A Look at the Dallas Starters vs. the NFC East

[Gryphon]

A Look at the Dallas Starters vs. the NFC East -- Andre Gurode
by http://yakuzarich.blogspot.com

I'm going to do a little feature looking at the Dallas projected starters and the opposing NFC East players they will likely face. First up, the man with the football in his hands first, center Andre Gurode.

ANDRE GURODE (6'4" 320 lbs, 30 years old)

Gurode was a guard in college, but was drafted by the Cowboys to be their starting center. In his rookie year he started out at center, but due to injuries on the O-Line he moved to right guard. He was kept at right guard until the 2005 season when former coach Bill Parcells moved him to backup center. Parcells preferred Al Johnson's smarts, but Johnson's lack of bulk and strength made it difficult for Dallas and Gurode would often come in to help give the line a different look. In 2006 Gurode became the full time starting center for Dallas and had a terrific season. In 2007 he played pretty well again after signing a new deal in the offseason.

In the NFL teams love to attack smaller centers by using blitzes up the middle. It's a philosophy made popular by Buddy Ryan and it was quite effective against the smaller Johnson. With Gurode that's hardly possible as he's one of the bigger centers in the game. But despite being so big, Gurode is also a very athletic center. He excels out in space, particularly on screen plays.

His weaknesses are mostly mental and with the shotgun snap. One of the hidden reasons why Dallas lost to the Giants in the playoff game was in the second half the penalties forced Dallas to pass the ball and Gurode struggled heavily with the shotgun snaps as they were often floating through the air or not timed right which threw off the entire O-Line and allowed the Giants defense to reek havoc. Like the big, school bully...Gurode is quite impressive until he gets smacked in the mouth a few times and then he starts to have the mental breakdowns from time to time. But when he's not having the mental breakdowns/shotgun snap problems, he's one of the very best centers in the game.


MAIN OPPONENTS

Brodrick Bunkley (Philly)
Cornelius Griffin (Washington)
Barry Coefield (New York)

This is a solid, but unspectacular group of nose tackles. Bunkley had a nice year after a disastrous rookie season, so you have to figure he'll improve. Griffin turns 32 next season and had a nice 2007 as well. However, he's a bit injury prone. Back in 2004 and 2005 Griffin was a downright excellent defensive tackle, so he may have one more great year left in him. Coefield is there more or less to eat up blockers.


NFC EAST PEERS

Jamaal Jackson (Philly)
Casey Rabach (Washington)
Shaun O'Hara (New York)

Jackson is similar to Gurode in that he's a huge, athletic center. I'm not the biggest Rabach fan, but he's generally well thought of as a center in the league. He did struggle badly at the end of last season due to being banged up and he turns 31 this season. O'Hara is a steady veteran.

I'd label Gurode the best center in the NFC East, although Jackson has the potential to be the best and if Gurode slumps and Rabach puts in a good year, Rabach can easily be the best center in the division.


Up Next, Left Guard Kyle Kosier

 

[Gryphon]

A Look at Dallas Starters vs. NFC East --- Kyle Kosier
by http://yakuzarich.blogspot.com

KYLE KOSIER (6'5" 294 lbs, 30 years old)

Kosier was drafted in the 7th round as an offensive tackle by the San Francisco 49ers back in 2002. Despite making the team he struggled at the offensive tackle spot and later followed his former 49ers coach Steve Mariucci to the Detroit Lions. Kosier wound up making the starting lineup after injuries and poor play found Rick DeMulling on the bench and Kosier played quite well at the left guard position. The Lions felt that he was not starting guard material as he was a former tight end in college and making the transition to offensive tackle was difficult enough, going to guard just wasn't likely to happen. But the Cowboys took Kosier and signed him to a relatively cheap deal in 2006. He played quite well in 2006 as run blocking became his strongsuit. However, he did struggle at times in pass protection, mainly getting fooled on stunts and some blitz pickups. In 2007 he had a solid year and was pretty known as the main lineman they would use on pulls and screen plays. His pass protection improved, but his run blocking dipped a tad. But overall, for the money they have paid him the Cowboys got a steal for his services.

