Bubble players to watch

[DallasDW00ds0n]

Has Mckinnon even been roster worthy? Both games hes been giving up plays

 

[Stash]

I don't think its about not keeping him I think its about stashing him on practice squad and he may get scooped up. He may not. IMO, he hasn't done enough to knock off McFadden or Dunbar. He hasn't done enough to warrant being scared of him being taken off your practice squad.

What has McFadden done to earn a roster spot? He's been out for all of training camp. Keep in mind that the team drafted Jackson after they drafted Elliott, signed Morris, and had McFadden and Dunbar coming back. If they weren't high on him, they would never have drafted him.

 

[Stash]

Yeah he very well should be. You have Escobar, Witten and Hanna. Then you have a few guys who you can bring on as FB's. Swaim very well should be on the bubble.

You don't have Hanna. He's likely staying on PUP for the first six weeks of the season.

 

[RoyTheHammer]

instead of Shanell Jenkins if Jenkins can't play in the next two games.
I hadn't read where Jenkins was injured. I hope thats not true

Just look down a few spots on the page. There are several threads about it right here in the forum.

 

[chicago JK]

I would pay close attention to the special teams lineups as well. While it is important for these players to beat their competition in camp and players released from other teams, there ability to play special teams is a big difference maker, especially for second and third string guys.

 

[Bullet22]

DMC will not to cut or put on pup...Jackson will be cut and hopefully on the Practice squad....

 

[conner01]

What has Jackson done to be anything but PS material....up to now. He has to do something to cement himself unless we don't keep a FB. A FB means three RBs. Right now that is Zeke, Morris, and Dunbar. Even McFadden is in trouble.

I think he has to show he can contribute on special teams. That's the area he can set himself up for a roster spot. He really need to devote himself to that and on cover teams not as a returner. That's where he can push a dmac or Dunbar off the roster

 

[Silver N Blue]

Imo Darius Jackson is not on the bubble at all,he is a young RB with explosive speed who you have control for 4 years,why would you not keep him?.

Agree I was just going to post the same thing. He is not on the bubble, fence, or in the middle. He is making the roster regardless of DMAC or Dundon'tplaybar. Book it

 

[jazzcat22]

Imo Darius Jackson is not on the bubble at all,he is a young RB with explosive speed who you have control for 4 years,why would you not keep him?.

Then why not keep every player ever drafted for this same reason...just because he's under contract, doesn't mean anything. You can get another Darius Jackson next year, if this one doesn't really help the team this year.

As was posted in the OP, this is spot on.

RUNNING BACK
Darius Jackson — Jackson could be kept in a crowded backfield no matter what, but he has yet to have a defining performance to cement a spot over either McFadden or Dunbar. He's got the speed and size, but he needs to show the vision and moves that would make him more than just a project.

Everyone talks about his vision, but one of the reports I read after the draft, was his lack of vision.
I still have not seen why so many are so high on this guy, other than his speed.
I want to see that defining moment to make me say he makes the team, even if against other 3rd team players. But I haven't seen it yet. But also the coaches see a lot more in practices than what we see in limited PS games.

 

[ksadler1]

instead of Shanell Jenkins if Jenkins can't play in the next two games.
I hadn't read where Jenkins was injured. I hope thats not true

I read he had some kind of knee injury, but they weren't specific as to what the injury was.....

 

[snapper]

Wilcox. I hope he seals his fate tonight.

 

[gimmesix]

I'm intrigued by Keith Smith's versatility. The fact he can play linebacker means you could potentially go long at another position.

If Keith Smith is kept, I don't think it will affect the number of linebackers we keep. He was moved to fullback because he's not good enough as a linebacker. He's primarily a special teams guy that we're trying to find a position for.

I'm not certain about either Smith at fullback but I can understand Dallas trying to find a player for the position who can do more than just take a few snaps a game as a lead blocker.

 

[CooterBrown]

How bummed is this guy? He puts in the work, is finally starting to show a little in practice and even getting some positive press from guys like Sturm, and then BAM. Dak plays two preseason games and everyone forgets he exists again.

Oh and good post OP.

If I were Showers, I would look at my prospects with the Cowboys, and before I go on the Cowboys practice squad again, I'd ask my agent to find me another team, even if it is another team's practice squad. With Dak's performance and upside, Showers' only future here is backup QB when Tony retires. Backup QB is a pretty good gig, but not if you have starting ambitions, as I'm sure all young players do.

