News: How Good Is The Dallas Cowboys' Roster Depth In 2015?

CCBoy

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How Good Is The Dallas Cowboys' Roster Depth In 2015?
By One.Cool.Customer
http://www.bloggingtheboys.com/2015/6/6/8740913/how-good-is-the-dallas-cowboys-roster-depth-in-2015





Last summer, Pat Kirwan of CBSSports penned an article in which he looked at roster depth across the league. Kirwan provided a list of 13 questions (actually it's 12 questions, he skipped the backup QB one) that have to get a positive answer for a team to qualify as having solid roster depth.

At the time, the questions sounded fairly well thought out, and I attempted to answer each depth question for the 2014 Cowboys as well as such questions can be answered in June. I chose to answer each question with "Yes," "No," or "Probably," and assigned two points for a "Yes," one point for a "Probably," and zero points for a "No." Last year, I gave the Cowboys 16 points for the 13 depth questions below, and we'll see later on how they fare this year.

When he put together the 13 questions last year, Kirwan also "combed through all the rosters looking for the teams with the best depth." That process ended with Kirwan identifying the Seahawks and Bengals as the teams with the best depth in 2014. The Seahawks would end up with a 12-4 record and a Super Bowl appearance, and the 10-5-1 Bengals would exit the playoffs in the wildcard round.

Kirwan also listed five teams as honorable mentions for best roster depth, and for an article titled "Roster depth key to championships" that honorable mentions list turned out to be anything but, with none of the five teams making the playoffs, and only one team even managing a winning record. The five honorable mentions: Eagles (10-6), Dolphins (8-8), 49ers (8-8), Commanders (4-12), and Buccaneers (2-14).

Do those results invalidate the entire 13 questions Kirwan originally asked? Perhaps they do, but I'm going to answer them anyway for the 2015 Cowboys...
 

Redball Express

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Wow..

Another off-season mental exercise for the Fantasy League Challenged.

I don't know.

Depth is sort of marginal unless it's at the key positions.

Do we really care who the backup punter or C really is?

Probably not.
 

big dog cowboy

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That tells me we go DB in the first round again next year as I have already predicted.
 

xwalker

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Wow..

Another off-season mental exercise for the Fantasy League Challenged.

I don't know.

Depth is sort of marginal unless it's at the key positions.

Do we really care who the backup punter or C really is?

Probably not.

They did not say anything about a backup punter. No team carries a backup punter.

The Backup Center is very important. The Cowboys had some major issues in the past when Gurode was injured. Do you want Romo and his delicate back playing behind Cory Proctor as the Center? Bernadeau has proven to be a good backup OC/OG.
 

Redball Express

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They did not say anything about a backup punter. No team carries a backup punter.

The Backup Center is very important. The Cowboys had some major issues in the past when Gurode was injured. Do you want Romo and his delicate back playing behind Cory Proctor as the Center? Bernadeau has proven to be a good backup OC/OG.

Whatever.

I think rating by backup strength is just sort of frivolous.

I mean the active rosters are liquid enough..

the backups get churned like butter starting now.

How do you set the bar?

Rosters in the off season?

Rosters as of September 6?

Its just too liquid for me to really access.

Maybe not others.

Whatever.
 

xwalker

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That tells me we go DB in the first round again next year as I have already predicted.

DB seems reasonable; however, the great thing is at this point in time it is not clear what position will be a need next year.

Next year's 1st round pick could literally be any position with the obvious exceptions (FB, punter, kicker, long snapper).

I expect Carr to be gone next season but it's always possible he takes a pay cut and stays. DB could be a position of weakness or a position of strength this season. It at least has the possibility of being a position of strength. Jones might be great. Carr might rebound. Wilcox might take a step up and really lock down one of the Safety spots. Corey White started several games and might be a much better fit in Marinelli's scheme at either CB or Safety I than he was in Rob Ryan's scheme. Patmon has flashed terrific play-making ability. Claiborne might even step up and do something; although, that seems like the least likely of anything on this list.
 

xwalker

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Whatever.

I think rating by backup strength is just sort of frivolous.

I mean the active rosters are liquid enough..

the backups get churned like butter starting now.

How do you set the bar?

Rosters in the off season?

Rosters as of September 6?

Its just too liquid for me to really access.

Maybe not others.

Whatever.

The top backups don't get churned like butter. The churning on a good team primarily occurs on the 3rd/4th sting, not the 2nd string.

Some other player would have to do something amazing for Bernadeau to not be the primary backup Center/Guard for game 1.
 

CCBoy

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DB seems reasonable; however, the great thing is at this point in time it is not clear what position will be a need next year.

Next year's 1st round pick could literally be any position with the obvious exceptions (FB, punter, kicker, long snapper).