MAIN NFC EAST OPPONENTS

Mike Patterson (Philly)
Fred Robbins (New York)
Anthony Montgomery (Washington)

Mike Patterson is a gap shooter with a great motor and has been an unheralded defensive tackle in the game since he's been drafted. Fred Robbins and Anthony Montgomery are mostly there to occupy space as both weigh over 320 pounds. Robbins in 31 years old, so he's at the end of his career. But Patterson and Montgomery are both only 24 years old. Out of the two Montgomery has more upside, but he'll probably be relegated to gap eating duty and it's going to be tough for him to rack up big stats. For right now I'd rank them 1. Patterson 2. Montgomery 3. Robbins.


NFC EAST PEERS

Todd Herremans (Philly)
Rich Seubert (New York)
Pete Kendall (Washington)

Another solid group of NFC East players here. I'd rank them as follows:

1. Kendall
2. Seubert
3. Kosier
4. Herremans

The top 3 are actually all pretty close, but Kendall has been doing it well for awhile and is fine as long as he doesn't move to center. Seubert was quite good last year. Kosier has been doing it longer than Seubert, but only by 2 years. Herremans is distinctly below the top 3, but still a solid player.


Up Next, Leonard Davis

 

[Gryphon]

A Look At The Dallas Starters vs. the NFC East --- Leonard Davis
by http://yakuzarich.blogspot.com

LEONARD DAVIS (6'7" 360 lbs - 30 years old)

Leonard Davis was a 2nd overall pick of the Arizona Cardinals back in the 2001 NFL draft. Originally an offensive tackle in college, Davis started out as a guard with the Cardinals as at 6'7" tall and 360 pounds with athleticism, he was thought to be the next Larry Allen.

Davis' play at guard was a bit inconsistent and needing a left tackle, the Cardinals eventually moved him back to that position. Davis' play again was inconsistent, as he was a solid run blocker that struggled at times with his pass protection. Eventually Davis became a free agent and the Cardinals at first were glad to see him go, then reportedly wanted him back. But by then, Davis had already made up his mind and the Cardinals were not going to match Jerry Jones' contract offer.

The contract Davis received was for $18.75 million guaranteed and was widely criticized throughout the league and the media as greatly overpaying for Davis' services. Davis was moved to right guard by Dallas so the team could take advantage of his run blocking prowess. But one thing that has been missed out by the Davis signing is he's provided the team with negotiation leverage with both Marc Colombo and Flozell Adams when they re-signed their contracts.

Colombo was looking for a bigger pay day after quality 2006 season, but didn't have any takers. Colombo still would have had leverage had Dallas not signed Davis, a guy who has played right tackle in the league. Instead, they got Colombo on a rather cheap 2 year deal. The same applied to Flozell Adams, except Adams got a more expensive and longer term deal from the team. Still, had Davis not been available, Adams would have had more leverage to hold out for more if he desired.

Davis was excellent in 2007 at the right guard spot, making the Pro Bowl. He fits the big, powerful offensive lineman that Jerry Jones likes (he would've gone against the grain of what Parcells wants in an offensive lineman) and should fit even better with Hudson Houck now as the offensive line coach. He's not the greatest technician, but he's got pretty good feet and is amazingly powerful. He's the best right guard Dallas has had since Nate Newton.

NFC EAST PEERS

Shawn Andrews (Philly)
Randy Thomas (Washington)
Chris Snee (New York)

This is an excellent group of right guards and probably the best group of right guards of any division in the NFL. If Andrews is healthy and reasonably on his game, he's likely the best guard in the game (next to Minnesota's Steve Hutchinson). Randy Thomas has struggled with injuries lately, but he's excellent from a technical standpoint and has solid athleticism. Snee is similar to Thomas as he's a tough, smart, technician who has decent athleticism.

I think it's safe to say that any one of these players can rank the best or the worst out of the bunch because of the talent here. In my mind Davis was the best of the bunch last season, although given Andrews' age and ability, I'd probably take him first if I had to. I'd probably rank Thomas last given his injuries lately.


