A bunch of guys you’ve never heard of who all have something to prove

[ZappaFrank]

It's true. After reading some recent hype about Mincey I looked over his career stats, and there was absolutely nothing to be hopeful about. If he hasn't shown it since 2006, what the heck would make him do it now in 2014?

The thing I remember hearing about Mincey the most is when he quit on the Jags because he was too busy with his record label.

 

[snapper]

but possibly little to no talent…..:-(

Hey, I'll take 11 average Joes if they perform better than two guys (Ware and Hatcher -- the only proven starters to play most of last season) and a bunch of spares.

 

[WPBCowboysFan]

Marching probably means stumbling in drunk..

 

[Kaiser]

No thread is complete until it has the Animal House Marching Band Hijack image:

 

[xwalker]

xwalker, I really appreciate the perspective you bring. It's easy to complain about these guys, but when you sit and break them down, it's not like they all are practice squad level players hanging on.

The difference between this defense and a very good one literally is 2 players. Say we still had Ware and Hatcher. No one would be saying this is the league's worst defense.

About 90% of fans can only relate to big name players like Ware and Lee. It's not only fans, but also most media types, especially national media.

The next level of fans will look slightly deeper, but they have a mindset that if a player has been in the NFL for some amount of time and is not a Star, then he must suck. Guys like T. McClain and Durant fit in this category.

People either forget or never knew that there were many "good enough" type players on the early nineties Cowboys Super Bowl teams. James Washington, Tony Casillas and many of the OLinemen like Derek Kennard, John Gesek, Kevin Gogan and players like Kelvin Martin, Thomas Everette, etc.. The only star players on defense at the beginning of the 1992 season was Charles Haley and maybe Ken Norton. Haley was a questionable mental case with some similarities to Rolando McClain this year.

 

[xwalker]

The problem is those guys are not going to take every defensive snap. This is the NFL and no unit goes through the season completely healthy, and there is of course necessary rotation along the DL too. And most of the guys behind these 'reasonable' players do, in fact, stink. That's about the one thing we can take from this preseason, our 2's and 3's were run over.

Maybe we get really lucky on the health front or a couple of the young guys have a light go on that clearly was off in the preseason - that's the hope. But barring that there will undoubtedly be some Hayden level football players getting significant playing time this year. And if we don't get lucky on the injury front, Katy bar the door...

DE Crawford is the 3rd guy and appears to have some talent.
DT T. McClain is the 3rd guy is probably has more talent than Hayden.
LB Wilber is the 4th guy and looked like a reason NFL player at that position last season.

CB the 3rd/4th guys are a definite question mark, but Scandrick could return soon depending on the new drug policy negotiations.

The 3rd Safety could definitely be a problem. Heath has 9 games of starting experience, but I don't think any of us really want to see him starting again. CJ Spillman has play some at Safety but I don't think he's ever been a starter.

 

[cowboys1981]

If you look at each position individually, the defense does not seem as bad as advertised. They just don't have much in the way of Star players on the defense.

DT3T Melton - He has shown to be a quality NFL player when healthy.
MLB McClain - He has shown to be a reasonable or better NFL player when he's on the field.
WLB Durant - He has shown to be a reasonable NFL player.
RDE Mincey - He has shown to be a reasonable NFL player.
LDE Selvie - He has shown to be a reasonable NFL player.
CB1 Carr - He has shown to be a reasonable NFL player.
S1 Church - He has shown to be a reasonable NFL player.

CB2 Claiborne - He has at times shown to be a reasonable NFL player.
S2 Wilcox - He has shown signs of being a reasonable NFL player.
SLB Carter - He has at times shown to be a reasonable or better NFL player.

DE1T Hayden - He has shown the ability to play about 800 snaps in an NFL season.

Good assessment.

McClain was brought in to play the 1DT.
Melton was brought in to play the 3DT.
Lawrence was drafted to play WDE.
We have plenty of options at the SDE.

We basically went out and acquired 75% of our Dline.

LB's
Durant-Carter-McClain-Hitchens are a solid group. Carter needs a breakout year, Durant needs to stay on the field, if McClain can play to his potential we got a steal of a pickup.

CB's

IMO the only player who will be with us in '15 is Scandrick. Mo needs to show he is worthy of the gamble we took on him. If I'm not mistaken We didn't restructure Carr and if that is true I believe that will make his cap hit smaller in the offseason.

S's

Church is good in the box and a good FS would compmiment him well. This is where Wilcox comes in. He has a season under his belt and it'll be interesting to see how he does this season.

Overall, we have players who have something to prove for different reasons. My biggest thing is durability and just staying on the field. This team needs continuity and you can't do that with new faces coming in all the time.

 

[Kaiser]

The next level of fans will look slightly deeper, but they have a mindset that if a player has been in the NFL for some amount of time and is not a Star, then he must suck. Guys like T. McClain and Durant fit in this category.

The guy I always think of is OG Kyle Kosier. The fans talk about the big names just like you say, but guys like T. McClain have the potential to be a solid starter at a low price, which is exactly what Kosier did. He started 80 games at a very reasonable salary but no one remembers it.

 

[DavidS]

When I march in AT&T Stadium on Sunday

Real Fan = Ones that actually show up

 

[wileedog]

DE Crawford is the 3rd guy and appears to have some talent.
DT T. McClain is the 3rd guy is probably has more talent than Hayden.
LB Wilber is the 4th guy and looked like a reason NFL player at that position last season.

CB the 3rd/4th guys are a definite question mark, but Scandrick could return soon depending on the new drug policy negotiations.

The 3rd Safety could definitely be a problem. Heath has 9 games of starting experience, but I don't think any of us really want to see him starting again. CJ Spillman has play some at Safety but I don't think he's ever been a starter.

