My view on the roster

[LatinMind]

The Cowboys showed this offseason they had a plan. Its clear they have talent on the team, but it was even more clear last season that they had very bad depth. The plan was sign FAs and draft to improve that. Dallas has alot of very young players that they like and fit with what they want to do. Last yr some of them were jut forced into action sooner then they wanted because of injuries or bad play by vets they were counting on. I understand that fans are all about the win now. And alot will not give players like Wilcox and Heath and Hollomon time to grow as players. As its shown how they have written off these players after their rookie yrs.

Before FA started Stephen Jones told everybody they would go into FA looking for DL because they didnt want to go into the draft with the Cubbard bare. So they did and came away with a probowler and 2 guys that fit in a rotation they want to play very well. Mincey an experienced vet that will probably play 10-15 snaps a game and McClain who will probably start and play on first and second down. Then Marinelli's top choice a player he developed specifically for his system, Melton.

So going into the draft Dallas added 3 players to a bare DL the Cowboys had. But one thing they still didnt have was am aggressive weakside passrusher. They wanted Barr to be that guy but so did Minnesota, bye Barr. Then it was Donald to pair with Melton and get that inside pressure and the Rams spoiled that. Then it was Shazier who would have pushed Carter to SAM. Steelers suprised them and got Shazier.

So the Cowboys finished the draft with:
Demarcus Lawrence
Ben Gardner
Ken Bishop

3 more guys to add to a nice rotation. But most of all the passrusher for the weakside they needed.

So from the disaster they had in '13 they turned into a nice looking rotation for '14 at first glance

DE
Demarcus Lawrence
Tyrone Crawford
George Selvie
Ben Gardner
Jeremy Mincey
Martez Wilson

DT
Henry Melton
Terrell McClain
Ben Bass
Ken Bishop
Nick Hayden

Linebacker im thinking they wanted Shazier to form a fast athletic LBer core. But it wasnt to be had so Dallas has what it has.

Sean Lee: the QB of the defense. Some people say he should be moved, but thats not going to happen. He's one of the best players in the NFL. Bad luck has been his enemy.

Bruce Carter: A fast strong LBer who IMO is playing the wrong posistion. I do think he could use more time in the study room. Because he looked really lost at times. I do think the coaches did him no favors in keeping him on the field at times he should've been on the sideline.

And then a whole bunch of guys. Justin Durant, Davonte Hollomon, Kyle Wilber, Anthony Mitchens, Will Smith. I think this team would love for Hollomon to win this job, but Durant i think will end up starting. Atleast now Dallas has capable LBers as depth. Mitchens i think is going to be a ST nightmare for teams.

The other posistion i see with improvement is WR

Dallas had its starters in Dez and TW and a nice compliment in Beasley in the slot and a ST ace in Harris. But with Austin a June cut Dallas was missing that guy who could move outside if there was a injury to the first 2.

Devin Street, is a guy who runs nice routes and can run them all. He can move inside and outside and isnt affraid to go across the field. He will IMO be the third guy on the field.

L'Damian Washington, IMO he got hurt in draft stock because of his QB. You watch him against top teams like Texas A&M and Georgia and they couldnt handle the guy. His speed and size rival Martavis Bryant from this draft. I think this guy is the sleeper. He could be a PS guy or could even end up a big contributor on the team. You want this guy in the redzone.

Chris Boyd, this guy is just a talent. A better player than teammate Mathews. Think he could be the darkhorse to start opposite Dez if he can get his head on right. Which i think he will.

And then theres OL

Zack Martin IMO is going to the best OL in this draft. He should be the LG but i think you keep him on the right side because of Free's weakness. Dallas is building a very stout OL. People would alway say this team will never pick OL in RD1. 3 of the last 4 RD1 picks have been OL.

My early 53 man Roster

QB Tony Romo, Brandon Weeden
IMO just cut Orton, the money isnt a good enough reason to keep that kind of attitude he has around the team. Sometimes you win by cutting players loose.

FB JC Copeland or none

RB Demarco Murray, Lance Dunbar, Joseph Randle

WR Dez Bryant, Terrance Williams, Chris Boyd, Devin Street, L'Damian Washington, Dwayne Harris
Hard to do but i think Beasley is replaced by bigger faster guys who can do more. Numbers game.