Up next, Flozell Adams

 

[Gryphon]

A Look At Dallas Starters vs. NFC East --- Flozell Adams
by http://yakuzarich.blogspot.com

FLOZELL ADAMS (6'7" 340 lbs - 33 years old)

Flozell Adams was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in the 2nd round of 1998, fitting into the Jerry Jones preference of large offensive linemen with a lot of upside.

Being as big as Adams is, his desire was questioned due to him not completely dominating the college game. He also had the issue of being legally deaf in his right ear. Many thought that this would kill Adams' career before it had the chance or at best only allow him to play on the right side of the O-Line. Instead, he's been able to play the left tackle position, but the issue with his right ear is likely the cause of his biggest problem...false starts.

Adams started off his career at right guard and then quickly moved to right tackle after impressing. He eventually moved to left tackle and played quite well early on. Adams was set to be a free agent in 2002, but had the franchise tag placed upon him as the Cowboys were attempting to get out of "cap hell." Adams, along with the rest of the O-Line had a horrendous year in 2002 under new offensive coordination Bruce Coslet. Coslet wanted to incorporate a zone blocking scheme, something that goes exactly against Adams' abilities and there was so much dissention between Coslet and the offensive line that Adams had to be seperated from long time Coslet offensive line coach Frank Verducci during halftime as Adams had grabbed Verducci by the throat.

But despite the poor 2002 season, the Cowboys and Bill Parcells made it a priority to re-sign Adams and gave him what was then thought to be a hefty deal. But looking back it was only $1o million guaranteed and Adams was well worth the money.

Adams had his best season of his career in 2003 and blocked well in 2004, but constantly made penalties. In 2005 the Cowboys saw the real impact of Adams as the team's offensive line was about as bad as it was back in 1989 (when they went 1-15) as Torrin Tucker was no replacement for Flozell.

In 2006 Adams came back and had a decent season, but wasn't the same as he was still struggling with his knee. But last season he may have had his best blocking season of his career. He still had a ton of penalties, but he shut down big time defensive ends like Osi Umenyiora (twice), Trent Cole (twice), Aaron Schobel, Andre Carter and Jason Taylor.

Adams wound up re-signing with the team for six years and $16 million guaranteed. The goal appears to get 2 more years out of Flozell and hope that either Pat McQuistan or Doug Free develop into his replacement. I believe Free is the best successor given his size and athleticism and hopefully either him or McQuistan are ready if Flozell goes down with an injury this season.

MAIN NFC EAST OPPONENTS




Andre Carter (Washington)


Trent Cole (Philly)


Osi Umenyiora (New York)

For the most part, Flozell has won the battles versus Umenyiora. Umenyiora is a pure speed rusher who struggles to take on the run. This plays right into Adams' hands because he can just hold his own on pass protection enough to force Umenyiora not to speed rush or the Cowboys will kill him by running at him all day. Cole has had some success in the past, but like Umenyiora he is not very good against the run and once Adams got a hold of his edge rush, the Cowboys could run at Cole and force him to stick to run defense. I've never been too impressed with Carter. Even with his 12 sacks last year, most of them came against weak offensive tackles and a lot of them had to do with the QB running in his direction and/or holding onto the ball too long. Carter is sort of known as a good run defender, but outside of the meaningless week 17 game last season, Adams has killed him on running plays.

NFC EAST PEERS




Chris Samuels (Washington)
William Thomas (Philly)


David Diehl (New York)

This is another solid group of O-Linemen. I think it's safe to take Samuels as the #1 left tackle in the division. I like to refer Samuels as the "Ivan Lendl of left tackles" as he isn't flashy and isn't some amazing athlete that the media and fans will adore, but he's just downright excellent and typically dominates opponents. I think nobody in the division can dominate opponents like Adams can, but Samuels does it on a more consistent basis and has no major weaknesses. William Thomas is excellent as well and I'd probably rank him as the #2 left tackle in the division because like Samuels, he's more consistent than Adams, particularly with penalties.

