How will the team address the safeties, oline, and dline in one offseason?

[Idgit]

Originally Posted by Zordon

idgit, i am not as high on lissemore as some on here. i think he is a decent rotational player but i don't see him as a starter. the expectations were high for him this offseason to put spears or coleman out of a job but i think he's been dissappointing in his limited playing time this year. he needs better gap control and i think he is limited athletically. i'm probably higher on rat then most but he needs to get his body right this offseason.

the dline needs more athleticism and more length imo. collingsworth made a interesting point during the last game. we only have 3 pass deflections all year. i've seen that from jj watt in one half this season. are they not being taught to do it? why aren't they batting more balls down if they aren't getting to the qb is a question i've had all season. i think this can be partly taught but also need longer more athletic players that can execute this philosophy. no more marcus spears fat boys please.

Yeah, I don't know what the deal with the batted balls is. Personally, I prefer an aggressive DL rotation, with a lot of guys who are all pretty good that you can keep fresh. I think Lisemore and Brent fall into this category. Crawford will, too, by next season. I definitely want to see us adding those guys wherever we find them. And we want to add a pressure player from somewhere. With Rat in there in limited snaps, it was a different defense this season. I'd love to see it reliably next year, whether that's from Rat, a Spencer replacement, or another player. I think Crawford could end up being that guy, too.

Oh, and I forgot about Hatcher and Butler. Hatcher in particular is an underrated player.

[JBond]

Originally Posted by Zordon

Does anybody have a path that we can do this? We have so many holes on this team...we can addrunning back and possiblly another receiver to that list. I know some like Sensabaugh but I don't see it. I see a guy who is one of the least physical safeties in the league. This defense needs some torpedoes back there to put more fear in the receivers. Also would be nice to finally get a ball hawk back there too. Cowboys also need to find their own Alfred Morris in the draft this year. We don't need to use a high pick (see Felix Jones), gems can be found in the 5th and 6th round. Pressure is on the scouts to find him.

I'm not going to lie, I got a sickening feeling in my stomach last night watching the Skins/Giants game. I feel like we're in danger of being left behind in the division for the near future if we don't start drafting better and suring up all of the holes on this team. It can be done but the scouting department needs to do a better job, plain and simple.

The priority is the O-line. Everything else pales in comparison.

[intelmax]

Draft Elam from florida in the first round or one of those Texas A&M tackles

Second round grab that center from Alabama, Heck grab any player from that Alabama offensive line you really cant go wrong with those guys.

Everything else is a crapshoot.

[fortdick]

Originally Posted by JackWagon

They cant. But im sure JJ will find the money to resign Romo and Bryant to huge contracts that this team really cant afford.

You're right. Jerry should let them walk and use the money to high some free agents to come in and fix this team.

If we could only find a way to get those high priced guys, Ware and Witten to leave as well........

[ykc]

Originally Posted by CATCH17

We have to get lucky somewhere. Probably safety. Hopefully Matt Johnson is a player.

We need Oline and Dline and the only way to get real talent without blowing your salary cap is to draft them. Problem is our team doesn't like to pick those guys on draft day.

We suck big time drafting DL, OL and S for some reason.
Only 3 that we got lucky are Flozell, Gurode and Ratliff in the last 15 years.

Roy Williams (S) was good but I don't want to count him as a success pick based on his career and where he is picked

[burmafrd]

We must significantly upgrade at least the Center positiona and One guard position. That is the MINIMUM we should do on the O line.

As regards Tackle Parnell should be given a shot to take Free's spot- toss Free. Draft a development tackle or try and get a halfway decent journeyman in FA or both.

Safety- take what we have and give them another year. Church was looking pretty good and Johnson has yet to be seen.

D line- we got a couple of fairly young guys and give them another year.

We need to emphasize fixing the O line this offseason. everything else can wait.

THE ONE caveat I would have to that is if we can get a real good pass rusher then do it.

[CowboyFan74]

Same thing we always do. Draft what we can, get band aids everywhere else we miss...

[Deep_Freeze]

Originally Posted by Zordon

just curious do you see a scenario where matt johnson and barry church are the starters next season. hopefully johnson is a better tackler than sensy. i know the organization likes sensy but i don't. the guy is the most passive tackler i've seen from the cowboys in a long time. compare him to the niners duo and it's night and day when it comes to their physicality.

lee and carter are great, i just want to make sure we have depth behind them in case of injuries. i can't wait to see those two together next season.

Well alot of people here underestimate the safety position and how bad it actually is at the moment. Sensy should be a backup, and would make a good one cause he could fill in at either SS or FS. Counting on Church is fools gold cause we don't know how he will respond to that injury as he wasn't the most athletic guy in the league in the first place. Matt.....come on he hasn't even played a down of NFL football coming from a small school, we could be looking at an Arkin situation for all we know.

We have to address safety with more than a player who was cut (Poole) and a player who was hurt the whole season (Matt). We need to either get one in FA again or draft one at the very least.

I also don't understand the DL talk unless its for a NT, which can almost be a premium position. We have been able to find guys at DE for years later in the draft like Canty, Bowen, Hatch, and now Lissemore and Crawford. This is a strength of our team in finding these guys late, and we should continue to leverage this ability so that we can strengthen other positions.

If we draft in the teens, then a tackle should be on the radar, but you can't go into a draft thinking you need to fill just one spot. Alot depends on Spencer, who I figure will be retained now even if he is just playing for a contract.

