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Rating the Dallas Cowboys from Quarterback to Kicker
As always, there is a ton of speculation surrounding the Dallas Cowboys as we make our way through OTA’s getting ready for training camp and heading into the Pre-Season. Can the Dallas Cowboys be the first team ever with home-field advantage for a Super Bowl?
After a great finish to the regular season last year and the ‘Boys first playoff win in 13 years expectations are again very high, and as we’ve seen with this particular Cowboys team… They do not play as well with the pressure on.
Cowboys fan or not you have to admit that Tony Romo has progressed and is at the worst a top seven quarterback in the NFL and probably the most exciting to watch. And in a league loaded with talented signal callers, top seven is not bad at all. Here are how I rate the Dallas Cowboys top to bottom in comparison to the rest of the National Football League:
QB – NFL Rank: 7
I have Tony Romo as the 7th best quarterback in the NFL behind Manning, Brees, Brady, Rivers, Favre(he’s not retiring, end the debates) and Big Ben(I don’t care what he does off the field, he’s a stud on it), no pun intended, with Aaron Rodgers a close 8th. I could not stand when two years ago everyone was saying Romo couldn’t “win the big game” or “couldn’t win in December”. Peyton Manning is arguably a top five quarterback of all time and didn’t win his first playoff game until 2004 vs Denver, six years after he made his first NFL start. Could you even fathom if the Colts gave up on Manning after two or three years like Dallas fans were ready to do with Romo? It sounds absurd… because it is. Tony Romo won his third playoff start in only his third full season as Cowboys signal caller and beleive me there will be many more to come. To refresh your memory his only two losses were to a Seattle team that the Cowboys should have beat, Dallas fans remember it as the Romo muffed FG game, and to the eventual Super Bowl Champion New York Giants who in the same great playoff run completely shut down a then 18-0 New England team. I still think the Cowboys didn’t do enough this offseason to be the first host of a Super Bowl next Febuary, but it has to do with reasons other than Tony Romo. We’ll get to that later.
RB – NFL Rank: 8
One thing that has got to remain consistent for the “Boys to be a perennial contender is their run game. More goes into a good run game then just a good back. As we’ve witnessed over the years, running backs are a dime a dozen. Here are three things that matter, almost more than the back himself:
1) Offensive Line. A good, and really a great offensive line is imperative to a solid run game, unless your Steven Jackson.
2) Scheme. Running scheme is more important now than almost ever before in the NFL. The Cowboys are the best in the league at this. Three to Six times a game they run a draw, usually to Felix Jones, and its always set up differently. You’ve seen it, and you always know when its coming, so do defenses, but its so hard to stop because of the way Jason Garrett designes the runs. No two are alike in the same game, there’s always something different, even if its a slight shift, or direction of handoff or Tony faking a pass to one way or another(he’s the best at this), and its almost always good for five plus yards.
3) Passing. The Cowboys are obviously an above average passing team, but ask 07-08 Adrian Peterson. If your team can’t pass the ball and the defense can put eight in the box, forget about it. Nothing to worry about here but it’s very important. When Romo went down two seasons ago and missed 3 games, Dallas tried to pound the ball and make Brad Johnson throw the ball as few as possible/necessary. Didn’t matter, Dallas could only squeeze out a win against a below average Tampa Bay team, mainly because of a fade to Roy “worst trade in franchise history unless you want to argue Joey Galloway” Williams(I started him that game on my fantasy team by the way) so I’m not *****ing but the week before Dallas was blown out by a below average St. Louis team. Bottom line, you need to be able to throw the ball.
For the record the teams I have ranked better then Dallas in no particular order: Rams, Titans, Jets, Vikings, Dolphins, Panthers and Ravens, who by the way have the most exciting back in football at the moment. The teams teetering below Dallas, the Broncos, and yes, the Detroit Lions, assuming Jhavid Best can be who he was early in college and stay healthy, I loved that draft pick by the way. People will call me crazy for this one, and they’re probably right, but I love Best, this could be a case of bias getting the best of me.
