3 ELITE positions to help you win a championship (Dallas has two)

[TheSport78]

The three positions I think you need to put a franchise in prime position to win a Super Bowl:

Quarterback: Tony Romo, I believe, is an elite quarterback. He's a top 7 QB in my book, and he's never had an elite offensive line to help him. In today's NFL, you need an elite quarterback to get you to the promised land, UNLESS you have a special, special defense like the 85 Bears or the 2000 Ravens.

Elite pass-rusher: It's obvious that Demarcus Ware is arguably the best defensive player in the NFL. He didn't have an elite year last season, but who can blame him? He didn't get much help from Spencer and Jenkins, the two players who regressed tremendously in 2010.

Cornerback: I know I may get some criticism for this, but you need an elite, shutdown cornerback in today's NFL. Look at the Green Bay Packers. They have Charles Woodson and Tramon Williams. It's rare to have two solid CB's like the Packers, but most teams don't have ONE elite corner. Look at the Jets. Do they have any great players on defense besides Revis? Because the shutdown CB can essentially take away a part of the football field, it makes things easier for everybody else on defense. The Cowboys don't have an elite CB. Newman isn't even close. Asomugha would allow Jenkins to have less pressure on him after a horrific year. You can combine that with Scandrick playing in a contract year, and you could have a good situation. The wildcard position is safety, if we could release Newman, break the bank for Nnamdi, and get a hometown discount with Huff, the Cowboys could be onto something. Abram Elam could be a nice option at SS as well.

So the Cowboys have 2/3 important positions in my opinion. Nnamdi is the missing piece. He'll make EVERYONE better on defense.

 

[Maxmadden]

Asomugha would allow Jenkins to have more pressure

 

[Manwiththeplan]

Cornerback: I know I may get some criticism for this, but you need an elite, shutdown cornerback in today's NFL. Look at the Green Bay Packers. They have Charles Woodson and Tramon Williams. It's rare to have two solid CB's like the Packers, but most teams don't have ONE elite corner. Look at the Jets. Do they have any great players on defense besides Revis? Because the shutdown CB can essentially take away a part of the football field, it makes things easier for everybody else on defense. The Cowboys don't have an elite CB. Newman isn't even close. Asomugha would allow Jenkins to have less pressure on him after a horrific year. You can combine that with Scandrick playing in a contract year, and you could have a good situation. The wildcard position is safety, if we could release Newman, break the bank for Nnamdi, and get a hometown discount with Huff, the Cowboys could be onto something. Abram Elam could be a nice option at SS as well.

So the Cowboys have 2/3 important positions in my opinion. Nnamdi is the missing piece. He'll make EVERYONE better on defense.

Couldn't disagre more with this one. For starters, I don't consider Woodson a shut down corner. He's a play making CB. He plays a lot of zone, does a lot of blitzing, and makes plays. Tramon Williams is solid, and nothing more. Even if we were to count Woodson, neither teams in the superbowl last year had a shut down corner (IND, NO), the year before (PIT, ARZ) and even the year before (NYG, NE) the best CB was Asante Samuels, who is another playmaker, not shut down guy. To find a shut down corner in a Super Bowl, I think you'd have to go back to Ty Law.

Definately QB and Pass rusher, third, if you look at the teams competing for super bowls, I'd say WR, but that may be a product of QB play.

 

[TheSport78]

Asomugha would allow Jenkins to have more pressure

Why do you think he would have more pressure? Allowing Asomugha to cover the #1 WR every week WITHOUT safety help would definitely help the defense in a big way, including Jenkins IMO.

Couldn't disagre more with this one. For starters, I don't consider Woodson a shut down corner. He's a play making CB. He plays a lot of zone, does a lot of blitzing, and makes plays. Tramon Williams is solid, and nothing more. Even if we were to count Woodson, neither teams in the superbowl last year had a shut down corner (IND, NO), the year before (PIT, ARZ) and even the year before (NYG, NE) the best CB was Asante Samuels, who is another playmaker, not shut down guy. To find a shut down corner in a Super Bowl, I think you'd have to go back to Ty Law.

