaddus-standout-players-notes-cowboys-rookie-camp There was a very pleasant surpise as I read the above article and that was that LU’s own Kade Harrington was a participant in the mini-camp. He isn’t a signed undrafted free agent, he there as a tryout player, but as Jason Garrett tells his players in these situations, he doesn’t care how you got to The Star in Frisco, it is what you do when you get there. Dallas will be looking to replace RB Lance Dunbar since he left via free agency this spring and I can’t think of a better guy than Kade. Here’s a photo gallery of Day 2 of the rookie mini-camp. http://www.dallascowboys.com/galleries/2017/05/13/2017-rookie-mini-camp-day-2#421596 The Cow boys 2nd round draft pick in this year’s draft CB Chidobe Awuzie from the University of Colorado did not participate in Friday’s rookie mini-camp because he was taking his walk to get his diploma from CU’s school of business on Friday evening. He was in Dallas on Thursday for his orientation and to be fitted for his equipment but he went back to Boulder for his graduation. He was back in Dallas in plenty of time for Day 2. The linked article below may give some insight into what kind of player the Cowboys have gotten with that 2nd round pick. He looks like a bargain at any price. http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2017/05/13/%E2%80%98knowledge-equals-confidence%E2%80%99-awuzie-who%E2%80%99s-back-rookie-camp Quote
eagle eye Posted May 16, 2017 Author Posted May 16, 2017 The Cowboys had their rookie mini-camp this past weekend and they signed 13 of 14 undrafted free agents and the 14th may still be signed if blood work doesn’t come back bad. He participated in the Cowboys mini-camp so chances are he will be signed at some point. Just prior to the mini-camp the Cowboys actually signed 8 of their 9 draft picks. With the last collective bargaining agreement kicked in in 2011 and ushered in with it the rookie salary cap, signing draft picks isn’t the adventure it used to be. No more hold outs, no more missed training camps and no overpaying a rookie for services not yet even rendered. It just made sense didn’t it? Why pay a rookie a crap-load of money when he hasn’t played a down in the NFL and be forced to kick a proven veteran to the curb to make room for the, in most cases, overpriced rookie? It’s the most logical and best move made by a union, any union, in a very long time. Since 2011 signing draft picks is just a formality and most deals are done before OTA’s much less having to deal with a hold out in training camp. It’s happened, in fact, it happened just last year when Joey Bosa held out all of training camp because of a language issue in the contract. Bosa is the exception to the rule, the fly in the ointment if you will that occasionally happens when dealing with people. Bosa was a rare exception to the rule of signing players under the new collective bargaining agreement. There is one exception to the rule that isn’t rare and that is the difficulty signing 3rd round draft picks. I’ve seen this before and I don’t remember what there is about the language concerning 3rd round draft picks but they have traditionally, under the new system, been a real bitch to sign. Michigan CB Jourdan Lewis is the Cowboys 3rd round pain in the ass but he may have an extra cookie in his jar, that being a misdemeanor domestic violence charge back in March. The case goes to trial in July and the Cowboys may be waiting to see how that all plays out before actually making a financial investment in him. Lewis claims he is innocent and will be exonerated but only time will tell how that all plays out. This link from ProFootballTalk.com goes into detail about Lewis situation. http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2017/05/11/eight-cowboys-nine-2017-draft-picks-sign-their-rookie-contracts http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2017/04/29/jourdan-lewis-im-completely-innocent-of-domestic-violence-charge/ Cowboys COO Stephen Jones said recently that, in all likelihood, the Cowboys will get together to work out a long term deal with All Pro and Pro Bowl offensive guard Zach Martin. The Cowboys earlier this year exercised the 5th year option for Martin that is allowable for 1st round draft picks. Martin was the 16th pick overall in the 2014 draft as he enters the 4th year of his rookie deal. In the spring of a 1st round player’s rookie deal teams have to declare their intention of exercising that 5th year option and the Cowboys did that back in March. It doesn’t mean that a first round pick and his team can’t still work out a long term deal it just means the team wants that player for all five years they are eligible to keep him. Obviously, the Cowboys want Martin as he makes up the core of the Cowboys O-line along with LT Tyron Smith and C Travis Frederick and the Cowboys want to keep this core together for the long haul. Not every 1st round pick has a had their 5th year exercised. Remember Morris Claiborne? He was Dallas’ 6th pick in the 2012 draft but because of his injury history Dallas chose not to exercise his 5th year option in 2015. Claiborne was a free agent in 2016 but there was little interest in him. Dallas signed Claiborne to a one year deal last season and for about half the year he performed well but he tore a groin muscle and didn’t play the rest of the season. Again this year Claiborne was a free agent but unlike last year there was interest in his services and he signed a deal with the New York Jets this spring. http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2017/05/15/cowboys-front-office-eying-training-camp-zack-martin-contract-talks So, if Jaylon Smith and Charles Tapper are both able to go full bore this year it will be like adding 2 more draft picks to this class. Well, you could add a third because last year’s 7th round pick TE Rico Gathers from Baylor was selected as a bargain basement tight end project. Gathers was a basketball player at Baylor when he decided to declare for the NFL draft last year. The thing about Rico was he hadn’t played organized football since he was in 8th grade but Cowboys scouts saw a kid with size (6’6”, 290 lbs) with basketball agility and speed and they envisioned an Antonio Gates or a Tony Gonzalez and they took a chance on him. Rico was able to participate in last weekend’s rookie mini-camp because he was on the Cowboys practice squad all of last year and as the article from DallasCowboys.com’s Rob Phillips explains he’s “Ready for Everything They’ve Got to Throw At Me”. http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2017/05/15/rico-gathers-%E2%80%9Cready-everything-they%E2%80%99ve-got-throw-me%E2%80%9D-year Latest news on Jaylon Smith’s knee injury is this. The ACL and MCL he tore is surgically repaired and he’s 100% good to go. The nerve damage he suffered at the same time he torn his knee ligaments is coming along. It was reported that he actually able to raise his toes for the first time since his injury in January of 2016. If the nerve is truly finally able to regenerate all the way he could be a full go by training camp. Nobody can say Dallas hasn’t committed resources to its defense. Let’s look at just what Dallas will be adding to their team on the D side of the ball this year. 1st Rd caliber pick and a top 10 caliber player from 2016 draft LB Jaylon Smith from Notre Dame 2017 1st round pick DE Taco Charlton from Michigan 2017 2nd Rd pick CB Chidobe Awuzie from Colorado 2017 3rd Rd pick CB Jourdan Lewis from Michigan 4th Rd pick from 2016 DE Charles Tapper from Oklahoma 2017 6th Rd pick (with a 3 Rd grade) S Xavier Woods from Louisiana Tech 2017 6th Rd pick CB Marquez White from Florida State 2017 7th Rd pick DT Joey Ivey from Florida 2017 7th Rd pick DT Jordan Carroll from Colorado All these guys are from Power 5 schools except for Woods and all have the ability to make an immediate impact. There is plenty of evidence that the Cowboys defense is going to be markedly better in 2017 and if they live up to expectations and Dallas doesn’t suffer under a Dak Prescott sophomore slump this Cowboys team should had a shot at a Super Bowl. Vegas has the Cowboys with an over/under of 9.5 wins based on a brutal schedule and improvements by all 3 other NFC East teams. The Cowboys will play their division rivals 2 times each and they play the NFC and AFC West divisions and their two remaining games are against the Packers and Falcons. So lets look at the Cowboys schedule which was published before the draft. http://www.fbschedules.com/nfl-17/2017-dallas-cowboys-football-schedule.php It is a bitch of a schedule, right? Just winning the NFC East won’t be a cake walk with the consolation being the Eagles, Redskins and Giants have basically the same schedule sans the Packers and Falcons. If the defense sees a big improvement with the influx of quality talent the road could get much, much easier. Quote