David Diehl is greatly overrated. Rich Seubert came in and did a better job at left guard than Diehl ever did while Diehl led the league in sacks allowed last season. The G-Men re-signed Diehl to a pretty big deal this offseason, which leads me to believe they think he will get better at the position.


Up next, Marc Colombo

 

[jobberone]

Good stuff sir.

 

[Gryphon]

A Look at the Dallas Starters vs. NFC East --- Marc Colombo
by http://yakuzarich.blogspot.com

MARC COLOMBO 6'8" 315 lbs (29 years old)

Marc Colombo was originally drafted in the first round by the Chicago Bears in 2002. He was thought to be a slight reach, a project with a lot of upside.

He was a backup in his rookie year and then made it to starter in his rookie year after injuries and poor play to the Bears offensive line. He then suffered a career threatening knee injury against the Rams that derailed his career for two years.

With his Boston College connections and his belief of "taking chances on former first rounders", former Dallas coach Bill Parcells snatched Colombo up in 2005 season after he was released by the Bears. Despite needing massive help on the O-Line, Parcells refused to put Colombo in the starting lineup, treating 2005 as a "redshirt" season for Colombo to rehab his knee, gain more strength, and learn the Cowboys' offense.

In the end it wound up being a brilliant move as Colombo looked solid as the starting right tackle in 2006. There were some concerns early on about Colombo's play, but it's apparent now that any troubles were more or less related to Drew Bledsoe being the Quarterback. In 2007 Colombo made noticeable improvement in his run blocking and continued his solid pass protection, even shutting down dominating Green Bay defensive end Aaron Kampman.

Colombo signed a 2 year deal after the 2006 season and it's apparent that the Cowboys like him, but have little confidence in his knee holding up. This could be Colombo's last season in a Cowboys uniform if he plays well and doesn't get a sizeable pay increase. The Cowboys have three possible players groomed to take over for Colombo in Doug Free, James Marten and Pat McQuistan. McQuistan and Marten are the likely suitors for this position as Free appears to be better suited to play left tackle.

NFC EAST OPPONENTS

Chris Clemons/Darren Howard (Philly)
Phillip Daniels (Washington)
Michael Strahan/Justin Tuck (New York
Not exactly a Murderer's Row of strongside defensive ends. Philly's strongside DE situation is up in the air. The Commanders were supposed to move Daniels to defensive tackle, but do not have anybody to take over at DE if that were to happen. Strahan may retire.

Even if Strahan retires, the Giants have a good one in Justin Tuck who also can move to defensive tackle in the nickel package. You can always tell if an offensive tackle is killing Strahan because as soon as it happens, he starts complaining to the refs...so it's a good sign that Strahan complains a lot when he's playing against Colombo. Daniels is pretty much a run stuffer and not much of a threat. None of the above players had a sack against Colombo last season.

NFC EAST PEERS
Jon Runyan (Philly)
Jon Jansen (Washington)
Kareem McKenzie (New York)

Again, another solid set of right tackles in the division. I'd probably rank Runyan the best since he's been the most consistent and doing it for quite some time. McKenzie was excellent last year and I believe if he was playing as well as he did in the prior seasons, the Giants don't go to the Super Bowl. David Diehl led the league in sacks allowed last year and if it wasn't for McKenzie's great year and not having to need help, that allowed the Giants offense to function.

I'll probably rank Colombo the #2 Right tackle in the NFC East because Jansen's play had been slipping the past two years and he's coming off another season ending injury. Jansen suffered an achilles rupture in 2004 and then came back to have an amazingly strong 2005, but he was a noticeably lesser (but still pretty good) right tackle in 2006. They tried to replace Jansen with Stephon Heyer which worked out okay at first, but Heyer wound up getting eaten alive shortly after. If Jansen gets hurt this year, they may just stick with Todd Wade who played great in limited time in 2006, but struggled a bit in 2007.