WR – NFL Rank: 8
Just so we’re clear I’m talking about wide receivers, not receiving corps, I’m not including TE’s or RB’s or any combination, just the Wide Receiver position. Some may think eight is a little high, and they may be right. A lot of my rating these receivers goes into how well Dez Bryant plays, and for the record I think he’ll be a stud. With Miles Austin’s surge to stardom last season, the fact that I don’t think Roy Williams can possibly be this bad every season the addition of Dez Bryant, and Patrick Crayton’s ability to make big catches on 3rd downs(unless we’re talking about the Divisional Playoffs against the Giants a few years back) the “Boys have a chance to do some great things at this position. Side note: Am I the only person who still owns an Antonio Bryant jersey and realizes that, if I still wore jerseys, i could pretend its a Dez Bryant jersey and not have to go buy a new number 88 Bryant jersey? Moving On…
TE – NFL Rank: 1
The one position I can honestly say the the Cowboys are number one in is the TE position. Every year it seems to come up that maybe it’s Gonzalez, or Gates. Its not even a debate. What Jason Witten brings to the tight end position is un-paralelled. I was at the Dallas-Philly game in ‘07 when Witten got popped, his helmet flew off then he continued sprinting down field for an extra 30-40 yards. I know helmets fly off all the time in the NFL these days for whatever reason, be it face time or what have you. Witten isn’t a diva, he got nailed, but stayed up, regathered himself and headed toward the end zone. Jason only missed one game his entire career. His rookie season he missed one game after breaking his jaw. ONE GAME! Tough dude. Keith Rivers got planted by Hines Ward, broke his jaw and missed the rest of the season his rookie year. Welcome to the NFL. Some guys are just wired like that, “there’s no way I’m sitting down, I’ll play through it.” Not everyone has that toughness in them. It’s will. He played most of last season with a broken rib, killer injury for someone who doesn’t take a play off and prides himself in being an all around tight end. Great blocker, great route runner, great hands, he’s the total package. Keith Rivers got lit up, I’m not doubting his missing the rest of the season his rookie year by any stretch of the imagination, but some guys, Brett Favre, Peyton Manning, Allen Iverson, Paul Pierce, Cal Ripken, just have it. I’m not saying Keith Rivers doesn’t, but Jason Witten definitely does. Oh yea, Martellus Bennett is coming around too.
FB – NFL Rank: 22
Okay I’m not going to lie, I didn’t exactly do my homework on this one. I pretty much picked a number looking at NFL teams and ran with it, it just happens to also be Emmitt’s number so I felt good about it. Deon is an above average run-blocker who will catch passes out of the backfield when asked to do so. the Cowboys don’t rely on a fullback as much as other teams. They run more 2 tight end sets and multiple receiver sets. Deon gets the job done, contributes on special teams(12 tackles last year) and the C Boys could be worse at this position. They have someone content in his role and who plays it well. Let’s just keep him away from Valet attendants and security guards.
