Gimmesix's 4th preseason game analysis

[gimmesix]

I usually wait until after I rewatched the game to do my analysis/roster, but I don't want to go back and watch this one.

I admit that a couple of my picks were made primarily on this game, which makes it less likely they'll come true.

OFFENSE

Quarterbacks (3)
Dak Prescott, ??, Tony Romo
COMMENTS I have no idea who the veteran quarterback will be, but if Showers was auditioning to show we don't need one, he failed miserably. He held the ball too long, didn't read the field well and was sporadic with this throws, often throwing high. He might have even lost a practice squad spot with that performance. I'm not convinced we short-term IR Romo, so I'm keeping three quarterbacks ... as soon as we find a vet.

Running backs (4)
Ezekiel Elliott, Alfred Morris, Lance Dunbar, Rod Smith
COMMENTS The best tailback on the field for us tonight was Rod Smith and I think the coaching staff is looking for any excuse to keep him. I like Darius Jackson's speed, but Smith showed vision during his time in the backfield that I haven't seen from Jackson. I believe McFadden starts the year on NFI and Jackson on the practice squad and we still go long at running back

Fullback (1)
Keith Smith
COMMENTS I actually believe Rod Smith is more likely to get snaps at fullback than Keith Smith, but I think we keep Keith Smith for special teams.

Tight ends (3)
Jason Witten, Geoff Swaim, Gavin Escobar
COMMENTS I'm not convinced that Escobar should make this team based on what we've seen this preseason, which isn't much, and I'm not sure that he's ahead of Swaim for playing time. If James Hanna had not gotten hurt, it wouldn't have surprised me for Escobar to have been cut since Swaim has clearly played better than him. I still like Traylor as a blocker, but he doesn't appear to contribute much more than that and should be a practice squad addition

Receivers (5)
Dez Bryant, Terrence Williams, Cole Beasley, Brice Butler, Lucky Whitehead
COMMENTS No one challenged to push these five receivers off the roster, although Devin Street managed to drop any chance he had of making it. Dallas might be intrigued enough to keep Andy Jones on the practice squad, but he never showed whatever he was showing in camp.

Offensive line (8)
Tyron Smith, La'el Collins, Travis Frederick, Zach Martin, Ronald Leary, Chaz Green, Joe Looney
COMMENTS No other lineman has shown enough to be kept than these eight, so if Dallas wants to keep nine, it will have to pick up one. Outside of the occasional gaffe, Green has been better than I expected him to be. I'm at the point that I would trust him to protect the quarterback's blind side if he had to step in as the swing tackle ... knowing that he would make some mistakes.

DEFENSE

Defensive end (5)
(DeMarcus Lawrence, Randy Gregory) Benson Mayowa, David Irving, Jack Crawford, Mike McAdoo, Ryan Russell
COMMENTS I don't know what's up with Charles Tapper, but sight unseen, I'd keep him over Russell, whose shown very little despite giving lots of chances. Our only real hope for a pass rush seems to be Mayowa, but not because of what we've seen because we've seen very little of him. I expect him to start at right end and Irving to start at left end. Irving was one of our better linemen tonight, making several plays against the run but not really mounting much of a pass rush. Our best passing rushing end was McAdoo, who was also the second-best end against the rush and clearly was better than Russell. Jack Crawford didn't play tonight, but has played well enough to rotate with Mayowa and Irving maybe getting some run-down snaps at right end and passing down snaps at left end (with Irving moving inside next to Tyrone Crawford).

Defensive tackles (4)
Tyrone Crawford, Terrell McClain, Cedric Thornton, Maliek Collins
COMMENTS We really need Crawford to earn his paycheck this year because his inside pressure may be the only way we mount a consistent pass rush. McClain still remains ahead of Thornton at the 1-tech and I don't know if that because of McClain's play or Thornton's. McClain has been pretty stout and disruptive while Thornton hasn't been bad but also hasn't been great. We haven't seen enough of Collins to know if he's going to provide anything. Rodney Coe showed enough clogging ability to get a practice squad invite.

Linebackers (7)
Sean Lee, Justin Durant, Anthony Hitchens, Damien Wilson, Andrew Gachkar, Mark Nzeocha
COMMENTS I'm going against my gut here some. Deon King was a run-stopping machine tonight and his play was better than anything we've seen from Wilson. I think Dallas will try to stash him on the practice squad, though. None of the linebacker I have us keeping played tonight and it showed, especially in pass coverage.

