Lee + Hitchens = Hope

[HungryLion]

What is with some of the Hitchens hate? He isn’t an all pro, but he is a quality starting MLB. He played well all year last season.

Having a solid starter in the middle, as opposed to a hurt and rusty Jaylon, WILL make a difference in the run defense.

 

[ShiningStar]

What is with some of the Hitchens hate? He isn’t an all pro, but he is a quality starting MLB. He played well all year last season.

Having a solid starter in the middle, as opposed to a hurt and rusty Jaylon, WILL make a difference in the run defense.

expectation vs reality. hes solid as you said and i read he can play all the positions. is he going to make a difference in the game? probably not, or he ll make a play but be the cause of a bad play. but hes solid and hes not so dependable yet. so we ll see how it grades out. expect greatness because hes a cowboy, reality is going to slam you back to earth.

 

[Sydla]

What is with some of the Hitchens hate? He isn’t an all pro, but he is a quality starting MLB. He played well all year last season.

Having a solid starter in the middle, as opposed to a hurt and rusty Jaylon, WILL make a difference in the run defense.

It's not hate.

It's stating reality.

He's nothing more than a really good situational, back up LB. Counting on him to sure up the middle of the defense is an unfair expectation and yet people are acting like his return would do just that. Frankly, he wasn't much better than Smith in that Packers game, overrunning plays, etc.

 

[waving monkey]

There is this thing called FA.

And while it might not be prudent to blow all your cap space in FA, there is a middle ground between pulling the Giants and spending $200MM in free agency on defense and then shuffling down the line and signing Nolan freaking Carroll as your big vet addition in the secondary.

The Cowboys seem to struggle with the middle ground. They either went all in with free agency a few years ago and when it backfired on them, they ran the completely opposite direction where they now just sift through the bargain bins where only the Nolan Carrolls of the world are in stock.

I am hoping, that with more salary relief this year after Romo, rolling some cap forward, etc, that they will be a bit more proactive in FA because this defense has more holes than people realize.

look at JJones recent history

 

[DiResta]

just putting it out there
i wonder if there are any linebackers that might be available by trade like maybe a Alec Ogletree

 

[DiResta]

There is this thing called FA.

And while it might not be prudent to blow all your cap space in FA, there is a middle ground between pulling the Giants and spending $200MM in free agency on defense and then shuffling down the line and signing Nolan freaking Carroll as your big vet addition in the secondary.
.

they signed freaking Carroll as a cheap vet
then drafted 2 starting corners plus White and a starting safety in Xavier.
theres nothing wrong with that
at all

in fact Nolan may not see the field again were Chido healthy

 

[Sydla]

they signed freaking Carroll as a cheap vet
then drafted 2 starting corners plus White and a starting safety in Xavier.
theres nothing wrong with that
at all

in fact Nolan may not see the field again were Chido healthy

There is definitely something wrong with signing a bum even as a cheap vet. It was a waste of even the small amount of money you gave him.

Bad signing plain and simple.

 

[CT Dal Fan]

There is definitely something wrong with signing a bum even as a cheap vet. It was a waste of even the small amount of money you gave him.

Bad signing plain and simple.

You are right, except Carroll was a signing made in March, just in case they couldn't get any of the corners they wanted in the draft. After they got Awuzie and Lewis, they probably should have cut Carroll; but maybe they don't want any dead money next year.

 

[Sydla]

You are right, except Carroll was a signing made in March, just in case they couldn't get any of the corners they wanted in the draft. After they got Awuzie and Lewis, they probably should have cut Carroll; but maybe they don't want any dead money next year.

There other options out there, better options.

The Cowboys thought he could play. Recall that they tried to sign him after the 2015 season too but he decided to remain in Philly.

I wonder how much input Marinelli had in that. Probably a lot.

 

[CT Dal Fan]

There other options out there, better options.

The Cowboys thought he could play. Recall that they tried to sign him after the 2015 season too but he decided to remain in Philly.

I wonder how much input Marinelli had in that. Probably a lot.

Agreed. But how many better options would have taken the contract Dallas gave Carroll? I think it's a four year, $10 million deal, with only the 2017 salary guaranteed. I guess this signing can be defended as a low risk, high reward signing, but nothing Carroll has done in the NFL suggests he would suddenly be the answer to all the CB problems here.

So you are right- a waste of time. (Of course, I would have no problem if Carroll comes back this season and makes me eat my words).

 

[CWR]

Agreed but damn do we need some linebacking depth. Should be our top priority this offseason.

 

[CWR]

He was pretty bad.

For example, that long run that was the longest for the Packers last year was all Hitchens. He overran the play and took himself right out of being in position to make a stop.

Other than a pass deflection, he was blah all game long. Hitchens is what he is, a nice, situational, back up type LB. This notion that he "fixes" things at MLB is a reach.

Meh, I dunno I thought hes had some pretty good games for us, and if Im not mistaken was having a really good camp. Like our dline I was looking forward to him maturing into a good player. Course my memory has failed me before. Also the bar for improvement with our current lb play is pretty low, doesnt take much to be an upgrade.

 

[xwalker]

yea GB is still stinging over that loss.

Another moral victory, woohoo. I heard it eats Rodgers up at night.

It was an actual win, not a moral victory.

 

[ShiningStar]

It was an actual win, not a moral victory.

it was a win, it wasnt a win when we needed it. The Packers were going through the motions, when they woke up we couldnt beat them.