eagle eye Posted May 18, 2017 Author Posted May 18, 2017 There were reports just before the rookie mini-camp last weekend that Dallas would sign 14 undrafted free agents. They announced on Thursday before the mini-camp that they had signed 13 players, the lone exception to the list was Arkansas OL Dan Skipper. The Cowboys wanted to get some additional blood work done as a result of his physical when he reported to the Cowboys facility. Skipper actually got the blood work done in time to participate in Friday’s first day of the mini-camp but he was there as a tryout player. Yesterday the Cowboys officially signed Skipper to a deal meaning all 14 players that were expected to be sign are now officially Dallas Cowboys. The signing of Skipper obviously makes a person want to ask, where the hell is Gilligan? The signing of Skipper came after some other moves made by the Cowboys earlier in the day. The team waived 3 players; Jeremiah George who was on the Cowboys practice squad last season, rookie OT Levon Myers from Northern Illinois and C Michael Coe from North Dakota. They signed two tryout players from last weekend’s rookie mini-camp; TE MJ McFarland from UTEP and DE Darnell Leslie from Monmouth. McFarland actually spent 3 season with Texas before transferring to UTEP and he spent parts of last season with the Jets and Eagles on their practice squads. The moves left the Cowboys roster at 88 players and the signing of Skipper upped that total to 89. NFL teams are allowed 90 players on their rosters until the point in training camp when they need to start making cuts to get down to their final 53 man roster limit. DallasCowboys.com’s Bryan Broaddus gives a scouting report on MJ McFarland which is linked below. http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2017/05/17/scouting-report-new-te-has-impressive-traits-needs-improve-blocker Broaddus began a series of articles titled Scouting the Schedule with a look at the Cowboys Week 1 opponent the New York Giants. http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2017/05/17/scouting-schedule-giants-added-key-pieces-free-agency-draft The Cowboys drafted 3 cornerbacks in this year’s draft and, so far, the first two Chidobe Awuzie and Jourdan Lewis are getting the most attention from the media. In this article from DallasCowboys.com written by Jonathan Auping looks at one of the Cowboys 6th round draft picks, Marquez White from Florida State. http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2017/05/17/recent-history-says-don%E2%80%99t-over-look-marquez-white-third-cb-selected Quote
eagle eye Posted May 19, 2017 Author Posted May 19, 2017 The Cowboys have officially opened a 60,000 square foot fitness facility at The Star of Frisco. The article linked below gives the details of this unique one-of-a-kind fitness club with memberships open to the public. They say you can train along side Cowboys players past and present and Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders as well. Here’s the article from dfw.com and a link from DallasCowboys.com giving a video tour of the new facility. http://www.dfw.com/2016/11/08/1152159/cowboys-fit-to-open-at-the-star.html http://www.dallascowboys.com/video/2017/05/18/exclusive-first-look-cowboys-fit Bryan Broaddus continues his breakdown of Cowboys opponents from the coming season. He talks about what these teams have done to improve themselves this past offseason. Yesterday I linked Week 1 opponent the NY Giants. Today Broaddus takes a look at Week 2 and 3 opponents, the Denver Broncos and the Arizona Cardinals respectively. http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2017/05/18/scouting-schedule-broncos-hope-improved-o-line-will-help-qb-play http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2017/05/19/scouting-schedule-cowboys-hope-end-4-game-slide-against-arizona It’s Friday. It’s my daughter’s second to last day of school. It’s the weekend after Mother’s Day and the weekend before Memorial Day. Summer is almost upon us but Greg Bostwick says we have one last cool front before it starts getting seriously hot next weekend. I’m ecstatic about that weather forecast, I love me some cool weather! Oh yeah, OTA’s begin next week on Tuesday thru Thursday, May 23-25. Here’s an article from sportsday.dallasnews.com with the Cowboys schedule over the next month. https://sportsday.dallasnews.com/dallas-cowboys/cowboys/2017/04/03/cowboys-officially-set-2017-schedule-otas-minicamp Quote
eagle eye Posted May 31, 2017 Author Posted May 31, 2017 I have seriously neglected the Cowboys over the past two weeks. OTA's began for Dallas and all the other teams in the NFL last week. Today is actually the 2nd of 3 days this week in Week 2 of OTA's. There first week started off with some bad news. Zeke Elliott missed the first week after he was a passenger in a car that got into a minor wreck. He didn't sustain any serious injuries but the Cowboys kept him out of the first week as a precaution. Another item of bad news came prior to Week 2 when free agent CB Nolan Carroll was busted for a DUI. No doubt Coach Chickensh*t wasn't happy about the situation especially since he is an 8 year veteran. Bad news always seem to come in bunches especially with the Cowboys. Before OTA's began rumors were going around that DE David Irving would be suspended for violating the NFL policy on performance enhancing drugs. At this point I'm just glad it wasn't weed. Turns out the rumors are true but Irving is appealing a possible 4 game suspension. Dallas isn't the only team in the NFL who have had players suspended but sometimes it seems like it. Randy Gregory three times and he's rumored to have failed yet another drug test. DeMarcus Lawrence was suspended 4 games last season. Orlando Scandrick was also suspended for doing ecstacy on vacation. Then there's the Rolando McClain fiasco. There is good news too. LB Jaylon Smith has been looking good so far as he does work with the team on Tuesdays and Thursdays while doing rehab work on Wednesdays. That will continue through the offseason work until training camp. DL Tyrone Crawford - Rehabbing from offseason shoulder surgery. Not expected back until training camp. TE James Hanna - Recovering from knee surgery. Not expected back until training camp. TE Geoff Swaim - Recovering from broken foot suffered in workouts this spring. Not expected back until training camp. DL Benson Mayowa - Rehabbing knee injury. No time table for his return. DL Stephen Paea - Rehabbing knee injury. No time table for his return. OT Chaz Greene - Practicing like Jaylon Smith. Full participation expected at training camp. OL Joe Looney - Injured his back in OTA's. Limited participation. TE Jason Witten - Getting the benefit of being a veteran. Just doing conditioning work. LB Sean Lee - Same as Witten. WR/KR Lucky Whitehead - Missed some OTA practices. Probably pouting over the Cowboys drafting Ryan Switzer. WR Cole Beasley - dealing with a pulled hamstring. I know it's been a while and you might have forgotten but DallasCowboys.com's Bryan Broaddus has a series called Scouting the Schedule. In these pieces Broaddus takes a look at how the teams on the schedule have improved via the draft and free agency and in some cases getting a new head coach. Previously, I have linked the Week 1 thru Week 3 opponents. The links below tackle Week's 4 thru 7. Week 4 opponent the Los Angeles Rams. New head coach new look Rams. http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2017/05/22/scouting-schedule-rams-new-coaches-have-talent-work Week 5 opponent is the Green Bay Packers. http://www.dallascowboys.com/news?date_filter[value]=&page=1 Week 6 is the Cowboys bye week. Week 7 opponent is Chip Kelly-less San Francisco 49ers. http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2017/05/24/scouting-schedule-cowboys-headed-back-sf-face-new-look-niners Quote
eagle eye Posted June 2, 2017 Author Posted June 2, 2017 If you visit the Dallas Cowboys website you don't see any articles about the Cowboys first three rounds of draft picks. No Taco, no Chido, no Jourdan. What you do see a lot of are articles and references to the Cowboys 4th round draft pick Ryan Switzer. There has been nothing but praise for the young WR from North Carolina. Praise for his work ethic, praise for his route running and just an overall good impression of the player. One great thing about Switzer is he seems to get it. He's not cocky, or arrogant or even brash but what he seems to be, from the 10,000 foot view, is confident. The kid knows he can play but he's not reminding you about it. It's sort of refreshing to see a WR who isn't annoying like that. One series of articles I am finding interesting on DallasCowboys.com is the one being done by Bryan Broaddus called Scouting the Schedule in which he is taking a look at the Cowboys 2017 opponents and giving his take on draft picks, free agent acquisitions and losses and just a general feeling about the opponent. I have posted links in previous posts of Weeks' 1 thru 7. Today I'm linking Weeks 8 thru 10. Weeks 8 - Washington Redskins. Second division game of the season after the Week 1 tilt against the NY Giants. http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2017/05/25/scouting-schedule-can-washington-handle-turnover-offense Week 9 - Kansas City Chiefs. The 2nd of the four AFC West opponents the Cowboys will face. At home or on the road this will be a tough game for the Cowboys but so far I haven't seen an easy one! http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2017/05/29/scouting-schedule-talented-d-line-just-part-chiefs%E2%80%99-balanced-roster Week 10 - The Atlanta Falcons - Will the Falcons return as strong in 2017 as they were in 2016 when they went to the Super Bowl? OC Kyle Shanahan is now the head coach of the San Francisco 49er and Dallas will have played them already. If you haven't noticed up to now, the Cowboys have a real booger of a schedule. http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2017/05/30/scouting-schedule-can-atlanta-avoid-super-bowl-hangover Quote