Offensive Line – NFL Rank: 15
Offensive Line is one of my favorite positions in football as a whole. It collectively is the most important position in football other than quarterback, no debate. I once had a respectable football guy tell me to watch the offensive lines, don’t even pay attention to the play. Tell me who is winning the line of scrimmage battle and without watching the play you have an idea of weather or not it was a ‘positive’ play. He was right. The reason the Giants ended the Pats bid for a perfect season in Super Bowl XLII was how they dominated the line of scrimmage in that game. Any receiver can get open and any quarterback will find that receiver if given all day. Same goes for running back. Any back can run through a big hole. It all revolves around that big offensive unit. Dallas did good by cutting Flozell, he was old and couldn’t block guys even when tripping them. I’m just not certain Doug Free or Pat McQuistan is an upgrade. Free played well when playing for Marc Columbo, but that was on right side, left tackle is a completely different position. Teams blitz more from that side of the field, and how the cowboys handle the blitz will be very important to their success, luckily they have one of the more athletic quarterbacks in the league, and he has a knack for avoiding the hit or sack and improvising to find the open man. A big miss in the draft this years was not finding a suitable left tackle. I completely understand and love the Dez Bryant pick, but left tackle and safetly were big needs and neither were addressed agressively. I know Dallas drafted both a tackle and a safety consecutively(Safety Akwasi Owusu-Ansah, from IUP in the 4th round and Tackle Sam Young out of Notre Dame in the 6th), but both were bigger needs than the team leads on. The rest of the line is pretty solid, I love Andre Gurode and Leonard Davis(although a bit over-priced), Kyle Kosier is solid and the aforementioned Marc Columbo is a solid right. Dallas had to do what they had to do with the Bryant pick, and made the right choice. Every tackle Dallas would have liked to pick was gone at that point(5 tackles taken before Dallas’ 24th pick). But the Cowboys are not deep at the position and injuries are part of the game. Tony Romo was tied with Brett Favre for the 9th most sacked QB of 2009(34 times). Of the quarterbacks who were sacked more, Big Ben and NFL’s A-Rod with 50, Jason Campbell(43), David Garrard and Matt Cassell(42), Joe Flacco(36) and Cutler/McNabb(35) and Brett equal to Tony’s 34, only Joe Flacco and Brett Favre had respectable O-Lines, with Minnesota’s being stellar. How this unit plays together will be vital to the teams success both in the regular season and the post season. On to the “D”
DL/LB - NFL Rank: 8
I group the front 7 together because of the differences in NFL defenses these days. The Cowboys have a great D-Line for a 3-4 scheme anchored by Jay Ratliff. The LB corps was much better last season with the addition of Keith Brooking. Demarcus Ware is the best pass rushing outside linebacker in the game, bar none. No player in the NFL last season had more quarterback pressures than D-Ware. Last year he unofficially had 84 pressures, which is a combination of pressures, hits on the QB and sacks. D-Ware finished with 56 pressures, 17 QB hits and 11 sacks, and that is with constant double teams and running backs chipping him all game long. Ware beat a block to apply pressure every 7.8 rushes. Only the Colts Dwight Freeney was better with 6.14. I still think the Cowboys should have went for Offensive Tackle in March’s draft with their second choice. Sean Lee, LB from Penn State was a solid choice with the 55th pick, but I would have liked to see maybe John Jerry out of Ole Miss. Another smart pick by Bill Parcells 18 picks later. Demarcus Ware, Anthony Spencer and Jay Ratliff combined for 23 sacks last season. D-Ware had 20 himself the previous year with Greg Ellis, Bradie James and Jay Ratliff combining for 23.5, half a sack more than the total of the Cowboys top 3 pass rushers from a year ago. I continue to stress how important controlling the line of scrimmage is, if you can’t get to the quarterback and you can’t protect your quarterback forget about it.
Cornerback – NFL Rank: 12
Cornerback is such a hard position to determine. So many factors go into how your corners play. In my lifetime I’ve really only ever seen two shutdown corners. Corners where, it didn’t matter if the quarterback had all day, you weren’t throwing the ball his direction. Deion Sanders and Darrelle Revis. Keep in mind I never really got to WATCH Ronnie Lott, Dick LeBeau, Eric Wright, Night Train or Hanford Dixon. You could make arguments for Ty Law, Champ Bailey and maybe Ronde Barber in their primes, but I’ll stick with Sanders or Revis over anyone of those last three guys. As for the Cowboys, Terrence Newman, when healthy is great. He’s not a shut down corner but has the speed to run with just about anyone and his tackling in the open field is sensational from a cornerback’s standards. Mike Jenkins was huge for Dallas last year and needs to be again this year. I loved the pick out of South Florida, he needed a year to learn some things and got that under his belt. Jenkins led the Cowboys in Interceptions with 5, passes defended with 19, had the same number of tackles as D-Ware(45), which is also more tackles than both safeties, Ken Hamlin and Gerald Sensabaugh. It all goes back to getting to the quarteback, the Cowboys were statistically worse defending the pass the year before, even with having substantially more sacks, but they gave away two wins when Romo went down. Turn them 2 losses into wins, or a split and they’re in the playoffs. Dallas also let up 600 fewer yards in ‘08. When you can get to the quarterback, that’s lost plays for the other teams offense and it will make your secondary, especially your corners, look better.
