Dallas Cowboys Discussion

[D-Unit]

Originally Posted by CowboysBeastMode

how bout tajh boyd in 2014 i loved the toughness he displayed against lsu and made big time accurate throws under pressure in the clutch

nah. i don't like him that much.

[pocketaces]

I was talking to an NFL guy last week about quarterbacks in general, and Romo in particular.

His praise, by the way, for Romo was immense, and this was just 72 hours after the meltdown against the Redskins.

The Romo defenders -- I've long been one, but there's some serious backsliding at the moment -- will agree totally with what this guy had to say. Even the Romo haters will have to concede he has a good point.

"There might be 10 to 12 teams out there who don't need Romo, but there's close to 20 that would take him in a minute," he said. "He's good. But he's not good enough to do what the Cowboys have to ask him to do.

"Tony has to win every game for that team. I'm not kidding. This season he had to win every game. You couldn't count on the defense to steal you a game. You couldn't count on the running game to bail him out.

"Tony had to win every game. Even Aikman, even Montana, didn't have to win every game. Tony got on that roll in November and December and he was winning every game. But the law of averages said it would catch up with him.

"In Washington the other night, it caught up with him."

This guy's bottom line was the Cowboys have got to get better around Romo. Much better. We all agree with that. That's just common sense.

But as this particular NFL voice added, "Tony can also make some of the damndest mistakes. He makes bad throws that leave you stunned. I like him, but when asked to do so much, he does have his history of screwing it up."

Would a different offensive voice from a coaching standpoint change that? Maybe not, but what's wrong with giving it a try?

On the topic of NFL quarterbacks, the name Philip Rivers came up while talking to the NFL guy. The last two seasons, Rivers had been awful. And even while Rivers adamantly defended head coach Norv Turner, when heads rolled last week, it was Norv's neck that took the hit.

"See, the difference between Romo and Rivers is that Rivers cannot move in the pocket at all," said the guy. "Romo is one of the best at avoiding the rush. Over the last couple of years, teams blitzed Rivers like crazy.

"In the past, you could blitz Rivers, and he had a tight end, a receiver, a running back he could get the ball to, and Rivers made you pay for the blitz. But look what Rivers now plays with. His best weapons all left in free agency and went down with injuries. The front office made some decisions that really backfired.

"Romo, however, has the weapons to beat the blitz. Witten, the emergence of Dez, and the running back, Murray. Tony should have eaten the Redskins alive with all the blitzing they did. Instead, three picks happened."

Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/2013/01...#storylink=cpy

[FreshBoy!]

Still upset about the loss last week. Even with all the injuries I think the Boys are formidable against the Hawks this week.


I really don't even know what I want the Boys to do anymore. Draft in the trenches, hope Matt Johnson works out, and see what Romo does with a decent O-line.

I guess that's all I got. I'm sooo indifferent on Romo, I really don't see a better alternative not named Brady, Rodgers, Manning, and i'm sure all will be forgiven when he starts winning us games again next year, but blah.

I don't know y'all.

[pocketaces]

Originally Posted by FreshBoy!

Still upset about the loss last week. Even with all the injuries I think the Boys are formidable against the Hawks this week.


I really don't even know what I want the Boys to do anymore. Draft in the trenches, hope Matt Johnson works out, and see what Romo does with a decent O-line.

I guess that's all I got. I'm sooo indifferent on Romo, I really don't see a better alternative not named Brady, Rodgers, Manning, and i'm sure all will be forgiven when he starts winning us games again next year, but blah.

I don't know y'all.

We still cant stop the run, not sure why we would be

[pocketaces]

I found this very interesting. We all know that Parcells wanted Spears when we took Ware, but it sounds like he didnt want Ware period.

Bryan Broaddus ‏@BryanBroaddus
“@scott_town: @BryanBroaddus @swatson28 @DonSchmidt3 @b3_rn1 had a couple of great drafts under Parcells. 05 netted Ware" he wanted Merriman

What a disaster that could have been

[FreshBoy!]

Originally Posted by pocketaces

We still cant stop the run, not sure why we would be

Anddd?...Morris had 200 yards and we were a 3 minute drive to tie or win. That's exactly where you'd want to be.


I think offensively the boys can(or should) play with anybody as long as good Romo shows up.

Doesn't matter now though.

[pocketaces]

Originally Posted by FreshBoy!

Anddd?...Morris had 200 yards and we were a 3 minute drive to tie or win. That's exactly where you'd want to be.


I think offensively the boys can(or should) play with anybody as long as good Romo shows up.

Doesn't matter now though.

Annnnnd the Seahawks are 4th in D and Washington is 28th. Not to mention they whipped us when we were healthy. It's ok, you can have a homer mentality if you want to.

[E-Man]

Originally Posted by pocketaces

I was talking to an NFL guy last week about quarterbacks in general, and Romo in particular.

His praise, by the way, for Romo was immense, and this was just 72 hours after the meltdown against the Redskins.

The Romo defenders -- I've long been one, but there's some serious backsliding at the moment -- will agree totally with what this guy had to say. Even the Romo haters will have to concede he has a good point.