I expect Carr to be gone next season but it's always possible he takes a pay cut and stays. DB could be a position of weakness or a position of strength this season. It at least has the possibility of being a position of strength. Jones might be great. Carr might rebound. Wilcox might take a step up and really lock down one of the Safety spots. Corey White started several games and might be a much better fit in Marinelli's scheme at either CB or Safety I than he was in Rob Ryan's scheme. Patmon has flashed terrific play-making ability. Claiborne might even step up and do something; although, that seems like the least likely of anything on this list.

If Marinelli gets an interception maker in Jones, then the whole secondary starts to improve...
 

Redball Express

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If Marinelli gets an interception maker in Jones, then the whole secondary starts to improve...

No doubt.

Tiki Barber's brother, Ronde?

He was the same type of safety as Byron is.

Or could be.

I think that is what they plan for him and then move over Claiborne or Carr as they move Byron to CB.

Moving Scandrick to another CB.

Lots of options
 

xwalker

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No doubt.

Tiki Barber's brother, Ronde?

He was the same type of safety as Byron is.

Or could be.

I think that is what they plan for him and then move over Claiborne or Carr as they move Byron to CB.

Moving Scandrick to another CB.

Lots of options

Ronde Barber was a CB.
 

65fastback2plus2

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The top backups don't get churned like butter. The churning on a good team primarily occurs on the 3rd/4th sting, not the 2nd string.

Some other player would have to do something amazing for Bernadeau to not be the primary backup Center/Guard for game 1.

bingo...and in like seattle...often the 1st and 2nd strings almost evenly split playing time.
 

TrailBlazer

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Depth defensively is not good at all. Short on quality linebackers. Short on quality defensive backs. Short on quality defensive tackles. Staying healthy defensively will be huge.
 

xwalker

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Depth defensively is not good at all. Short on quality linebackers. Short on quality defensive backs. Short on quality defensive tackles. Staying healthy defensively will be huge.


I agree that DB seems thin, or at least unproven in terms of depth; however, LB seems like one of the deepest positions to me. Keep in mind they only played 2 LBs for about 66% of the snaps last season.

LB Depth
Lee
McClain
Hitchens (started 11 games last season and was the Nickel LB over Carter)
Brinkley (A legit 2 down starting LB. It appears they were planning to have either Brinkley or Hitchens as the starting MLB until McClain made the surprising choice to return)
Gachkar (Has started and is probably a better fit here than in SD's 3-4)
Wilson (Very similar to Hitchens)
Rivers (Really talented player that is good when he is on the field but has had Lee type injury issues)
Mark Nzeocha (Reported to be Wyoming's best player. Probably better than Cam Lawrence or Keith Smith both of whom played some snaps last season)

DB Depth
Scandrick
Jones (Flexibility to move to Safety, but likely plays CB)
Carr
Wilcox (Excellent physical ability. Likely takes a step up this year now that he has the experience. This is his 3rd NFL season and only played defense for 1 season in college)
Church

White - Flexibility to play CB or Safety. Might be much better in Marinelli's scheme than in Rob Ryan's scheme. Has significant starting experience (19 games).
Patmon - Flashed big plays. Might be a terrific 4th/5th CB or might fade away.
Claiborne - Potential to be the best 5th CB in the league.
Heath - Has started and has excellent athleticism. Would be fine if needed for a game or two.
 

jazzcat22

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People can evaluate all they want, starters, back ups. RB's articles as the list is as long from here to the moon.

All I know, last year we were said to have a worse D than the previous year. I said at this time last year our D would be better just by staying healthy. And this was without any depth.
Well this year we have that depth, as well as better starters. Now how they are rated, I don't care. Just stay healthy and the D will improve more.
 

xwalker

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People can evaluate all they want, starters, back ups. RB's articles as the list is as long from here to the moon.

All I know, last year we were said to have a worse D than the previous year. I said at this time last year our D would be better just by staying healthy. And this was without any depth.
Well this year we have that depth, as well as better starters. Now how they are rated, I don't care. Just stay healthy and the D will improve more.

Yes, every position on defense should either be the same or improved. The improvements are both from new players and more experience for existing young players like Wilcox, Lawrence, Hitchens, etc..
 

erod

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Depth is becoming a real strength of this team. Sure, there are areas of weakness, as every team has in the salary cap era, but Dallas is better suited than most.

Most importantly, the depth is starting to show up on the defensive line just like the offensive line. That is so critical.

When you try to cut the roster to 53, it's pretty easy, and yet, you see some good players you'd like to keep have to go. That's a good sign.
 

Clove

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These are questions reserved for mid-season. We have no clue at this point until all the new players are acclimated into the system, and have played multiple games.
 
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