Definately QB and Pass rusher, third, if you look at the teams competing for super bowls, I'd say WR, but that may be a product of QB play.

Woodson may not be a shutdown corner right now, he's still solid enough where you can combo him with a young, playmaking CB in Tramon Williams. They don't have one ELITE corner, but they have two very solid CB's which is almost, if not as good as having one elite CB. Sam Shields is a dang good CB as well. Asomugha doesn't create many turnovers, but teams never throw his way, so he is a playmaker in a sense that he gives OTHER players on defense to create more big plays.

 

[Maxmadden]

Asomugha would help the defense by shutting down one side of the field. So that only leaves one other option. Throw at Jenkins. I think he has all the tools to be a shutdown corner but he hasn't chosen which player he wants to be. Hopefully he just had a sophomore slump and can improve on his rookie level of play. I really think that a safety would do more to help this team than a CB.

 

[TheSport78]

Asomugha would help the defense by shutting down one side of the field. So that only leaves one other option. Throw at Jenkins. I think he has all the tools to be a shutdown corner but he hasn't chosen which player he wants to be. Hopefully he just had a sophomore slump and can improve on his rookie level of play. I really think that a safety would do more to help this team than a CB.

But at least Jenkins would know that more opportunities would be coming his way. On the Lunch Break today, Eatman made an interesting point that the first season Deion came to Dallas in 95', Larry Brown had NINE freaking interceptions, and was the Super Bowl MVP (I know). Deion put that defense over the top, and allowed mediocre players like Larry Brown to capitalize. I think it's safe to assume that Jenkins, as a 1st round pick, has way more upside than Larry Brown did in his career. Safety definitely needs an upgrade. I think Huff still comes here whether we sign Nnamdi or not.

 

[ShiningStar]

wheres luck on that list?

 

[big dog cowboy]

Nnamdi is the missing piece. He'll make EVERYONE better on defense.

Some would say Rob Ryan is the missing piece that will make everyone better on defense.

 

[NeonNinja]

wheres luck on that list?

Luck is not a position.

 

[The30YardSlant]

You forgot left tackle, and for a 3-4 team a great nose tackle

 

[TheSport78]

wheres luck on that list?

Very funny. The three POSITIONS you need to help you win a SB. I definitely think these are the top 3 most important positions in the NFL today. I would even take an elite CB over a Pro Bowl LT.

 

[The Emperor]

So wait. Who was our elite cornerback during the '90s? Or even the '70s?

I would substitute cornerback for head coach. Tom Landry and Jimmy Johnson had more to do with our success in the '70s and '90s than Mel Renfro and Kevin Smith.

And it's the same for these Cowboys. Garrett doesn't need Nmadi Whatever to be successful. He could do it with Tom McCann if he had to.

 

[TheSport78]

You forgot left tackle, and for a 3-4 team a great nose tackle

Left tackle should definitely be up for discussion, but here's the reason why I left it out, especially for the Cowboys. Tony Romo arguably has the quickest release in the NFL, and in today's NFL, defensive coordinators are moving their elite pass-rushers around, so you need solid, bookend offensive tackles, something I believe Dallas does have now. I don't believe you need an ELITE, Pro Bowl left tackle though. Just my meaningless thoughts.

 

[TheSport78]

So wait. Who was our elite cornerback during the '90s? Or even the '70s?

I would substitute cornerback for head coach. Tom Landry and Jimmy Johnson had more to do with our success in the '70s and '90s than Mel Renfro and Kevin Smith.

And it's the same for these Cowboys. Garrett doesn't need Nmadi Whatever to be successful. He could do it with Tom McCann if he had to.

We happened to have three Hall of Famers on offense, plus the best offensive line in football. You cannot deny that while the Triplets were great, Charles Haley, the elite pass rusher, put our defense over the top in order to win those Super Bowls. Then, Deion, the shutdown corner, helped us win another Lombardi in 95'. The 70s are a moot point in my opinion because the game was extremely different back then. I am talking in terms of how the NFL is played today.