TE Jason Witten, Gavin Escobar, James Hanna

T Tyron Smith, Doug Free, Darren Weems, Jeremy Parnell
I think having a player like Matin you could go with 3 Ts

G Zack Martin, Ron Leary, Mack Bernadeau, FA

C Travis Fredrick

DE Demarcus Lawrence, Tyrone Crawford, George Selvie, Ben Gardner, Jeremy Mincey

DT Henry Melton, Terrell McClain, Ben Bass, Ken Bishop
With the ability of Gardner and Mincey to move inside on downs they go with 4 DL or could pick up a FA

OLB Bruce Carter, Justin Durant, Davonte Hollomon, Kyle Wilber,

MLB Sean Lee. Anthony Mitchens

CB Brandon Carr, Morris Claiborne, Orlando SCandrick, Sterlin Moore, BW Webb, Terrence Mitchell

S Barry Church, JJ Wilcox, Jeff Heath, Ahmad Dixon, Matt Johnson

K Dan Bailey

P Sean Jones

Practice Squad
Cody Mandell
Dustin Vaughn
Chris Whaley
Will Smith
Davon Coleman
Casey Kreiter
Ben Malena
Marvin Robinson

Key Cuts
Kyle Orton
Cole Beasley
Nick Hayden
Martez Wilson
Jakar Hamilton

 

[texbumthelife]

How dare you be (somewhat) positive!? For all intents and purposes, anyone rueing that we didn't get Shazier needs to pipe down. Carter supposedly had outstanding running and agility numbers and is bigger, sheds blocks better and is more versatile. Oh but in Carter's respect, thats only conjecture. Players play. Numbers lie. Get over it.

 

[Hoofbite]

How dare you be (somewhat) positive!? For all intents and purposes, anyone rueing that we didn't get Shazier needs to pipe down. Carter supposedly had outstanding running and agility numbers and is bigger, sheds blocks better and is more versatile. Oh but in Carter's respect, thats only conjecture. Players play. Numbers lie. Get over it.

Carter has effort problems. You could be Ray Lewis-Urlacher and be mediocre with effort issues.

 

[Zordon]

i hope ben malena pushes randle off the roster.

i also hope najvar can catch some, b/c he's a better blocker than hanna.

i'm at point now where i'm a little more worried about the linebackers than the dline. the linebacker unit looks incredibly thin.

 

[LatinMind]

Carter has effort problems. You could be Ray Lewis-Urlacher and be mediocre with effort issues.

He has, but im not sure he bought into Kiffins ways. Thats bad enough but if the team thought it was a bigger issue he wouldnt be on the team this yr i believe. I think he has a bounce back yr.

 

[LatinMind]

i hope ben malena pushes randle off the roster.

i also hope najvar can catch some, b/c he's a better blocker than hanna.

i'm at point now where i'm a little more worried about the linebackers than the dline. the linebacker unit looks incredibly thin.

Depends on how you look at it. Dallas has 5 players who started last yr and 2 in Wilber and Hollomon who were coming on strong at the end of the yr. Theyre young. The defense all looked lost last yr and IMO is started because there was ZERO pressure.

 

[Zordon]

also mark it down, whaley will be a huge steal for us down the line.

 

[LatinMind]

also mark it down, whaley will be a huge steal for us down the line.

I like him. I'd like to see him get up ato about 282-285

 

[Zordon]

Depends on how you look at it. Dallas has 5 players who started last yr and 2 in Wilber and Hollomon who were coming on strong at the end of the yr. Theyre young. The defense all looked lost last yr and IMO is started because there was ZERO pressure.

a lot of youth but also a lot of question marks.

a lot of it can be solved by carter just coming back with a better motor this year. if he does that more power to him, get paid bro. i dont want him in dallas after this year but if he can bring it in a contract year, that would be great. holloman, lee, and durant all have injury concerns. wilber i still question his fit in this defense. his slow and not very physical. i have no idea how the 2 draft picks will pan out.

 

[Hoofbite]

He has, but im not sure he bought into Kiffins ways. Thats bad enough but if the team thought it was a bigger issue he wouldnt be on the team this yr i believe. I think he has a bounce back yr.

Well he's cheap and he was a 2nd rounder. That alone will keep him on the team until his contract is over. Did Bennett and he had his attitude problems. He needs a bounce back year. The team needs it. Be a big help.

 

[Zordon]

I like him. I'd like to see him get up ato about 282-285

he played around 290. he just dropped weight b/c of the injury. he has virtually the same career path as henry melton. i think he's naturally a more physical player than melton. him and melton did not receive the best coaching at UT so he will have a lot of hand technique work to do with marinelli. once he gets that down, he will be a big contributor in 2015, i'm sure of it.