Safety – NFL Rank: 29th
This is the Dallas Cowboys number one weakness. I love what Gerald Sensabaugh brings to the table, but he’s only barely above average. Akwasi Owusu-Ansah was a good draft pick just because Dallas needed a safety. Dallas also needs a safety ready to play right away. If the *cough* pass rush is as good as it should be then the ‘Boys should be able to hide their safety woes. I like Allan Ball. I don’t know if I like Allan Ball as one of my starting safeties if the other one isn’t spectacular. The Cowboys absolutely have got to make a run at Oshiomogho Atogwe. I love the lack of spending this offseason, you can’t buy championships. The one free agent the Cowboys should go after though is Atogwe. He has potential to fall in the ‘Boys lap, pick him up! There is a good chance I’m making a bigger deal about the safety situation than I should, but I’ve watched the ‘Boys get burned at that position since Darren Woodson retired. Roy Williams was good, but couldn’t cover, Ken Hamlin was solid, but I don’t disagree with his release. I would have loved Taylor Mays out of USC but after taking Dez Bryant, well you can’t have everyone. So Atogwe is there, and could be the final piece to building a championship team. He takes away a minimum of 4 big plays a year with his pass coverage, which could be the difference in a few of those games, get him.
P – NFL Rank: Top 5
Matt McBriar is probably a top 5 punter in the National Football League. He places the ball well and has one hell of a leg, not a bad thing.
K – NFL Rank: Does Dallas even have a Kicker??
Having a great kicker isn’t vital, ask the Saints. Garret Hartly came out of no where to go five for five in the playoffs including a few of the biggest kicks of any kickers’ career who has the opportunity to be put in that position, starting with his overtime game winner vs Minny. All five of his kicks were in the 40-49 yard range and four out of the five were huge(every kick except his 43 yarder in a blowout win vs Arizona. Nevertheless you do need a kicker, Dallas will find somebody.
Rating the Dallas Cowboys from Quarterback to Kicker
As always, there is a ton of speculation surrounding the Dallas Cowboys as we make our way through OTA’s getting ready for training camp and heading into the Pre-Season. Can the Dallas Cowboys be the first team ever with home-field advantage for a Super Bowl?
After a great finish to the regular season last year and the ‘Boys first playoff win in 13 years expectations are again very high, and as we’ve seen with this particular Cowboys team… They do not play as well with the pressure on.
Cowboys fan or not you have to admit that Tony Romo has progressed and is at the worst a top seven quarterback in the NFL and probably the most exciting to watch. And in a league loaded with talented signal callers, top seven is not bad at all. Here are how I rate the Dallas Cowboys top to bottom in comparison to the rest of the National Football League:
QB – NFL Rank: 7
I have Tony Romo as the 7th best quarterback in the NFL behind Manning, Brees, Brady, Rivers, Favre(he’s not retiring, end the debates) and Big Ben(I don’t care what he does off the field, he’s a stud on it), no pun intended, with Aaron Rodgers a close 8th. I could not stand when two years ago everyone was saying Romo couldn’t “win the big game” or “couldn’t win in December”. Peyton Manning is arguably a top five quarterback of all time and didn’t win his first playoff game until 2004 vs Denver, six years after he made his first NFL start. Could you even fathom if the Colts gave up on Manning after two or three years like Dallas fans were ready to do with Romo? It sounds absurd… because it is. Tony Romo won his third playoff start in only his third full season as Cowboys signal caller and beleive me there will be many more to come. To refresh your memory his only two losses were to a Seattle team that the Cowboys should have beat, Dallas fans remember it as the Romo muffed FG game, and to the eventual Super Bowl Champion New York Giants who in the same great playoff run completely shut down a then 18-0 New England team. I still think the Cowboys didn’t do enough this offseason to be the first host of a Super Bowl next Febuary, but it has to do with reasons other than Tony Romo. We’ll get to that later.
