GRADE DALLAS's OFF-SEASON

[Champsheart]

Grade our Off-Season so far.

Here is a recap -

Additions-
T.O. - Dallas brings in one of the best playmakers in the game, but has baggage.

K Kosier - seems solid, but unknown to most. Has started every O-Line position but Center.

A. Ayodele - Brought in most likely to play inside next to James. Big and physical, can play up or down. Coverage skills is a question.

J Fabini - Should solidify the RT position, and be critical in protecting Bledsoe.

R Hannam - In to replace Campbell. Younger but not sure what exactly he will bring.

R Boiman - Tough guy, provides depth and very solid on Special Teams.

M Vanderjagt - Most accurate FG kicker in NFL history.

Subtractions -
Glover - Solid guy who has a couple years left, but definent question on how he fit the 3-4 and how many plays he could get in. Depth at DT a question.

Allen - play definetly declined, but one of the most decorated players in Cowboy history.

DAT - no choice here on Dallas's part. Retired.

Campbell - Solid leader, aging and coming off injuries.

Key - Great while he was here. Gave his all, aging and replaced be T.O.

Fujita - seemed to struggle in the 3-4.

 

[AmishCowboy]

I wish we could have kept Glover as a pass rusher, Liked Allen, but it was time and Key, while good here, shoudn't be missed to much because T.O. is such a upgrade.

 

[wesleyc288]

I wish we could have kept Glover as a pass rusher, Liked Allen, but it was time and Key, while good here, shoudn't be missed to much because T.O. is such a upgrade.

:clap2: Well Put :clap2:

 

[cowboysfan31]

I give it a B. We've added some key FAs, but the draft is where it is won or lost. We have upgraded quite a bit but there are still a few holes.

 

[Dalmations202]

Lost 2 Probowl players from last year (Glover,Allen), and two more who have made the probowl (Dat, Keyshawn) and gained two pro-bowlers in TO,Vanderjact and some younger guys or BP guys.

Loss in proven talent so far. It may work out for the better due to youth, but if this is it -- they will have to prove it to me first.

 

[JackMagist]

I'll give it a 77...I can dance to it.

 

[cleverusername]

I wish we could have kept Glover as a pass rusher, Liked Allen, but it was time and Key, while good here, shoudn't be missed to much because T.O. is such a upgrade.

 

[hendog]

I gave it a B. I think if we would have gotten a more established (better) guard then I would feel better about it.

TO and Lord Vander are huge!

 

[big dog cowboy]

The only player lost that will hurt is Glover. The guys we signed are an upgrade over what we had. Every spots but FS got addressed. We spent money smart and didn't chase the big (overpaid) names.

It is a little unfair to grade the off season 5 weeks before the draft, but I went with a solid B for the work so far. If get another haul in the draft like last year we could really be for a treat this fall.

 

[scottsp]

Still quite a bit of concern to me on the offensive line. Fabini, if he's right physically, would be a nice addition. Kosier is a huge question mark. I place a lot of emphasis on this unit because without it being solidified, we will be incurring a lot of the same problems.

Obviously, we have upgraded WR and PK. Kudos to the club for that. But until we can effectively block, our success on that side of the ball will be limited.

 

[NovaCowboy]

No suprise here I give it an F.

TO shouldnt be a Cowboy.

Glover was our best player on defense.

There were way better O-Lineman available in free agency than what we got and we had the money to get em.

We even managed to screw up the kicker situation, could have had Vinteri for close to what we paid for a lesser kicker.

Basically, putting all our eggs into one basket to win this season, to accomadate Parcells last season here and on top of that, doing a poor job of it

 

[BAZ]

I give it a B, while TO and Vanderjagt are huge and the line has gotten a bit of dept. I think a decent center would have done more for the team. The draft is still to go but there is no way they pick up a starting center from there.

 

[Cowboy Junkie]

I gave a grade of a C.....
I thought the biggest needs were center and kicker...
We did not address Center and we did upgrade at kicker but I thought we got the 3rd or 4th best kicker available..
Fabini will help but I do not feel we upgraded at Guard with the Larry Allen /Kman swap....
Owens on the field is a huge upgrade but I think Key will be greatly missed ..