eagle eye Posted June 20, 2017 Author Posted June 20, 2017 It’s been a long time for me to update any info from Cowboyland so I’ll give a very abridged version of the OTA’s and mandatory mini-camp. First of all, the unquestioned star of the offseason work among the rookies is WR Ryan Switzer. For a time in the NFL small wide receivers were not uncommon. In fact, they were the norm. NFL teams wanted small quick and fast guys who could beat tight press coverage and give DBs fits trying to tackle them once they caught the ball. The 80s seemed to be the pinnacle of this era when you have the Three Amigos in Denver that featured Vance Johnson, Mark Jackson and Ricky Nattiel. Johnson was the tallest of the three at 5’11’’. Then you had the Marks Brothers, Mark Clayton and Mark Duper who were both 5’9’’. At one time the Dan Marino-Mark Clayton connection was the most prolific tandem in the NFL. Then there was the Smurfs from the Washington Redskins. That receiving corps consisted of Alvin Garrett, Virgil Seay and Charlie Brown. The tallest of the 3 was Brown at 5’10’’. The Redskins also had Art Monk who ended up in the Pro Football HOF who was definitely not in small WR mode being 6’3’’. It all started to change over the last couple of decades with teams looking for that big WR. Guys like Dez, Megatron, Julio Jones as the prototypical receivers in today’s game. Dallas is sort going old school 80’s with the addition of Switzer. Switzer is 5’8’’ and a buck 80 but paired with the Cowboys veteran Cole Beasley, who is also 5’8’’, Dallas has a pair of receivers who are quick off the ball, quick coming out of breaks and elusive after the catch. Switzer has gotten a lot of reps in the offseason practices because both Beasley and last year’s punt returner Lucky Whitehead have missed due to nagging injuries. Whitehead will be fighting to keep his job because Switzer is, right now, after starting for 4 years at North Carolina a much better route runner than Whitehead and Switzer excelled at kick returns in college as well. He will definitely be one to watch once training camp starts in late July. Jaylon Smith is looking good in the brief time the media has had to watch him practice. He is still suffering from drop foot because the nerve damage he sustained when his knee was severely injured in his last college game but he is showing the speed and mobility that would have made him a top 5 draft pick had he not been injured. His one deficiency is his ability to turn and run in coverage. This might lead him to start out as a 2 down LB until he fully heals. The question of whether he will fully heal hasn’t been answered yet but it has been reported that he does have feeling in his foot which leads you to believe that a full recovery is inevitable. Given the reports of what an outstanding person Smith is and his tireless work ethic and his can-do attitude you would certainly hope a full recovery will happen. Former Baylor basketball star Rico Gathers was signed as a 7th round draft pick last year. He hadn’t played football since junior high school and he was always seen as a developmental player. I’m sure the only reason Dallas used a draft pick on him was because the scouts were high on him they didn’t want to chance losing him as an undrafted free agent. After one season on the practice squad and now two off seasons to get stronger and more comfortable playing football again, Gathers has been reported as having made tremendous strides. So much so that Dallas might not be able to stash him on their practice squad any more. We’ll be watching Rico this summer too. The biggest thing most Cowboys fans are watching is the defense. At least in the offseason work rookie DBs Chidobe Awuzie, Jourdan Lewis and Marquez White have already made a positive impression. Throw in LA Tech safety Xavier Woods and the defensive backfield looks like it could be in good hands for years to come. The linebackers could be getting a shot in the arm with Jaylon Smith but his effect on this LB corps remains to be seen depending on the health of that darned old peroneal nerve. Anthony Hitchens has been singled out as a plus player at middle linebacker as he is finally healthy for the first time since early in his rookie season. The most watched position will certainly be D-line and defensive end in particular. Dallas has searched hi and low for a pass rush since the departure of DeMarcus Ware a few years back with no success. Dallas has tried through the draft but the last two picks prior to 2017 were DeMarcus Lawrence and Randy Gregory and both, especially Gregory can’t stay on the field because of their love of the herb superb, marijuana. Lawrence showed signs of being a good end in 2015 particularly in the playoffs but between a drug suspension and nagging injuries he was pretty much a no-show last season. Last year the Cowboys thought they got a steal taking Oklahoma DE Charles Tapper in the 4th round of the draft but a back injury sidelined him for the whole season. This past draft Dallas invested their first round pick on Michigan DE Taco Charlton. He was projected as a late round 1st pick and that’s exactly when Dallas chose him. The battle here is who will win the starting nod a right defensive end, the pass rusher side, and who might play the left, run stopping side. Where will D-Law fit in to the mix -- if at all? Yep, we’ll be watching that pass rush pretty darn close. The O-line lost it’s right tackle Doug Free to retirement and left guard Ronald Leary to free agency. To counter these losses Dallas has moved former starting guard La’el Collins to right tackle and it seems to fit him like a glove. This move seems to be a done deal so the big problem will be to find a guy who can play swing tackle. Candidates include 2017 free agent signee Byron Bell, last year’s swing tackle Chaz Green or Joe Looney. Dallas also has a guy named Emmitt Cleary who could figure into the mix. That leaves left guard and Dallas did sign former 1st round pick by Arizona Jonathan Cooper. Cooper spent time with 3 teams last season after spending from 2013 to 2015 with Arizona. He was with New England to start the year but a foot injury sidelined him and that resulted in his being waived in early October. Cleveland picked him up and he started 5 games for the Browns but he was waived in December to make room for player coming off suspension. Dallas signed him on January 4th as depth heading into the playoffs and after the season was over he signed a one year deal to stay with the Cowboys. I’m sure that Dallas would love for Cooper to take over that job. It would turn around what has, to date, been a very disappointing NFL career if Cooper can succeed in Dallas. If Cooper prevails Joe Looney could be in the mix as the swing guard/center. All in all, Dallas should still field the best O-line in the NFL this coming season. That’s it! Thank God it’s the abridged version, right? Sheesh. Dallas and the rest of the NFL is off now until training camp at the end of July. The NFL will be able to get a week head start with rookies as part of a new agreement between teams and the NFL league office but the full team training camp will begin July 24 in Oxnard CA. So, unless somebody does something stupid, there really shouldn’t be any news until then. This is the longest 5 weeks of the year for me; no news unless it is bad, no football going on and nothing but this damnable SE Texas heat to keep us company. We do seem to have a tropical storm to deal with over the next couple of days. I hope everyone survives intact and unharmed and I hope nobody gets hit with flood waters. Best of luck to all. Quote
eagle eye Posted June 27, 2017 Author Posted June 27, 2017 According to 3rd year DB Byron Jones via NFL.com the Cowboys defense has its arrows all pointing up heading into training camp because of how well first round draft pick Taco Charlton and last year's 2nd round pick Jaylon Smith have been showing up so far this spring and summer. http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000817585/article/byron-jones-jaylon-smith-balling-out-for-cowboys Speaking of Taco, he has a new endorsement deal with, you guessed it, Taco Bueno. http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000817609/article/cowboys-de-taco-charlton-to-partner-with-taco-bueno On DallasCowboys.com they have begun a series called "20 Questions" which refer to the top 20 issues that need to be answered in training camp next month. Here are the first two installments of the series. http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2017/06/26/20-questions-when-training-camp-ends-what-will-be-rico-gathers%E2%80%99-role http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2017/06/27/20-questions-which-undrafted-rookie-has-best-chance-make-roster Quote
