Yakuza Rich
Well-Known Member
- Messages
- 18,043
- Reaction score
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- I’m excited about DeMarcus Ware. Mainly because he started to show some power/inside moves in the St. Louis game against two big OT’s in Alex Barron and Orlando Pace. I love his first step and long arms which I believe if he gets some formidable inside/power pass rushing moves it will reek havoc on opposing OT’s. I think Shawne Merriman is great, but Ware’s outside speed rush along with his long arms could very well lead to a ton of stripped footballs on opposing QB’s ala the Carolina game.
- I like the running back situation. I still think Julius is a good back when healthy and gets some semblance of a hole to run through. I think Marion Barber is a mini version of Marcus Allen in many ways and could be a good starter if need be. And we got much more out Tyson Thompson, a guy that only played one year of D-1A ball at San Jose State than I could ever hope for.
- While we need massive help on the O-Line, I still believe this is a decent O-Line if it was healthy. Would it be where I want it to be? No, but still decent.
- I like our CB situation, especially since Jacques Reeves played pretty well and could fill in for either Glenn or Henry. Newman was unbelievable.
- I have my own statistical formula for determining punters. It looks at the rankings of punters in regards to net average, gross average, % of punt returned, and % of punts inside the 20. McBriar finished 10th this year which is still pretty good.
- I like our D-Line as is right now, but even if they get rid of Glover and Ellis I don’t think it will hurt too much (assuming they’ll get veteran replacements that are better suited to the 3-4). I think the D-Line missed Jay Ratliff for depth and a guy that could harass the QB’s. He’s coming back from a high ankle sprain. I really liked what I saw out of Pepper Johnson. Spears got better and better as the season went on and I believe he will improve dramatically. And Chris Canty was really good for most of the year.
- I’d rather keep Greg Ellis than Glover mainly because Ellis was pretty good in the nickel and passing situations. That being said, given Ellis’ contract, he’s probably gone.
- I like what Drew Bledsoe did this year and I think the coaching staff knows what they have with him. I thought the only time he started to struggle and hold onto the ball too long was either in bad weather conditions or when the O-Line was so bad that he was getting killed early and he started to lose confidence in them. The pass protection in the Carolina game wasn’t good, but just good enough for Bledsoe to not be looking at the pass rush and instead looking downfield and he played pretty well as a result. When the O-Line played great, he tore up the place. When it stunk like it did in the second half of the season, he looked like crap. Essentially, Bledsoe didn’t need “all of the time in the world”, just some pretty decent pass protection and he was rather effective.
- I charted the long snapper Ladoceur and he got better each month. I believe they are fine in that department.
- A big problem is that they paid a lot of money to the guards, Allen and Rivera, which is always a risky proposition. Both did not come close to playing to their salary. Allen’s run blocking greatly dipped this year and I think he knew it as he suddenly became the vocal team player overnight. While I believe right tackle should be our #1 priority, the players that they get to compete and possibly overtake the starting spots for Allen, Rivera, and Johnson will greatly determine the future success of the Cowboys.
- I *think* the LB situation could be better next year if they stay healthy. I thought Bradie James was terrific and I already mentioned Ware. I believe Scott Fujita will only get better with a season of the 3-4 under his belt and Kevin Burnett should get better, if not significantly better. Plus, Kalen Thornton and Al Singleton will be back. All of that being said, I hope they don’t chance it and instead bring somebody that could legitimately start in a good 3-4 defense.
- They need to address the free safety situation and I believe they will given Parcells’ past press conferences. Teams will start focusing on the free safeties next year if Davis and Pile are still around. I believe they’ll go after Corey Chavous who didn’t like being moved to the strong safety spot this season and seems like a Parcells type of player.
- Too bad the field goal kicking was so bad because I liked what I saw out of the special teams. The coverage was pretty solid and I really enjoyed Tyson Thompson as a kick returner, who should only get better next season.
