New Mags are out: Cowboys blurbs - Dallas Cowboys Forum

CrazyCowboy · 06-04-2005

The New Silly Season Begins

[font=Arial]Posted June 4th, 2005 @ 12:07 pm by Rafael Vela[/font]

June has arrived, which means publishers are racing to get their pre-season annuals on the newstand first. I spotted two in my local bookstore yesterday and purchased Street and Smith’s yearbook. The Cowboys get a mixed review from the S&S folks, who like the team’s draft, but are generally unimpressed with the Cowboys’ direction.

Every annual has a unique format, and Street and Smith’s relies on interviews with league scouts and personnel managers to shape their assessments. Street and Smith’s is based in Charlotte, North Carolina, and uses a team of nine writers to assemble the team profiles. All are from the midwest or northeast; among the more familiar names are Don Pierson of the Chicago Tribune and Larry Weisman of USA Today. Street and Smith’s also assigns a numerical value to each team, based, I assume, on its overall talent level.

Some of the major points in the annual include:

S&S picks the Eagles to defeat the Colts in the Super Bowl. Philadelphia will defeat Atlanta in the NFC title game and Indy will finally get past New England in the AFC.
The book predicts very little turnover from last season, with New England, Indy, Pittsburgh, Philly, Atlanta and Seattle again winning divisions. In the AFC West, Denver dethrones the Chargers. In the NFC North, Minnesota supplants the Packers.
Further proof of how safe the book is comes from the playoff roster. S&S picks the same six AFC teams that made the playoffs last year to repeat. In the NFC, four of the six return, with the Giants and Panthers crashing the party.
Dallas gets an A- for its draft, with Dallas getting extra value from the Marion Barber and Chris Canty picks.
Jason Witten gets the scouting profile — each team gets one — and is deemed a rarity in today’s game, a tight end who is “not exceptional, but good” at both blocking and receiving.
Despite the high draft grade, Dallas is projected to finish third in the division, behind the Giants and ahead of the Redskins. The team’s grade of 75 is low; it’s tied for 26th with the Texans and tops only the Redskins, Bears, Bucs, Browns and 49ers.
The projected lineups are similar to those discussed on this site. However, S&S has Al Singleton at one ILB position, with Bradie James at an OLB position. Lynn Scott gets the nod at free safety. The rater seemed rather clueless at RT, slotting Jacob Rogers as the starter.
Much of the skepticism comes from the signing of Bledsoe, whom the magazine does not like, the age of the offensive line, and the apparent move to force-feed several rookies into the defensive lineup. The anonymous scout or GM wrote, “They’ll be better than 6-10, maybe around .500… I don’t really understand what they’re trying to do. It seems like Parcells is on a short tenure… I don’t see enough unless they hit some home runs in the draft.”

burmafrd · 06-04-2005

As I recall S & S said in its 1992 preview that the Cowboys would be lucky to make the playoffs. In its 1993 preview it basically said the BOys were a fluke and would make the playoffs but had very little chance to repeat.
So in other words, ignore them!!!

es22 · 06-04-2005

Pro Football Weekly is out. That is the one book I rely on (mostly their kickoff issue 2 weeks before openning day). They deal with local beat writers.

speedkilz88 · 06-04-2005

Anyone see Lindy's Pro Football yet? Thats the one I get every season. Its the best.

silver · 06-04-2005

Quote:

Originally Posted by CrazyCowboy

Despite the high draft grade, Dallas is projected to finish third in the division, behind the Giants and ahead of the Redskins. The team’s grade of 75 is low; it’s tied for 26th with the Texans and tops only the Redskins, Bears, Bucs, Browns and 49ers.

If only other teams would read this stuff and we could sneak up on our opponents this year. but i doubt this happens. nobody is taking us for granted this season.

LaTunaNostra · 06-04-2005

Quote:

Originally Posted by CrazyCowboy

Jason Witten gets the scouting profile — each team gets one — and is deemed a rarity in today’s game, a tight end who is “not exceptional, but good” at both blocking and receiving.

But exceptional in route running, hand-eye coordination, and speed of learning curve indicate even better things to come...

Qwickdraw · 06-04-2005

These magazines are a joke.
All of their Dallas insight is poor. Their predictions are garbage.
I just got the Sporting News. They did a Safety analysis on the whole league and gave a grade to each team for this position. They said Dallas is 31st in the league at this position. The only team with worse personnel at Safety is Green Bay according to them. C'mon. So we're looking for a FS. We have a ProBowler at SS. That at least puts us in the middle of the pack. Most of the league has average to below average talent manning both of their Safety positions. I just can't believe the crap I read about Dallas in these mags.

davey999 · 06-04-2005

Lindy's out on the 14th, I think.

TheSkaven · 06-04-2005

Quote:

S&S picks the Eagles to defeat the Colts in the Super Bowl. Philadelphia will defeat Atlanta in the NFC title game and Indy will finally get past New England in the AFC.

What a lack of imagination. Every year it's the same thing, the writers pick the same four teams from the previous year and plug them right back in. They never take into account teams that fall or rise.

JPM · 06-04-2005

I bought the S & S rag, think I'll burn it....

Qwickdraw · 06-04-2005

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheSkaven

What a lack of imagination. Every year it's the same thing, the writers pick the same four teams from the previous year and plug them right back in. They never take into account teams that fall or rise.

Exactly.

The power rankings are a joke too because they just adjust them for whoever is winning each week. There's no insight whatsoever. "Oh, Dallas is tied for the worst record in the league in week 2 at 0-2, well then they must be 31st in the league. Oh, Jacksonville is 2-0 in week 2, wow, they must be the best in the league. Put them at #2 on the chart." lol.
Same with their team grades and whatnot. They don't factor in the fact that a team like Dallas signed 5 starters in the offseason, had a stupendous draft, and has a couple stars returning from injury. No, they go off of last year and nothing more. I'm still hearing crap like, "Dallas needs a CB." Or, "Dallas doesn't have a pass rush."
Gimme a break. Although unproven in Dallas, I'd say signing Henry and Glenn and the return of Hunter more than solves the CB issue. And while we don't know for sure, I'd say a 3-4 change and the addition of Ware and Spears equals a pass rush. But then again, what do I know... I'm just a fan who watches every football game humanly possible each week on 3 televisions at the same time and reads about football daily.