DMN: Blog: These five need to play well

[Cbz40]

Need to play well

3:48 PM Fri, Aug 15, 2008 | Permalink | Yahoo! Buzz
Calvin Watkins


We look at five players, or units, that need to play well on Saturday night at Denver.


1. Danny Amendola. Dropped a punt in the San Diego game. Hasn't looked great in practice either.


2. Sam Hurd. Miles Austin has surpassed him with that five catch performance last week. Hurd needs to get going if he wants to be the No. 2 receiver.


3. Adam Jones. Need to find that timing of his and play the run better.


4. Second-team offensive line. Regardless of who its guarding against, the line has to protect the quarterback. Brad Johnson was knocked down too many times last week.


5. Martellus Bennett. The rookie tight end said he's practiced much better the last few days. That's great. Forget the body language, he has to play better in the game. He didn't block well and he suffered a drop in the Chargers game.

 

[28 Joker]

Doug Free has played well. Berger might be a good backup.

Proctor isn't strong enough to hold up in the middle.

McQuistan hasn't impressed.

Marten, not so much.

Get ready to draft more o-line next year.

I bet we take one in the first round if we can.

 

[jobberone]

I doubt we go OL in round one. The better tackles go early. We might be able to pick up someone we think is better than others but it'd better be a deep draft. We could pick up a top guard or center there but I'd bet we go WR, OLB, or DB. But you never know.

 

[Matt]

Need to play well

3:48 PM Fri, Aug 15, 2008 | Permalink | Yahoo! Buzz
Calvin Watkins


We look at five players, or units, that need to play well on Saturday night at Denver.


1. Danny Amendola. Dropped a punt in the San Diego game. Hasn't looked great in practice either.


2. Sam Hurd. Miles Austin has surpassed him with that five catch performance last week. Hurd needs to get going if he wants to be the No. 2 receiver.


3. Adam Jones. Need to find that timing of his and play the run better.


4. Second-team offensive line. Regardless of who its guarding against, the line has to protect the quarterback. Brad Johnson was knocked down too many times last week.


5. Martellus Bennett. The rookie tight end said he's practiced much better the last few days. That's great. Forget the body language, he has to play better in the game. He didn't block well and he suffered a drop in the Chargers game.

Sorry to break it to you, but Crayton is our sure set #2

 

[Stash]

Need to play well

3:48 PM Fri, Aug 15, 2008 | Permalink | Yahoo! Buzz
Calvin Watkins


We look at five players, or units, that need to play well on Saturday night at Denver.


1. Danny Amendola. Dropped a punt in the San Diego game. Hasn't looked great in practice either.


2. Sam Hurd. Miles Austin has surpassed him with that five catch performance last week. Hurd needs to get going if he wants to be the No. 2 receiver.


3. Adam Jones. Need to find that timing of his and play the run better.


4. Second-team offensive line. Regardless of who its guarding against, the line has to protect the quarterback. Brad Johnson was knocked down too many times last week.


5. Martellus Bennett. The rookie tight end said he's practiced much better the last few days. That's great. Forget the body language, he has to play better in the game. He didn't block well and he suffered a drop in the Chargers game.

This 'list' strikes me as more knee-jerk than us folks around here!

Sam Hurd? What might happen to me if he doesn't play well? #3 receiver?

Amendola needs to have a good game - as in not fumble - but it would be nice if he got chance to actually play, ya know, receiver and show what he does - or doesn't have.

Rather than lumping the second team line as one unit, I would call out the guys like Marten, Procter, and McQuisten specifically who were lousy.

I thought Free and Berger did OK.

I'd also like to see a shred of a play from the backup[ defensive linemen who got blown off the ball all night long.

If Junior Siavii plays that poorly all the time, why is the team wasting its' time with him?

And I think this might be a big deal for Brad Johnson as well.

If he looks like crap again behind the starting line, this team will be forced to make a move at quarterback.

 

[jobberone]

Am I the only one who thought Brad played reasonably well last Sat. He's not pushing for playing time but..

 

[big dog cowboy]

1. Very true.
2. What? I thought Hurd and Austin were competing for the #3 spot not the #2 which Crayton has.
3. Won't happen vs. Denver. Has to much rust. Will likely take a month or more.
4. Very true.
5. Very true.

 

[pancakeman]

And I think this might be a big deal for Brad Johnson as well.

If he looks like crap again behind the starting line, this team will be forced to make a move at quarterback.

How long would it take to bring in a QB and teach him the system to the point that we could trust him to be the #2?

 

[dbair1967]

Might add a coach to that list...if the ST looks the same as it did last week (or worse) I wont be surprised if Mr Read is a goner...where there's smoke there's a fire, and Joe A's name has been bantered about for several days now by the local media...I'm sure its quite unusual for coaching changes of any kind to be made this early, but you know Jones doesnt want an entire season of medicore to lousy coverage units, especially knowing it could potentially cost us in a really big game

David

 

[ThreeSportStar80]

I think Hurd will have a nice game, Austin is a just coming into his own which is great news for the Cowboys...

 

[silverbear]

Doug Free has played well. Berger might be a good backup.

Proctor isn't strong enough to hold up in the middle.