The key with Colombo is obviously the knee. At 29 years old, he would probably have another 4 more seasons in his career if not for the knee (Runyan turns 35 this year and Jansen is 32 years old and both are going pretty well at this point in their careers). My guess is that if he has a very good year, similar to the one he had in 2007, Dallas will probably re-sign him since he's too good to just let go and teams will likely be gunshy on signing a 30 year old offensive tackle with a bad knee history to a big contract.
YAKUZA

 

[Gryphon]

A Look at Dallas Starters vs. NFC East --- Jason Witten
by http://yakuzarich.blogspot.com

JASON WITTEN 6'5" 265 lbs - 26 YEARS OLD
Jason Witten was recruited as a wide receiver out of high school by the Tennessee Volunteers and was later moved to tight end where he flourished throughout his college career.

He was projected to go as high as the first round, but wound up falling to the third round where the Cowboys gladly snatched him up. Given former Dallas coach Bill Parcells' tremendous success with tight ends over the years, it appeared to be a perfect fit for Witten to come to Dallas.

Witten was known as a receiving tight end with questionable blocking skills, something Parcells preached right away. Witten worked as a backup roving tight end/H-Back his rookie season and had a solid rookie campaign with 35 catches. He garnered favor with Parcells in his rookie year after breaking his jaw and only missing a week of play before returning to the team and still playing well.

Witten blossomed in his second season in 2004 and with Terry Glenn on injured reserve and having no viable option to replace him, Witten became a much bigger factor in the passing game, catching 87 passes for 980 yards. However, in 2005 his production dipped. It was still quality production as he caught 66 passes for 757 yards, but due to pass protection problems on the O-Line and Sean Payton taking over the playcalling, he certainly wasn't as effective as he was in 2004. In 2006 the playcalling returned to Parcells, but for whatever reason they neglected to have Witten attack the deep middle of Cover 2 zones and to focus on him in the red zone like they did in the 2004 season. For the most part, Parcells seemed content to use Witten as an intermediate and safety valve type of receiver.

But in 2007 things changed as Jason Garrett was brought into the offense. Garrett's offensive style was not drastically different from Parcells', but it did have its noticeable tweaks. One of the big differences was using Witten to attack the popular Cover 2 zone. In the Cover 2 zone (and I've got to explain this to people since many writers who follow football for a living get this wrong) the weak spot is the deep middle of the field. The safeties are usually helping out with coverage over the top on the sidelines, so teams usually try to find a way to attack the deep middle which is usually covered by a fast, good coverage middle linebacker. Under Parcells, particularly in 2006, the team was content to send both of the wide receivers deep up the sidelines and use Witten as a safety valve receiver. This is not a bad plan as while it can negate the receivers, it does open up the running game which allows the team to control the clock and the hope is that eventually the defense will come in to defend the run and the offense can catch them and go over the top and make the big play.

However, this probably wasn't the best suited game plan for Dallas as Terrell Owens is the type that exceeds more at short and intermediate pass patterns, particularly the crossing pattern and needs to use those pass plays to "set up" his deep pass patterns. And while Jason Witten is an excellent intermediate and safety valve receiver, he can do a lot more than that.

Witten had instant, mega success with the scheme which gave him 96 catches, 1,145 yards and 7 touchdowns, all career highs. He also had his best year blocking, an area he struggled with from 2004-2006.

NFC EAST OPPONENTS


Most people tend to make the opponents for the tight end the strong safety, but since each of Dallas' NFC East rivals play the Cover 2, it's probably more important to look at the middle linebackers here.

Omar Gaither (Philly)
London Fletcher-Baker (Washington)
Antonio Pierce (New York)

Gaither is probably the most physically gifted of the bunch. He was named the starter and the Eagles cut Jeremiah Trotter because Gaither's cover skills were so much better that it allowed them to get into any type of coverage scheme that they wanted to. That being said, he's noticeably less in the run defense and leadership categories than Trotter. It should also be noted that Trotter played remarkably well every time he faced Dallas.

Witten only had 3 catches in the first game against the Eagles, but for 77 yards. He then had a big game of 8 catches for 113 yards in the week 15 game against Philly. So for at least last season, Gaither's better cover skills were not a problem for Witten.

