Pros and Cons going into TC

[Alexander]

don't take it the wrong way, i wasn't being snarky towards your post, just saying that the bar Wilcox set at S is pretty low

I know. I just think we have got so numb to bad play from the likes of Wilcox and Hayden that the difference will be remarkable.

 

[DandyDon1722]

That is exactly why I make him a non-person right now. Go off to the side with an intern and work on the resistance cords or something. I give every rep to the players who have enough smarts and integrity to not allow themselves to get suspended for the second time in two years.

Agree and I would add that the only consideration from here on out that should be given him by the team is if he's in great - and I mean in great shape at the beginning of camp and when he arrives back for week 11. It's the only barometer the team has at this point to evaluate his commitment. I highly doubt he will be at either one of those points and thus he should be gone.

 

[DFWJC]

Positives ( in descending order)

• Romo is back and healthier than he's been in 4-5 years....The biggest position upgrade of any team in the league right there

• Dez is back and should be fully ready

• Zeke..and the RB stable--adding Zeke to what we already have should be much better

• Scandrick returns at CB. Dallas' best CB

• Thornton upgrades DT in a big way

• Jones full time at Safety upgrades the position

• 2nd full year for Crawford inside will be better

• Collins at OG a 2nd year will be better

• Claiborne is the biggest and strongest he's ever been…the floor is low, so I can see improvement there

To Be Determined

• Brice Butler will help the overall WR group

• Lawrence should be better once he returns--a 4 week delay puts this in the "TBT" category
• Gregory should be better once he returns--see Lawrence

• Mayowa and Tapper may help some--hard to say how much though

Negatives

• Lawrence out 4 weeks..overall pass rush very suspect

• McClain out 10 weeks …or maybe for good

• Gregory out 4 weeks…see Lawrence

• backup QB is questionable…though if Romo were to go down long term (doubt it) it's over anyway without a dominant defense

• # 34 pick overall will not play all season….seems like a massive waste, at least for this year...which is the discussion

• whoever starts opposite of Jones could be liability at S

 

[Luther]

Pro: Garrett seems to be a pretty good manager.

Con: Garrett is really weak on game day.

 

[StarBoyz83]

Pro - were the Dallas Cowboys

Con - were the Dallas Cowboys

 

[Hoofbite]

I would not give McClain a single rep. Zero. It would be a waste of time for several reasons. It will be 10 weeks before he could possibly play and him flopping around in the summer when he clearly does not care to practice in the first place is a waste of time.

Wouldn't worry too much about it. Provided he's on the roster he'll come down with some sort of ailment that will hold him out.

 

[Donny Phoenix]

The Dallas Cowboys are never at a lack for intrigue. What's to say about the offense? If expectations are met, it should be the most entertaining and boring offense in the league. The OL just sits on teams while Romo and Co put on a clinic for 3 quarters and the RBs ground and pound to close out week in and week out. Of course it won't go like that, but that is the expectation. One thing that hasn't been mentioned much is that with all the hits Romo took last year that ended up breakin the collar bone twice, there were no adverse effects to the back which seems to get brought up every offseason now. His back seems to be holding up pretty well so far.

The defense will be fun to watch develop and grow. The Dline while unproven seems to be improved as a unit. Ced Thornton, by all accounts, is a vast improvement over Hayden in every facet. T Crawford coming in healthy and stronger, and then some promising young talent to rotate. The stronger Dline may help neutralize the loss of McClain, but then again Hitchens has been pretty effective in RoMac's absense in the past. Maybe he's ready to hold it down until Jaylon Smith arrives. I think Jaylon Smith willl recover. RoMac will be an afterthought soon. I was rooting for him but the time has come. Byron Jones focusing on nothing but FS frees up Church to be a full time SS. Carr and Mo have switched sides, and that could have some great benefits. Now Carr will be covering WR2s, Scandrick in the slot, and Mo has the speed and size to match with WR1s(and he's in another make-or-break contract year).If it doesn't work out with Mo, they can always switch OScan out there and go with one of the young slot CBs. I don't know what it will look like on the field, but I see a lot of improvement in the talent and putting people in the right position on the defensive side.

