I sometimes wonder if XWalker's last name is Parnell.
X is definitely one of the better posters here. He is like a dog with a bone on this one subject though.
I probably have similar things that I have too, so I can't say too much.
Free did get turned but he was engaged by two players 51 and 57. I'm not going to say that it wasn't a bad play on Free's part but the inline view is much more representative of what went on than that one.
You really don't like Free, xwalker, but he is a Cowboy. I don't get it.
I think he us right on the player's performance. I do think he undervalues leadership and communication. We had major breakdowns with Free out. That's a big part of his value
The reason I make a big deal about Parnell/Free is not really just about these specific players, but it's because it's an example of how the majority of fans judge players more by what the media says or doesn't say and by the overall team results and often don't really watch players in detail, especially OLinemen. Fans/media also judge a player based on a timeline. They basically believe that if a player has been around more than a couple of years and is not a starter, then he automatically sucks and the team should replace him. Parnell is unique in that the Cowboys basically built a player from the ground up. He had zero experience playing OLine and very minimal experience with anything related to football. You can't use the same rule of thumb on a timeline in regards to this type of player.
I said repeatedly last season that Leary was playing really well, especially as the season progressed. The majority of fans just didn't believe it because the media was not hyping him. Even in the middle of training camp many were saying that Bern was better. Once Leary won the job over Bern the media started giving him praise and suddenly the fans love him. I was a fan of Leary from the very beginning. I thought he had NFL physical ability from the very beginning which was something that guys like Arkin never had. Leary just needed time to develop.
In 2012 I defended Bern. I said that he played well in the 1 or 2 games where he appeared to be reasonably healthy. I thought he had a chance to be a decent starter if he could ever get healthy. He did become a decent started in 2013.
This off-season when people were projecting the 53, many said that Durant was not good enough to make the team. I went back and reviewed him from the previous season and posted a review saying that he was actually a decent NFL player and would likely be above Carter on the depth chart. Once the media started praising Durant, then the fans started flipping their opinions.
I defended the draft pick Hitchens right after the draft. I reviewed him fairly extensively and really liked what I saw. Many fans bought the negative hype that he would have been available later just like they bought that line with Fred the year before. Once the media started praising Hitchens, suddenly he's the greatest thing since sliced bread in the minds of many fans now.
I was a big fan of Josh Brent a few years ago before most of the media even knew his name. I thought he was that powerful big-body that the Cowboys never really had in their years of running the 3-4 defense.
I guess the reason I keep pushing the Parnell/Free issue is because the media just can't see that Parnell is at a minimum a really good backup OT. Yes, maybe the overall OLine didn't play as well with Free out, but Parnell played better than many starting OTs that the Cowboys had in some years past. What was the name of that idiot RT that had the holding call that negated a TD back during Wades time frame? There was Rob Petitie, Jacob Rogers, etc. that the Cowboys attempted to use at RT in year gone by.
When it comes to non-skill position players, most of the local media now just parrot whatever Bryan Broaddus says. If Broaddus has not told the local media that Parnell was a really good backup, then they are not going to come to that conclusion by themselves. They have to spend all of their efforts talking about Dez and the contract or other stuff that appeals to the casual fan. Then if the local media is not telling the majority of fans what to believe, then just like the media, the fans can't really figure it out for themselves.
Yes, Free does irritate me to some extent because I think he should be better. He has the top 2 things that you look for in an OT with excellent quickness and really good size. Normally, I expect a guy with his type of quickness combined with his size to eventually be a near dominant player, but he just has not developed the power to become an elite player. I just can't figure out how a guy with his size can't develop more power after all of these years. Does he just not spend enough time in the weight room or does he have some type of shoulder problems that just limit his ability to ever lift heavy? Parnell came to the Cowboys as an ex-basketball player that weighed somewhere around 270 or 280 and now he is stronger than Free. I just don't know how that happens.
I'm certain that either Free or Parnell will be gone next season and I'll have to find another underrated player to be my pet cat. The early favorite is Ken Bishop since he was my #2 pet cat in the draft long before the Cowboys drafted him. I need to start reviewing Watson now to see if he has pet cat potential. The OTs Weems and Hawkins are possibilities.
Sadly, the only media guy (if you want to call him that) that I've heard praise Parnell is Jesse Holley. Apparently, some players or maybe just one player told Holley that they think Parnell is better and definitely much stronger than Free. Yes, the opinion of Holly is not much to hang my hat on, but he probably does have some insight to the opinion of players on the team.
