gimmesix
Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life
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I like putting my roster prediction after each game as a game analysis because it helps me to gather my thoughts. So here goes:
OFFENSE
Quarterbacks (2)
Romo, Prescott
COMMENTS It was nice seeing Romo return to the field Friday. He was off on the short pass to Morris, but otherwise, was firing passes where they needed to be. Dak had a couple of bad passes of his own, but mostly has looked like he belongs on this level. What impresses me is that it isn't like he's just hitting open receivers or dumping the ball off, but he's making the right reads and hitting receivers on every kind of route, whether it's a slant, fade, back-shoulder, go or screen. It's also impressive that even though he can run with the ball, he's not doing like some young QBs and taking off at the first sign of trouble.
Running backs (4)
Elliott, Morris, McFadden, Dunbar
COMMENTS The more Morris carries the ball, the less I believe that it's necessary to carry three veterans behind Elliott. Morris is the kind of backup plan we need, a veteran who is able to step in and doesn't get injured. I'm still not ready to kick last year's 1,000-yard rusher or our change-of-pace back off the roster, but I'm getting closer. I like what Jackson is doing, but he hasn't wowed me to the point where I'm ready to hand him a spot on the 53.
Fullbacks (1)
R. Smith
COMMENTS I'm just not impressed with our fullback options right now. Rod Smith is out because of an infection and I admit to being surprised that Keith Smith could actually run with the ball a bit, but they haven't shown any reason to keep them. I'm only doing it because I believe Garrett will carry a fullback. My preference is to line up Elliott and Morris in the backfield at the same time in short yardage or see next comment.
Tight ends (3)
Witten, Escobar, Swaim
COMMENTS The tight ends all had some good moments. I especially liked seeing Escobar show some blocking ability and Swaim bounce back as a receiver. Hanna's injury lowers the number kept here to three, although I would probably keep Traylor as a "fullback" over the fullback options because he is a solid blocker.
Wide receivers (5)
Bryant, Williams, Beasley, Brice, Whitehead
COMMENTS Each of the receivers I had on the roster after the first preseason game made a play except Street, who was my 53rd guy last week. It was nice to see Brice show why he should get on the field with a few good plays. I don't think he beats out Williams for the No. 2 spot, but I would expect him to rotate in at times. Whitehead still remains more of a specialty player than a receiver, but he does his specialty well.
Offensive line (8)
Smith, Collins, Frederick, Martin, Free, Leary, Looney, Green
COMMENTS I still don't see a ninth lineman worth keeping, although Witzmann and Brendel appear to be worth developing. I went back and rewatched the game to specifically focus on the line and other than being awed by the interior blocking of the first string, I came away feeling better about Green than I had. He had a few mistakes, but overall did a good job of stopping ends or pushing them wide on the pass rush and pushing defenders around in the run game. He's still a work in progress, but at least doesn't look out of place at left tackle. (It appears that we want to get him comfortable there before teaching him to play right tackle.)
DEFENSE
Defensive ends (5)
(Lawrence), (Gregory), Mayowa, J. Crawford, Irving, Russell, Tapper
COMMENTS I admit to being a bit disappointed in Lawrence in Friday's game. I expected him to at least pester the pocket ad he didn't. Crawford had the best showing by an end for us so far and could push for more playing time. Injuries, though, kept us from seeing more of Irving and Mayowa and Tapper haven't gotten into a preseason game for us yet. Russell has played quite a bit and I haven't been impressed with him up to this point. He could easily get bumped by another linemen or if we choose to go longer at another position.
Defensive tackles (5)
T. Crawford, McClain, Thornton, Collins, Jenkins
COMMENTS It looks like Crawford has returned to being disruptive, and I'm happy with what I'm seeing from both McClain and Thornton at the 1-tech. McClain had a couple of plays where he disrupted the run with penetration. I also like what Jenkins is showing as a raw 3-tech and finally saw that Coe might be worth developing. I think Coe could end up on the practice squad, but Jenkins is flashing enough to be kept on the 53 over players at other positions.
Linebackers (7)
Lee, Durant, Hitchens, Wilson, Gachkar, Nzeocha, Wilber
COMMENTS The linebackers functioned much better this week, probably because Lee played. I don't remember seeing Durant out there. Linebackers like Morris, Akunne and might have a chance to knock Gachkar off the roster since he hasn't been able to play, but I didn't really see anything from anybody in the group to make me think that we absolutely have to have that player. Wilber, after a poor week last week, showed his versatility by playing well at end despite fighting an injury. Not sure how this is going to shake out.
Cornerbacks (6)
Scandrick, Claiborne, Carr, Brown, Olatoye, Thomas
COMMENTS Claiborne is playing well enough to be given a starting spot over Carr. I don't think Carr is as bad as some on here do, but I do think Claiborne deserves the chance to prove his worth as a starter based on his preseason play.
Safeties (4)
Church, Jones, Heath, Frazier
COMMENTS For those who wanted Wilcox to replace Church, it should be easy to see now why he won't. He just lacks the football smarts to go with his physical abilities. Getting caught flat-footed playing two-deep is a big mistake. It's too bad we can't combine Church's football acumen with Wilcox's physical skills. Frazier shows similar understanding to Church. Jones also has that kind of understanding, but has better physical skills to match with it, even if he did make a mistake in letting the tight end beat him to the inside on the dropped TD throw.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Kicker (1)
Bailey
Punter (1)
Jones
Long snapper (1)
Ladouceur
I've probably got two many defensive players (27) to offensive players (23), but considering that that side of the ball is more unsettled, I don't mind that. I'd rather see what a player like Jenkins can do than keep an extra offensive lineman or wide receiver.
