RECAP: Mickey's Ranch Report on Dunham and Miller

[Apollo Creed]

Did you see Felix breaking 60+ yard runs?

Your acting as if Choice is going to be our starter.

MB3 + Felix with a little bit of choice.

Yeah, I saw Felix break it outside and Witten and Owens throwing great blocks on most of his big runs.

 

[Real1st]

Yeah, I saw Felix break it outside and Witten and Owens throwing great blocks on most of his big runs.

I mean come on?

Does Owens get credit for Ware getting a sack too??

 

[Apollo Creed]

I mean come on?

Does Owens get credit for Ware getting a sack too??

I said he threw great blocks on the run, so did Witten. I'm far beyond that of simply an Owens apologist.

 

[5Countem5]

Mickey just buys into the evil media hype. There have been no official declarations after all from anyone on the team that they are even actually considering this. All the innuendos are hollow. Fans are distracted but the players know who plays the Pied Piper tunes.[/sarcasm off]

Yeah , because we should believe MICKEY over Jerry, Romo, Witten and Ware.

 

[Alexander]

Also we could be a run based offense. I think if we commit to the run we could possibly pick up the slack of not having T.O.'s numbers.

Easier said than done. I know everyone thinks that Garrett is just pass happy, but it is not like we have an elite run blocking offensive line. I have my doubts whether or not we can just switch gears and turn into a running team. It might not be just that simple.

To me, the issue is Roy Williams. He would have to equal or exceed his best year to become the type of primary receiver that we need if Owens is gone. If that's a done deal, then fine, release Owens. But I believe the staff doesn't have that level of confidence. If they do, they have a strange way of showing it.

 

[Bob Sacamano]

That’s a lot of money in this economy, and Jerry didn’t become the businessman he did today by throwing away millions of dollars.

it was a dumb business decision in the 1st place to extend him

 

[Real1st]

Easier said than done. I know everyone thinks that Garrett is just pass happy, but it is not like we have an elite run blocking offensive line. I have my doubts whether or not we can just switch gears and turn into a running team. It might not be just that simple.

To me, the issue is Roy Williams. He would have to equal or exceed his best year to become the type of primary receiver that we need if Owens is gone. If that's a done deal, then fine, release Owens. But I believe the staff doesn't have that level of confidence. If they do, they have a strange way of showing it.

We just were never committed. When Koiser got hurt our running game suffered. Koiser is super underrated. Plus add Jason Garretts impatience with the run game and his terrible play calling. All we seem to run was draws. Garrett was running sweeps with MB3. MB3 broke some nice gains on the sweeps but he only broke them on Biggs side. Garrett refused to use the power run game with MB3. I mean how hard is it to pound the rock with MB3 run it on Biggs side let him maul some guys and then bring Felix in for the burner. Garrett was the reason it looked like he didn't run. 3 or 4 yards isn't bad people. It keeps us gaining positive yards and better yet it keeps the game simple for Romo. Which is what he severely needs.

 

[ZeroClub]

We have gaping holes at ILB, DE and along the offensive line in terms of depth. We simply can't afford to spend picks or money at wide receiver right now.

Now we just traded two premium choices for Roy Williams yet his lack of production is having an impact on this decision?

It is a mess. The easiest solution is to keep him. I realize that the disruptions are an issue. I just do not see how we simply plug Crayton and/or Austin in there and match the production. I also am far from confident Roy Williams will be able to command the kind of attention Owens did in 2007.

This is just a nasty mess.

I think you are right if the Cowboys are planning to go with the same pass-run mix as they had in the previous couple of seasons.

But if the plan is to add more "ground chuck" to the mix, maybe Barber/Choice/Jones take up some of the slack.

Personally, I'd like to see the Cowboys work toward that direction.

 

[Shake_Tiller]

I have been trying to sort of stay out of this thing, feeling it's gotten a little overheated for my delicate sensibilities. But here are a few things I think, for whatever they're worth:

1) Releasing Owens is a risk. It's true Williams didn't show much here, Crayton is a 2, at best, and the other guys are unproven. But Williams is a young player who has been very good, at times, with the Lions, and it is unlikely what we saw of him last year in Dallas is what we're going to get in the future. If you argue Dallas has to try to get its "money's worth" from Owens, you surely must concede that it has to try to get its "money's worth" from Williams.

2) When you are in a hole and need to get out, you stop digging. My point: I'm not saying the Cowboys will improve by releasing Owens. They might even take a step back, though I doubt it. But in my view (and these are just opinions), Owens began to do real damage last year and will do more in the future. Stop digging. It won't get you out of the hole, but it's the first step toward going that direction.

3) Owens showed signs last year of being a declining player, and past 35, declines in athletic performance and durability are often precipitous. Yes, he was still a talented receiver. But he wasn't what he was in the past, and the decline is more likely than not to accelerate. Owens was extremely erratic, and it wasn't only those games Romo didn't play. As they lose their edge, once great players often become erratic.

