Mark Schlereth: 5 Players on the Hot Seat

[ndanger]

Now what college did Benson attend ? Is that the reason he is even being discussed ? :

 

[Vintage]

Now what college did Benson attend ? Is that the reason he is even being discussed ? :

I am not from the South.... I am from the upper Midwest.

I have no college football allegiance.

So basically, no.

At least on my part. I can't speak for adamkite.

 

[adamknite]

I am not from the South.... I am from the upper Midwest.

I have no college football allegiance.

So basically, no.

At least on my part. I can't speak for adamkite.

Kite?

I'm a Texas fan. Seriously.

 

[Vintage]

Kite?

I'm a Texas fan. Seriously.

To be honest, I didn't look that closely at your name....

 

[CATCH17]

Thomas Jones > Cedric Benson

 

[zeromaster]

Maybe it's just me but I think the Cowboy with the most to prove is Tony Romo.

1. We passed on Brady to Quinn and said "he's our guy." If he falters and Quinn develops, there will be no end of the speculation.

2. The late season come back to earth after his meteoric start made people question if he deserved the Pro Bowl. He has to justify that with a full season. Otherwise he'll be labeled a flash in the pan or a fluke.

3. The bobbled snap. He has to prove he can overcome that faux pas.

4. The media spotlight on his personal life is going to get hotter if he makes more headlines for that than he does for his play.

3 is pretty meaningless and 4 is predicated on it. I do agree with 1 and 2 though. Unless of course all the extra work in OTAs and minicamp as well as the comments in the paper mean nothing to you.

 

[Chocolate Lab]

Thomas Jones > Cedric Benson

I agree. I think Benson is a bust in progress. Look for more grousing and injuries from him in the future.

 

[BouncingCheese]

This list seems pretty fair; I mean I am not a TO apologist but he did have an crappy finger... He needs to get with the program and learn the stinking offense so he can be a better player.

I think Cedric Benson is a punk, but he is a much more talented back than Jones. He is faster (maybe not as strong but he is tough to bring down) and can take it to the house. He is a much more dynamic back. However the guy needs to at least equal Thomas Jones' yardage total IMO.

This is a pretty solid list;Moss and Mcnabb need to step it up... NE won't have any hesitation letting Moss go after this season if he plays crappy.

 

[Hostile]

3 is pretty meaningless and 4 is predicated on it. I do agree with 1 and 2 though. Unless of course all the extra work in OTAs and minicamp as well as the comments in the paper mean nothing to you.

3 & 4 are about scrutiny though and that was Schlereth's premise for his list. If you don't think the bobble or his social life will be brought up if the Cowboys are struggling then I want to make a bet with you.

Owens will always be under a microscope because he's a potential train wreck for himself and a football team. Every error will be amplified to the nth degree with him. That's not scrutiny, that's media overkill. He's on the hot seat simply because of who he is and what has happened in the past.

Romo is on the hot seat because he's the QB of America's Team and he had a roller coaster ride to launch his career.

 

[bobtheflob]

I agree that Romo should be higher on that list than Owens. Also Julius Jones certainly has a lot more to prove too. Throw Davis and Hamlin in there and TO barely makes the Cowboys top 5 list.

 

[CrazyCowboy]

TO will without a doubt be the best WR in the NFL this year!

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

I think it's Romo as well. If he signs a big contract and then tanks, it's going to be unreal how quickly the fan base turns against him. Everybody who wanted somebody else will be lining up to say I told you so, everybody who wanted us to draft Quinn will be right there and so on. It's going to really suck for him if he can't have a good year, IMO.

 

[BouncingCheese]

I think it's Romo as well. If he signs a big contract and then tanks, it's going to be unreal how quickly the fan base turns against him. Everybody who wanted somebody else will be lining up to say I told you so, everybody who wanted us to draft Quinn will be right there and so on. It's going to really suck for him if he can't have a good year, IMO.

Yeah, I agree.

Only thing is I didn't even want Quinn; he is a system qb who has never won a big game in his college career IMHO.

To me I think if you are at a big program like ND, you actually have MORE pressure to win every game than in the NFL to get a chance at the national title, all while going to class and the like. Only thing is the competition is so much greater in the NFL. I don't think Brady Quinn can handle it.

I am not nervous about Romo and his performance. No matter what, he just needs to cut down on the int's and fumbles and the rest will fall into place. If he passes for 3200 yards, 22 tds, and 10 int's that would be fantastic. I think qb's passing for 4000 yards is overrated; that really just means your defense sucks because you need to pass to gain yardage. Look at Matt Hasslebeck, he runs a WC offense where you NEED to pass to control the TOP, yet he doesn't have a 4000 yards season under his belt.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

Yeah, I agree.

Only thing is I didn't even want Quinn; he is a system qb who has never won a big game in his college career IMHO.

To me I think if you are at a big program like ND, you actually have MORE pressure to win every game than in the NFL to get a chance at the national title, all while going to class and the like. Only thing is the competition is so much greater in the NFL. I don't think Brady Quinn can handle it.

I am not nervous about Romo and his performance. No matter what, he just needs to cut down on the int's and fumbles and the rest will fall into place. If he passes for 3200 yards, 22 tds, and 10 int's that would be fantastic. I think qb's passing for 4000 yards is overrated; that really just means your defense sucks because you need to pass to gain yardage. Look at Matt Hasslebeck, he runs a WC offense where you NEED to pass to control the TOP, yet he doesn't have a 4000 yards season under his belt.

If Romo could pass for 3200/3500, have 22 against 10 and throw for 60%+, I'd be delirious. I agree with you on the big numbers. I really would rather have a balanced offensive attack. That would mean we are doing things the right way and having success. I would be out of hand if we could achive that kind of offensive balance consistently.

 

[Billy Bullocks]

With Parcells gone, I don't expect Owens to be much of a distraction this season. Wade won't rub him the wrong way and Owens will have a tough time finding things to be upset about.

I'm sure, once the season starts and he doesn't get a bunch of passes thrown his way early on then he will gripe about it but I'm hopeful that Garrett will utilize his strengths more and throw more slants and outs to him than we did under Parcells last year.

As for the drops, Owens has had problems with dropped passes his entire career so unless he is willing to change how he catches the ball we will continue to see a lot from him.

My friend is a die hard 9ers fan. And the first thing he said was, watch out for the drops.

I remember Owens when he was in SF. He did drop alot of easy passes. But he also made alot of plays.

I'm not excusing it, but I think the idiots at ESPN act like last year was the first year TO had a problem catching the ball.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

I guess I don't understand Benson being on the list... Yeah he's a question but I'm thinking there are bigger questions throughout the league.

 

[cowboyeric8]

Its kind of funny how we argue about the Jones brothers and their backups.

 

[GimmeTheBall!]

I largely agree with Schlereth.

Btw, Schlereth was always on the hot seat when he played the 'Boys. The way the Cowboys pushed him around was something to behold.

 

[Muhast]

mike vick isnt on the hot seat?

He is in the news constantly, and it's pretty much a given if he struggles for the SEVENTH straight year the falcons will find a new qb

 

[stilltheguru]

In other words as long as we stroke his ego everything is cool.

Thats right. Didnt the coach us Cowboy fans adore, Mr. Jimmy Johnson say you cant treat all players the same? So yes Coach Phillips, Jason Garrett, and Tony Romo have to stroke TO's ego.