 

[LatinMind]

Well he's cheap and he was a 2nd rounder. That alone will keep him on the team until his contract is over. Did Bennett and he had his attitude problems. He needs a bounce back year. The team needs it. Be a big help.

I agree, Lee had a interview and talked about Carter struggles. Talked about him working with Carter aswell. Could only make him better working with somebody who knows what theyre doing in Lee.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

Carter has effort problems. You could be Ray Lewis-Urlacher and be mediocre with effort issues.

I don't know if its effort....he seemed more lost than lazy last season.

 

[waving monkey]

another good post thanks LM

Im expecting better play all around but especially from the offense which was fair last year anyway.
Everybody feels good about Martin and if he has the same trajectory as Fredericks, well look out.
Romo will have the first good line since he has matured.
Lindham I think will give more creative schemes for the skill guys to pick up yards.
Our red zone will turn into more positive yards.

The rookies have to step up earlier then normally required.
I think we got a batch of good new talent to work with.
I'm hoping that Ken Bishop is able to be one of those step up guys. his one of my pet cats.
If the Dline is able to get a little more pressure I think Church and Wilcox will look alot better.

Maybe this is the year that Claiborne is able to stay injury free and put it all together,he needs to.

Anyway it will be an interesting season.

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

Carter has effort problems. You could be Ray Lewis-Urlacher and be mediocre with effort issues.

There is dogging it and then there is being exasperated and loosing focus. Carter wasn't lazy he just handles adversity about as poorly as is possible.

I have more faith in overcoming exasperation than I do lazy. That being said, throwing your hands up and quitting is unacceptable. Many Cowboys fans should take note as they throw their hands up in frustration and quit on Carter.

 

[OhSnap]

Carter has effort problems. You could be Ray Lewis-Urlacher and be mediocre with effort issues.

He got exposed by Woodhead coming outta the backfield in the SD game and I think every team after that came at him from every angle you can attack that position. That shoulda been motivation to learn the position.

 

[OhSnap]

There is dogging it and then there is being exasperated and loosing focus. Carter wasn't lazy he just handles adversity about as poorly as is possible.

I have more faith in overcoming exasperation than I do lazy. That being said, throwing your hands up and quitting is unacceptable. Many Cowboys fans should take note as they throw their hands up in frustration and quit on Carter.

I hope the prospect of a new contract somewhere and experience help him put in a great year.

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

He got exposed by Woodhead coming outta the backfield in the SD game and I think every team after that came at him from every angle you can attack that position. That shoulda been motivation to learn the position.

I really think that whole thing is overblown mostly because of how Carter reacted to it. He had good coverage but Rivers made two phenomenal throws to beat Carters single coverage and inside leverage. Unless Carter could increase his vert by about 2 feet so he could turn his head, locate the ball, jump and make a skying twisiting acrobatic deflection then he wasn't going to get to that ball.

The next weeks Denver, Philadelphia and Washington tried to do it the following weeks and he cleaned it up or really those QBS could not make that deep throw that Rivers did.

I think if Carter wouldn't have acted like he was 12 years old then the issue never would have been blow into this proportion.

 

[Ashwynn]

The Cowboys showed this offseason they had a plan. Its clear they have talent on the team, but it was even more clear last season that they had very bad depth. The plan was sign FAs and draft to improve that. Dallas has alot of very young players that they like and fit with what they want to do. Last yr some of them were jut forced into action sooner then they wanted because of injuries or bad play by vets they were counting on. I understand that fans are all about the win now. And alot will not give players like Wilcox and Heath and Hollomon time to grow as players. As its shown how they have written off these players after their rookie yrs.

Before FA started Stephen Jones told everybody they would go into FA looking for DL because they didnt want to go into the draft with the Cubbard bare. So they did and came away with a probowler and 2 guys that fit in a rotation they want to play very well. Mincey an experienced vet that will probably play 10-15 snaps a game and McClain who will probably start and play on first and second down. Then Marinelli's top choice a player he developed specifically for his system, Melton.

So going into the draft Dallas added 3 players to a bare DL the Cowboys had. But one thing they still didnt have was am aggressive weakside passrusher. They wanted Barr to be that guy but so did Minnesota, bye Barr. Then it was Donald to pair with Melton and get that inside pressure and the Rams spoiled that. Then it was Shazier who would have pushed Carter to SAM. Steelers suprised them and got Shazier.

So the Cowboys finished the draft with:
Demarcus Lawrence
Ben Gardner
Ken Bishop

3 more guys to add to a nice rotation. But most of all the passrusher for the weakside they needed.

