speedkilz88
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Bryan Broaddus
Football Analyst/Scout
IRVING, Texas – This time is the time of the year that scouts sit around and work on projects that they didn’t get a chance to complete during the season or because they were working on the draft. I was having one of those days where I just wanted to take a look at the Cowboys’ opponents this coming year and see where teams were lining up their players. From the opening night against the Giants to the final game against the Eagles, I took the time to study their depth charts and there was a common thread throughout, which was the number of rookie offensive linemen penciled in the lineup as starters.
The NFL draft is still fresh in all our minds and what we took from that draft was the depth of the offensive linemen as a whole. It was a deep draft at all three of the positions and teams were taking advantage of this depth with some early selections. One of my favorite players in the draft was guard Jonathan Cooper from North Carolina, who was selected by the Arizona Cardinals with the seventh overall pick. He was in my view one of the most athletic guards I had ever scouted. Cooper is listed as the starter on the left side and will get an early test from Jay Ratliff and Jason Hatcher in Week 3 of the preseason.
One of the troubled spots for the Giants the last several years has been the play at right tackle. Each season I wondered when they would replace David Diehl. Well in this past draft, Jerry Reese and Tom Coughlin did just that with Syracuse tackle/guard Justin Pugh, using a selection right behind the Cowboys at 19. In the games I had studied of Pugh, he played left tackle in college but was projected as a guard here. I had some questions about Pugh’s upper body strength from some live looks at the Senior Bowl on tape and during the one-on-one pass rush drills. Anthony Spencer will get to test him very early in his rookie season.
The Kansas City Chiefs are a strange team in that you study their roster and you see what appears to be talented players, but in the end, it doesn’t add up to wins. I did several games this spring while studying tackle Eric Winston and running the ball was not an issue for this club, but Andy Reid and John Dorsey felt that spending the first overall selection an offensive tackle was necessary. The club was trying to trade left tackle Branden Albert before the draft but could not work out a deal, so he will once again line up as the starter and the top player on my big board, while Eric Fisher of Central Michigan will play his rookie season on the right side. Fisher was a left tackle in college and I have a strong feeling that he will take the same route as Tyron Smith did for the Cowboys after his rookie season and move to that side. Again, another matchup for Anthony Spencer with back to back weeks of working against a rookie tackle.
Rest of Article:
http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/a...-Linemen/ccc0b21f-90a7-4ed6-881e-13023d870c56
Football Analyst/Scout
IRVING, Texas – This time is the time of the year that scouts sit around and work on projects that they didn’t get a chance to complete during the season or because they were working on the draft. I was having one of those days where I just wanted to take a look at the Cowboys’ opponents this coming year and see where teams were lining up their players. From the opening night against the Giants to the final game against the Eagles, I took the time to study their depth charts and there was a common thread throughout, which was the number of rookie offensive linemen penciled in the lineup as starters.
The NFL draft is still fresh in all our minds and what we took from that draft was the depth of the offensive linemen as a whole. It was a deep draft at all three of the positions and teams were taking advantage of this depth with some early selections. One of my favorite players in the draft was guard Jonathan Cooper from North Carolina, who was selected by the Arizona Cardinals with the seventh overall pick. He was in my view one of the most athletic guards I had ever scouted. Cooper is listed as the starter on the left side and will get an early test from Jay Ratliff and Jason Hatcher in Week 3 of the preseason.
One of the troubled spots for the Giants the last several years has been the play at right tackle. Each season I wondered when they would replace David Diehl. Well in this past draft, Jerry Reese and Tom Coughlin did just that with Syracuse tackle/guard Justin Pugh, using a selection right behind the Cowboys at 19. In the games I had studied of Pugh, he played left tackle in college but was projected as a guard here. I had some questions about Pugh’s upper body strength from some live looks at the Senior Bowl on tape and during the one-on-one pass rush drills. Anthony Spencer will get to test him very early in his rookie season.
The Kansas City Chiefs are a strange team in that you study their roster and you see what appears to be talented players, but in the end, it doesn’t add up to wins. I did several games this spring while studying tackle Eric Winston and running the ball was not an issue for this club, but Andy Reid and John Dorsey felt that spending the first overall selection an offensive tackle was necessary. The club was trying to trade left tackle Branden Albert before the draft but could not work out a deal, so he will once again line up as the starter and the top player on my big board, while Eric Fisher of Central Michigan will play his rookie season on the right side. Fisher was a left tackle in college and I have a strong feeling that he will take the same route as Tyron Smith did for the Cowboys after his rookie season and move to that side. Again, another matchup for Anthony Spencer with back to back weeks of working against a rookie tackle.
Rest of Article:
http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/a...-Linemen/ccc0b21f-90a7-4ed6-881e-13023d870c56
