Keep hope alive .. Rookie safety Matt Johnson was at practice and working to the side

[Idgit]

Originally Posted by Hostile

I think more than anything in the world I want to see Matt Johnson in a game this week or the playoffs and make a big play that gives the Cowboys a win.

Just so I can see all the back tracking and gear stripping. It would crack me up if he picked off the pass that seals the win. Or makes a hit that jars the ball loose.

It could be a great karma moment.

It'd be washed aside and immediately forgotten without ever really being owned. Like the Jason Witten karma was. Or the Anthony Spencer karma was. Or the Demarcus Ware karma will be.

Originally Posted by jnday

I would expect him to break his hand if he picked off a pass or shatter his entire body with a hit on another player. If his body can stand up to the NFL, he hasn't shown it. At the moment he is another wasted draft pick. It is up to him to prove everybody wrong.

Everybody? Hardly everybody. There are still some of us around who were able to temper our expectations when a rookie S sustained some injuries and was unable to get his first NFL season on track.

[Deep_Freeze]

Originally Posted by Idgit

Everybody? Hardly everybody. There are still some of us around who were able to temper our expectations when a rookie S sustained some injuries and was unable to get his first NFL season on track.

God, you really don't realize how much I want to see Matt be able to perform, after all, safeties drafted in this area take a while to produce but it has been shown that you can get a productive safety in that area of the draft.

I have no clue if he can play, and I don't trust the home video taken by his mother. But I do have hope for him, maybe cause I'm just a lil desperate to see some real safety play on this team with the CBs we have in place.

I do have one question, can you really imagine the talented CBs we have playing tight with great safety play behind them........that would be a freakin dream.

[Idgit]

Originally Posted by Deep_Freeze

God, you really don't realize how much I want to see Matt be able to perform, after all, safeties drafted in this area take a while to produce but it has been shown that you can get a productive safety in that area of the draft.

I have no clue if he can play, and I don't trust the home video taken by his mother. But I do have hope for him, maybe cause I'm just a lil desperate to see some real safety play on this team with the CBs we have in place.

I do have one question, can you really imagine the talented CBs we have playing tight with great safety play behind them........that would be a freakin dream.

You can tell the coaches are really stoked about this guy. I hope he shows up.

Re: great safety play, we could really use it. Something's got to give if we're going to flip that turnover differential that's absolutely killing us against some of these good teams we play.

[T-RO]

Let me get this straight:

You boys want the guy to dip his toe into his first NFL action in a do-or-die week 16 game? Or in a playoff game?

I'm also eager/curious to see him play. But aside from spot duty...in this context...maybe not so much.

[Deep_Freeze]

Originally Posted by Idgit

You can tell the coaches are really stoked about this guy. I hope he shows up.

Re: great safety play, we could really use it. Something's got to give if we're going to flip that turnover differential that's absolutely killing us against some of these good teams we play.

Yeah the only way we can get that turnover differential to be more in our favor is to make those passing windows smaller. We will have to press, but we can't press if the CBs have no support behind them. We just have to improve our safety play, no other way around it.

[morasp]

Originally Posted by Idgit

You can tell the coaches are really stoked about this guy. I hope he shows up.

Re: great safety play, we could really use it. Something's got to give if we're going to flip that turnover differential that's absolutely killing us against some of these good teams we play.

I haven't paid that close of attention. Do you remember what the coaches said in general?

In general I think it's idiotic to bash this guy anymore than the others already mentioned like Lee, Carter, Murray. The other guy I'm looking forward to is Danny Coale, that wide receiver we drafted. He had insane numbers in college.

[Yakuza Rich]

Originally Posted by jnday

I would expect him to break his hand if he picked off a pass or shatter his entire body with a hit on another player. If his body can stand up to the NFL, he hasn't shown it. At the moment he is another wasted draft pick. It is up to him to prove everybody wrong.

We don't know how his body has held up. His hamstring has been the problem.

I remember Polamalu not doing much of anything his rookie year due to injuries. Guess he was a bust as well. And he was a 1st round pick.







YR

[Yakuza Rich]

Originally Posted by T-RO

Let me get this straight:

You boys want the guy to dip his toe into his first NFL action in a do-or-die week 16 game? Or in a playoff game?

I'm also eager/curious to see him play. But aside from spot duty...in this context...maybe not so much.

If he's ready and can handle it, then sure. If he's not ready and can't handle it, then no.

I don't know if it's possible to get much worse in coverage than McCray, who also has a knack for hurting his own teammmates. And I don't know if it's possible to be a worse tackler than Peprah. Right now our corners are far better tacklers than our safeties, without exaggeration.







YR

[jnday]

Originally Posted by Yakuza Rich

We don't know how his body has held up. His hamstring has been the problem.

I remember Polamalu not doing much of anything his rookie year due to injuries. Guess he was a bust as well. And he was a 1st round pick.







YR

He also had a back problem IIRC. Anyway it goes, he still has to prove that he can stay healthy and play. He hasn't done it yet.

[aikemirv]

Originally Posted by T-RO

Let me get this straight:

You boys want the guy to dip his toe into his first NFL action in a do-or-die week 16 game? Or in a playoff game?

I'm also eager/curious to see him play. But aside from spot duty...in this context...maybe not so much.

I though no one could be worse than McCRay until I saw the defense last week.

I truly don't think Johnson could be worse than what we trotted out last week.

[Hostile]

Originally Posted by Idgit

It'd be washed aside and immediately forgotten without ever really being owned. Like the Jason Witten karma was. Or the Anthony Spencer karma was. Or the Demarcus Ware karma will be.

It's the "I really hope I'm wrong" Teflon.

[respectdatstar]

Originally Posted by T-RO

Let me get this straight:

You boys want the guy to dip his toe into his first NFL action in a do-or-die week 16 game? Or in a playoff game?

I'm also eager/curious to see him play. But aside from spot duty...in this context...maybe not so much.

Isn't it week 17?

[Oh_Canada]

Originally Posted by T-RO

Let me get this straight:

You boys want the guy to dip his toe into his first NFL action in a do-or-die week 16 game? Or in a playoff game?

I'm also eager/curious to see him play. But aside from spot duty...in this context...maybe not so much.

I think in spot duty-yes why not???

If he's healthy enough to play and the Cowboys have been this patient with the kid, than obviously they believe in him and believe he can contribute.

[rocboy22]

Originally Posted by respectdatstar

Isn't it week 17?

[ThreeandOut]

I don't want an untested rookie playing as the last line of defense in a win-or-go-home game. At this point they should just consider this to be a redshirt year for Johnson and see what they have with him next year.

Personally, I think the Cowboys ought to downgrade any player on their draft board by at least a round if they come from a school where they graduate late. It seems like the first year is usually a wash for these players as they miss too much of the offseason to be able to contribute their first year.