RB – NFL Rank: 8
One thing that has got to remain consistent for the “Boys to be a perennial contender is their run game. More goes into a good run game then just a good back. As we’ve witnessed over the years, running backs are a dime a dozen. Here are three things that matter, almost more than the back himself:
1) Offensive Line. A good, and really a great offensive line is imperative to a solid run game, unless your Steven Jackson.
2) Scheme. Running scheme is more important now than almost ever before in the NFL. The Cowboys are the best in the league at this. Three to Six times a game they run a draw, usually to Felix Jones, and its always set up differently. You’ve seen it, and you always know when its coming, so do defenses, but its so hard to stop because of the way Jason Garrett designes the runs. No two are alike in the same game, there’s always something different, even if its a slight shift, or direction of handoff or Tony faking a pass to one way or another(he’s the best at this), and its almost always good for five plus yards.
3) Passing. The Cowboys are obviously an above average passing team, but ask 07-08 Adrian Peterson. If your team can’t pass the ball and the defense can put eight in the box, forget about it. Nothing to worry about here but it’s very important. When Romo went down two seasons ago and missed 3 games, Dallas tried to pound the ball and make Brad Johnson throw the ball as few as possible/necessary. Didn’t matter, Dallas could only squeeze out a win against a below average Tampa Bay team, mainly because of a fade to Roy “worst trade in franchise history unless you want to argue Joey Galloway” Williams(I started him that game on my fantasy team by the way) so I’m not *****ing but the week before Dallas was blown out by a below average St. Louis team. Bottom line, you need to be able to throw the ball.
For the record the teams I have ranked better then Dallas in no particular order: Rams, Titans, Jets, Vikings, Dolphins, Panthers and Ravens, who by the way have the most exciting back in football at the moment. The teams teetering below Dallas, the Broncos, and yes, the Detroit Lions, assuming Jhavid Best can be who he was early in college and stay healthy, I loved that draft pick by the way. People will call me crazy for this one, and they’re probably right, but I love Best, this could be a case of bias getting the best of me.
WR – NFL Rank: 8
Just so we’re clear I’m talking about wide receivers, not receiving corps, I’m not including TE’s or RB’s or any combination, just the Wide Receiver position. Some may think eight is a little high, and they may be right. A lot of my rating these receivers goes into how well Dez Bryant plays, and for the record I think he’ll be a stud. With Miles Austin’s surge to stardom last season, the fact that I don’t think Roy Williams can possibly be this bad every season the addition of Dez Bryant, and Patrick Crayton’s ability to make big catches on 3rd downs(unless we’re talking about the Divisional Playoffs against the Giants a few years back) the “Boys have a chance to do some great things at this position. Side note: Am I the only person who still owns an Antonio Bryant jersey and realizes that, if I still wore jerseys, i could pretend its a Dez Bryant jersey and not have to go buy a new number 88 Bryant jersey? Moving On…
TE – NFL Rank: 1
The one position I can honestly say the the Cowboys are number one in is the TE position. Every year it seems to come up that maybe it’s Gonzalez, or Gates. Its not even a debate. What Jason Witten brings to the tight end position is un-paralelled. I was at the Dallas-Philly game in ‘07 when Witten got popped, his helmet flew off then he continued sprinting down field for an extra 30-40 yards. I know helmets fly off all the time in the NFL these days for whatever reason, be it face time or what have you. Witten isn’t a diva, he got nailed, but stayed up, regathered himself and headed toward the end zone. Jason only missed one game his entire career. His rookie season he missed one game after breaking his jaw. ONE GAME! Tough dude. Keith Rivers got planted by Hines Ward, broke his jaw and missed the rest of the season his rookie year. Welcome to the NFL. Some guys are just wired like that, “there’s no way I’m sitting down, I’ll play through it.” Not everyone has that toughness in them. It’s will. He played most of last season with a broken rib, killer injury for someone who doesn’t take a play off and prides himself in being an all around tight end. Great blocker, great route runner, great hands, he’s the total package. Keith Rivers got lit up, I’m not doubting his missing the rest of the season his rookie year by any stretch of the imagination, but some guys, Brett Favre, Peyton Manning, Allen Iverson, Paul Pierce, Cal Ripken, just have it. I’m not saying Keith Rivers doesn’t, but Jason Witten definitely does. Oh yea, Martellus Bennett is coming around too.
