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Ranking the Cowboys’ 53-man roster: Numbers 20-11
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Jon Machota Email jmachota@***BANNED-URL***
Published: January 22, 2015 11:01 pm
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Cowboys receiver Cole Beasley.
Only two installments remain. Here is the fourth part of my Cowboys roster rankings for the 2014 season, numbers 11-20.
20.) Doug Free, RT. As good as the Cowboys offensive line was in 2014, they were at their absolute best when Free was on the field. The leader in the offensive line room started 11 games and received positive grades for nine of them from the folks at Pro Football Focus.
19.) Henry Melton, DT. Melton bet on himself with the contract he signed a year ago. If he returned to his Pro Bowl form, the club could exercise their option, keeping him on the roster for the next three seasons. Melton played at a high level for roughly half the season, recording five sacks in 16 games. But did the Cowboys see enough to keep him around?
18.) J.J. Wilcox, S. Wilcox continued to show improvement in his second year, finishing with 74 tackles during the regular season, fourth-most on the team. He also intercepted a career-high three passes, most of any defensive back on the roster.
17.) Brandon Carr, CB. No Cowboy defender has been criticized more than Carr these last two seasons. But every game, Carr is out there defending the other team’s top wide receiver. Even though he finished without an interception for the first time in his career, he played some of his best ball down the stretch.
16.) Cole Beasley, WR. Beasley played his best football during the last six games and it carried over into the playoffs. The 5-8 receiver averaged nearly 50 yards per game to go along with four touchdowns during those final six contests. In the playoffs, he hauled in more passes than Dez Bryant.
15.) Anthony Hitchens, LB. No Cowboys draft pick was more criticized than when Dallas selected Hitchens in the fourth round. But the rookie looked like a good investment when Sean Lee went down. He now looks like a great investment after seeing how he became one of the team’s best defenders.
14.) Terrance Williams, WR. One of Williams’ best attributes is his patience. He was the forgotten man for six games. But when teams continued to double Dez Bryant, Williams made the most of his opportunities. There was no better example than the two playoff games. Williams caught four passes for 130 yards and three touchdowns.
13.) Barry Church, S. Like J.J. Wilcox, Church continues to improve at the other starting safety spot. He’ll probably never be the type of defensive back to intercept five or six passes in a season, but he’s always around the ball making plays.
12.) Rolando McClain, LB. If he would’ve stayed healthy, McClain probably would’ve cracked the top five. The defense just played on another level when McClain was right. It would be very interesting to see what a healthy McClain looked like next to a healthy Sean Lee next season.
11.) Dan Bailey, K. The most accurate kicker in NFL history was very good again for the Cowboys, converting 25 of his 29 field goal attempts during the season, which included a career-long 56-yarder. The only knock on Bailey was that he missed two of his three postseason attempts, one from 41 yards and the other from 50.
Cowboys coaching staff gets early look at free agents at Pro Bowl; three to consider
http://cowboysblog.***BANNED-URL***/2015/01/ranking-the-cowboys-53-man-roster-numbers-20-11.html/
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Jon Machota Email jmachota@***BANNED-URL***
Published: January 22, 2015 11:01 pm
http://cowboysblog.***BANNED-URL***/files/2015/01/461342654_41661011-1.jpg
Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images
Cowboys receiver Cole Beasley.
Only two installments remain. Here is the fourth part of my Cowboys roster rankings for the 2014 season, numbers 11-20.
20.) Doug Free, RT. As good as the Cowboys offensive line was in 2014, they were at their absolute best when Free was on the field. The leader in the offensive line room started 11 games and received positive grades for nine of them from the folks at Pro Football Focus.
19.) Henry Melton, DT. Melton bet on himself with the contract he signed a year ago. If he returned to his Pro Bowl form, the club could exercise their option, keeping him on the roster for the next three seasons. Melton played at a high level for roughly half the season, recording five sacks in 16 games. But did the Cowboys see enough to keep him around?
18.) J.J. Wilcox, S. Wilcox continued to show improvement in his second year, finishing with 74 tackles during the regular season, fourth-most on the team. He also intercepted a career-high three passes, most of any defensive back on the roster.
17.) Brandon Carr, CB. No Cowboy defender has been criticized more than Carr these last two seasons. But every game, Carr is out there defending the other team’s top wide receiver. Even though he finished without an interception for the first time in his career, he played some of his best ball down the stretch.
16.) Cole Beasley, WR. Beasley played his best football during the last six games and it carried over into the playoffs. The 5-8 receiver averaged nearly 50 yards per game to go along with four touchdowns during those final six contests. In the playoffs, he hauled in more passes than Dez Bryant.
15.) Anthony Hitchens, LB. No Cowboys draft pick was more criticized than when Dallas selected Hitchens in the fourth round. But the rookie looked like a good investment when Sean Lee went down. He now looks like a great investment after seeing how he became one of the team’s best defenders.
14.) Terrance Williams, WR. One of Williams’ best attributes is his patience. He was the forgotten man for six games. But when teams continued to double Dez Bryant, Williams made the most of his opportunities. There was no better example than the two playoff games. Williams caught four passes for 130 yards and three touchdowns.
13.) Barry Church, S. Like J.J. Wilcox, Church continues to improve at the other starting safety spot. He’ll probably never be the type of defensive back to intercept five or six passes in a season, but he’s always around the ball making plays.
12.) Rolando McClain, LB. If he would’ve stayed healthy, McClain probably would’ve cracked the top five. The defense just played on another level when McClain was right. It would be very interesting to see what a healthy McClain looked like next to a healthy Sean Lee next season.
11.) Dan Bailey, K. The most accurate kicker in NFL history was very good again for the Cowboys, converting 25 of his 29 field goal attempts during the season, which included a career-long 56-yarder. The only knock on Bailey was that he missed two of his three postseason attempts, one from 41 yards and the other from 50.
Cowboys coaching staff gets early look at free agents at Pro Bowl; three to consider
- Bruce Carter among many linebacker questions the Cowboys face prior to NFL Draft
- Focus on his rushes and you miss much of DeMarco Murray's value to Cowboys
- Bob Sturm's 2015 NFL Draft profile: What I see in Alvin 'Bud' Dupree, DE/OLB, Kentucky
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