eagle eye Posted June 30, 2017 Author Posted June 30, 2017 The continuation of the series "20 Questions" from DallasCowboys.com continues it's countdown with questions 18 and 17. All the questions are being tackled by the DallasCowboys.com staff writers giving their individual takes on the burning questions going into Training Camp 2017. http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2017/06/28/20-questions-what%E2%80%99s-scariest-part-cowboys%E2%80%99-2017-schedule http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2017/06/29/20-questions-who-will-be-summers-training-camp-mvp Bryan Broaddus, that old NFL scout, is now a staff writer for DallasCowboys.com but he regularly puts on his scout's hat and gives us a behind the looking glass look at the NFL in general and the Cowboys in particular. This article Mr Broaddus scared the hell out of me as he recounts the fact that Dallas will been having to protect Dak Prescott in his sophomore campaign from some the truly elite pass rushers in the NFL including a guy the Cowboys passed on to draft Ezekiel Elliott, one Joey Bosa. If this article doesn't give you summer nightmares please check your pulse because you may have a problem. http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2017/06/29/scout%E2%80%99s-eye-cowboys-get-task-facing-nfl%E2%80%99s-most-elite-pass-rushers-2017 If the previous link didn't scare you. Try this on for size. Here's a list of QB's Dallas will face with a defensive roster made up of 3 rookie CB's, 1 rookie safety, 1 rookie defensive end and one guy who might as well be a rookie because he didn't play at all last season. Are you ready? Check out this murderer's row of QB's - Eli Manning (twice), Carson Wentz (twice), Aaron Rodgers, Matt Ryan, Phillip Rivers, Derek Carr, Alex Smith and Russell Wilson. Throw in Washington QB Kirk Cousins (twice), the Rams first round choice from last year Jared Goff, Cardinals signal caller in Carson Palmer and it looks like the only break will be in Week 7 against the 49ers and nobody knows who the hell their starter will be at this point. Dallas has the toughest schedule in the NFL in 2017 so to think they will repeat that 13-3 record from a year ago is totally absurd. Dallas will be doing good to go 10-6 and that's if the defense gets much needed help from their past two drafts. One guy on that defense will miss the first 4 games of the season because he got busted violating the NFL league's ban of performance enhancing substances. At least he wasn't busted for smoking weed, we've seen that scene play out too often recently. Dallas will be without DL David Irving for 4 weeks. This a guy who led the Cowboys in QB pressures last year and who was named Defensive Player of the Week after harassing Aaron Rodgers half to death IN GREEN BAY no less. Too bad Irving couldn't repeat that performance in the playoffs with the Cowboys were ousted by the Packers IN DALLAS. Please don't tell me the NFL isn't full of ironies. Quote
eagle eye Posted July 11, 2017 Author Posted July 11, 2017 I have some news and some articles to share today so let me just jump right in. In the on-going series titled 20 Questions the Cowboys website staff writers have identified 20 burning questions that the Cowboys will need to answer when training camp opens on July 24th in the Oxnard, CA. The website is counting back from 20 to the eventual #1 burning question and I can’t wait to see what that might be. Today I will link Questions 16 and 15. 16) Which Cowboys player will earn his first Pro Bowl in 2017? Some of the answers may surprise you. http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2017/06/30/20-questions-which-cowboys-player-will-earn-his-first-pro-bowl-2017 15) Should the Cowboys keep Kellen Moore at backup QB or seek and upgrade? I think the answers here are varied and all have merit. Where would you stand if you were the Cowboys GM? http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2017/07/03/20-questions-should-cowboys-keep-moore-backup-qb-or-seek-upgrade If it weren’t bad enough with Randy Gregory suspended for the entire year and David Irving has been suspended for 4 games for using performance enhancing drugs now Damien Wilson has been arrested on two counts of aggravated assault. Nice Damien. Kids, thank Mr Wilson for fucking up the Cowboys plans for their linebackers, especially if Jaylon Smith can’t play. Thanks, Mr Wilson. Okay, now you kids go back to water-boarding your friends and don’t break your mother’s pitcher. Here’s an account of the incident from the Dallasnews.com website. https://www.dallasnews.com/news/crime/2017/07/11/road-rage-cowboys-lb-damien-wilson-told-frisco-police-arrest This looks bad for Wilson. First the rifle wasn’t a hunting type rifle if was a freaking AR-15 assault rifle. Way different story. Wilson willfully backed into a woman standing in the parking spot and THAT is not good. If the woman was injured it’s even worse. Then Wilson admits to the cops he had road rage???!!! What the hell was he thinking? Wilson will be luckier than I’ve ever been if he only ends up with probation and community service. You can bet your bottom dollar Wilson is getting sued by the woman and IF he gets off with probation he will surely be a regular at Dallas area anger management classes. I saw another article that said 2 counts of assault with a deadly weapon could get Wilson up to 20 years in jail. If the account in the Dallas Morning News article is accurate it doesn’t sound like he should get the max sentence but flashing an assault rifle might be worth some jail time in the eyes of the prosecutor. This is why coaches around the NFL hate, no loathe, the 5 weeks between OTA’s and training camp. It’s five weeks away from team control and prime knucklehead time. Why does this always seem to happen to the Cowboys but never the Texans? Quote
eagle eye Posted July 13, 2017 Author Posted July 13, 2017 The Cowboys will go to training camp in exactly 11 days. Doesn’t seem like a long time but at the same time it feels like an eternity. Still, there is news to talk about so let’s get going. Dak Prescott won an ESPY last night as the Best Breakthrough Athlete. http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2017/07/12/dak-prescott-gets-espy-best-breakthrough-athlete-thanks-%E2%80%9Ccowboy-nation%E2%80%9D RB DeAngelo Williams wasn’t good enough to remain in Pittsburgh as the Steelers allowed him to hit the free agent market. Here, less than two weeks away from training camp, Williams is still without a job. At 34 years old he may be waiting a while for someone to offer ‘grandpa’ a job. That hasn’t stopped him from reducing his odds of getting that phone call by making his list of teams he definitely doesn’t want to go to public. He doesn’t want to go to Carolina because he doesn’t like the way his release from the team a few years ago was handled. He doesn’t want to go to Jacksonville or Cleveland because he doesn’t want to be a 34 year old RB on a bad team. Don’t look now DeAngelo but Jacksonville has some really nice talent and a new head coach and most importantly they have Tom Coughlin as a mentor to the whole group. If Blake Bortles makes a turnaround under Coughlin’s mentorship these Jags are going to be really good. The most heinous of all is William’s contention that he wouldn’t want to play for the Cowboys because the fans are annoying. Newsflash, DeAngelo, you are annoying. The 20 Questions series continues today with questions #14 and #13. Question 14 is, “Which veteran player enters training camp on the roster bubble?” The Cowboys website staff writers have some pretty interesting answers that could lead to some interesting water cooler talk. http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2017/07/04/20-questions-veteran-player-entering-training-camp-roster-bubble Question 13 is, “Which player opens the 2017 season as the starting left guard?” To me this is the main question to be answered in training camp. It seems like La’el Collins is a lock as the new starting right tackle replacing the retired Doug Free so Dallas needs to replace the hole left by Ronald Leary who left via free agency this past spring. http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2017/07/04/20-questions-which-player-opens-season-starting-left-guard It seems like the Cowboys are America’s Team but in the sports financial world they are The Planet’s Team. Forbes magazine has named the Cowboys the most valuable sports franchise in the world. There are more details from this article from DallasCowboys.com. http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2017/07/12/forbes-once-again-names-cowboys-most-valuable-franchise-sports Quote