FB – NFL Rank: 22
Okay I’m not going to lie, I didn’t exactly do my homework on this one. I pretty much picked a number looking at NFL teams and ran with it, it just happens to also be Emmitt’s number so I felt good about it. Deon is an above average run-blocker who will catch passes out of the backfield when asked to do so. the Cowboys don’t rely on a fullback as much as other teams. They run more 2 tight end sets and multiple receiver sets. Deon gets the job done, contributes on special teams(12 tackles last year) and the C Boys could be worse at this position. They have someone content in his role and who plays it well. Let’s just keep him away from Valet attendants and security guards.
Offensive Line – NFL Rank: 15
Offensive Line is one of my favorite positions in football as a whole. It collectively is the most important position in football other than quarterback, no debate. I once had a respectable football guy tell me to watch the offensive lines, don’t even pay attention to the play. Tell me who is winning the line of scrimmage battle and without watching the play you have an idea of weather or not it was a ‘positive’ play. He was right. The reason the Giants ended the Pats bid for a perfect season in Super Bowl XLII was how they dominated the line of scrimmage in that game. Any receiver can get open and any quarterback will find that receiver if given all day. Same goes for running back. Any back can run through a big hole. It all revolves around that big offensive unit. Dallas did good by cutting Flozell, he was old and couldn’t block guys even when tripping them. I’m just not certain Doug Free or Pat McQuistan is an upgrade. Free played well when playing for Marc Columbo, but that was on right side, left tackle is a completely different position. Teams blitz more from that side of the field, and how the cowboys handle the blitz will be very important to their success, luckily they have one of the more athletic quarterbacks in the league, and he has a knack for avoiding the hit or sack and improvising to find the open man. A big miss in the draft this years was not finding a suitable left tackle. I completely understand and love the Dez Bryant pick, but left tackle and safetly were big needs and neither were addressed agressively. I know Dallas drafted both a tackle and a safety consecutively(Safety Akwasi Owusu-Ansah, from IUP in the 4th round and Tackle Sam Young out of Notre Dame in the 6th), but both were bigger needs than the team leads on. The rest of the line is pretty solid, I love Andre Gurode and Leonard Davis(although a bit over-priced), Kyle Kosier is solid and the aforementioned Marc Columbo is a solid right. Dallas had to do what they had to do with the Bryant pick, and made the right choice. Every tackle Dallas would have liked to pick was gone at that point(5 tackles taken before Dallas’ 24th pick). But the Cowboys are not deep at the position and injuries are part of the game. Tony Romo was tied with Brett Favre for the 9th most sacked QB of 2009(34 times). Of the quarterbacks who were sacked more, Big Ben and NFL’s A-Rod with 50, Jason Campbell(43), David Garrard and Matt Cassell(42), Joe Flacco(36) and Cutler/McNabb(35) and Brett equal to Tony’s 34, only Joe Flacco and Brett Favre had respectable O-Lines, with Minnesota’s being stellar. How this unit plays together will be vital to the teams success both in the regular season and the post season. On to the “D”
DL/LB - NFL Rank: 8
I group the front 7 together because of the differences in NFL defenses these days. The Cowboys have a great D-Line for a 3-4 scheme anchored by Jay Ratliff. The LB corps was much better last season with the addition of Keith Brooking. Demarcus Ware is the best pass rushing outside linebacker in the game, bar none. No player in the NFL last season had more quarterback pressures than D-Ware. Last year he unofficially had 84 pressures, which is a combination of pressures, hits on the QB and sacks. D-Ware finished with 56 pressures, 17 QB hits and 11 sacks, and that is with constant double teams and running backs chipping him all game long. Ware beat a block to apply pressure every 7.8 rushes. Only the Colts Dwight Freeney was better with 6.14. I still think the Cowboys should have went for Offensive Tackle in March’s draft with their second choice. Sean Lee, LB from Penn State was a solid choice with the 55th pick, but I would have liked to see maybe John Jerry out of Ole Miss. Another smart pick by Bill Parcells 18 picks later. Demarcus Ware, Anthony Spencer and Jay Ratliff combined for 23 sacks last season. D-Ware had 20 himself the previous year with Greg Ellis, Bradie James and Jay Ratliff combining for 23.5, half a sack more than the total of the Cowboys top 3 pass rushers from a year ago. I continue to stress how important controlling the line of scrimmage is, if you can’t get to the quarterback and you can’t protect your quarterback forget about it.