 

[Future]

I can think of 5 pretty crucial ones...all of them end in "lineman"

 

[AMERICAS_FAN]

#1 = QB - Dallas Has Romo
#2 = DE (OLB in a 3/4) - Dallas has Ware
#3 = WR (it's a passing league, after all) - Dallas now has Dez Bryant along w/ Miles Austin
#4 = CB (someone's gotta cover those WRs) - Dallas has T-New, whether you wanna give him his props or not
#5 = RB (can't establish a passing game without balance) - Dallas has Felix Jones

No reason for this team not to be in contention.

 

[perrykemp]

Couldn't disagre more with this one. For starters, I don't consider Woodson a shut down corner. He's a play making CB. He plays a lot of zone, does a lot of blitzing, and makes plays. Tramon Williams is solid, and nothing more. Even if we were to count Woodson, neither teams in the superbowl last year had a shut down corner (IND, NO), the year before (PIT, ARZ) and even the year before (NYG, NE) the best CB was Asante Samuels, who is another playmaker, not shut down guy. To find a shut down corner in a Super Bowl, I think you'd have to go back to Ty Law.
Definately QB and Pass rusher, third, if you look at the teams competing for super bowls, I'd say WR, but that may be a product of QB play.

You are both forgetting to mention Green Bay's third corner, Sam Shields. He was so good as a rookie he made Peter King's Top 100 Players in the NFL for 2011.... I know it's Peter King and all that, however, if the 2010 draft were held again, I suspect Sam Shields would have been a 1st round pick and maybe the 2nd CB drafted.

So the Packers have 3 above average cornerbacks -- two of which are pro-bowl caliber and the other just coming off a great rookie season.

Having said that, calling Woodson a cornerback at this stage is generous -- he is more of a safety/slot corner/nickle linebacker.

 

[The Emperor]

We happened to have three Hall of Famers on offense, plus the best offensive line in football. You cannot deny that while the Triplets were great, Charles Haley, the elite pass rusher, put our defense over the top in order to win those Super Bowls. Then, Deion, the shutdown corner, helped us win another Lombardi in 95'. The 70s are a moot point in my opinion because the game was extremely different back then. I am talking in terms of how the NFL is played today.

Mmh.

Well, let's play by your rules and just stick to the '90s. I still would posit Deion Sanders wasn't that big of an impact because we won two Super Bowls without him. His signing was what put us on the downhill slide to ruin and degeneration.

 

[AMERICAS_FAN]

Mmh.

Well, let's play by your rules and just stick to the '90s. I still would posit Deion Sanders wasn't that big of an impact because we won two Super Bowls without him. His signing was what put us on the downhill slide to ruin and degeneration.

It was a combination of a new salary-cap and the firing of Jimmy Johnson that put the 90s Cowboys on a downhill slide, not the hiring of Deion.

The hiring of Deion helped secure the 3rd super bowl in the 90s because it addded CB depth that the Cowboys lacked.

With a healthy Kevin Smith - a true shut-down CB - the Cowboys did not need Deion -- that is, up intil Smith tore his achiles in the preseason, thus making the signing of Deion invaluable towards winning that third Super Bowl.

Just tellin it like it is...

 

[TheSport78]

Mmh.

Well, let's play by your rules and just stick to the '90s. I still would posit Deion Sanders wasn't that big of an impact because we won two Super Bowls without him. His signing was what put us on the downhill slide to ruin and degeneration.

Disagree with that completely. Free agency, aging players and bad GM decisions were our downfall. We won two Super Bowls before Deion because the Cowboys were in dynasty mode. We happened to have 3 Hall of Famers at the skills positions, along with the best offensive line in football. Dallas then acquired one of my most important positions in pass rusher (Charles Haley). If Deion is on our team for the 94' season, we definitely win 4 Super Bowls in a row. Deion wasn't that big of an impact? I don't agree with that either. Shutdown CB's always make an impact on the field whether they have great stats or not.