 

[gimmesix]

Imo Darius Jackson is not on the bubble at all,he is a young RB with explosive speed who you have control for 4 years,why would you not keep him?.

I obviously don't agree. Jackson hasn't proven anything more than he's got good speed. It takes much more than that for him to even be on the same level with McFadden and Dunbar. He needs to show he has the vision and movement skills to sort through the trash.

I compare him to Tyson Thompson right now because of the similarities in their play. Thompson had good size and speed that helped him make the team despite his lack of vision and movement skills, but he never did much because he lacked those things.

If he doesn't prove he's more capable than Thompson was then I see no reason to keep him on the 53.

 

[CooterBrown]

Bryan Witzmann and Jake Brendel.....

I'll go ahead and say it...I'm keeping these two over Looney. He has done nothing for me.

I hope Looney makes the team so if he plays and gets a holding penalty, I can say, "How Looney can someone be!?"

 

[gimmesix]

J.J Wilcox days are done in Dallas, should have been cut last year

I'm not ready to bury him quite yet. He's always had skills, just no head for the game. That's not going to change, but those superior skills to a player like Frazier could show up on special teams and even with a play or two in the secondary.

I don't think he can convince the team to keep him at this point, but I'm not counting him out completely.

 

[CooterBrown]

Imo Darius Jackson is not on the bubble at all,he is a young RB with explosive speed who you have control for 4 years,why would you not keep him?.

Because there isn't room on the roster? They aren't keeping 5 running backs. Morris and Zeke are locks. Dunbar has a specific role. McFadden can run, block, and catch, doesn't complain about sharing the load, and won't make rookie mistakes. To keep Jackson, they have to cut Dunbar or Mcfadden. I personally, don't see Jackson as an upgrade over either of them. This is what I expect: Morris, Zeke, Dunbar, on roster, McFadden on short term IR or PUP, and Jackson on practice squad. That way they only use three spots on RB on the 53. If one of the top three get injured, call up Jackson, or late in the season, activate McFadden. And, before you ask, yes, I think Jackson will clear waivers. From what I have seen, he is a good, but not great running back. There are a lot of good RBs out there.

I say that with this caveat: Like most of us on here, I have been wrong before in trying to predict the opening 53.

 

[gimmesix]

Jackson has showed very nice vision and ability to push a pile of defenders. He almost push half of Miami defense into the endzone. He has had 20 yard runs that were caked back due to holding penalty. He has caught every pass that was thrown to him and had a very nice 15 yard screen to get a first down. He has shown ability to gain some yards even when hot in the backfield.

Honestly the guys that says he hasn't shown anything makes me wonder what game they are watching. I pray Jackson get at least 5 carries with the starting OL and watch what happens.

Not seeing the vision. He had one decent inside run the other night where he made a few slight moves, but I believe fans are falling in love with his runs around the outside and not paying enough attention to what he's doing on the inside runs.

He had a 20-yard run around the left side with the first team against Miami on his first carry, but in his first series as the regular tailback, he started with a 2-yard run up the middle and a minus-2-yard run up the middle.

On his next series, he picked up 9, 3 and 2 yards on runs off left tackle or around the left end, before being dropped for a 1-yard loss on a run up the middle. (It was a goal-line run.)

Next possession: No gain on his only run off left tackle.

On the next possession, he started with a 9-yard run around right end and added a 7-yard run around left end, but in between he went up the middle for 3 and minus-2 yards. He added a minus-1-yard run off right tackle after Keith Smith had gained 6, 4 and 3.

On Dallas' last possession, he had a minus-1-yard run off right tackle before one of his few successful middle runs, a 15-yarder.

So to sum up, out of six middle runs only one went for more than 3 yards. Sure, we can blame some of that on the blocking, but Jackson also just hasn't shown much ability to make defenders miss or cut off the blocks and find the hole. He hasn't really shown great power, either, just mainly speed on those outer-edges runs.

 

[chicago JK]

Sturm is saying Jackson is 90% on the team in his opinion. I am not ready to go that far yet, but I have only seen the two preseason games. I think he has to have a strong finish to the preseason, but we will see.

 

[RoyTheHammer]

What has McFadden done to earn a roster spot? He's been out for all of training camp. Keep in mind that the team drafted Jackson after they drafted Elliott, signed Morris, and had McFadden and Dunbar coming back. If they weren't high on him, they would never have drafted him.

Umm..how about he put up over 1000 yards last year and averaged over 4.5 ypc in only 11 games as the starting rb against teams that knew we couldn't throw the ball.