4) Surely it is time for even the most ardent Owens supporters to acknowledge the obvious: If the Cowboys keep him, it will be because they decide that doing so is the lesser of two evils. It won't be because they don't view him as trouble, on some level. Obviously, there is no way for me to prove this is true. I can only argue that it seems to me obvious.

5) There will probably be damaged relationships if Owens is released. He seems to be popular with many of his teammates, and some will probably point fingers and blame others for the circumstances to lead to his release, if it happens. Even those of us who are in favor of releasing Owens surely have to come to terms with the fact that it will cause some damage. Again, I'm just in favor of the "stop digging" approach.

6) Once in a while, we have to put down the statistics and trust our eyes. Owens was clearly struggling last year to do things he had done rather easily in the past. No, I can't prove it. Yes, you are free to disagree, of course. It's an opinion. But it's an opinion I reached through my own eyeballs, and it's one that seems to be getting some traction among folks who are much smarter and better informed than I am.

7) The Cowboys have not proven, at this point, that they have the leadership structure in place to accomodate a player like Owens. If there were a stronger structure, things might be different. But it's also true that you make an effort to accomodate superstars. In my view, Owens is no longer close to that status.

8) Wasted money is already wasted. There is no way to get back the money paid to Owens. It's nonsensical to think you "must" get production in return. The idea is to give yourself what you believe to be the best chance to win football games. If for whatever reason you think you have a better chance to win without him than with him, the money already paid out is irrelevant. Spilled milk. The same could be said of Williams, of course, but surely there can be some agreement that he ought to be given at least a training camp to prove last year was an aberration.

9) Owens isn't a "distraction." I think this has been the great misnomer. In my view, Owens is the classic "clubhouse lawyer." He is the guy who complains when things aren't going to his liking and who takes the credit when things are going well. He is the charismatic guy who has followers. He isn't the only guy in the world who is like that, but it is a trait that is corrosive. Again, it's my opinion, but I think the discussion is off the mark when it focuses on the "distraction" aspect. I think his personality is corrosive, not distracting.

10) Tony Romo must step up with or without Owens. Those who think Owens is the only reason Romo has strugggled, in some aspects of the game, are probably as incorrect as those who think Owens is necessary for Romo to succeed.

 

[Chocolate Lab]

I honestly don't see any valid reason to release Owens.

I really don't.

I have yet to see any blowups on the level of what went on with the Eagles - none.

Everything is behind the scenes rumor and innuendo.

And cutting him now or later doesn't do the team any favors with regard to the cap, so why do it?

Why not sit the guy down and law down the law with him?

Tell him exactly what the team expects from him if he wants to remain a Cowboy.

And if that ultimatum causes the guy to 'blow up', then so be it - release him then.

The same would hold true if he plays the boy scout until the season starts.

If he acts up during the season, cut him then. His million dollar bonus is a drop in the bucket at that point.

But I don't see any legitimate reason to lose that kind of production over rumors.

If it were my decision, I'd demand the people around him - the coaches and teammates - step up and enforce team discipline. That's the area I feel this team truly lacks and I don't see where sending Owens packing suddenly fixes that deficiency.

That would be the best scenario. But it's been tried before, and it's failed every time.

So you would take a chance on the one or maybe 10 percent chance that it would actually work?

Because when it didn't, you'd have to cut him during the year, which would be a worse distraction than if it happened now. And you'd have forgone all the practice time and experience a Miles Austin could have had.

It would be a lot like Pacman. We counted on him, and then he (predictably) failed. So then we had to play a Jenkins and Scandrick who could have been gaining valuable experience, but missed out on it because Pacman was our guy.

 

[sonnyboy]

I honestly don't see any valid reason to release Owens.

I really don't.

I have yet to see any blowups on the level of what went on with the Eagles - none.

Everything is behind the scenes rumor and innuendo.

And cutting him now or later doesn't do the team any favors with regard to the cap, so why do it?

Why not sit the guy down and law down the law with him?

Tell him exactly what the team expects from him if he wants to remain a Cowboy.

And if that ultimatum causes the guy to 'blow up', then so be it - release him then.

The same would hold true if he plays the boy scout until the season starts.

If he acts up during the season, cut him then. His million dollar bonus is a drop in the bucket at that point.

But I don't see any legitimate reason to lose that kind of production over rumors.

If it were my decision, I'd demand the people around him - the coaches and teammates - step up and enforce team discipline. That's the area I feel this team truly lacks and I don't see where sending Owens packing suddenly fixes that deficiency.

I'm one of the stronger Owens supporters on this site.

However, if we are releasing him because of deminished skills, I'm all for it.