Cornerbacks (6)
Orlando Scandrick, Morris Claiborne, Brandon Carr, Antony Brown, Dak Swanson, Deji Olatoye
COMMENTS Olatoye is my 53rd pick after a poor performance tonight. The spot comes down to either him or JJ Wilcox and Olatoye at least has some upside. I believe Swanson won a spot with his corner play tonight, plush he's shown he can be a return alternative to Lucky Whitehead.

Safeties (4)
Barry Church, Byron Jones, Jeff Heath, Kavon Frazier
COMMENTS Another player I think made the roster tonight was Frazier. He made big hits on defense and on special teams and had good coveraged when singled up.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Kicker (1)
Dan Bailey

Punter (1)
Chris Jones

Long snapper (1)
L.P. Ladouceur

 

[Irvin88_4life]

I don't believe Rod Smith has done enough to make the roster. Keith Smith is the better FB compared to Rod. I liked Rod better at the start of preseason but his injury I think made him lose his spot. I also don't think he makes it over Jackson.

Tapper has been injuried most of preseason but it's hard not seeing him make the roster. McAdoo made plays for sure but I have this feeling with Tapper being a 4th round pick with upside he will make the roster.....think Wilcox.

Overall I agree with most of your protections. Your secondary is surprising but looks to be accurate at the same time. Frazier, Deji and Swanson I think have pushed Wilcox off the roster.

 

[CapnB]

Tapper has been hurt since wk2 or TC. You dont cut a 4th rounder unless he is just talentless.

 

[Fla Cowpoke]

Will be interesting to see how the RB/FB/TE situation all pans out.

You have a number of (7) listed for LB's but only have 6 listed. I think we just go with 8 OL, try to keep Brendel and Witzmann for emergency.

Tapper makes the team or goes on IR.

 

[GimmeTheBall!]

I usually wait until after I rewatched the game to do my analysis/roster, but I don't want to go back and watch this one.

I admit that a couple of my picks were made primarily on this game, which makes it less likely they'll come true.

OFFENSE

Quarterbacks (3)
Dak Prescott, ??, Tony Romo
COMMENTS I have no idea who the veteran quarterback will be, but if Showers was auditioning to show we don't need one, he failed miserably. He held the ball too long, didn't read the field well and was sporadic with this throws, often throwing high. He might have even lost a practice squad spot with that performance. I'm not convinced we short-term IR Romo, so I'm keeping three quarterbacks ... as soon as we find a vet.

Running backs (4)
Ezekiel Elliott, Alfred Morris, Lance Dunbar, Rod Smith
COMMENTS The best tailback on the field for us tonight was Rod Smith and I think the coaching staff is looking for any excuse to keep him. I like Darius Jackson's speed, but Smith showed vision during his time in the backfield that I haven't seen from Jackson. I believe McFadden starts the year on NFI and Jackson on the practice squad and we still go long at running back

Fullback (1)
Keith Smith
COMMENTS I actually believe Rod Smith is more likely to get snaps at fullback than Keith Smith, but I think we keep Keith Smith for special teams.

Tight ends (3)
Jason Witten, Geoff Swaim, Gavin Escobar
COMMENTS I'm not convinced that Escobar should make this team based on what we've seen this preseason, which isn't much, and I'm not sure that he's ahead of Swaim for playing time. If James Hanna had not gotten hurt, it wouldn't have surprised me for Escobar to have been cut since Swaim has clearly played better than him. I still like Traylor as a blocker, but he doesn't appear to contribute much more than that and should be a practice squad addition

Receivers (5)
Dez Bryant, Terrence Williams, Cole Beasley, Brice Butler, Lucky Whitehead
COMMENTS No one challenged to push these five receivers off the roster, although Devin Street managed to drop any chance he had of making it. Dallas might be intrigued enough to keep Andy Jones on the practice squad, but he never showed whatever he was showing in camp.

Offensive line (8)
Tyron Smith, La'el Collins, Travis Frederick, Zach Martin, Ronald Leary, Chaz Green, Joe Looney
COMMENTS No other lineman has shown enough to be kept than these eight, so if Dallas wants to keep nine, it will have to pick up one. Outside of the occasional gaffe, Green has been better than I expected him to be. I'm at the point that I would trust him to protect the quarterback's blind side if he had to step in as the swing tackle ... knowing that he would make some mistakes.