OFFENSE
Quarterbacks (2)
Romo, Prescott
COMMENTS It was nice seeing Romo return to the field Friday. He was off on the short pass to Morris, but otherwise, was firing passes where they needed to be. Dak had a couple of bad passes of his own, but mostly has looked like he belongs on this level. What impresses me is that it isn't like he's just hitting open receivers or dumping the ball off, but he's making the right reads and hitting receivers on every kind of route, whether it's a slant, fade, back-shoulder, go or screen. It's also impressive that even though he can run with the ball, he's not doing like some young QBs and taking off at the first sign of trouble.
Running backs (4)
Elliott, Morris, McFadden, Dunbar
COMMENTS The more Morris carries the ball, the less I believe that it's necessary to carry three veterans behind Elliott. Morris is the kind of backup plan we need, a veteran who is able to step in and doesn't get injured. I'm still not ready to kick last year's 1,000-yard rusher or our change-of-pace back off the roster, but I'm getting closer. I like what Jackson is doing, but he hasn't wowed me to the point where I'm ready to hand him a spot on the 53.
Fullbacks (1)
R. Smith
COMMENTS I'm just not impressed with our fullback options right now. Rod Smith is out because of an infection and I admit to being surprised that Keith Smith could actually run with the ball a bit, but they haven't shown any reason to keep them. I'm only doing it because I believe Garrett will carry a fullback. My preference is to line up Elliott and Morris in the backfield at the same time in short yardage or see next comment.
Tight ends (3)
Witten, Escobar, Swaim
COMMENTS The tight ends all had some good moments. I especially liked seeing Escobar show some blocking ability and Swaim bounce back as a receiver. Hanna's injury lowers the number kept here to three, although I would probably keep Traylor as a "fullback" over the fullback options because he is a solid blocker.
Wide receivers (5)
Bryant, Williams, Beasley, Brice, Whitehead
COMMENTS Each of the receivers I had on the roster after the first preseason game made a play except Street, who was my 53rd guy last week. It was nice to see Brice show why he should get on the field with a few good plays. I don't think he beats out Williams for the No. 2 spot, but I would expect him to rotate in at times. Whitehead still remains more of a specialty player than a receiver, but he does his specialty well.
Offensive line (8)
Smith, Collins, Frederick, Martin, Free, Leary, Looney, Green
COMMENTS I still don't see a ninth lineman worth keeping, although Witzmann and Brendel appear to be worth developing. I went back and rewatched the game to specifically focus on the line and other than being awed by the interior blocking of the first string, I came away feeling better about Green than I had. He had a few mistakes, but overall did a good job of stopping ends or pushing them wide on the pass rush and pushing defenders around in the run game. He's still a work in progress, but at least doesn't look out of place at left tackle. (It appears that we want to get him comfortable there before teaching him to play right tackle.)
DEFENSE
Defensive ends (5)
(Lawrence), (Gregory), Mayowa, J. Crawford, Irving, Russell, Tapper
COMMENTS I admit to being a bit disappointed in Lawrence in Friday's game. I expected him to at least pester the pocket ad he didn't. Crawford had the best showing by an end for us so far and could push for more playing time. Injuries, though, kept us from seeing more of Irving and Mayowa and Tapper haven't gotten into a preseason game for us yet. Russell has played quite a bit and I haven't been impressed with him up to this point. He could easily get bumped by another linemen or if we choose to go longer at another position.
Defensive tackles (5)
T. Crawford, McClain, Thornton, Collins, Jenkins
COMMENTS It looks like Crawford has returned to being disruptive, and I'm happy with what I'm seeing from both McClain and Thornton at the 1-tech. McClain had a couple of plays where he disrupted the run with penetration. I also like what Jenkins is showing as a raw 3-tech and finally saw that Coe might be worth developing. I think Coe could end up on the practice squad, but Jenkins is flashing enough to be kept on the 53 over players at other positions.
Linebackers (7)
Lee, Durant, Hitchens, Wilson, Gachkar, Nzeocha, Wilber
COMMENTS The linebackers functioned much better this week, probably because Lee played. I don't remember seeing Durant out there. Linebackers like Morris, Akunne and might have a chance to knock Gachkar off the roster since he hasn't been able to play, but I didn't really see anything from anybody in the group to make me think that we absolutely have to have that player. Wilber, after a poor week last week, showed his versatility by playing well at end despite fighting an injury. Not sure how this is going to shake out.
Cornerbacks (6)
Scandrick, Claiborne, Carr, Brown, Olatoye, Thomas
COMMENTS Claiborne is playing well enough to be given a starting spot over Carr. I don't think Carr is as bad as some on here do, but I do think Claiborne deserves the chance to prove his worth as a starter based on his preseason play.
Safeties (4)
Church, Jones, Heath, Frazier
COMMENTS For those who wanted Wilcox to replace Church, it should be easy to see now why he won't. He just lacks the football smarts to go with his physical abilities. Getting caught flat-footed playing two-deep is a big mistake. It's too bad we can't combine Church's football acumen with Wilcox's physical skills. Frazier shows similar understanding to Church. Jones also has that kind of understanding, but has better physical skills to match with it, even if he did make a mistake in letting the tight end beat him to the inside on the dropped TD throw.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Kicker (1)
Bailey
Punter (1)
Jones
Long snapper (1)
Ladouceur
I've probably got two many defensive players (27) to offensive players (23), but considering that that side of the ball is more unsettled, I don't mind that. I'd rather see what a player like Jenkins can do than keep an extra offensive lineman or wide receiver.
