Keeping Parnell over Free

[burmafrd]

to Parnell only came to OL when he became a Cowboy. So to expect him to figure it out in a year or two is nuts. This camp he will have had 3 full years to learn it.Now or never

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

You know as well as I do he was drafted to eventually play tackle, not be a temporary fill in at guard.

I am sure Parnell or Weems will be the swing tackle in 2014. There really is no other choice. But neither is more than a swing tackle.

LOL. Yes, you doubt a fringe player who has never got it done, it is considered a "slam" around here.

I don't know that. Neither do you so quit fronting as its tantamount to lying.

 

[dogunwo]

49ers not likely to re-up Iupati. Know the Cowboys loved him. Good chance they would spend the money on Iupati move Martin to RT and reshuffle the guards IMO and not spend the money on Free.

What makes you think they won't re-sign him?

 

[TheSport78]

I keep reading that Dallas might want to keep Martin at guard and extend Free after this season, which might not be a terrible plan if Free plays well. Free's a young 30, considering he didn't play much right away.

However, Jermey Parnell is even younger (turns 28 in July), has even less wear and tear and might come cheaper. He was set to challenge Free for the starting job last year before that competition ended because injury allowed Free to lock down the job before Parnell got going. I don't think that means Dallas doesn't see Parnell as being just as good.

I like Free better than many on here, but I think long term that Parnell might be the better option. It's good to have a younger man waiting in the wings, but it's only good if you eventually turn to that younger player to replace the older, more expensive one.

What has Parnell done to make you want to keep him over Free?

 

[RS12]

What makes you think they won't re-sign him?

49er beat writers keep reporting it.

 

[Alexander]

tantamount

I guess we found your word for the day.[/quote]

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

I guess we found your word for the day.

[/quote]

Did you have to look it up or something? It means the same thing and is much more efficient than saying "for all intents and purposes the same thing."

I use it quite often when comparing things. You know critical thinking and the like?

It is one thing to talk to people and speak to them in a manner that they cannot easily figure out but it's the bloody google age and you are on your computer. I am not going to have to look at every multisyllable I write and guess whether or not people will be ignorant as to its meaning.

 

[LatinMind]

I get a feeling that Weems is the guy that they want to develop tobe the guy to take over. Word was Parnell was going to be cut if they needed that money to get under the cap. Weems is very athletic for his size.

 

[Alexander]

I am not going to have to look at every multisyllable I write and guess whether or not people will be ignorant as to its meaning.

I know exactly what it means. And honestly, I am not the only person to notice your posting style and how it includes your appetite to indulge yourself by logging your word of the day.

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

I know exactly what it means. And honestly, I am not the only person to notice your posting style and how it includes your appetite to indulge yourself by logging your word of the day.

If you say so. You wouldn't be the first to complain about me being pedantic. The thing is that I don't try. That should be obvious from all the sentence fragments, repeats, misspellings, and barely legible grammar that I impart. I think it's funny that you guys think that I have to try to write like this.

I used egregious earlier too. Does that mean I get two words of the day? Or three cause many people think pedantic is a 'big word' too after all.

 

[Kaiser]

I don't really care who wins the competition between Free and Parnell, let the best man win. I think Free, Parnell and Weems all make the roster with Weems backing up OT and OG both.

But people here are underestimating Parnell's upside and athleticism. It isn't a fair criticism to say he has only started 2 games in his career, its like saying Leary has only started 1 of his two years in the NFL, developmental guys take time.

Parnell played Basketball, not football in college. His college coach did give him snaps in five games as a DE but other than that he hadn't played football since the 8th grade. He was on practice squads his first year because he has huge upside and physical skills but was literally learning to play the game. Then he had a redshirt year with the Cowboys in 2011 bulking up in the weight room, The next year he was in the rotation late season with Free, but did have a game where he was forced to start at LEFT tackle and graded out well, with no major breakdowns. Last year IMO was one of those years where the player doesn't get untracked because of injuries.

He may very well be cut in training camp but if he only plays like he did in that LT start he is a valuable backup and still has a ton of upside. Wait and see what happens with him, he has the potential to earn a starting job this year.

 

[casmith07]

This is Doug Free's last season in a Dallas uniform.

 

[honyock]

I don't really care who wins the competition between Free and Parnell, let the best man win. I think Free, Parnell and Weems all make the roster with Weems backing up OT and OG both.

But people here are underestimating Parnell's upside and athleticism. It isn't a fair criticism to say he has only started 2 games in his career, its like saying Leary has only started 1 of his two years in the NFL, developmental guys take time.

Parnell played Basketball, not football in college. His college coach did give him snaps in five games as a DE but other than that he hadn't played football since the 8th grade. He was on practice squads his first year because he has huge upside and physical skills but was literally learning to play the game. Then he had a redshirt year with the Cowboys in 2011 bulking up in the weight room, The next year he was in the rotation late season with Free, but did have a game where he was forced to start at LEFT tackle and graded out well, with no major breakdowns. Last year IMO was one of those years where the player doesn't get untracked because of injuries.