"There might be 10 to 12 teams out there who don't need Romo, but there's close to 20 that would take him in a minute," he said. "He's good. But he's not good enough to do what the Cowboys have to ask him to do.

"Tony has to win every game for that team. I'm not kidding. This season he had to win every game. You couldn't count on the defense to steal you a game. You couldn't count on the running game to bail him out.

"Tony had to win every game. Even Aikman, even Montana, didn't have to win every game. Tony got on that roll in November and December and he was winning every game. But the law of averages said it would catch up with him.

"In Washington the other night, it caught up with him."

This guy's bottom line was the Cowboys have got to get better around Romo. Much better. We all agree with that. That's just common sense.

But as this particular NFL voice added, "Tony can also make some of the damndest mistakes. He makes bad throws that leave you stunned. I like him, but when asked to do so much, he does have his history of screwing it up."

Would a different offensive voice from a coaching standpoint change that? Maybe not, but what's wrong with giving it a try?

On the topic of NFL quarterbacks, the name Philip Rivers came up while talking to the NFL guy. The last two seasons, Rivers had been awful. And even while Rivers adamantly defended head coach Norv Turner, when heads rolled last week, it was Norv's neck that took the hit.

"See, the difference between Romo and Rivers is that Rivers cannot move in the pocket at all," said the guy. "Romo is one of the best at avoiding the rush. Over the last couple of years, teams blitzed Rivers like crazy.

"In the past, you could blitz Rivers, and he had a tight end, a receiver, a running back he could get the ball to, and Rivers made you pay for the blitz. But look what Rivers now plays with. His best weapons all left in free agency and went down with injuries. The front office made some decisions that really backfired.

"Romo, however, has the weapons to beat the blitz. Witten, the emergence of Dez, and the running back, Murray. Tony should have eaten the Redskins alive with all the blitzing they did. Instead, three picks happened."

Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/2013/01...#storylink=cpy

This makes a ton of sense. Romo is definitely a good QB. No matter how mad I am at him right now he's still a good player, but those mistakes are a major factor. It's interesting what he said about Romo having to win games. I've always thought that quarterbacks get far too much credit for winning and losing, but there is some truth to what he said. With Dez coming up, Wittin being Witten, and Murray being healthy that takes some pressure off of Romo big time. The problems is that the bad O-Line has to get fixed, and somebody needs to call the plays besides Garrett. I don't care if they cut Romo tomorrow, the offensive line isn't getting anyone anywhere with the pieces it has now. Even if they draft a guy in the mid rounds to run with Murray since he's got injury history they still need to fix that line. I think they have to look at the O-Line the way they did corners last year. With the salary cap issues they'll need to get creative, but having a competent line would definitely limit the Romo mistakes.

[Trogdor]

Honestly and this is the funny part. Garrett's offense and playcalling does work. It requires a good (or even passable) offensive line. If he keeps his duties and we upgrade the line we'll come up aces. I still want a new playcaller as I think his SCHEMES are excellent but his playcalling leaves me wanting.

What we can't do is ignore the line and allow Garrett's offense to remain. This offseason is nowhere near as scary as last year.

I mean looking at the team what are our needs and qualify them by priority (round).

OL: Personally I think we'll aim for 1 interior and 1 RT. (1)
S: Aiming for ballhawk FS. (1-2)
DL: I love our DE depth but our NT depth is highly questionable especially if Ratliff is released. (2-4)
OLB: Minor need if Spencer is resigned #1b need if he isn't. (3-5) OR (1)
RB: Low need for me I think Dunbar makes the team as 3rd RB. (4-7)

I mean with the cap space/draft picks we have we'll at minimum be able to fill our needs and potentially nab a few playmakers.

[FreshBoy!]

Originally Posted by pocketaces

Annnnnd the Seahawks are 4th in D and Washington is 28th. Not to mention they whipped us when we were healthy. It's ok, you can have a homer mentality if you want to.

I didn't say they'd win...I simply said formidable...

We got dusted off IN seattle...they're a different team there obviously.

I think the Boys would lose, just think it'd be a close game...that's not being a "homer".

[FreshBoy!]

KFFL is reporting Free's impending release...said Boys are happy with Parnell at RT




WTF happened to Free man?

Thought we had two bookends for the next 7 years:(

[Trogdor]

Originally Posted by FreshBoy!

KFFL is reporting Free's impending release...said Boys are happy with Parnell at RT




WTF happened to Free man?

Thought we had two bookends for the next 7 years:(

Not motivated? I mean it wasn't that he didn't get better it's that he flat out regressed not just physically but mentally too. He got paid, then fat, then lazy.

[pocketaces]

Originally Posted by Trogdor

Not motivated? I mean it wasn't that he didn't get better it's that he flat out regressed not just physically but mentally too. He got paid, then fat, then lazy.

