Have you jumped to these conclusions?

[gimmesix]

Although I'm sure I've missed some, these are several of the conclusions fans have jumped to during the course of this year. Are you guilty of any of these?

1) Keith Brooking is washed up and a bad free agent signing
I remember several on the boards I visit wanted to pay an exorbitant amount to sign Ray Lewis instead.

2) A kicker? Why in the world is Dallas drafting a kicker?
When Dallas selected David Buehler, the boos were plentiful for the Cowboys. Some didn't understand the purpose of having a second kicker; some simply didn't want Dallas to waste a second roster spot on a kickoff specialist.

3) No way Miles Austin should be relied upon to fill Terrell Owens' shoes.
I have to admit that I thought getting rid of Owens without signing a proven replacement was a bad idea. Many of us liked what we had seen of Austin in a limited role, but just were unsure it was smart to lay all hopes on him coming through in a starting role.

4) Orlando Scandrick should be the starting cornerback ahead of Mike Jenkins.
Many wrote off Jenkins pretty much based on his ole´ tackle against the Giants last year. They were absolutely sure that Scandrick should get the starting role after Anthony Henry was traded.

5) Cutting Greg Ellis isn't a good idea because Anthony Spencer's not good enough.
I'm not sure many were really against getting rid of Ellis because of his whining, but many felt Spencer couldn't get the job done.

6) Dallas has no depth on the offensive line.
Although Doug Free is a young lineman from a smaller program, many had already written him off as a bust before he really got a chance to prove himself. The same will probably be done with Robert Brewster, if it hasn't already.

The point of this is that every time a player has a bad play or game or doesn't immediately live up to expectations we want to bench him or cut him or call him a bust. Sometimes we might end up being right, but often we are wrong ... and if we just have patience and let things develop, we'll be rewarded as fans.

It amazes me how fast some fans attack a member of our team, when what fans are supposed to do is root, root, root for the home team. There is nothing wrong with critical analysis, but negativism is not critical analysis.

We need to stop jumping to conclusions and realize there are reasons the starters are the starters, maybe there are things the coaching staff sees in practice that tells them this player or this play will work the best. We need to stop jumping to conclusions in assuming that players this team has brought in won't eventually work out.

I know it won't happen because we live in an impatient society, but I just had to get on my soapbox for a minute. Thanks for listening.

 

[Jenky]

Guilty as charged on #1 and #3:bang2::bang2::bang2:

 

[fan62]

:bounce:

 

[pugilist]

don't really understand listing #6

Doug Free has been phenomenal but one backup o-lineman does not constitute overall solid depth. Pat McQuistan is serviceable at best, and Cory Procter flat out sucks. Jury is still out on the rest

 

[silverbear]

Cowboys fans overreacting, engaging in knee-jerk behavior??

Don't be RIDICULOUS... it's never, ever happened; being smart enough to be a Cowboys fan means you're far too intelligent to rush to snap judgements...

 

[gimmesix]

don't really understand listing #6

Doug Free has been phenomenal but one backup o-lineman does not constitute overall solid depth. Pat McQuistan is serviceable at best, and Cory Procter flat out sucks. Jury is still out on the rest

Well, the point really was that many had written off Free, just as many will write off Brewster.

It isn't that we shouldn't try to add any linemen, but that we shouldn't just assume the ones we have are busts before they really get a chance to prove themselves.

I used to hold high hopes for McQuistan, but it isn't looking likely that he's going to come through. Wouldn't be surprised, though, if he ends up in Miami and becomes at least a quality backup.

 

[Juke99]

I'll eat numbers 2 and 4, thank you.

 

[MapleLeaf]

...problem with the Brooking signing. I also had no problem with Dallas looking at Ray Lewis either. In both cases I expect we would have got the same thing...veteran LB play and a tub full of leadership.

I was very happy to see a new kicker for the touch backs.

Thank *** for Miles. I was happy to see the back door of T.O., but wasn't sure about the WR formula.

I couldn't be sure of either Jenkins or Scandrick and Henry had to go because of these two young pups.

I was tired of Ellis. Not necessarily his play, but rather what he was saying in the media. Somewhat T.O.ish in my opinion.

I would challenge any Zoners as bald faced liars if they didn't harbour some anxiety about our o-line situation during training camp. I was truly scared about our depth and nervous that I didn't hear reports from camp that some of the younger players were ready to challenge for starting spots. This in my opinion was the worse part of our team as we entered the 2009/10 season and I was holding my breath when Columbo went down.

Say what you want, but #3 and #6 could have easily submarined this season had things gone differently.

 

[gimmesix]

Say what you want, but #3 and #6 could have easily submarined this season had things gone differently.

There is certainly nothing wrong with having healthy concerns. We just tend to overreact to those concerns without having all the evidence we really need to truly draw a conclusion.

 

[theebs]

Proud to say the only one that had me was scandrick for jenkins coming out of camp.

Scandrick was fantastic last year and I wanted to see him out there more.

now him and jenkins are playing well.