He may very well be cut in training camp but if he only plays like he did in that LT start he is a valuable backup and still has a ton of upside. Wait and see what happens with him, he has the potential to earn a starting job this year.

You pretty much nailed it there. I get the impression that a lot of the critiques of Parnell come from those who know nothing about him except that he's been on the team for awhile, and that he isn't starting yet. The guy was a college basketball player who only tried out as as defensive lineman on the football team as a senior because the head coach personally invited him to try out. So there was a little learning curve, to put it mildly, when the Cowboys signed him and decided to convert him to offensive tackle.

I watched every snap he played in 2012 and I thought he showed enough that he could realistically compete with Free for a starting job in 2013. Like others have said, the competition for RT was basically over a couple of weeks into training camp when he couldn't get healthy and Free was having a great camp.

It'll be interesting to see what the coaches think of him coming into this year. I'd like to see him able to beat out Free just because he's younger, may be cheaper to sign/extend and looks to be stronger and more athletic than Free. But it keeps coming up that the team likes Weems, and mum's the word on Parnell. So who knows what they think of him now.

 

[jnday]

I don't really care who wins the competition between Free and Parnell, let the best man win. I think Free, Parnell and Weems all make the roster with Weems backing up OT and OG both.

But people here are underestimating Parnell's upside and athleticism. It isn't a fair criticism to say he has only started 2 games in his career, its like saying Leary has only started 1 of his two years in the NFL, developmental guys take time.

Parnell played Basketball, not football in college. His college coach did give him snaps in five games as a DE but other than that he hadn't played football since the 8th grade. He was on practice squads his first year because he has huge upside and physical skills but was literally learning to play the game. Then he had a redshirt year with the Cowboys in 2011 bulking up in the weight room, The next year he was in the rotation late season with Free, but did have a game where he was forced to start at LEFT tackle and graded out well, with no major breakdowns. Last year IMO was one of those years where the player doesn't get untracked because of injuries.

He may very well be cut in training camp but if he only plays like he did in that LT start he is a valuable backup and still has a ton of upside. Wait and see what happens with him, he has the potential to earn a starting job this year.

This post about sums it up. The one game that he started at LT was impressive to be honest. For him to step in and replace Tyron , it showed his talent and why the coaches had hope for him. He played a solid game by any standards and he looked like the game was not to big for him. He has more physical talent than Free, but this is the year to show it or it is time to move on.

 

[Yakuza Rich]

I wish we could go with Parnell, but he's really a mediocre starter and a serviceable backup. He's a poor man's Flozell Adams. He is big, super strong and has agility, but no bend and terrible technique. Gets by with his size, athleticism and sheer strength.





YR

 

[casmith07]

If you say so. You wouldn't be the first to complain about me being pedantic. The thing is that I don't try. That should be obvious from all the sentence fragments, repeats, misspellings, and barely legible grammar that I impart. I think it's funny that you guys think that I have to try to write like this.

I used egregious earlier too. Does that mean I get two words of the day? Or three cause many people think pedantic is a 'big word' too after all.

Egregious is one I use on a semi-daily basis. I like it...it implies that the topic at hand is much more serious or severe than simply saying "serious" or "severe."

 

[casmith07]

This post about sums it up. The one game that he started at LT was impressive to be honest. For him to step in and replace Tyron , it showed his talent and why the coaches had hope for him. He played a solid game by any standards and he looked like the game was not to big for him. He has more physical talent than Free, but this is the year to show it or it is time to move on.

I disagree. I would keep him around after this year and jettison Free. Parnell is younger and has more potential than Free does.

 

[jobberone]

What has Parnell done to make you want to keep him over Free?

Parnell can be a more dominating T. In fact Parnell can play either side. He looks better on the right but he's played there more. Whether or not he puts it on the field is the question. If you look at the tape and not the hype one way or the other, you'll see he's the better player physically/athletically. And if he's healthy and he gets his hands on you, you aren't going anywhere. He's also a better run blocker than Free. His problem is at times he looks either as if he doesn't know what to do and players just run by him. I don't know why that happens. I'd like to pick Calahan's brain on that one.

 

[jrumann59]

Parnell can be a more dominating T. In fact Parnell can play either side. He looks better on the right but he's played there more. Whether or not he puts it on the field is the question. If you look at the tape and not the hype one way or the other, you'll see he's the better player physically/athletically. And if he's healthy and he gets his hands on you, you aren't going anywhere. He's also a better run blocker than Free. His problem is at times he looks either as if he doesn't know what to do and players just run by him. I don't know why that happens. I'd like to pick Calahan's brain on that one.

Not enough experience to fall back on. He is fine in scripted fronts that are seen in film work but if a team throws a wrinkle in during the game he does not have enough experience to fall back on to make up for the "weird" front. Think the same problem rookie lineman have but with even less experience.