Witten had a modest game (8 catches, 64 yards) against Washington in week 11. I could not care less about the week 17 game given the situation. Fletcher-Baker has always excelled in coverage and eating up runs to the perimeter. It's when his defensive tackles don't give him enough protection up front that he struggles because he's not very good at taking blockers head on. He is 33 years old, but has never missed a game in his career. If he were to get injured, I think the Commanders would be in trouble defensively given their scheme.

Witten had a huge game week 1 against the Giants, going for 6 catches and 116 yards. In week 10 he was shut down to 2 catches and 12 yards, but that was due to him staying in for pass protection as Dallas feared the Giants' pass rush. In the playoff game he had a solid 7 catches for 81 yards. He won't have to worry about Gibril Wilson, a solid strong safety now with the Raiders, and I think last season showed that Antonio Pierce is losing a considerable step in coverage. It should be noted that Pierce could probably be on the Mt. Rushmore of "Defensive Players who get away with more defensive holds than anybody else." But Pierce is still a great leader, a smart player, and defends the run well. If the Cowboys can handle the G-Men's pass rush without having to put Witten is as a blocker all of the time, then Witten should have good production. It's probably one of the reasons why Dallas drafted Martellus Bennett, a good receiving tight end that could scare the G-Men in 2 TE's sets if Witten is forced to stay in and block.

NFC EAST PEERS

LJ Smith (Philly)
Jeremy Shockey (New York)
Chris Cooley (Washington)

Just about every fan, player, coach and "analyst" would have Witten and Cooley as their top two tight ends. While Cooley is a fine player, he's never really come all that close to beating Witten in footballoutsiders.com's DPAR and DVOA rankings. Here's how they've looked over the years:

YEAR.........JW DPAR......JW DVOA..........CC DPAR.,,,,..CC DVOA
2004...............3rd................7th.........................18th................24th
2005................2nd...............2nd.........................4th.................11th
2006................3rd.................7th.........................9th.................15th
2007...............2nd.................9th..........................6th................12th


Probably Witten's best attribute is his high percentage of passes completed that come his way. He caught 68% of his passes in 2007 and that was the lowest percentage for him in his career. Yet he does that's despite maintaining a very good 11.5 yards per catch. Cooley has good hands as well and was easily Jason Campbell's favorite receiver. In fact, it got to the point where if the Commanders were in the red zone, they were undoubtedly going to look for Cooley, and they were still successful doing it.

If the Cowboys were to lose Witten to an injury, it would be a big blow, but they could still recover to a respectable record as long as Owens stays healthy. If the Commanders were to lose Cooley, it would likely be a greater blow given Jason Campbell's reliance on his tight end.

LJ Smith is a decent veteran tight end. He was drafted in the same class as Witten,but never reached his full potential. He's mostly there for receiving purposes and knows the system down pat and helps out with throwing defenses different personnel packages.

Jeremy Shockey is still a bit of a dangerous tight end. His problem has always been his consistency. He usually plays very well against Dallas as he felt spurned by the team that he thought should have drafted him back in 2002. Instead the Cowboys came away with Roy Williams and later drafted Witten, so they don't look too stupid.

OUTLOOK

Barring injury, expect Witten to be the top tight end again in the NFC East. It'll be tough for him to put up the same numbers as he did in 2007, but he'll probably have a similar DPAR and DVOA ranking as he's had throughout his career. The Martellus Bennett drafting was done for depth and personnel package purposes. I think the team would like two viable receiving threats at tight end so they can show some different formations and gets some possible mismatches. Also, the weakest part of Witten's game is his ability in the red zone. The former basketball player Bennett, who stands at 6'8" tall, could greatly help Dallas in that area.
Up next, Terrell Owens
YAKUZA

 

[AsthmaField]

YR is doing a good job there.

 

[CrazyCowboy]

This is what you call an evaluation

 

[I LOVE ME SOME ME!]

We had to worry about Gibril Wilson in the past? That's news to me. Witten and TO owned that guy plenty. If hes solid then Roy must be godly.

 

[Future]

Good stuff in here Yakuza

 

[Teague31]

great stuff but no way william thomas is better than flo.

