Peter King MMQB Cowboy Blurbs

[Plankton]

http://mmqb.si.com/mmqb/2017/06/19/peter-king-monday-morning-quarterback-nfl-randy-moss-commencement

5. I think, however, there are some very good team-website features I’ve found. One is the inside-football reporting from former scout Bryan Broaddus on the Cowboys site. Check out his Wednesday practice report from minicamp. Two very interesting things: First-round washout Jonathan Cooper spent the day on perhaps the best offensive line in football starting at left guard; that’s a eye-popper in itself. But also this from Broaddus’ practice report: “The one guy that is able to give Zack Martin trouble is Maliek Collins. It’s rare that you see Martin get knocked off balance against power, but that’s what Collins was able to do during the Team Period.” That’s good reporting.

6. I think, as an aside, this is what I think when I see that Maliek Collins is creating some havoc in drills at a Cowboys practice: I covered the Cowboys’ draft last year, and the team’s number one target as the first round went on (after the drafting of Ezekiel Elliott with the fourth overall pick) was Memphis quarterback Paxton Lynch. Dallas was offering the 34th and 101st overall picks for a low-first-round pick. Seattle wanted Dallas’ 34th and 67th picks. Dallas balked. Seattle traded with Denver, and it’s Denver who got Lynch with the 26th pick in the first round. So if Dallas had traded 34 and 67, three things would have happened:

• The Cowboys would have picked Lynch and not Dak Prescott. Judging by Lynch’s uneven first camp and season, and the fact that he’s a slight underdog to beat out Trevor Siemian this year, it’s almost inarguable that Prescott with the 135th overall pick was a better choice than Lynch at 26.

• The Cowboys would not have picked Collins to fortify the then-weakest position group on the team—defensive line.

• The Cowboys would not have picked Jaylon Smith at 34. He’s the Notre Dame linebacker who would have been a top-five pick in the draft had he not suffered a bad knee injury in his final college game. There’s still no guarantee he’ll be a good NFL player, but he’s an intriguing prospect who, if he makes it, could be the Cowboys’ post-Sean Lee defensive team leader. So … overall, sometimes the best decisions are the ones you don’t make.

 

[Dwight]

I'm a big fan of Collins. I hope he is our Bryant Young or a Warren Sapp type of player.

Collins and Tapper are two players I have high hopes for this season.

I also hope (I'm being homer) our defense has a coming out party as the Bucs did in 1997 when they beat the Whiners.

Good information by Peter King.

 

[robjay04]

I'm a big fan of Collins. I hope he is our Bryant Young or a Warren Sapp type of player.

Collins and Tapper are two players I have high hopes for this season.

I also hope (I'm being homer) our defense has a coming out party as the Bucs did in 1997 when they beat the Whiners.

Good information by Peter King.

I can't remember the last time our defense was considered a strength. Even when we have a solid stretch of games, we are all holding our breath knowing it won't last forever.

These new guys may not be much better BUT....at least we aren't continuing to plug in the same players that have given us some of worst passing defenses in franchise history expecting them to be better.

The greatest benefit is that so many of these guys are rookies or second year guys. They are going to grow together and build a brotherhood these next 3-4 seasons while they're working their tail off to get that second contract. Not many financially stable veterans on this defense and I think that's a good thing.

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

I can't remember the last time our defense was considered a strength. Even when we have a solid stretch of games, we are all holding our breath knowing it won't last forever.

2007 I'd say. 4 pro bowlers and Ware at his peak.

 

[silver]

What a great non-move the not trading for Paxton Lynch turned out to be. I would put it up there with the passing on Johnny Manziel to draft Zack Marting in 2014 and the passing on Shariff Floyd to trade down to draft Travis Frederick in 2013. Kudos to the Jones family. 20/20 hindsight hasn't historically been kind to Jerry and Co.

 

[robjay04]

2007 I'd say. 4 pro bowlers and Ware at his peak.

That defense was very solid. I can't remember but I still believe we had trouble getting turnovers then.

Still--that was a decade ago.

 

[DFWJC]

I can't remember the last time our defense was considered a strength. Even when we have a solid stretch of games, we are all holding our breath knowing it won't last forever.

These new guys may not be much better BUT....at least we aren't continuing to plug in the same players that have given us some of worst passing defenses in franchise history expecting them to be better.

The greatest benefit is that so many of these guys are rookies or second year guys. They are going to grow together and build a brotherhood these next 3-4 seasons while they're working their tail off to get that second contract. Not many financially stable veterans on this defense and I think that's a good thing.

It's been about 8-10 years, sadly.

Looking forward to the day when the defense is feared again.

 

[visionary]

The reality is that the defense will go as far as the front 7 take it so the play of Taco, Tapper and smith will be very important. If they can contribute at a high level, we can be a really good defense, if not, we are in trouble

 

[Nova]

I can't remember the last time our defense was considered a strength. Even when we have a solid stretch of games, we are all holding our breath knowing it won't last forever.

