As some of you might know, I have been excited about rookie Eric Scott out of USM, and I picked him as my favorite pet cat. I really like his mental makeup as well as his physical traits. Al Harris made note of the fact that Southern Miss used Scott in much the same way that the Cowboys will ask him to play. That man coverage experience, along with his mental ability and his “Quinn type” frame helped me get pretty excited for his chances. Oh, and he has good ball skills and has always gotten his hands on turnovers, which as we know is just something a guy either has or doesn’t have. It can’t really be coached into a player if he doesn’t have it.
This is yet another positive article on Scott since the draft. Just because someone writes that he’s looked good in OTA’s… that doesn’t mean a whole lot. However, when everything you hear about a guy in the offseason work is overwhelmingly positive, it absolutely is a good sign. Like last year with Bland, all we heard was good things about him, and by the time Oxnard rolled around it was easy to see why. He played very well from the first preseason game on. There was never any doubt anywhere that Bland was a great 5th round find.
We haven’t been able to see Scott play in the preseason yet, but otherwise, what we’re hearing parallels last year with bland. And actually, the team has had Scott playing with the first team defense more than Bland did last season. It is definitely a good sign for Scott but he will have to show it in camp once the pads come on.
What I find interesting about this article is the Dan Quinn quotes. In it Quinn says:
"
We intentionally took them out, took out Diggs and (Stephon) Gilmore, and sometimes I want to see how guys are going to respond," Quinn said. "Young players, are they going to get tight in there with the starting group or are they going to rise to it? Put him in, see what he can do."
"
What we are generally looking for with a player coming in, when you're in line and you're kind of counting reps, 'OK, I think I can go here,' but when you see a guy wanting the moment to go and compete and knowing like, 'I'm balling my fist up. I ain't leaving here,' that's what I'm looking for. Especially for the rookies to have that kind of attitude to say, 'I'm here. I ain't going nowhere' kind of mindset," Quinn said.
"Attitude is really what it takes for young players to assert themselves into these moments because that responsibility is real, to say, 'Hey man, can we count on you when it's there?' and them learning to do that early on. That's a big deal to say, 'I'm down for this count. You can count on me to get it done,' and I've seen that from Eric so far.
"He's just one of those guys, 'I'm not leaving. I'm going to do my thing.'"
Again, this doesn’t mean a whole lot on it’s own but it is just another piece of good information pointing to Scott being a player in the secondary. In the article, it talks about him already being in front of Joseph and Joseph being moved to the slot, which just shows a little about how the coaches are viewing Scott at this early point.
So, yeah, it is a great sign for Scott that good things keep coming out about him and of course Quinn practicing him with the first string defense is a positive development.
I’m hoping he keeps up the good work and can follow up this outstanding spring/summer with a nice, Bland-like training camp. If he does hit like Bland, this cornerback group will be very,
very good and will be set up for the foreseeable future. Diggs, Gilmore, Bland, and Scott would be fantastic. All 4 have ball skills, all 4 have length… it could be a joy to watch.
With the secondary making the QB hold the ball for a beat longer, the defensive ends will cause chaos at the QB. Then, if Mazi and the DT’s can push the pocket, not allowing the QB to step up… it could truly make for a devastating pass rush.
Scott just has to make it happen.
Here is the link for the article:
https://www.dallascowboys.com/news/spagnola-this-unlikely-comeback-story-continues