 

[xwalker]

I don't really care who wins the competition between Free and Parnell, let the best man win. I think Free, Parnell and Weems all make the roster with Weems backing up OT and OG both.

But people here are underestimating Parnell's upside and athleticism. It isn't a fair criticism to say he has only started 2 games in his career, its like saying Leary has only started 1 of his two years in the NFL, developmental guys take time.

Parnell played Basketball, not football in college. His college coach did give him snaps in five games as a DE but other than that he hadn't played football since the 8th grade. He was on practice squads his first year because he has huge upside and physical skills but was literally learning to play the game. Then he had a redshirt year with the Cowboys in 2011 bulking up in the weight room, The next year he was in the rotation late season with Free, but did have a game where he was forced to start at LEFT tackle and graded out well, with no major breakdowns. Last year IMO was one of those years where the player doesn't get untracked because of injuries.

He may very well be cut in training camp but if he only plays like he did in that LT start he is a valuable backup and still has a ton of upside. Wait and see what happens with him, he has the potential to earn a starting job this year.

You pretty much nailed it there. I get the impression that a lot of the critiques of Parnell come from those who know nothing about him except that he's been on the team for awhile, and that he isn't starting yet. The guy was a college basketball player who only tried out as as defensive lineman on the football team as a senior because the head coach personally invited him to try out. So there was a little learning curve, to put it mildly, when the Cowboys signed him and decided to convert him to offensive tackle.

I watched every snap he played in 2012 and I thought he showed enough that he could realistically compete with Free for a starting job in 2013. Like others have said, the competition for RT was basically over a couple of weeks into training camp when he couldn't get healthy and Free was having a great camp.

It'll be interesting to see what the coaches think of him coming into this year. I'd like to see him able to beat out Free just because he's younger, may be cheaper to sign/extend and looks to be stronger and more athletic than Free. But it keeps coming up that the team likes Weems, and mum's the word on Parnell. So who knows what they think of him now.

This post about sums it up. The one game that he started at LT was impressive to be honest. For him to step in and replace Tyron , it showed his talent and why the coaches had hope for him. He played a solid game by any standards and he looked like the game was not to big for him. He has more physical talent than Free, but this is the year to show it or it is time to move on.

Parnell can be a more dominating T. In fact Parnell can play either side. He looks better on the right but he's played there more. Whether or not he puts it on the field is the question. If you look at the tape and not the hype one way or the other, you'll see he's the better player physically/athletically. And if he's healthy and he gets his hands on you, you aren't going anywhere. He's also a better run blocker than Free. His problem is at times he looks either as if he doesn't know what to do and players just run by him. I don't know why that happens. I'd like to pick Callahan's brain on that one.

Some very good posts here. I love posts that are based on actually watching the player and not from some comments or lack of comments by people like Broaddus or ESPN guys.

I've watched all snaps that Parnell has ever taken with the Cowboys in both preseason games and regular season games. He is really fun to watch. He can physically dominate defenders in ways that Free has never been able to do. He is much stronger than Free and a little quicker as well. Some people say that he play to upright, but when he is holding his ground or the defender is moving backwards I don't really care if he's playing a little upright. When Jerry said they Parnell had the strongest "punch" ever measured by Woicik, I believe that is probably true. Punch is not just weight room strength, it's combination of speed and strength.

Parnell was injured all of last preseason which was his one real chance to beat out Free. In the one preseason game that he played, he was visibly limping between plays but still dominated the Bengals rookie 2nd round DE. He even dominated All Pro Geno Atkins on one play. I bought the extra package to get the Preseason games on the All-22, but they become unavailable after the season starts.

Parnell's biggest problems have oddly come when he has played as an extra TE. He's has a tendency on short yardage running plays to go for the kill shot which sometimes results in whiff.

Reports came out in 2012 that Callahan wanted to bench Free and start Parnell but that "management" wanted to stay with the more experience player. The compromise was the rotation between Free and Parnell for the final 4 games of the season. I'm not certain is "management" was Garrett or the front office. Jerry has had a strong tendency to want to play the guys with big contracts even when they are not performing.

All media comments about Weems overtaking Parnell have come from 1 source, Broaddus. Broaddus is the same guy that reported that Carter was moving to the SLB which it turns out was just his idea. Marinelli clearly stated that Carter would be competing at WLB.

I do think Weems has some upside. In the preseason, you could see that he has NFL physical ability, but was raw as a player. He has a build that would make him a good Guard also. In the 2013 preseason, Weems reminded me of Leary from the 2012 preseason. With both you could see NFL type physical ability, but they were raw as football players. We never saw NFL physical ability from guys like Arkin.

I've posted about is before, but the OL coaches schemed around Free's weaknesses in 2013. It was a brilliant job of coaching. I would love to see Parnell and Weems challenge Free in training camp; although, with Free having a significantly bigger contract than those 2 guys, I don't know if the Cowboys management would really bench him.