Crawford and Wilber are two of the young guys who, as I mentioned, have to show something for us to have a chance to be better. Neither was a particular standout in preseason.

Can we stop with T McClain though? He is on his 4th team in 3 years for a reason. I get it that Hayden is awful so he must be some sort of upgrade, but when you are anxiously awaiting an obvious journeyman/depth guy (who has been hurt all preseason) to get back to be your starter you know you have issues.

And 2nd safety could be a problem. Wilcox couldn't even beat out Heath last year and while he did flash in preseason, he has to do it in a real game still, and consistently. He is another conversion project and its probably not going to happen for him overnight.

 

[xwalker]

The guy I always think of is OG Kyle Kosier. The fans talk about the big names just like you say, but guys like T. McClain have the potential to be a solid starter at a low price, which is exactly what Kosier did. He started 80 games at a very reasonable salary but no one remembers it.

Perfect example. People dogged him in his first couple of years here because he was not a name they recognized. He turned out to be a good player.

 

[xwalker]

Crawford and Wilber are two of the young guys who, as I mentioned, have to show something for us to have a chance to be better. Neither was a particular standout in preseason.

Can we stop with T McClain though? He is on his 4th team in 3 years for a reason. I get it that Hayden is awful so he must be some sort of upgrade, but when you are anxiously awaiting an obvious journeyman/depth guy (who has been hurt all preseason) to get back to be your starter you know you have issues.

And 2nd safety could be a problem. Wilcox couldn't even beat out Heath last year and while he did flash in preseason, he has to do it in a real game still, and consistently. He is another conversion project and its probably not going to happen for him overnight.

1-tech DTs don't need to be Star players. Also, it's 4 teams in 4 years. If you go back and watch all of his NFL game footage, there is no doubt that he was not ready as a rookie in 2011. He wasn't ready mentally and he was not in great physical condition either. You don't have to be a football expert to see that he looked better in 2013 than Hayden.

Crawford is not a proven player, but how many backups are proven?

 

[Bluefin]

The only star players on defense at the beginning of the 1992 season was Charles Haley and maybe Ken Norton.

And Ken Norton was viewed as a bust early on in his career.

Norton didn't become a starter until his fourth season with the Dallas Cowboys.

He was a second round selection (#41 overall) in 1988 (Michael Irvin was #11 overall that yr).

 

[xwalker]

The thing I remember hearing about Mincey the most is when he quit on the Jags because he was too busy with his record label.

I've never heard that story. I've only heard that he was late to some meetings.

 

[ZappaFrank]

I've never heard that story. I've only heard that he was late to some meetings.

He missed a meeting and was left home on a road trip. Said it was a wake up call for him. Then he slept in and was late to a meeting/practice and got cut. A real winner.

 

[xwalker]

He missed a meeting and was left home on a road trip. Said it was a wake up call for him. Then he slept in and was late to a meeting/practice and got cut. A real winner.

How does that relate to a record label?

 

[ZappaFrank]

How does that relate to a record label?

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/10130299/jeremy-mincey-released-jacksonville-jaguars

"Mincey said he had some other minor transgressions over the past few months and that missing the Nov. 23 meeting was the tipping point for Bradley. Mincey has a 3-month-old daughter and owns a recording studio in Jacksonville, and he said he had gotten caught up with both of those things while his commitment to football slipped. He said he was grateful for Bradley's punishment because it helped him reorganize his priorities."

Winning attitude.

 

[Kaiser]

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/10130299/jeremy-mincey-released-jacksonville-jaguars

"Mincey said he had some other minor transgressions over the past few months and that missing the Nov. 23 meeting was the tipping point for Bradley. Mincey has a 3-month-old daughter and owns a recording studio in Jacksonville, and he said he had gotten caught up with both of those things while his commitment to football slipped. He said he was grateful for Bradley's punishment because it helped him reorganize his priorities."

Winning attitude.

Its a huge stretch to go from that ESPN blurb to saying "he quit on the Jags because he was too busy with his record label."

 

[xwalker]

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/10130299/jeremy-mincey-released-jacksonville-jaguars

"Mincey said he had some other minor transgressions over the past few months and that missing the Nov. 23 meeting was the tipping point for Bradley. Mincey has a 3-month-old daughter and owns a recording studio in Jacksonville, and he said he had gotten caught up with both of those things while his commitment to football slipped. He said he was grateful for Bradley's punishment because it helped him reorganize his priorities."

Winning attitude.

"Jeremy and I had a talk this morning, and it just felt like it was time to move forward," Bradley said. "It wasn't one particular thing that caused the reaction. I think it was just a combination of things. Jeremy's a good football player, good person, and I enjoyed my conversation with him today and I can't thank him enough for what he's done for this organization and his contribution, but we just felt like it was time to make this decision."


Mincey overslept and was late for a team meeting Nov. 23, and Bradley decided not to take him on the team's trip to face the Texans and also fined him an undisclosed amount. Mincey was inactive for the Jaguars' Dec. 1 game at Cleveland, although he did make the trip.


Mincey said he had some other minor transgressions over the past few months and that missing the Nov. 23 meeting was the tipping point for Bradley. Mincey has a 3-month-old daughter and owns a recording studio in Jacksonville, and he said he had gotten caught up with both of those things while his commitment to football slipped. He said he was grateful for Bradley's punishment because it helped him reorganize his priorities.

He didn't have any problems in Denver and It sound like he might have learned a lesson. He's far from the 1st guy that got a little sidetracked in life once he made some big money.

I'm not sure how having a recording studio caused him to oversleep.

 

[ZappaFrank]

"He said he was grateful for Bradley's punishment because it helped him reorganize his priorities."

Aaaaand then he was late to a meeting and got cut.