eagle eye Posted July 15, 2017 Author Posted July 15, 2017 The Cowboys website series 20 questions continues with today's post with Questions 12 and 11. Question 12 is, "Which rookie will be the most productive player in 2017?" The Cowboys website staff writers give their opinion on this question but I wonder about two guys who did not play a down last year which was their rookie season. Jaylon Smith and James Hannah both missed 2016 because of a knee and a back respectively and they are aiming to make their debut's this year. If one or both make a significant impact that would be my choice for the answer to this question. http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2017/07/06/20-questions-which-rookie-will-be-most-productive-player-2017 Question 11 is, "Is Jeff Heath ready to fill Church's shoes and win the starting safety job?" That is certainly the hope and it's also not unreasonable to think the answer is yes. Heath has been coming on the last couple of years and he's been one of, if not, the best playmaker in the Cowboys defensive backfield. It's been Heath who has been making the most plays in limited playing time and I believe he's ready to take the next step as starter. Let's see what the staff writers from DallasCowboys.com think. http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2017/07/07/20-questions-jeff-heath-ready-fill-church%E2%80%99s-shoes-and-win-safety-job That does it for the bottom half of the 20 questions. Tomorrow I will post the first two question from the top half of the list. Quote
eagle eye Posted July 19, 2017 Author Posted July 19, 2017 The Cowboys series "20 Questions" continues today with the first two questions from the top 10. Questions #10 and #9 are up next as the Cowboy's website staff writers formulate and answers these burning questions as we move closer and closer to training camp. Question 10 is, "Looking to bolster pass rush, who leads team in sacks in 2017?" Great question! As long as the team sack leader does better than the last two seasons. In 2014 the sack leader had all of 8 sacks (Demarcus Lawrence) and last year is was all of 6 (Benson Mayowa). http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2017/07/10/20-questions-looking-bolster-pass-rush-who-leads-team-sacks-2017 Question 9 is, "Where does Dez Bryant rank among the NFL's elite receivers?" I think you can safely assume Dez is the stud on the Cowboys staff but he is generally considered elite, but is he? He doesn't have elite speed, he doesn't have elite moves, he rarely gets much separation from a DB. What Dez do better than almost everyone else is fight for the ball. In most contested situations Dez wins those battles. But, is that enough to make him among the best in the NFL? My answer is yes but let's see what the DallasCowboys.com writers think. http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2017/07/11/20-questions-where-does-dez-bryant-rank-among-nfl%E2%80%99s-elite-wide-receivers-0 Man, will Zeke ever 'get it'. By that I mean will he ever realize as a Dallas Cowboy he has a target on his back. This latest incident at a nightclub in the story that broke yesterday is evidence that he doesn't 'get it' yet. With a domestic violence hearing on the near horizon, an incident in Florida last year, him being photographed outside a legal marijuana shop in Seattle, the Easter parade in his alma mater's city earlier this year when he pulled down the shirt of a female on the float they were both riding on and now an incident at a bar. Secretly, I'll bet Jerry Jones is throwing a fit. Goddammit, why can't these players pull their heads out of their asses and take care of their own image. Another potential felony on my damn team and certainly another player facing a league suspension. SHIT! Jason Garrett and his 'right kind of guys' mantra taking yet another hit in the gut as part of being a right kind of guy includes some semblance of moral ethics. Just when the Texans had their own scandalous incident with D'onte Foreman Zeke has to one-up Foreman with a bit of stupidity of his own. Good grief, Charlie Brown! This incident occurs one week before training camp. Damn the stupid luck! You know, the real shame is all this foo-fer-all over Elliott overshadows the fact that Dallas does, in fact, have one of the 'right kind of guys'. That would be 2nd LB Jaylon Smith. By all accounts Smith is without peer in his work ethic, his positive attitude, the high quality of his character and just what an all around great person he is. This article from DallasCowboys.com is a nice piece chronicling the road Smith has travelled from Notre Dame and the devastating knee injury in his last college football game to his first training camp that he will be able to participate in. Maybe Zeke ought to hang around Smith a little bit instead going out and getting in trouble is some shady night club. http://www.dallascowboys.com/content/jaylon-smith-guarded-optimism Quote
eagle eye Posted July 22, 2017 Author Posted July 22, 2017 It is getting down to a matter of hours before training camp begins. 48 short hours and the Cowboys will officially kick off their 2017 march to Super Bowl LII. The Cowboys and Arizona Cardinals will both get a one week head start because they will be playing each other in the Pro Football Hall of Fame game in Canton Ohio. Both teams will be getting the mixed blessing of having an extra week, and an extra preseason game with which to work with to help them decide just who will be the final 57 players who will represent the final roster and practice squad. I made that sound kind of dramatic didn't I? Well, it is dramatic because football is just about to get under way, Baby!!! There is still some old business to take care of. The Cowboys.com "20 questions" series still has 8 questions to answer and I need to play a little catch-up here so today I'm posting questions #8 down to #5. Question 8 is, "Is 2000 yards rushing obtainable for Ezekiel Elliott this year?" It could have been but I really doubt it now. Why? Because since his alleged altercation at the Dallas area bar people are talking about a suspension. People want to compare Zeke to Dez Bryant in terms of off-field issues but Zeke's are way more disturbing than Dez' incidents ever were. The worst thing Dez did was try to fend off his mother with a cap. I was an incident that was blown way out of proportion by the media and Dez' crazy ass mother. The other things were just an example of his immaturity. Buying jewelry for his "posse", wearing his pants down around his ass at a high end Dallas mall and a dispute about his rental property with a highly placed official in the Texas government which sounded like that highly placed official was trying to rip off Dez. Dez was an immature kid who fell into a windfall of money that he never had before. Dez has grown up a lot since those early days. Then you have Zeke who seems to be his own worst enemy. Most of his off field issues have to do with women. Domestic violence which is still not resolved, pulling down a girl's top while riding on a float in a parade and now this latest incident where he reportedly cold cocked a guy at a night club which was probably over a woman. Zeke could be suspended under the NFL Code of Conduct Policy and if he is it would make rushing for 2000 yards really difficult. Let's see what the writers think. http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2017/07/12/20-questions-2000-rushing-yards-obtainable-ezekiel-elliott-year Question 7 is, "After 2 losses to the New York Giants in 2016, are the Cowboys ready to beat the Giants?" Yes, I'll bet they are and nothing would please me more than spanking that pouty faced Eli Manning and Gints but, if you tell me Dallas will go 14-2 or 13-3 and lose both games against the G-men, well, I'll take it in a heartbeat!!! http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2017/07/13/20-questions-after-2-losses-2016-are-cowboys-ready-beat-giants Question 6 is, "What are realistic expectations for Jaylon Smith in 2017?" For me, I hope he's All Pro at the end of the season but that isn't likely to happen. http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2017/07/14/20-questions-what-are-realistic-expectations-jaylon-smith-2017 Question 5 is, "Which players will make up the Cowboys starting secondary Week 1 against the NYG?" I haven't a guess here but, realistically, I hope it involves the guys Dallas drafted this year along with Anthony Brown and Nolan Carroll. I just don't have much faith in Orlando Scandrick. http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2017/07/17/20-questions-which-players-will-make-starting-secondary-week-1-vs-nyg Damien Wilson will miss the start of training camp as his hearing over the assault and battery charges and brandishing a weapon incident that happened a couple of weeks ago begins Monday. It really doesn't look good for Wilson and I would be surprised if he even plays this season. God knows what his future holds for him. As a mitigation for the loss of Wilson the Cowboys signed LB Justin Durant yesterday to a deal. Durant has been with the team for a several years now but he became a free agent this past spring. Nobody had signed Durant up to his signing yesterday so Dallas got a reliable player on the cheap that is completely familiar with the