The potential is there for night and day improvement on defense with the subtle and not-so subtle changes. They will need growth from all of their young players. DLaw and Gregory will give them a nice little infusion in week 5. Staying healthy is always the name of the game.

 

[CATCH17]

Pros: Offense

Cons: Defense & coaching staff.

 

[theebs]

Pro: Scott Linehan and Mike Pope are here. I think the offensive staff is very good.

 

[Denim Chicken]

Pro: Scott Linehan and Mike Pope are here. I think the offensive staff is very good.

I do hope they get a tad more creative with Dez this year. There are so many miss matches to be had by moving him around.

 

[jazzcat22]

I do hope they get a tad more creative with Dez this year. There are so many miss matches to be had by moving him around.

Agree...but I would settle for more slant routes being used to get 1st downs until the do get more creative

....however, more slant routes would be creative from this group....

 

[Denim Chicken]

Agree...but I would settle for more slant routes being used to get 1st downs until the do get more creative

....however, more slant routes would be creative from this group....

we'll get the seam route down the middle to Witten and like it

 

[theebs]

I do hope they get a tad more creative with Dez this year. There are so many miss matches to be had by moving him around.

His first year with linehan was pretty productive I would say.

I am expecting butler to line up outside occasionally with dez on the inside of him like we used to do with Owens. I am probably wrong but since Butler brings a speed element we don't really have and doesn't play Williams position or inside I think this is how they are going to find opportunities for him, plus subbing for dez.

also another pro to add....Collins second year. The potential for the left side of this line is off the charts. Smith-Collins could be a monumental thing this season. Going to be fun watching teams stopping the run when we go left.

 

[jazzcat22]

we'll get the seam route down the middle to Witten and like it

Hopefully they fix that one yard short of a first down thing though....

 

[CATCH17]

Pro: Scott Linehan and Mike Pope are here. I think the offensive staff is very good.

I don't.. They are so limited as to what they can do offensively.


Basically it all boils down to Romo or Dez making incredible plays or our OL imposing their will.

It's great to be able to do that but our coaches need to do a better job of creating some things themselves like all of the elite teams in the league do.

Our offense is desperate for more deception and i'm sick and tired of watching this offense be bland and predictable.

We've established our tendencies offensively.. Now make other teams defenses pay for overplaying to our tendencies.

Give me some play action on first down... Get the ball in Dez Bryants hands with some short passes. Use pick plays like all of the other elite teams.

This 1990's football will only get us so far and we end up playing a luck game. We do not and will not ever have far and away the best roster like we did in the 90's. Coaching matters.

 

[jazzcat22]

I don't.. They are so limited as to what they can do offensively.


Basically it all boils down to Romo or Dez making incredible plays or our OL imposing their will.

It's great to be able to do that but our coaches need to do a better job of creating some things themselves like all of the elite teams in the league do.

Our offense is desperate for more deception and i'm sick and tired of watching this offense be bland and predictable.

We've established our tendencies offensively.. Now make other teams defenses pay for overplaying to our tendencies.

Give me some play action on first down... Get the ball in Dez Bryants hands with some short passes. Use pick plays like all of the other elite teams.

This 1990's football will only get us so far and we end up playing a luck game. We do not and will not ever have far and away the best roster like we did in the 90's. Coaching matters.

The 1990's football wasn't all that more creative that what we have now. They had basically four running plays, ran out of different formations at times. Everyone knew what was coming...the lead draw....it is just they were so dang good at it, no one could stop it all the time.

Draw to Emmitt, slant to Irvin, draw to Emmitt, draw to Emmitt, deep to Irvin...draw to Emmitt from inside the 5, TD....
Actually this offense is a bit more creative. Maybe because Tony can create and extend plays too. They just need to be more consistent than before. I think we will see some differences this year.

 

[CATCH17]

The 1990's football wasn't all that more creative that what we have now. They had basically four running plays, ran out of different formations at times. Everyone knew what was coming...the lead draw....it is just they were so dang good at it, no one could stop it all the time.