If Spencer is retained, then there is alot of ways we could go in the draft and free agency. I, like you, saw the game last night and RG3 shouldn't be ignored in our division at this point. He likes the deep ball and that is staring our sorry safeties right in the face cause we will get burnt by RG3 everytime we see him with our sorry set of safeties. No matter how we want to deny it, RG3 is playing without alot of his pass rushers on D and still is carrying that team....they will be scary in the future.

We can address all 3 if we do it right, with OL and safety being high on the agenda, along with a dark horse at NT. There could be 4 NTs with a first round grade this year, and the team can't just ignore that. One of the few things I trust about this team is there ability to find DEs later in the draft, and look for that to continue. We can do it, but we better have another great offseason without huge mistakes with who we get on the OL and safety in order to make it happen.

[Fansince64]

I hope people bookmark this and if I am wrong I will absolutely love to eat crow. This is my belief on what JJ's plans are for our OL this offseason. This plan will start with JJ's press conferences immediately after the season ends regardless of whether we manage to find a way into the playoffs or not.

Jerry's Plan (IMHO):

1. Tell everyone that all our problems on the OL are due to injuries and missed time during this season, thus there was a lack of continuity. Mini camps and a full training camp will build this continuity and restore our OL to Pro Bowl form.

2a. Tell everyone that Doug Free was heroically fighting through a major injury all of 2012 and once he heals this offseason he will return to his end-of-2009 RT form

Or Alternatively

2b. Tell everyone that our brilliant coaching staff has just identified a flaw in Free's technique and after he corrects this "flaw" during mini camps and training camp he will return to his end-of-2009 RT form.

3. Tell everyone that the biggest problem with our OL during 2012 was missing our "All Pro" anchor at center for almost all of 2012. You remember Costa - our massively talented HOF caliber center. You know, the guy who made such major strides during 2011 - going from absolutely putrid simply awful.

After this massive propaganda campaign, Jerry will then go shopping at the 3-for-a-quarter rack in the Dollar Store during free agency and sign a couple of scrubs. Then after he drafts another scrub during rounds 5-7 of the draft he will pronounce all of our depth problems along the OL solved.

This is what I honestly expect from Jerry. I hope to high heaven I am just so jaded from Jerry's ignoring all of our OL problems in prior years that I am doing him an absolute disservice by refusing to believe that he will finally address the problem. If I am wrong and Jerry actually steps up and addresses the issues with our OL in free agency and the draft, the crow I will be served on this board will be the tastiest meal I have had in many years.


Monte

[Future]

Originally Posted by intelmax

Draft Elam from florida in the first round or one of those Texas A&M tackles

Second round grab that center from Alabama, Heck grab any player from that Alabama offensive line you really cant go wrong with those guys.

Everything else is a crapshoot.

I'm all for safety in the first round, but I like Bacarri Rambo...seems a bit more rangy than Elam. Paired with Church, thats a dynamic pair of safeties I think.

I'd go tackle in free agency and G/DL in the 2nd and 3rd. I only think we're going to have 2 new guys on the offensive line, and with a bunch of centers already on the roster, I think we go guard in the draft.

[Wolfpack]

1. OG/C One starter and one backup/development player.
2. OT One starter and one backup/development player.
3. DL: Add one development player.
4. S: Add challenger for McCray's spot/Johnson's.
5. CB: 3/4th/development guy. Plus a UDFA guy.
6. RB Development guy.
7. QB: Development guy.

I think they will need to man up for Spenser and Butler to keep them for at least 1-2 years each. Thats 7-9 picks listed above and they will have to bring in a few FA/UDFA to get by unless they trade down (which i generally dont like).

[Lazyking]

We have to have a good draft. That's not likely given our track record but if they can bring in 3 solid starters from the draft at least it opens the possiblitys in free agency.

I also think some players might be gone which would have a domino effect in who replaces them.

[jobberone]

U address the holes in FA first since its before the draft. We will look at WR, OT, OG, C, OLB, DE, NT, CB, and S. They will prioritize OL, S, CB and WR.

I see a C and T esp on the OL. They won't pass up the right G.

They should try hard to get a WR. Speed, routes and character as well as play on the outside.

The world knows they will look for a S. an alternative is to put Carr at S and get a fast cover CB.

They probably won't cut Free until after the draft and some camp.

[dantheman41]

I think Livings should be given another year. Let Bernadeau and Costa compete for starting center next year. Draft a RG early. Draft another tackle to compete with Parnell. Cut Doug Free. Don't worry about safety this year. Sensabaugh isn't great but he isn't awful. Give him one more year. See what we got in Matt Johnson next year and let church come back. Can't do everything in 1 year.

We need another disruptive player on the d line. Someone that can consistently pressure qb on the inside. An athletic long guy with power who can play base left end in the 3-4. Resign spencer

[DFWJC]

Agree with all those saying Oline 1st, Dline 2nd, secondary (both Safties and CBs) 3rd....etc.

I know we have injuries that are brutal, but we still have gaping holes.

Just note that if we do thins through the draft, you rarely can count on a rookie Olineman making a big impact until year 2. There are always exceptions--especially with some of the 1st rounders--but the value is normally not right away.
so, we should use FA as well, obviously.

We need another RB too. But that is maybe the position that requires the least amount of grooming.

We have good young players

T Smith
Bryant
Claiborne
Lee
Carter
Carr
Murray

maybe also
Church
Brent
Crawford
etc

hopefully these young guys can help too
M Johnson
Wilber
Harris
Beasely


We just have to build more from the inside out going forward.