These new guys may not be much better BUT....at least we aren't continuing to plug in the same players that have given us some of worst passing defenses in franchise history expecting them to be better.

The greatest benefit is that so many of these guys are rookies or second year guys. They are going to grow together and build a brotherhood these next 3-4 seasons while they're working their tail off to get that second contract. Not many financially stable veterans on this defense and I think that's a good thing.

Anthony Wright was the starter

 

[phildadon86]

That defense was very solid. I can't remember but I still believe we had trouble getting turnovers then.

Still--that was a decade ago.

Pretty sure anthony Henry was our int leader that season

 

[Silver N Blue]

Thank you Seattle for asking for too much.

 

[jterrell]

Note to media****
Guys like Peter King are never going to go out of style.
Hire them, in droves.
Please and thank you.

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

That defense was very solid. I can't remember but I still believe we had trouble getting turnovers then.

Still--that was a decade ago.

Canty left. Roy Williams lost his passion for the game. TNew was perpetually injured. Wade had us starting Alan Ball. Ratliff quit. Ware was perpetually injured. Spencer fragged his meniscus. We started Hayden for three years. A cascading torrent of crap churning through AT&T Stadium.

They way I look at is 2013 as the baseline. That was year of Ernie Sims, Jarius Wynn, Everett Brown, Cam Laurence, Nick Hayden, Drake Nevis, and Caesar Rayford getting meaningful playing time. Mincey and Slevie were some of the better front 7 players.

That was rock bottom.

 

[Bullflop]

The reality is that the defense will go as far as the front 7 take it so the play of Taco, Tapper and smith will be very important. If they can contribute at a high level, we can be a really good defense, if not, we are in trouble

Barring injury, I don't anticipate any way our defense won't improve this year -- to me, it's just a matter of how much and when. We may struggle a bit at the outset but by year's end, I think we should be ready to make trouble for offenses in the playoffs. We have at least several young studs and maybe more who should help us dramatically if they can only stay healthy. Let's hope Charlton pans out as well, even tho he's just a rook.

 

[Direwolf63]

Canty left. Roy Williams lost his passion for the game. TNew was perpetually injured. Wade had us starting Alan Ball. Ratliff quit. Ware was perpetually injured. Spencer fragged his meniscus. We started Hayden for three years. A cascading torrent of crap churning through AT&T Stadium.

They way I look at is 2013 as the baseline. That was year of Ernie Sims, Jarius Wynn, Everett Brown, Cam Laurence, Nick Hayden, Drake Nevis, and Caesar Rayford getting meaningful playing time. Mincey and Slevie were some of the better front 7 players.

That was rock bottom.

Thanks for that list of names.

I probably won't be able to sleep tonight.

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

Thanks for that list of names.

I probably won't be able to sleep tonight.

Rest easy that all of them have been replaced. Sorry for the trauma though.

Instead of Ernie Sims, Jarius Wynn, Everett Brown, Cam Laurence, Nick Hayden, Drake Nevis, and Caesar Rayford you have Hitchens, Paea, Tapper, Wilson, Thornton, Taco, and DLaw. Collins and Irving are now some of the better front 7 players.

There are still plenty of questions to be answered and work to be done but take the above and throw in the revamped secondary and the defense has come a long way.

 

[Direwolf63]

Rest easy that all of them have been replaced. Sorry for the trauma though.

Instead of Ernie Sims, Jarius Wynn, Everett Brown, Cam Laurence, Nick Hayden, Drake Nevis, and Caesar Rayford you have Hitchens, Paea, Tapper, Wilson, Thornton, Taco, and DLaw. Collins and Irving are now some of the better front 7 players.

There are still plenty of questions to be answered and work to be done but take the above and throw in the revamped secondary and the defense has come a long way.

There's no question that this defense is young and athletic.

It's all a question of how long it will take for everybody to jell together into a cohesive unit, especially the back end. I think it will take at least half a season before we start to see positive results from the talent upgrade. I think the first half of the season we will see more than our share of confusion in coverage and lots of finger pointing about who should have been where.

A serious pass would help immensely here. But it's anyone's guess as to how much better they will be over last year. But if this defense can put it all together and approach being a top 10 unit, this team could go a long way this year and into the future.

 

[diefree666]

That defense was very solid. I can't remember but I still believe we had trouble getting turnovers then.

Still--that was a decade ago.

The real gut punch with the 2007 D is how many of them had career years or better years then they had from then on.. Ellis, Hamlin, Roy, Henry. They were never what they were after that year. Bradie James and Ratlif had career years in 2008 and dropped off the end of the world pretty much after that.

That D looked really good but sadly I think it was not what we might have thought it was. I think the 2009 D was better but not by much.

Basically we had a good to really good D for three years (2007-2009) and then it began to come apart and descended to really bad in only a couple of years

 

[CCBoy]

Defenses are like offensive lines...the longer together, the better and more sophisticated they become.

 

[diefree666]

Defenses are like offensive lines...the longer together, the better and more sophisticated they become.

until they get old