Draw to Emmitt, slant to Irvin, draw to Emmitt, draw to Emmitt, deep to Irvin...draw to Emmitt from inside the 5, TD....
Actually this offense is a bit more creative. Maybe because Tony can create and extend plays too. They just need to be more consistent than before. I think we will see some differences this year.

If we rely on just getting better then it won't be enough. It never has been.

It's not the 90s.. The Cowboys, like all of today's teams, have holes. So this impose our will strategy is just not good enough in 2016. We need our coaches to step up and stop relying so much on Romos ability.

 

[Floatyworm]

On July 28th the team reports to TC. My take on some pros and cons [no, not the Joseph Randle type cons LOL]

Cons:
Suspensions, and these hurt the team in many ways.
Gregory and Lawrence, they return after 4 games, not unlike last year with McClain and Hardy gone the 1st 4 games. We don't know how that truly impacted the games, as once Romo went down, did it matter?
McClain, out for 10 games. Now this is where, even more so these suspensions can hurt the team....progress stoppers.
Do they, or should they get 1st team reps. Therefore holding back players that will and must be relied upon. I say Gregory and Dlaw should get some 1st team reps, but not the majority. McClain not so much. Actually if he shows up out of shape, this could be a "pro" as then they can just cut him and move on. I think they can do that regardless of being suspended. Don't pass the conditioning, he's gone.

Now we have quite a few players returning form injuries and who have injuries already or surgery. Some of these can be listed in the "pro" reasons too, which I will do. Romo, Dez, Lee, Mayowa, Collins, McFadden, Dunbar, Escobar, J. Smith...am I missing anyone?
Anyway, how will they all respond and heal.

Using a 2nd round pick on J. Smith therefore in hindsight, they could have drafted a play now defensive player. I am still on the wasted pick wagon, but sure hope I am wrong.

Malik Collins ankle injury, will they do the day to day thing when he can return, therefore making his rookie TC nothing.

Pros:
Romo and Dez should return at 100% healthy and ready to go. As well as Lee and Mayowa, but he needs to show why they brought him in. Those are types of surgeries that happen to all teams. So I don't thing any of these will be a "con" reason. So it's a plus sign they are returning.

Malik Collins should return, but as I said above will he be day to day. For now I am thinking he can get in a few weeks practice and can contribute.
McFadden, will miss a good part of TC, but he doesn't need all of that. Especially for those who still bring of the injury prone deal about him.

Players in reserve as in Escobar and Dunbar, if on PUP, and if needed, they can be activated.

Zeke....as been stated many times and now more than ever, he helps this team on both sides of the ball. And with tony and Dez back, this offense can be lethal, and it will need to be.

FA Thornton and a healthy T. McClain, which means no Hayden. In which means they do a much better job in the middle, allowing whoever is at MLB to do their job better. So would losing RoMac be that big of a difference at that point?

Any other pros and cons?
Other than the coaching staff making better in game adjustments.

Pros...

This could be Garrett and Marinelli's last year....
Salary cap picture becomes more clear w/ Frederick and Martin extensions.


Cons...

We realize we are not as talented as we think we are.....
Depth becomes a real problem.

 

[canters]

I hope we have improved the team outside of a healthy Romo and Dez. I think Ro will play game 11 out of shape. The J. Smith pick will be debated all season long.
I think we will see the pass rush as no better by the time camp ends. If we can not keep the defense off the field the early part of the season, we might be in deep poo.

 

[jazzcat22]

If we rely on just getting better then it won't be enough. It never has been.

It's not the 90s.. The Cowboys, like all of today's teams, have holes. So this impose our will strategy is just not good enough in 2016. We need our coaches to step up and stop relying so much on Romos ability.

I can't disagree that they do need to step up. I would like to see more creative plays on both sides of the ball.
I was just saying, or meant to say, this offense has more plays it seems than the 90's teams...but also seem more predictable at times....lol...

I think Zeke changes this.