McQuistan hasn't impressed.

Marten, not so much.

Get ready to draft more o-line next year.

I bet we take one in the first round if we can.

Right now, the only two backups I think are NFL caliber are Free and Berger...

I could certainly see the Boys drafting an offensive lineman in the first round next year, especially if they're able to upgrade the WR position with somebody like Roy Williams... one player I'm gonna be paying attention to during this college season is Alex Mack from Cal, who I think is the best college center to come out in quite a while... he has the same kind of size as Andre Gurode...

And yes, I have a Longhorn that I'll be touting, who right now seems to be grading out as a third round prospect... I refer to Derrick Dockery's "little" brother, Cedric... believe it or not, though, I'm also very high on a Sooner, big ol' Duke Robinson, a 340 pound guard who can really move... the problem is, unless Duke has an off season, he looks like he could go in the top 20, perhaps even in the top 15... and Texas Tech will be offering another massive guard, Louis Vasquez, who looks like a middle round prospect...

 

[silverbear]

If Junior Siavii plays that poorly all the time, why is the team wasting its' time with him?

I think Junior would make a terrific offensive guard, but he's just not quick enough for DT... so it's unlikely that he has a future with the Cowboys; he's got too much time in to be put on the practice squad while he tries to make that conversion...

 

[Stash]

Right now, the only two backups I think are NFL caliber are Free and Berger...

I just saw that the Giants are about to release OT Shane Olivea. He might be worth a look as the team's next reclamation project.

He's currently bothered by a bad back so he wouldn't be able to play right away, but he's still only 26 and at one point was a fine right tackle. I think he's got more ability and upside than either McQuistan or Marten at this point.

Olivea also worked with Houck before when he won the starting RT job in San Diego as a rookie.

 

[WoodysGirl]

I just saw that the Giants are about to release OT Shane Olivea. He might be worth a look as the team's next reclamation project.

He's currently bothered by a bad back so he wouldn't be able to play right away, but he's still only 26 and at one point was a fine right tackle. I think he's got more ability and upside than either McQuistan or Marten at this point.

Olivea also worked with Houck before when he won the starting RT job in San Diego as a rookie.

I don't know. Bad back along with a former pain pill addiction. Hmmm. I'll have to think before I get on that bus.

Jerry may have taken on reclamation projects, but none have been drug or alcohol-related.

 

[Stash]

I don't know. Bad back along with a former pain pill addiction. Hmmm. I'll have to think before I get on that bus.

Jerry may have taken on reclamation projects, but none have been drug or alcohol-related.

It's definitely a risk/reward scenario, but one that would require very little investment at this point.

Olivea would be given a chance - at 26 years old - to get his life and career back on track with the stipluation that one screw-up means that he's gone.

It seems similar to the Pacman Jones experiment to me. Give a young man the chance to rebuild his life with great upside potential for both he and the team.

But it might be too much opf a risk given that in all likelihood Olivea wouldn't be starting for the Cowboys anytime soon.

Given the poor performance of the Cowboy's reserve linemen, I've been scouring available linemen that the team might bring in.

Charles Spencer, LeCharles Bentley, and now Olivea are the names I've seen thus far.

I think if Marten, Procter, and McQuistan play as poorly this Saturday night against the Broncos, the team should seriously start looking.

 

[WoodysGirl]

It's definitely a risk/reward scenario, but one that would require very little investment at this point.

Olivea would be given a chance - at 26 years old - to get his life and career back on track with the stipluation that one screw-up means that he's gone.

It seems similar to the Pacman Jones experiment to me. Give a young man the chance to rebuild his life with great upside potential for both he and the team.

But it might be too much opf a risk given that in all likelihood Olivea wouldn't be starting for the Cowboys anytime soon.

Given the poor performance of the Cowboy's reserve linemen, I've been scouring available linemen that the team might bring in.

Charles Spencer, LeCharles Bentley, and now Olivea are the names I've seen thus far.

I think if Marten, Procter, and McQuistan play as poorly this Saturday night against the Broncos, the team should seriously start looking.

Gonna withold judgement against our reserves, cuz I think it's too soon to hit the panic button. I agree they played poorly last week, but I'd rather not bring in any one else just yet.

What I do know is Charles Spencer is out of shape. I forget who he signed with after he was cut by the Texans, but the 2nd team released him due to poor conditioning. Something tells me that was the issue with the Texans, as well.

Bentley wants a starter deal/money. I've read that he doesn't want to accept a 1-yr deal with a lil more than the minimum.

Olivea will sign with a team, but I'm wary of bringing him on...even in a backrup role.

 

[dbair1967]

I just saw that the Giants are about to release OT Shane Olivea. He might be worth a look as the team's next reclamation project.

He's currently bothered by a bad back so he wouldn't be able to play right away, but he's still only 26 and at one point was a fine right tackle. I think he's got more ability and upside than either McQuistan or Marten at this point.

Olivea also worked with Houck before when he won the starting RT job in San Diego as a rookie.

they put him on IR and said they will release him once he's healthy

if they thought he could play, they almost assuredly put him on PUP and then activate him after the 6 games...since thats not the case, you have to figure he just either stinks or is really hurt bad

David