Dan Cambell will be missed as will Glover and Glover has not been replaced yet..

I think the offseason could still get an A but Center , Safety,Bcakup DT,OLB and depth at Oline will have be be taken care of first...

 

[Zippy Speedster]

"B" with a possibility to move up to an "A" before this is all said and done. Add a great first round pick plus possibly one or two more free agent signings, this could definatly be an "A" graded offseason. If we just make a good first round pick and no more signifcant FA signings..."B+".

 

[Silverstar]

A-

Still need a FS and OLB, but could get both starters through the draft.

 

[baj1dallas]

C. Too much reliance on TO to take the offense to the next level. It's more likely he becomes discontented and doesn't play the full season. Leaving the Cowboys offense worse than it was last year.

 

[Silverstar]

C. Too much reliance on TO to take the offense to the next level. It's more likely he becomes discontented and doesn't play the full season. Leaving the Cowboys offense worse than it was last year.

Glass half empty fan....

 

[dbair1967]

cant really grade it until after the draft...

I didnt want TO but he's here now, and while I will have to hope he doesnt blow up the team I cant argue that the guy is an outstanding offensive player and should help us be better there and score more tds...he is a more explosive player than Keyshawn, but Key was a leader and did alot of other things that went unnoticed in the stat sheets to help

Ayodele could make a really good impact on defense and was a good addition, whether he replaces Nguyen (who wasnt a good fit at ILB in the 3-4 anyway) or Fugita (who was nothing more than average at OLB) he will be an upgrade

Vanderjact is a nice kicker, but I'd have preferred Vinateri or Longwell by quite a bit and niether signed for THAT much more money than what Vandy got

Kosier and Fabini might help but then again, they might both flop.. one has never been able to hold down a starting job at one position and the other is 30+ and coming off a season ending chest injury...I thought there were better options (including both Pats OL's among others)...I still the OL as a whole is a one huge question mark as 3 of our 5 projected starters are over 30 and all coming off injuries...the C is a question mark and is probably average at best...the backup OL's on this team are all scrubs (Tucker, Petitti, Peterman & Columbo, who may never play)

really wasnt much out there that was within reason to upgrade FS with, so its hard to complain about waiting till the draft to do that

the season will really be decided on how much the OL is improved and how well the defense improves in terms of being able to rush the passer, stop the run with more consistency and finish games off when we have leads...3 of those 4 areas were huge issues last yr and contributed more IMO than anything else as to why we didnt win the division

David

 

[roy31]

No suprise here I give it an F.

TO shouldnt be a Cowboy.

Glover was our best player on defense.

There were way better O-Lineman available in free agency than what we got and we had the money to get em.

We even managed to screw up the kicker situation, could have had Vinteri for close to what we paid for a lesser kicker.

Basically, putting all our eggs into one basket to win this season, to accomadate Parcells last season here and on top of that, doing a poor job of it

You don't have yourself for sale on ebay do you

 

[Eskimo]

I give them an A for the following moves:

Dumping Key - player in decline and unhappy with contract
Dumping LA - player in decline and expensive
Dumping Glover - player in decline and expensive
Not re-signing Campbell - player in decline
Signing Fabini - should be good stopgap for a couple of years at reasonable price. Any move that keeps Tucker and Petitti on the bench is an A.



I give them a B for the following moves:

Signing Kosier - should be decent guard and gave us flexibility to cut LA loose. He is fairly young, has some upside and great versatility.

Signing Ayodele - should be a solid 3-4 ILB with some pass rush skills. We should be stronger up the middle this year

Signing Hannam - good blocker and young. Probably better receiver than Campbell.

Signing Boiman - we need another LB who could be a backup and play STs and got one at a reasonable price and age

Signing Vanderjagt - would have preferred Adam V or Josh Brown but he is the most accurate kicker in history. Only downside is the KOs and the potential of losing a roster spot to carry a KO specialist.



I give them an incomplete for:

Signing TO - could be a coup and could be a bust. Only time will tell.