 

[Gryphon]

A Look at Dallas Starters vs. NFC East --- Terrell Owens
by http://yakuzarich.blogspot.com

TERRELL OWENS 6'3" 225 lbs (35 years old)
Owens came to Dallas after being released by the Eagles in 2006. Owens was on pace for a Hall of Fame career and his presence helped make the Eagles the most explosive offense they had in the Andy Reid era. But the Eagles felt that Owens was not worth the big contract at his age of 33 years old and when Owens got upset over the contract, it certainly didn't help matters.

Despite my Cowboys bias, I think it's safe to say that the Eagles made a collosal blunder by not re-signing Owens. It's the worst kept secret in the league that contracts are generally constructed so that they can be re-done before they expire. For instance, if a player gets injured or underperforms, they are "re-done" by the team who can cut the player. But if a player out-performs the contract, it's a given that they will be re-done to give the player a contract that fits his playing level. The Eagles could have re-done Owens' contract and still be comfortably under the cap. Instead they relented, pissed off Owens, and lost their best receiver.

Coming to Dallas I overestimated Owens' deep pass pattern capabilities and underestimated his short and intermediate route capabilities. It appears that Parcells did as well as he generally sent Owens on deep pass patterns, particularly deep go and deep fade routes. While Owens can connect on the deep ball, he's best off starting off with the short and intermediate routes, particularly the crossing pattern, because he's so effective and that "sets up" his deep pass pattern. In the beginning of the 2007 season offensive coordinator started to move Owens around more like he prefers, particularly in the slot position and it worked out quite well. But in the week 5 game Garrett tried to use Owens in a "Parcells-esque" type of way because the Bills were thought to have a much inferior secondary and Owens was largely ineffective. But after that Bills game it appeared that Garrett learned his lesson on Owens and understood that they have to get him going with the short and intermediate passes before they can land the home run.
Owens recently signed a 4 year deal with a $13 million signing bonus and the contract is constructed so that Dallas is looking for at least 2 years of quality play from him before they can decide to cut him (if necessary). At 35 years old that's a large contract, but Owens hasn't seemed to have slowed down, and has almost amazing recuperative powers.
NFC EAST DEFENDERS

Asante Samuel (Philly)
Shawn Springs (Washington)
Sam Madison (New York)

Samuel gets the press, but I believe that a healthy Shawn Springs is a better corner and the stats prove that. Both Samuel and Springs will play similar styles, but locking tight on the receiver with over the top help. I do question on how well Samuel will play in Philly because the Patriots played a lot of zone and the Eagles corners tend to play a lot of man-to-man. However, Samuel is a ballhawk and that is something Eagles D-Coordinator Jimmy Johnson really covets. Springs is not a ballhawk and is known as a good physical corner who can cover, but doesn't get interceptions. Owens did torch Springs in the Cowboys first meeting against the Skins, but generally Springs is pretty physical for Owens, but Owens probably has enough speed to give Springs some fits.
Madison has been a solid corner for the G-Men, but is hardly spectacular. He's also 34 years old. He's only 180 pounds, but is pretty physical and is a smart veteran.
NFC EAST PEERS
Santana Moss (Washington)
Plaxico Burress (New York)
Kevin Curtis (Philly)
A healthy Moss is the best receiver of these three and is the only receiver that can really compete with Owens. Moss' electric speed still scares opposing defensive coordinators to death. His best season was 2005 where he was killing teams with the wide receiver screen and that made it difficult for teams to defend him deep. Eventually teams became more disciplined agains the WR screen and could then roll the safety over the top on the deep patterns. While that safety over the top helps negate Moss, he still does a good job of stretching the defense. Unfortunately for Skins fans, Moss has had a history of injury problems and has so-so hands.
Burress is a bit underappreciated because he played with injuries all of last year and didn't even practice. Still, as inaccurate as Eli Manning has been, his throws to Burress have been wildly inaccurate and if Burress was 6'5" tall, the pass would be incomplete.
Curtis has blazing speed, but struggles to fend off tight coverage from corners. Curtis gets praise for having 1,110 receiving yards and 77 catches, but he only had 3 games with 80+ yards receiving. And he had that one outrageous game versus the putrid Lions defense where he put up 221 receiving yards.