Cowboys system. It is one time the Cowboys are lucky, or is that good? The Cowboys have produced a mini-documentary about Dak Prescott called "Dak Prescott: A Family Reunion". Not a bad little piece. Maybe mini is the wrong word for this film. After all it is just over 40 minutes long and it goes back to his days at Mississippi State. It's too bad that MSU has had its problems with their head coach cheating at recruitment. The two items are separate but it's hard not to let the coach's transgressions spill over on Dak. Too bad. The buzz in Cowboyland that doesn't involve off field issues is centered around 2nd year LB Jaylon Smith. This will be, for all intents and purposes, he rookie season because he could not play a down for the Cowboys in 2016 as he was rehabbing his knee. He's still rehabbing his knee and it is, by all accounts getting better. The torn ACL and MCL is healed but the nerve that was damaged has been slow to recover. Reports are that the nerve is starting to fire again but it may be several more months before it is completely healthy. In the meantime he is wearing a brace to help compensate for the "drop foot" condition that won't allow him to flex his foot properly. The hope is Smith will be able to contribute this season in a significant way and when you see what a good person he is in the video linked below you will root for him even harder. http://www.dallascowboys.com/video/2017/07/17/jaylon-smith-1-1-interview http://www.dallascowboys.com/video/2017/07/19/dak-prescott-family-reunion-documentary Quote
eagle eye Posted July 23, 2017 Author Posted July 23, 2017 The Cowboys left for Oxnard on Saturday as they prepare to begin training camp on Monday. The other good thing about that is the Cowboys players will have a hard time getting into trouble for the next 6 weeks. Not too much consolation when the team has two players, Damien Wilson and Jourdan Lewis missing the beginning with legal issues. The Cowboys website series "20 Questions continues today with questions #4 and #3. Question 4 is, "Do the Cowboys still have the most dominant offensive line in football?" I would have to say yes and it could be even better with La'el Collins moving to right tackle he should be an upgrade over Doug Free who retired this offseason. The biggest piece of the puzzle will be who will replace Ronald Leary at left guard. It will be hard to replace Leary who proved himself to be a very good guard with a nasty attitude to go along with his skills as a lineman. I think Dallas has that guy on their roster it will just be a question of him stepping up and taking the job over. http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2017/07/18/20-questions-do-cowboys-still-have-most-dominant-offensive-line-nfl-0 Question 3 is, "With personnel changes can this defense be better in 2017?" Damn good question and that will be answered in training camp. http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2017/07/19/20-questions-personnel-changes-can-defense-be-better-2017 Quote
eagle eye Posted July 24, 2017 Author Posted July 24, 2017 (edited) The Cowboys begin training camp today in Oxnard California! Football isn’t being played just yet but football has begun, in my mind any way, but everyone knows I’m crazy to begin with. No more speculation about who is doing what and who will step up and who will fall off the wagon will all be played out over the next 6 or 7 weeks leading up to the regular season. It’s all going to take play on the field. The real nitty gritty has begun, at least for the Arizona Cardinals and the Cowboys who begin training camp a week earlier than the rest of the NFL because they have an extra preseason game in Canton, Ohio during Hall of Fame week. Hell yeah!!! With the start of training comes the conclusion to the “20 Questions” series on DallasCowboys.com with questions 2 and 1. Question 2 is, “Can Dak take his game to a new level and avoid a sophomore slump?” This is actually two questions disguised at one question. The questions should be, can Dak take his game to a new level and will Dak suffer a sophomore slump. Whatever the answer to the first question is the answer to the 2nd question will be the opposite so that is why it can be considered one question. Clear as mud, right? The short answer is this, there is nothing in Dak’s history that points to any possibility of a sophomore slump. He maturity and work ethic are such that he just naturally avoids such things as slumps. That said, don’t expect him to perform to the same level as last year because TD/INT ratio was sick. Hell, his completions/INT ratio was off the charts. Dak can still have a lot of success but not approach the numbers he put up last year. That’s my take, what do the DallasCowboys.com think? http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2017/07/20/20-questions-can-dak-take-game-new-level-avoid-sophomore-slump Question #1 is, “Is the Super Bowl a realistic expectation for the Cowboys in 2017?” My take without first reading the DC.com staff writers opinion is another question, “Who gives a crap what is realistic or not?” We’re fans! Even the Cleveland Browns fans think they are going to turn things around and go to the SB when training camp begins. Every fan has unrealistic expectations for their team. In the Cowboys case coming off a 13-3 season and a disappointing loss to the Packers in the playoffs you know the Super Bowl is on Cowboys fan’s radar. A lot of questions have to be answered before the expectations meter changes much. So, that said, do I think the Cowboys can go to the Super Bowl? My answer would be a resounding, “Hell Yes!!!” http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2017/07/21/20-questions-super-bowl-realistic-expectation-cowboys-2017 Here are a couple of training camp links from DallasCowboys.com; The first link is to David Helman’s article about the added scrutiny focused on the Cowboys team character especially referring to Ezekiel Elliott. http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2017/07/23/cowboys%E2%80%99-training-camp-kicks-added-scrutiny-zeke-team-character After a year of rehab on his surgically repaired knee former Notre Dame LB Jaylon Smith will finally get to take the field for the Cowboys. Now, Smith is not 100% recovered because the nerve in his ankle is still not firing like it ultimately will and he has to wear a brace to compensate for the “drop foot” condition as a result but, he participated in the OTA’s and minicamp this offseason and hopes are high he will be a major contributor to the team this season. The Cowboys website staff writer Rob Phillips takes a look at how the Cowboys will approach Smith’s practice schedule as well as injury updates as training camp gets set to begin today. http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2017/07/23/practice-plan-jaylon-smith-injury-updates-leading-first-camp-day DallasCowboys.com is doing a “Camp Blog” to report on the activities and issues in training camp. This includes on why Jerry is having his wife Gene present him at his Hall of Fame Induction next month. It’s pointed out by Jerry that even Gene asked him, “How in the world is Jimmy not our coach?” You kind of like her already, right? http://www.dallascowboys.com/2017campblog Edited July 25, 2017 by eagle eye Quote
eagle eye Posted July 25, 2017 Author Posted July 25, 2017 Earlier today I posted that one reason I was glad training camp was under way was because the players couldn't get into trouble. Boy, was I wrong. Lucky Whitehead is alleged to have been arrested in Virginia on June 22nd for shoplifting. The story broke today by TMZ that Whitehead was going to be arrested for not making the scheduled appearance in court for his case earlier this month. This coming after the Cowboys opening training camp presser in which Jason Garrett talked about the quality of players on the roster in answer to questions about all the off-field issues Cowboys players have had. The Cowboys say that Whitehead never told them about his arrest, they learned about it from the TMZ release. As a result Whitehead was released by the Cowboys this afternoon. The real kicker to the story is Whitehead claims he didn't know about any court appearance because he wasn't the one who committed the crime in the first place. Whitehead claims he was nowhere near his hometown in Virginia on June 22nd. He claims he was in Dallas until almost noon that day. Whitehead's agent claims that Whitehead knew nothing about an arrest or a court date. It remains to be seen how that deal plays out but one thing is for sure, Lucky Whitehead won't be able to claim the Dallas Cowboys is his employer. It really appeared the handwriting was on the wall anyway when Dallas drafted North Carolina WR Ryan Switzer back in the spring. Switzer is a polished receiver and a cracker-jack kick returner. What was even more damaging to Whitehead's ability to hold off Switzer taking his job was a double whammy of Whitehead's inability to participate in the OTA's and mini-camp and incumbent slot receiver Cole Beasley had injuries of his own that enabled Switzer to get a bazillion reps in the OTA's and mini-camp. What's worse for Whitehead was that Switzer did not disappoint but rather he excelled with all the extra work so much so he was one of the clear stars of the offseason program. The odd saga of Lucky Whitehead is not over but his involvement with the Cowboys is. I think I already said that..................... Quote