 

[theebs]

Would we not have Scandrick and Choice if not for one of those trades? I can't remember which one netted us the picks for those guys.

Pacman and Tank are gone, so I can't fathom how anyone could point to us signing them under no-risk terms as a sign of the apolocalypse, and then not point to them being gone as a good thing.

And as for the Spencer situation, that whole set of trades netted us Spencer and Felix Jones. Call my crazy, but I'll take that over Brady Quinn and a third round pick any day.

Tank replaced ferguson. Ferguson and glover were the defensive leaders. They were the guys everyone leaned on. Ferguson was loved in the locker room. He was simply sent off for no reason.

The spencer trade has nothing to do with gaining the extra 1. We traded back up into the 1st round to get him and used 3 picks in the process. He has not lived up to a 1st round player yet, let alone a guy we used 3 picks to get back into the first round to take.

He looks an awful lot like hatcher. Lots of talent and ability but for some reason we dont see it on sundays.

Scandrick was drafted via a trade up in the fifth round. The trade consisted of us sending jacksonville our 5 and 7. those were from the trade with oakland, then the trade with cleveland. We also got a 3 for this year from cleveland. SO essentially the ayodele and fasano trade netted us, choice, scandrick and clevelands 3 this year. That is good work. But we now have an inside linebacker issue and fasano and bennett I believe in the end will be a wash. So hopefully we find a linebacker or a lineman with that 3 this year.


The jason ferguson 6th round pick was used on Erik Walden. We got nothing from giving away ferguson.

Spencer was acquired by trading up to phillys spot in the 1st round. To get there we gave up the 2 from cleveland from the 1st round trade that netted us jones in 08, a third and a fifth.

So spencer cost us a 2, 3 and 5. The eagles used those picks on Kevin Kolb, Stewart bradley and cj gaddis.

So for the 3 picks, we got spencer and helped strengthen the eagles.

 

[Shake_Tiller]

I honestly don't see any valid reason to release Owens.

I really don't.

I have yet to see any blowups on the level of what went on with the Eagles - none.

Everything is behind the scenes rumor and innuendo.

And cutting him now or later doesn't do the team any favors with regard to the cap, so why do it?

Why not sit the guy down and law down the law with him?

Tell him exactly what the team expects from him if he wants to remain a Cowboy.

And if that ultimatum causes the guy to 'blow up', then so be it - release him then.

The same would hold true if he plays the boy scout until the season starts.

If he acts up during the season, cut him then. His million dollar bonus is a drop in the bucket at that point.

But I don't see any legitimate reason to lose that kind of production over rumors.

If it were my decision, I'd demand the people around him - the coaches and teammates - step up and enforce team discipline. That's the area I feel this team truly lacks and I don't see where sending Owens packing suddenly fixes that deficiency.

What you write is sensible. Here is where I disagree: It's far more damaging to a team to be forced to release a player at the 11th hour, or worse, during the season than it is to do so in the off-season. Some accomodations can be made in the off-season, even if they aren't perfect. It's much tougher to adjust when the season is near, or especially when it's begun. This is exactly he reason I was opposed to signing Adam Jones.

 

[Hostile]

Jerry's silence is pretty deafening. JMO

 

[burmafrd]

If he truly is declining then releasing him jumps up the ladder with me. BUT I am not convinced its happening yet.

 

[ZeroClub]

Jerry's silence is pretty deafening. JMO

With every passing day it becomes even more so.

Really, if Jerry was not considering cutting Owens, Jerry would have quashed the speculation weeks ago.

 

[Bob Sacamano]

With every passing day it becomes even more so.

Really, if Jerry was not considering cutting Owens, Jerry would have quashed the speculation weeks ago.

there should be no doubt that TO's future is very much in doubt

 

[Shake_Tiller]

With every passing day it becomes even more so.

Really, if Jerry was not considering cutting Owens, Jerry would have quashed the speculation weeks ago.

Jones isn't just letting Spagnola run amuck over there. As sensitive as Jones is to publicity and to image... Jones would give him a mickey before he'd let him speculate that Owens was probably gone unless there was some substance. Jones manages the socks and jocks. Reckon he ignores the team's website and its chief writer/editor?

 

[Hostile]

With every passing day it becomes even more so.

Really, if Jerry was not considering cutting Owens, Jerry would have quashed the speculation weeks ago.

Exactly. It is the single most defining aspect of this mock opera.

 

[Bob Sacamano]

Jones isn't just letting Spagnola run amuck over there. As sensitive as Jones is to publicity and to image... Jones would give him a mickey before he'd let him speculate that Owens was probably gone unless there was some substance. Jones manages the socks and jocks. Reckon he ignores the team's website and its chief writer/editor?

and as sensitive to public opinion and speak that Jerry is, Spagnola is as sensitive to any Cowboy's criticisim