 

[pugilist]

Well, the point really was that many had written off Free, just as many will write off Brewster.

It isn't that we shouldn't try to add any linemen, but that we shouldn't just assume the ones we have are busts before they really get a chance to prove themselves.

I used to hold high hopes for McQuistan, but it isn't looking likely that he's going to come through. Wouldn't be surprised, though, if he ends up in Miami and becomes at least a quality backup.

ah i see what you mean then

 

[Big D]

4,5,6 here. I'm happy to be wrong

 

[casmith07]

The drafting of the kicker didn't matter when someone told me he bench pressed more than everyone in the league.

I was on the #6 bandwagon until Doug Free showed up big time.

 

[chuffly]

Definitely #4

On #3, I've never once questioned the decision to let TO go. I thought he was a player that was on the decline and definitely not worth the putting up with the the headaches for the production we were going to get out of him. I figured our wide receiving corps as a whole would be able to step up in his place, and I thought Romo being Romo could pull it off. After the Denver game though, I was ready to write off Miles Austin. I got the biggest serving of crow ever the next week (and for the rest season for that matter).

 

[DeaconBlues]

#5 completely, and #3 with an asterisk - I didn't (and still don't) believe that TO could be replaced by RWII.

 

[bbgun]

Ellis wasn't traded.

 

[gimmesix]

After the Denver game though, I was ready to write off Miles Austin.

I think it was in camp when Austin was injured and Crayton was given the No. 2 job that I thought my fears about our receiving corps were going to be reality.

 

[AtlCB]

Although I'm sure I've missed some, these are several of the conclusions fans have jumped to during the course of this year. Are you guilty of any of these?

1) Keith Brooking is washed up and a bad free agent signing
I remember several on the boards I visit wanted to pay an exorbitant amount to sign Ray Lewis instead.

2) A kicker? Why in the world is Dallas drafting a kicker?
When Dallas selected David Buehler, the boos were plentiful for the Cowboys. Some didn't understand the purpose of having a second kicker; some simply didn't want Dallas to waste a second roster spot on a kickoff specialist.

3) No way Miles Austin should be relied upon to fill Terrell Owens' shoes.
I have to admit that I thought getting rid of Owens without signing a proven replacement was a bad idea. Many of us liked what we had seen of Austin in a limited role, but just were unsure it was smart to lay all hopes on him coming through in a starting role.

4) Orlando Scandrick should be the starting cornerback ahead of Mike Jenkins.
Many wrote of Jenkins pretty much based on his ole´ tackle against the Giants last year. They were absolutely sure that Scandrick should get the starting role after Anthony Henry was traded.

5) Trading Greg Ellis isn't a good idea because Anthony Spencer's not good enough.
I'm not sure many were really against the Ellis trade because of his whining, but many felt Spencer couldn't get the job done.

6) Dallas has no depth on the offensive line.
Although Doug Free is a young lineman from a smaller program, many had already written him off as a bust before he really got a chance to prove himself. The same will probably be done with Robert Brewster, if it hasn't already.

The point of this is that every time a player has a bad play or game or doesn't immediately live up to expectations we want to bench him or cut him or call him a bust. Sometimes we might end up being right, but often we are wrong ... and if we just have patience and let things develop, we'll be rewarded as fans.

It amazes me how fast some fans attack a member of our team, when what fans are supposed to do is root, root, root for the home team. There is nothing wrong with critical analysis, but negativism is not critical analysis.

We need to stop jumping to conclusions and realize there are reasons the starters are the starters, maybe there are things the coaching staff sees in practice that tells them this player or this play will work the best. We need to stop jumping to conclusions in assuming that players this team has brought in won't eventually work out.

I know it won't happen because we live in an impatient society, but I just had to get on my soapbox for a minute. Thanks for listening.

#1 - Living in Falcons country, I knew what kind of player we were getting with Keith Brooking. I couldn't believe the Falcons let him go.

#2 - I wasn't upset that we drafted a kicker as soon as the team explained why. You just had to be reminded how bad Folk's kickoffs were. I wish we would have given Beuhler a shot at kicking field goals after Folk's release. He couldn't be any worse than Folk or Suisam.

#3 - Guilty. I thought Austin would develop into a solid #2 WR, but I never thought he would be as good as he is.

#4 - I always thought Mike Jenkins would develop. I was very happy that he dropped to us in the draft. I think Scandrick will get a lot better as well.

#5 - Earlier this season, I was wishing that we had Ellis back, but Spencer has really picked it up. As good as Ellis was, he became a distraction with all of the whining.

#6 - You may want to re-word this one. We still have no depth on the OL. Free was definity a nice surprise. After he played so bad in preseason, I though he would still need another year or two to develop. We would be in bad shape if he didn't turn the corner. With Columbo injured, we still have no depth anywhere on the OL. Does anyone actually want to see McQuistan, Preston, Proctor, or Holland see any significant playing time???

 

[CowboyWay]

I'll eat crow on pretty much all of those things. Crow is YUMMY.

 

[gimmesix]

Ellis wasn't traded.

Details, details.