eagle eye Posted July 26, 2017 Author Posted July 26, 2017 (edited) The Cowboys and the world found out today that Lucky Whitehead was not guilty of anything in regard to the shoplifting charge in his home town in Virginia. It turns out somebody else did commit the crime and the man arrested didn’t have an ID on him but he gave the police Lucky’s name, date of birth and social security number. It’s disturbing that the perp actually had, and memorized, Whitehead’s SS number. As the facts of the case came to light the Cowboys showed no indication they would undo Whitehead’s release. http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000821801/article/police-drop-charges-against-wr-lucky-whitehead The article linked above comes the conclusion that Whitehead’s release was a very bizarre move by the Cowboys but, when you look at it, Whitehead was a marginal player as a WR and he was an average, at best, kick returner. They have Cole Beasley and Ryan Switzer who are both better players and the Cowboys aren’t going to keep 3 small receivers on their roster. From my view it was inevitable, all things considered, that cutting Whitehead was going to happen. The only thing that would have saved Whitehead is an injury to the guys above him on the depth chart. Stephen Jones said that when you factor in the fact that it’s been one thing after another with Whitehead it was time to cut bait where he was concerned. Apparently, there were a bunch of other incidents the team knew about that never made it to the media and this latest incident was just the straw that broke the camel’s back. In Scout’s Notebook Bryan Broaddus looks at several items like Zeke getting more involved in the passing game and Chaz Green getting reps in practice and more…………. http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2017/07/25/scouts-notebook-early-thoughts-left-guard-gathers-opportunity-more Edited July 26, 2017 by eagle eye Quote
eagle eye Posted July 27, 2017 Author Posted July 27, 2017 So, my post earlier today was meant to post yesterday so excuse me for double dipping a little bit. I am done talking about Lucky Whitehead, that matter is now dead to me. The Cowboys didn’t make a mistake, they don’t look stupid and the media needs to take a time out because yesterday, especially the local media at training camp, was just too full of themselves. Haters will hate and the media goes overboard trying to manufacture a story. The Cowboys are in pads for the first time in camp and the hope that the good things they have been seeing from LB Jaylon Smith will continue with pads on. This edition of Scout’s Notebook comes from yesterday as Bryan Broaddus gives his take on how the Cowboys look in training camp practices. Among the items he talks about are his first impressions at left guard and TE Rico Gathers improvement among the topics discussed. http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2017/07/25/scouts-notebook-early-thoughts-left-guard-gathers-opportunity-more There is a bonus with the Scout’s Notebook as Broaddus looks at today’s practice covering subjects like a Taco Charlton sighting as well as observations on Cole Beasley and Chidobe Awuzie among the topics. http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2017/07/26/scouts-notebook-taco-flashes-dak-pocket-ol-rotation-more The Cowboys and La’el Collins have reached an agreement on a two year contract extension reportedly worth $15.4 MM with a $4 MM signing bonus. Contract negotiations are currently ongoing on a long term deal for RG Zack Martin. It’s expected that the contract extension will get done during training camp. Finally, flying a bit under the radar was the court case of Cowboys 3rd round pick Jourdan Lewis. Long before the Cowboys drafted Lewis he had been charged on a misdemeanor sexual assault charges. The Cowboys had done their research on the case and concluded that Lewis was not guilty and would be exonerated when he finally had to go to court. Taking two days, Monday and Tuesday of this week, in a Michigan court a five woman, 2 man jury found Lewis not guilty of the charges against him and he was back at Cowboys training camp today a free man. Quote
eagle eye Posted July 28, 2017 Author Posted July 28, 2017 The Cowboys had to make a personnel move the past day or so. They lost rookie RB Jahad Thomas from Temple after he was injured in practice so, Dallas signed veteran Ronnie Hillman. Some are speculating that Hillman was signed as an insurance policy in case Zeke Elliott is suspended for conduct detrimental to the NFL but most of the local beat writers disagree that was the reason. First, Hillman is a damn good player when healthy and second, they lost some of their depth at RB when Thomas was injured. Yesterday’s practice was more like a practice two or three weeks into training camp because tempers got a little short. There was a little dust-up between DL Tyrone Crawford and RG Zack Martin. The Cowboys beat writers from DallasCowboys.com talk about this and other things from their ‘Camp Blog’ series. http://www.dallascowboys.com/2017campblog Jourdan Lewis was finally in practice on Thursday after being acquitted in his domestic violence case on Tuesday. Thursday’s practice recap; http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2017/07/27/thurs-practice-recap-emotions-fly-spirited-practice-dbs-stand-out-more Don’t feel too bad about Lucky Whitehead, he wasn’t out of a job for more than two days, as the New York Jets picked him up Yesterday. In his ‘Scout’s Notebook’ series Bryan Broaddus talks about Thursday’s practice. http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2017/07/27/scouts-notebook-young-defenders-impress-first-padded-practice Broaddus puts his scout’s hat back on to give a scouting report on newly signed RB Ronnie Hillman. http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2017/07/27/scouting-report-hillman-gives-cowboys-quickness-experience-rb-position Jaylon Smith was back in practice and in pads on Thursday. He is big and he is fast but, according to the beat writers Smith looked like a player who hadn’t practiced in 18 months. That’s okay because he hasn’t practiced in pads in team drills in 18 months or, to put it another way, since he was at Notre Dame. It’s okay that he is showing a little more Clark Kent than Superman but don’t worry, all that rust will come off soon enough. Just to give some perspective here, the Hall of Fame game is next Thursday night. We’re having a football game in 6 days folks!!! NFL Salary cap per team? $167 MM. Having a game on TV in 6 days? Priceless! Quote
eagle eye Posted August 1, 2017 Author Posted August 1, 2017 The Cowboys practices on Saturday and Sunday went well with visitors, Jerry Jones and even visitors to the training camp were impressed with Jaylon Smith. Smith himself is feeling more and more comfortable and he says the only time he thinks about his drop-foot condition and his nerve regeneration is when the media asks him about it. All very good signs. Sunday’s practice featured some physical confrontations between three players who ended up getting a 10 minute “time out” from Jason Garrett. Rico Gathers and Kyle Wilburn got into a scrum in a one-on-one drill and Gathers got frustrated and threw his helmet down in frustration. A moment later Wilburn and WR Noah Brown and Wilburn got into a shouting match and Garrett had enough sending all 3 to the locker room for their “time out”. The players came back and Garrett admonished them to stay focused and play ball. The play of 3rd year safety Byron Jones has caught everyone’s eye. He has consistently made plays so far in camp and it looks like he is taking a real leadership role. He almost has no choice with the departure of Barry Church and the rest of the veteran DB’s. Somebody has to be a leader in that secondary and Jones is doing his part to fill the void all those veterans left. Dallas signed a veteran QB over the weekend. They signed Luke McCown who spent a few years as Drew Brees’ backup and he will add a much-needed element of experience in the QB room that Dallas lost with the retirement of Tony Romo and departure of Mark Sanchez. McCown has been a very good backup in his 13-year career and IMO he will be a better backup than Kellen Moore. If the Cowboys want to keep Moore as the 3rd QB and he will be inactive on game days I have no issue with this. I wonder when the Cowboys will be tired of the constant trips to the trainer’s room by OL Chaz Greene. The guy has spent more time hurt than he’s spent in uniform on the sidelines. Green has missed an entire season because of a hip injury and he went on IR last year because of a knee. In 3 years he’s played in 3 games total. That’s it and now he’s missing practice again with a shoulder injury. Dallas needs to find a left guard and a swing tackle and Green is in the competition for these spots. No matter how good a player might be if he’s not on the field he sucks. Green has sucked a lot the past 3 seasons. This week will be very interesting as the Hall of Fame game between Dallas and Arizona is just 3 days. Quote