So from the disaster they had in '13 they turned into a nice looking rotation for '14 at first glance

DE
Demarcus Lawrence
Tyrone Crawford
George Selvie
Ben Gardner
Jeremy Mincey
Martez Wilson

DT
Henry Melton
Terrell McClain
Ben Bass
Ken Bishop
Nick Hayden

Linebacker im thinking they wanted Shazier to form a fast athletic LBer core. But it wasnt to be had so Dallas has what it has.

Sean Lee: the QB of the defense. Some people say he should be moved, but thats not going to happen. He's one of the best players in the NFL. Bad luck has been his enemy.

Bruce Carter: A fast strong LBer who IMO is playing the wrong posistion. I do think he could use more time in the study room. Because he looked really lost at times. I do think the coaches did him no favors in keeping him on the field at times he should've been on the sideline.

And then a whole bunch of guys. Justin Durant, Davonte Hollomon, Kyle Wilber, Anthony Mitchens, Will Smith. I think this team would love for Hollomon to win this job, but Durant i think will end up starting. Atleast now Dallas has capable LBers as depth. Mitchens i think is going to be a ST nightmare for teams.

The other posistion i see with improvement is WR

Dallas had its starters in Dez and TW and a nice compliment in Beasley in the slot and a ST ace in Harris. But with Austin a June cut Dallas was missing that guy who could move outside if there was a injury to the first 2.

Devin Street, is a guy who runs nice routes and can run them all. He can move inside and outside and isnt affraid to go across the field. He will IMO be the third guy on the field.

L'Damian Washington, IMO he got hurt in draft stock because of his QB. You watch him against top teams like Texas A&M and Georgia and they couldnt handle the guy. His speed and size rival Martavis Bryant from this draft. I think this guy is the sleeper. He could be a PS guy or could even end up a big contributor on the team. You want this guy in the redzone.

Chris Boyd, this guy is just a talent. A better player than teammate Mathews. Think he could be the darkhorse to start opposite Dez if he can get his head on right. Which i think he will.

And then theres OL

Zack Martin IMO is going to the best OL in this draft. He should be the LG but i think you keep him on the right side because of Free's weakness. Dallas is building a very stout OL. People would alway say this team will never pick OL in RD1. 3 of the last 4 RD1 picks have been OL.

My early 53 man Roster

QB Tony Romo, Brandon Weeden
IMO just cut Orton, the money isnt a good enough reason to keep that kind of attitude he has around the team. Sometimes you win by cutting players loose.

FB JC Copeland or none

RB Demarco Murray, Lance Dunbar, Joseph Randle

WR Dez Bryant, Terrance Williams, Chris Boyd, Devin Street, L'Damian Washington, Dwayne Harris
Hard to do but i think Beasley is replaced by bigger faster guys who can do more. Numbers game.

TE Jason Witten, Gavin Escobar, James Hanna

T Tyron Smith, Doug Free, Darren Weems, Jeremy Parnell
I think having a player like Matin you could go with 3 Ts

G Zack Martin, Ron Leary, Mack Bernadeau, FA

C Travis Fredrick

DE Demarcus Lawrence, Tyrone Crawford, George Selvie, Ben Gardner, Jeremy Mincey

DT Henry Melton, Terrell McClain, Ben Bass, Ken Bishop
With the ability of Gardner and Mincey to move inside on downs they go with 4 DL or could pick up a FA

OLB Bruce Carter, Justin Durant, Davonte Hollomon, Kyle Wilber,

MLB Sean Lee. Anthony Mitchens

CB Brandon Carr, Morris Claiborne, Orlando SCandrick, Sterlin Moore, BW Webb, Terrence Mitchell

S Barry Church, JJ Wilcox, Jeff Heath, Ahmad Dixon, Matt Johnson

K Dan Bailey

P Sean Jones

Practice Squad
Cody Mandell
Dustin Vaughn
Chris Whaley
Will Smith
Davon Coleman
Casey Kreiter
Ben Malena
Marvin Robinson

Key Cuts
Kyle Orton
Cole Beasley
Nick Hayden
Martez Wilson
Jakar Hamilton

Theres a good reason why these late round guys were there, your predicating this on all the draftees/signees. play at a level you have imagined. I doubt we got first round talent 5 times in the 7th. Many of these guyys may not even make the team. we just wont know till they line em up and start blowing the whistles. Till then its fun to play with what could be, but thats all we are doing at this point. Martin is the only one I would ascribe a starting grade to at this point. every one else is a question mark.

 

[RoyTheHammer]

No Anthony Spencer? Did people forget about him already?