I think that might happen with Spencer too. Not sure we should resign him

[thule]

I'm also skeptical about resigning Spencer. His whole career we've been calling him almost anthony...and in his contract year he plays good. Probably looks better because our defense was decimated by injuries...of course he is going to look like our best player...who else did we have on our front 7 in the last 4 weeks that did anything. I'm extremely skeptical of giving him a long term deal. If we don't want to go another direction I don't see any option but to franchise him for 10m. And at that rate...can we really not go out and get a Shawn Phillips from SD at like 6m a year for 3 years? We don't need to spend that type of money on Spencer imo.

[FreshBoy!]

Ehhh the one thing about Spencer is that the only thing that was "missing" from his game was the sacks. He's always been above average against the run and when he's asked to drop back and cover. He's always been known as "almost anthony" so it's not like the pressures haven't been there, he just hasn't gotten home until this year.

If anything he should've looked worse with all the injuries...they had to double team Spencer not Ware in the 2nd half of the season.


I said it before this season, I think he's a player worth holding onto until you find something better.

[pocketaces]

Remember when we were about to draft Max Unger? Sigh...

[CowboysBeastMode]

Originally Posted by pocketaces

Remember when we were about to draft Max Unger? Sigh...

remember when after we missed him we traded back twice to take jason williams and robert brewster?

[LonghornsLegend]

Originally Posted by FreshBoy!

KFFL is reporting Free's impending release...said Boys are happy with Parnell at RT




WTF happened to Free man?

Thought we had two bookends for the next 7 years:(

What great news. Parnell is a nice stop gap, we just need a Center we can rely on for 10 years.

[leroyisgod]

Originally Posted by LonghornsLegend

What great news. Parnell is a nice stop gap, we just need a Center we can rely on for 10 years.

Another Guard too. Sounds like we might not be looking for a Center though.

[LonghornsLegend]

Originally Posted by leroyisgod

Another Guard too. Sounds like we might not be looking for a Center though.

Yea we need a Guard bad, but I'm thinking about all the bad snaps over the years, and the terrible communication on the inside, I just think a smart, reliable Center would ease a lot of those concerns. I'd be perfectly fine starting with Jonathan Cooper and Barrett Jones like D did in the forum mock.


I'm worried about NT, and Safety, but let's do one thing at a time. Secure this line, pray Murray can stay healthy, and I think we can be a good running team similiar to the 1st half vs the Ravens this year.

[Witten4HOF]

Travis Frederick declared for the draft too. I could certainly see him on our draft board.

[Trogdor]

Early rumbling are Bernie/Cook to compete for starting C duties next year with potentially keeping an eye on Costa at vet min. Personally I hated Bernie at guard but his strength was nice to have anchoring the middle. With that plan in mind it sounds like we're passing over C in order to fill other needs which is fine if we land an elite guard.

Team also sounded happy with Parnell and signed Weems as a potential future guy. If you hadn't looked into it Weems is pretty much Parnell v2.0. Broaddus raved about his feet and need to bulk up a bit before seeing real time. I wouldn't be shocked if we signed a cheap veteran tackle to operate as a swing and keep Weems as a development 4th OT.

The offensive line would be a LOT better just by plugging Cooper/Warmock/etc and swapping Parnell for Free. Don't get me wrong I want a Center and competition for Parnell at RT as well just not sure we have the cap space to work it (about 25 million OVER the cap without signing anyone at the moment).

One signing that went largely unnoticed? Brian Price to a futures deal. 2nd rounder with major medical issues (hamstrings were pulling off his pelvis). Medically he's reportedly "close" to returning. If Price can step in and add to our rotation on the defensive line it would be a huge coup.

Working on a full offseason mock and will probably put it out in the next hour. Has taken a lot longer than I expected. -_- I'll make a new thread for it so it doesn't clutter our prospect talk in Draft or the discussion here. The full breakdown of our salary cap makes even the most hardcore fan cry a bit inside even though it is better than the contracts of old I guess. Slight teaser - I would put a lot of money on the Cowboys cutting at least one of Miles Austin and Jay Ratliff and potentially both being kicked to the curb in order to reign in our cap number.

[LonghornsLegend]

I don't think we need competition at RT right now. A new swing tackle sure, but I don't think we have anyone on the roster who should say "we don't need a Guard/Center". I hope we don't think that way either, I want to do better then just another "guy" at Center I'd like a longterm reliable starter if we could find him.


I just want 2 new bodies on the interior of the line, at least get some competition.

[Macarthur]

By reading Broaddus, it sounds like the team really wants to give Bernie a shot at C.

Would not be surprised if the OL next year is:
Smith
Livings
Bernie
Draft pick
Parnell

[LonghornsLegend]

Has he ever played Center? I thought he was strictly a Guard before. We run a ton of shotgun, I'm just tired of seeing bad snaps flying all over the place, it doesn't happen as much as it used to but the consistency is not there at the position. If Bernie doesn't work then Cook moves in, then if Cook gets hurt we try someone else, it's just been like this for awhile and shuffling your Center around ends up having the rest of the line miss your assignments.


That guy is supposed to be making the key adjustments out there, having 2-3 guys in and out who are just average players or former Guards doesn't make me excited but maybe we have some other plans.