eagle eye Posted August 2, 2017 Author Posted August 2, 2017 (edited) No practice today because the team is on the way to Canton Ohio for the annual Hall of Fame game Thursday night against the Arizona Cardinals. The practices yesterday were spirited according to reports and thankfully nobody got hurt. Jaylon Smith continues to impress as does his little brother Rod who ended up on the Cowboys practice squad last year as he competed for the fullback job. This year he’s in the mix with the running backs and if he keeps up his good play veterans like Alfred Morris and Ronnie Hillman could find themselves out of a job. With no real news to reflect upon I just want to get a pet peeve off my chest. I still feel the urge to write “St Louis” in front of the Cardinals name. Even after all these years I’m not used to calling them the “Arizona” Cardinals. Then, I have to stop and remind myself that there are a lot of people reading this post that never knew the Cardinals came from St Louis. The Arizona Cards are how a lot of people know and relate to the this franchise. When Kurt Warner goes into the Hall of Fame Saturday it will be as an Arizona Cardinal but for me it’s just the universe out of alignment. It’s the same with the St Louis Rams. I never got used to that city/team association. From the time I began loving the pro football game it was always the Los Angeles Rams. In the cases of the Cardinals, Rams, Ravens, Colts, Chargers, Oilers and soon the Raiders the displacement of those franchises sets me to twitching like Sheldon Cooper when the guys won’t let him talk. In my world, it would be the St Louis football Cardinals, The Indianapolis Ravens, the Baltimore Colts, the San Diego Chargers and the Oakland, friggin’, Raiders. The only city who did it right was Cleveland who told Browns owner, Art Modell, “Fine, take your stupid team to Baltimore but we’re keeping our team’s name.” Houston should have followed suit when Bud Adams took his football team to Tennessee. Houston should have forced the NFL to allow Houston to keep its franchise name. There would still be a Tennessee Titans and when Houston got a new franchise they could have become the new and improved Houston Oilers. The Baltimore Ravens sounds stupid to me, it’s just not right. It’s the Baltimore Colts. Jim Irsay, the owner of the Colts franchise, literally snuck out of town like a little you-know-what leaving the Baltimore area like a thief in the night. He relocated to Indianapolis. Baltimore should have kept the name and let the team get the hell out of Dodge. Now, Art Modell would not have been welcome in Baltimore because he was just another rat who jumped off a ship so he would have been the one to go to Indianapolis, in my version of SIM CITY, and taken on a brand-new name for a brand-new NFL city. Irsay couldn’t have gone to Indianapolis but he could’ve gone to Arizona and launched the Arizona Whirlwind franchise because the Cardinals would never, ever have left St Louis. This also means the Rams never would have left LA. The Chargers started out in LA but lasted only one year before they moved down the coast to San Diego. That move happened when I was barely out of diapers so I don’t care, there’s no disconnect for me. For my entire aware life it’s been the San Diego Chargers and my favorite player when I was little was Lance Alworth. The number I always wanted to wear when I played sports was 19 because of Alworth and Johnny Unitas and that’s even into adulthood when I played slow pitch softball. The Raiders moved to LA in the 80’s and even won a Super Bowl there but I never got used to the “Los Angeles Raiders”. It had no zing, no rhythm. It didn’t roll off the tongue like ‘Oakland Raiders’ does. Now, in a couple of years, we will have to try to get used to saying the Las Vegas Raiders. I just threw up in my mouth a little bit. It’s just so wrong on so many levels. I need a drink just thinking about that. It’s not only football that freaks me out but baseball and basketball just don’t relocate like the NFL teams do. The exceptions are in basketball. I cannot get used to the idea of the Oklahoma City Thunder, not when I spent most of my life with the Seattle Supersonics in the NBA. I’m not begrudging the Oklahoma City folks a team but not at the expense of the Sonics! The other one is the Utah Jazz. You know the origin of the franchise was in New Orleans, right? The NOLA Jazz had Pistol Pete Maravich who was one of the most exciting players ever in the NBA. The folks in NOLA should have demanded the team name remain in the Crescent City because no team name is more synonymous with its city. What the heck does Jazz have to do with Utah? Nothing, nada, nix. They’re Mormons, people! They don’t know squat about jazz! Their claim to fame is the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Donnie and friggin’ Marie! Have you ever heard of anyone making a special trip to Provo for the International Jazz Festival? Heck no! You know why? It’s Utah, they don’t have jazz there! Gosh, I need a shot of tequila and a hurricane to calm down but if I was in Utah I couldn’t drink because the Mormons don’t allow alcohol, or so I’ve heard. No alcohol and no jazz in Utah but their NBA franchise is called The Jazz. Oh, Lord, that Sheldon Cooper twitch is coming back. Has anyone seen my Prozac? I’m thinking of Doc Holiday in the movie Tombstone when he told Wyatt Earp about why Johnny Ringo was dead after their showdown. “The boy was just too high strung. I’m afraid the strain was mo’ than he could bey-ah.” said Doc in his charming southern accent. He’s describing me trying to accept these nomadic franchise changes in pro sports. There is a Shakespearian quote that, “…. a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”, but that person never tried to come to terms with the Baltimore Ravens or the Las Vegas Raiders. It’s like coming to terms with calling an apple and orange just because it’s grown in a different state. It’s like jamming a stick into the spokes of my brain! It's like............oh, you get the idea, I'm crazy. Edited August 3, 2017 by eagle eye Quote
eagle eye Posted August 3, 2017 Author Posted August 3, 2017 There is football tonight!!! I know it’s preseason and they play often resembles the handicapped Olympics, no offense to the handicapped, because a lot of the players in the game won’t be on the final 53. The Arizona Cardinals have already announced that QB Carson Palmer and WR Larry Fitzgerald won’t even suit up. You can bet most starters from both teams on both sides of the line of scrimmage won’t even play, or if they do it won’t be more than a series. We’ll be seeing a lot of rookies, backups, UFA’s and guys looking for one last shot at making a roster. Most of the time the result of a game populated with players like this resembles the activity between a monkey and a football. Not a pretty sight. But, by golly, it’s football and other than the Senior Bowl and the various college all-star bowl games in February prior to the NFL Scouting Combine there hasn’t been football on TV in 6 months. Please don’t throw Canadian Football at me, it doesn’t count, eh. Don’t talk to me about the women’s underwear football league. It’s pleasant to look at but it’s not really football. I know the girls try hard but, c’mon, the ladies are dressed like a Victoria’s Secret catalogue spread and they are twisting and turning and sweating and bending over and ---- oh my God, I need to take a cold shower. So, yeah, no, that isn’t football. Hall of Fame game, the beginning of the festivities surrounding the induction of seven men who have helped shape the game led by Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, the only non-player going into the Hall this year. Besides Jones QB Kurt Warner, RB LaDanian Tomlinson, S Kenny Easley, DE Jason Taylor, RB Terrell Davis and K Morton Anderson have earned their gold jacket. Pretty distinguished class if you ask me. On DallasCowboys.com there is was a 6-part biography of HOF’er Jerry Jones. Linked below is Chapter 1 but when you get to the bottom of the article there are links to go to Chapter 2 and Chapter 3. This is a pretty good series so far and I have enjoyed reading it. The series gives great insight to what makes Jerry, Jerry. Even if you don’t like Jones these chapters could change your opinion of the man or at least they will help you understand what makes Jerrah tick. http://www.dallascowboys.com/content/jerry-jones-hall-fame-life-chapter-one Finally, this link goes to an article that features four of the website’s top writers, Rob Phillips, David Helman, Nick Eatman and Bryan Broaddus as they each give two Cowboys players they feel will be worth watching in tonight’s game. http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2017/08/03/taco-gathers-woods-andy-jones-among-players-watch-hof-game Quote
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