Cornerback – NFL Rank: 12
Cornerback is such a hard position to determine. So many factors go into how your corners play. In my lifetime I’ve really only ever seen two shutdown corners. Corners where, it didn’t matter if the quarterback had all day, you weren’t throwing the ball his direction. Deion Sanders and Darrelle Revis. Keep in mind I never really got to WATCH Ronnie Lott, Dick LeBeau, Eric Wright, Night Train or Hanford Dixon. You could make arguments for Ty Law, Champ Bailey and maybe Ronde Barber in their primes, but I’ll stick with Sanders or Revis over anyone of those last three guys. As for the Cowboys, Terrence Newman, when healthy is great. He’s not a shut down corner but has the speed to run with just about anyone and his tackling in the open field is sensational from a cornerback’s standards. Mike Jenkins was huge for Dallas last year and needs to be again this year. I loved the pick out of South Florida, he needed a year to learn some things and got that under his belt. Jenkins led the Cowboys in Interceptions with 5, passes defended with 19, had the same number of tackles as D-Ware(45), which is also more tackles than both safeties, Ken Hamlin and Gerald Sensabaugh. It all goes back to getting to the quarteback, the Cowboys were statistically worse defending the pass the year before, even with having substantially more sacks, but they gave away two wins when Romo went down. Turn them 2 losses into wins, or a split and they’re in the playoffs. Dallas also let up 600 fewer yards in ‘08. When you can get to the quarterback, that’s lost plays for the other teams offense and it will make your secondary, especially your corners, look better.
Safety – NFL Rank: 29th
This is the Dallas Cowboys number one weakness. I love what Gerald Sensabaugh brings to the table, but he’s only barely above average. Akwasi Owusu-Ansah was a good draft pick just because Dallas needed a safety. Dallas also needs a safety ready to play right away. If the *cough* pass rush is as good as it should be then the ‘Boys should be able to hide their safety woes. I like Allan Ball. I don’t know if I like Allan Ball as one of my starting safeties if the other one isn’t spectacular. The Cowboys absolutely have got to make a run at Oshiomogho Atogwe. I love the lack of spending this offseason, you can’t buy championships. The one free agent the Cowboys should go after though is Atogwe. He has potential to fall in the ‘Boys lap, pick him up! There is a good chance I’m making a bigger deal about the safety situation than I should, but I’ve watched the ‘Boys get burned at that position since Darren Woodson retired. Roy Williams was good, but couldn’t cover, Ken Hamlin was solid, but I don’t disagree with his release. I would have loved Taylor Mays out of USC but after taking Dez Bryant, well you can’t have everyone. So Atogwe is there, and could be the final piece to building a championship team. He takes away a minimum of 4 big plays a year with his pass coverage, which could be the difference in a few of those games, get him.
P – NFL Rank: Top 5
Matt McBriar is probably a top 5 punter in the National Football League. He places the ball well and has one hell of a leg, not a bad thing.
K – NFL Rank: Does Dallas even have a Kicker??
Having a great kicker isn’t vital, ask the Saints. Garret Hartly came out of no where to go five for five in the playoffs including a few of the biggest kicks of any kickers’ career who has the opportunity to be put in that position, starting with his overtime game winner vs Minny. All five of his kicks were in the 40-49 yard range and four out of the five were huge(every kick except his 43 yarder in a blowout win vs Arizona. Nevertheless you do need a kicker, Dallas will find somebody.
to call me a homer, I'm thinking this guy has us quite underrated at several positions/groups. 