- My biggest complaint? The playcalling in the red zone. I wouldn’t be too down if Sean Payton leaves. That being said, watching Inside the NFL you could hear opposing coaches tell their players to look out for the draw play on 2nd or 3rd and long. If you can execute some passing, you can run the draw play. However, it’s still a bit predictable.
- I like the WR’s they have now, but if Glenn gets hurt I can see that really stagnating the offense. Plus, they’ll need to find a guy to replace him in the future and it wouldn’t hurt if he could return punts, too.
- I think they pickup Corey Chavous, a steady veteran run blocking center, a kicker, and a steady veteran 3-4 LB in free agency. After that, I believe they’ll draft Auburn OT Marcus McNeill in round 1. He’s played right tackle before so I won’t have to hear about him struggling to make the transition to the RT spot. Then they’ll probably take a fast WR with punt return skills in round 2 or a guard in round 2.
- I think Parcells stays. I believe these rumors started when it was found out that he didn’t sign the contract extension that Jones offered him. ESPN probably got a hold of that and then jumped the gun and assumed he was contemplating retirement. Remember, ESPN has been reporting this for awhile and claimed other silly things like Dallas was shopping around Dat Nguyen and Keyshawn was going to holdout this year. Morale of the story: ESPN sucks.
Anyway, Parcells reminds me a lot of my ole man who used to coach me in baseball. He has a good reason behind everything he does. Sure, he hasn’t flat out stated he’ll be back. However, when asked if he was contemplating retirement he said he hadn’t talked to anybody about contemplating retirement which is practically stating the same thing.
Even still, knowing how my ole man would think he probably wouldn’t emphatically state that he’s coming back either. Why?
1. He doesn’t want to look like a hypocrite.
Something strange could happen, be it a health problem, a change of ownership, a change in his relationship with Jerry Jones, etc. Because of that, he doesn’t want to commit one way and then have something strange happen and want to change his mind.
2. He wants to test people.
I think this is really the main reason. He wants to see what people will believe he’s retiring and then see how they react to that. If they react negatively, he knows what people to get rid of. I really believe this is the main reason why he hasn’t announced for certain he’s coming back.
That’s all, it’s been a fun season on the board.
Rich……….
- I like the running back situation. I still think Julius is a good back when healthy and gets some semblance of a hole to run through. I think Marion Barber is a mini version of Marcus Allen in many ways and could be a good starter if need be. And we got much more out Tyson Thompson, a guy that only played one year of D-1A ball at San Jose State than I could ever hope for.
- While we need massive help on the O-Line, I still believe this is a decent O-Line if it was healthy. Would it be where I want it to be? No, but still decent.
- I like our CB situation, especially since Jacques Reeves played pretty well and could fill in for either Glenn or Henry. Newman was unbelievable.
- I have my own statistical formula for determining punters. It looks at the rankings of punters in regards to net average, gross average, % of punt returned, and % of punts inside the 20. McBriar finished 10th this year which is still pretty good.
- I like our D-Line as is right now, but even if they get rid of Glover and Ellis I don’t think it will hurt too much (assuming they’ll get veteran replacements that are better suited to the 3-4). I think the D-Line missed Jay Ratliff for depth and a guy that could harass the QB’s. He’s coming back from a high ankle sprain. I really liked what I saw out of Pepper Johnson. Spears got better and better as the season went on and I believe he will improve dramatically. And Chris Canty was really good for most of the year.
- I’d rather keep Greg Ellis than Glover mainly because Ellis was pretty good in the nickel and passing situations. That being said, given Ellis’ contract, he’s probably gone.