DEFENSE

Defensive end (5)
(DeMarcus Lawrence, Randy Gregory) Benson Mayowa, David Irving, Jack Crawford, Mike McAdoo, Ryan Russell
COMMENTS I don't know what's up with Charles Tapper, but sight unseen, I'd keep him over Russell, whose shown very little despite giving lots of chances. Our only real hope for a pass rush seems to be Mayowa, but not because of what we've seen because we've seen very little of him. I expect him to start at right end and Irving to start at left end. Irving was one of our better linemen tonight, making several plays against the run but not really mounting much of a pass rush. Our best passing rushing end was McAdoo, who was also the second-best end against the rush and clearly was better than Russell. Jack Crawford didn't play tonight, but has played well enough to rotate with Mayowa and Irving maybe getting some run-down snaps at right end and passing down snaps at left end (with Irving moving inside next to Tyrone Crawford).

Defensive tackles (4)
Tyrone Crawford, Terrell McClain, Cedric Thornton, Maliek Collins
COMMENTS We really need Crawford to earn his paycheck this year because his inside pressure may be the only way we mount a consistent pass rush. McClain still remains ahead of Thornton at the 1-tech and I don't know if that because of McClain's play or Thornton's. McClain has been pretty stout and disruptive while Thornton hasn't been bad but also hasn't been great. We haven't seen enough of Collins to know if he's going to provide anything. Rodney Coe showed enough clogging ability to get a practice squad invite.

Linebackers (7)
Sean Lee, Justin Durant, Anthony Hitchens, Damien Wilson, Andrew Gachkar, Mark Nzeocha
COMMENTS I'm going against my gut here some. Deon King was a run-stopping machine tonight and his play was better than anything we've seen from Wilson. I think Dallas will try to stash him on the practice squad, though. None of the linebacker I have us keeping played tonight and it showed, especially in pass coverage.

Cornerbacks (6)
Orlando Scandrick, Morris Claiborne, Brandon Carr, Antony Brown, Dak Swanson, Deji Olatoye
COMMENTS Olatoye is my 53rd pick after a poor performance tonight. The spot comes down to either him or JJ Wilcox and Olatoye at least has some upside. I believe Swanson won a spot with his corner play tonight, plush he's shown he can be a return alternative to Lucky Whitehead.

Safeties (4)
Barry Church, Byron Jones, Jeff Heath, Kavon Frazier
COMMENTS Another player I think made the roster tonight was Frazier. He made big hits on defense and on special teams and had good coveraged when singled up.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Kicker (1)
Dan Bailey

Punter (1)
Chris Jones

Long snapper (1)
L.P. Ladouceur

Another excellent post, matey!

 

[Shinaoi]

Good info. I'll add what I can

Dan Bailey- still the best

 

[crazyeddie]

Tapper has been hurt since wk2 or TC. You dont cut a 4th rounder unless he is just talentless.

I agree,Tapper could be a good DE with a little work.

I had high hopes for Russell,but at this stage,I'd keep Tapper over him.

 

[Paniolo22]

Frazier was getting bashed during the radio broadcast by Broaddus and Sham

 

[waving monkey]

agree about Escobar and I think they might go long at TE

 

[Fla Cowpoke]

Frazier was getting bashed during the radio broadcast by Broaddus and Sham

Broaddus was taking out his anger over Showers blowing his chance.

 

[darthseinfeld]

I don't believe Rod Smith has done enough to make the roster. Keith Smith is the better FB compared to Rod. I liked Rod better at the start of preseason but his injury I think made him lose his spot. I also don't think he makes it over Jackson.

Tapper has been injuried most of preseason but it's hard not seeing him make the roster. McAdoo made plays for sure but I have this feeling with Tapper being a 4th round pick with upside he will make the roster.....think Wilcox.

Overall I agree with most of your protections. Your secondary is surprising but looks to be accurate at the same time. Frazier, Deji and Swanson I think have pushed Wilcox off the roster.

Tapper was also our best looking DE before getting hurt in TC

 

[Irvin88_4life]

Tapper was also our best looking DE before getting hurt in TC

Really? I didn't see much of him in training camp. Either way I didn't see them cutting him

 

[darthseinfeld]

Really? I didn't see much of him in training camp. Either way I didn't see them cutting him

He was getting great write ups going against Smith

 

[Irvin88_4life]

He was getting great write ups going against Smith

Ya I Did hear something about that. Would love to see him in action in a real game. Either way I don't see us cutting him. He will get 3 years at the very least to show something

 

[gimmesix]

I don't believe Rod Smith has done enough to make the roster. Keith Smith is the better FB compared to Rod. I liked Rod better at the start of preseason but his injury I think made him lose his spot. I also don't think he makes it over Jackson.

Tapper has been injuried most of preseason but it's hard not seeing him make the roster. McAdoo made plays for sure but I have this feeling with Tapper being a 4th round pick with upside he will make the roster.....think Wilcox.