- I like what Drew Bledsoe did this year and I think the coaching staff knows what they have with him. I thought the only time he started to struggle and hold onto the ball too long was either in bad weather conditions or when the O-Line was so bad that he was getting killed early and he started to lose confidence in them. The pass protection in the Carolina game wasn’t good, but just good enough for Bledsoe to not be looking at the pass rush and instead looking downfield and he played pretty well as a result. When the O-Line played great, he tore up the place. When it stunk like it did in the second half of the season, he looked like crap. Essentially, Bledsoe didn’t need “all of the time in the world”, just some pretty decent pass protection and he was rather effective.
- I charted the long snapper Ladoceur and he got better each month. I believe they are fine in that department.
- A big problem is that they paid a lot of money to the guards, Allen and Rivera, which is always a risky proposition. Both did not come close to playing to their salary. Allen’s run blocking greatly dipped this year and I think he knew it as he suddenly became the vocal team player overnight. While I believe right tackle should be our #1 priority, the players that they get to compete and possibly overtake the starting spots for Allen, Rivera, and Johnson will greatly determine the future success of the Cowboys.
- I *think* the LB situation could be better next year if they stay healthy. I thought Bradie James was terrific and I already mentioned Ware. I believe Scott Fujita will only get better with a season of the 3-4 under his belt and Kevin Burnett should get better, if not significantly better. Plus, Kalen Thornton and Al Singleton will be back. All of that being said, I hope they don’t chance it and instead bring somebody that could legitimately start in a good 3-4 defense.
- They need to address the free safety situation and I believe they will given Parcells’ past press conferences. Teams will start focusing on the free safeties next year if Davis and Pile are still around. I believe they’ll go after Corey Chavous who didn’t like being moved to the strong safety spot this season and seems like a Parcells type of player.
- Too bad the field goal kicking was so bad because I liked what I saw out of the special teams. The coverage was pretty solid and I really enjoyed Tyson Thompson as a kick returner, who should only get better next season.
- My biggest complaint? The playcalling in the red zone. I wouldn’t be too down if Sean Payton leaves. That being said, watching Inside the NFL you could hear opposing coaches tell their players to look out for the draw play on 2nd or 3rd and long. If you can execute some passing, you can run the draw play. However, it’s still a bit predictable.
- I like the WR’s they have now, but if Glenn gets hurt I can see that really stagnating the offense. Plus, they’ll need to find a guy to replace him in the future and it wouldn’t hurt if he could return punts, too.
- I think they pickup Corey Chavous, a steady veteran run blocking center, a kicker, and a steady veteran 3-4 LB in free agency. After that, I believe they’ll draft Auburn OT Marcus McNeill in round 1. He’s played right tackle before so I won’t have to hear about him struggling to make the transition to the RT spot. Then they’ll probably take a fast WR with punt return skills in round 2 or a guard in round 2.
- I think Parcells stays. I believe these rumors started when it was found out that he didn’t sign the contract extension that Jones offered him. ESPN probably got a hold of that and then jumped the gun and assumed he was contemplating retirement. Remember, ESPN has been reporting this for awhile and claimed other silly things like Dallas was shopping around Dat Nguyen and Keyshawn was going to holdout this year. Morale of the story: ESPN sucks.
Anyway, Parcells reminds me a lot of my ole man who used to coach me in baseball. He has a good reason behind everything he does. Sure, he hasn’t flat out stated he’ll be back. However, when asked if he was contemplating retirement he said he hadn’t talked to anybody about contemplating retirement which is practically stating the same thing.
Even still, knowing how my ole man would think he probably wouldn’t emphatically state that he’s coming back either. Why?
1. He doesn’t want to look like a hypocrite.
Something strange could happen, be it a health problem, a change of ownership, a change in his relationship with Jerry Jones, etc. Because of that, he doesn’t want to commit one way and then have something strange happen and want to change his mind.
2. He wants to test people.
I think this is really the main reason. He wants to see what people will believe he’s retiring and then see how they react to that. If they react negatively, he knows what people to get rid of. I really believe this is the main reason why he hasn’t announced for certain he’s coming back.
That’s all, it’s been a fun season on the board.
Rich……….