Overall I agree with most of your protections. Your secondary is surprising but looks to be accurate at the same time. Frazier, Deji and Swanson I think have pushed Wilcox off the roster.

I feel like Dallas has been trying since it acquired Ezekiel Elliott to find a place for Rod Smith. That he happened to be a better running back last night than Jackson gives him separation he needed to make the roster IMO.

Jackson just hasn't been impressive other than on some outside runs. Smith was showing how to use the cutback last night while Jackson continues to primarily just go where the blocking goes even if the blocking breaks down.

You could be right on Tapper, but at this point I think he goes on IR.

 

[gimmesix]

Frazier was getting bashed during the radio broadcast by Broaddus and Sham

He was up and down, but his ups were very good.

 

[gimmesix]

Will be interesting to see how the RB/FB/TE situation all pans out.

You have a number of (7) listed for LB's but only have 6 listed. I think we just go with 8 OL, try to keep Brendel and Witzmann for emergency.

Tapper makes the team or goes on IR.

I do think there are multiple ways we could go with RB/FB/TE and a lot of it will probably depend on what we do with McFadden.

The only absolutely locks are Elliott and Morris, although I do feel like Dallas likes the specialty role they have for Dunbar. After that, there are several variables that could influence which way the team goes.

 

[DFWJC]

Thanks for the write-up

QB--Yeah, they'll need to get a vet backup. Showers is not ready. However, they think he has real potential , so it's not out of the question that they keep him and roll the dice a little.

RB/FB--I'd be pretty shocked if they keep both Rod and Keith Smith. Jackson is gonna be a tough call.

WR--yes, those 5. Street probably has lost his job

TE--yes too

DE--Not sure what they can do with Tapper, but he won't be cut. That kid may end up really good down the road. They may carry and extra.

DT--ok

LB--not thrilled with this group

CB--I'd be a bit surprised if we carry all six of those guys.

S--yes, Wilcox just may be out

 

[Irvin88_4life]

I feel like Dallas has been trying since it acquired Ezekiel Elliott to find a place for Rod Smith. That he happened to be a better running back last night than Jackson gives him separation he needed to make the roster IMO.

Jackson just hasn't been impressive other than on some outside runs. Smith was showing how to use the cutback last night while Jackson continues to primarily just go where the blocking goes even if the blocking breaks down.

You could be right on Tapper, but at this point I think he goes on IR.

Jackson had some nice inside runs against Seattle and sorry a few carries doesn't knock someone off the roster when Jackson has outplayed Rod.....not only that Jackson is healthy and was available for all 4 games. Jackson caught the ball well and even scored a TD. Jackson can also block better then Rod.

Morris had 5 carries for 17 yards against Seattle
Jackson had 5 carries for 30 yards but I wouldn't say Jackson should be ahead of Morris because he ran better then Morris. Morris is better then Jackson but it seems guys, like you, that don't like Jackson was just waiting for him to not have some good runs to prove your point or what not.

Swanson played better then Deji last night wouldn't say he would make it over Deji though.

 

[gimmesix]

Jackson had some nice inside runs against Seattle and sorry a few carries doesn't knock someone off the roster when Jackson has outplayed Rod.....not only that Jackson is healthy and was available for all 4 games. Jackson caught the ball well and even scored a TD. Jackson can also block better then Rod.

Morris had 5 carries for 17 yards against Seattle
Jackson had 5 carries for 30 yards but I wouldn't say Jackson should be ahead of Morris because he ran better then Morris. Morris is better then Jackson but it seems guys, like you, that don't like Jackson was just waiting for him to not have some good runs to prove your point or what not.

Swanson played better then Deji last night wouldn't say he would make it over Deji though.

I have been looking closely at Jackson because I've wanted him to show that he has something special. I haven't seen it. What I've seen consistently is that he's got great speed to get to the outside and outrace defenses. That's where most of his success has come from.

He's got good size, but I wouldn't call him a power back because he doesn't really run over anyone. His size does help him to sustain hits, though, like the attempt to bring him down by his shoulder pad last night.

He will cut the ball up off tackle if he's cut off from the outside.

What I haven't seen is good vision and cutting ability to see when the hole is closed and bounce it back. Some of that might be him not wanting to improvise but when your line is blown up, you have to improvise as a back.

It's easy to say I don't like Jackson, but I wasn't ever looking to not like Jackson. I wanted to see reasons to keep him on the 53. What I've seen instead is reason to keep him on the practice squad. Calling it like you see it doesn't mean you have something against a player.