LarryCanadian
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It's real early. So both good and bad things seen so far will probably flop back and forth before the real season.
Lets look at some semi-obvious improvements over last year.
Defense.
CB. Henry looks very solid. He's big and will help against TO's, Burris, etc, as jamming at the line is the way to go with them. Newman is looking like a 3rd year star should. Glenn is most solid guy we've had in years as 3rd guy. This is huge upgrade over last year.
Safety. Roy is in the right spot. He didn't help CB's or perform better than average at Free Safety anyway, so Strong Safety is better by default.
LB. James looks like he's almost there, which is a big relief. Some of the other undrafted young guys look like they can contribute (Thornton, Fowler, Shanle) and Dat and Al seemed to work in 3-4. Burnett looks like a guy that shows his stuff in real games.
Dline. Depth Depth Depth and potential. Come on, Canty hadn't played in what, over a year, with a recovering wheel and an eye that didn't allow contact. He showed the tools. Guys like Coleman all of a sudden fit and can contribute by being better in the 3-4 as well. Glover and Ellis still playing well despite the change in schemes is a relief. Spears and Ferguson are some big bodies we were missing and will help.
Free safety is the only concern and we couldn't fix everything in one offseason. I think Barry-O should be given some reps there. He makes plays and seems to have instincts.
Offense:
Oline: Flo and Larry aren't motivated for preseason games. Larry was mistake free and Flo didn't look that bad in the sack replay I saw as Bledsoe took a long time and stepped into DE when Barry rolled off Flo. Rivera will get comfy. Gurode needs to improve mental aspect but he's stronger at center than Al Johnson who gets pushed back a bunch. Al Johnson is more consistent and makes less mistakes. Decent tandem at center, which is far better than we've had in years, although you'd hope both these young guys would show a bit more potential for being really good. Remember though Oline can take a long long time to develop. Giving up on these two would be a mistake since they seem to work hard and stay outta trouble and have shining moments. Tucker should be cut now. Just can't trust him and he is taking reps from others and setting bad example. Petterman is a rookie really after being hurt most of last year and he shows some things and makes a few mistakes like expected. Rogers needs a major health turnaround or he becomes a backup for one year and then a goner and a "BUST". Sad but true. Vollers is default guy, and a decent backup with a tad of upside still (because the guy is massive, moves very athletically, with little fat, so he can still get bigger/stronger and more experienced.) Walters needs to show something, but with Tucker and Rogers sucking he might make it. Noll has been overestimated to this point and hasn't stood out at all, still PS type probably. I think we need to bite the bullet and get a Gragg in for one year till we can draft another guy next year.
WR - worries me. Bledsoe has to get ball to Key fast and close despite him not sepearted. Crayton, go go go. Keep improving. Glenn is fine. Morgan still doesn't show much to me other than backup material. Crowder better make this team as a ST ace development guy.
TE. Awesome, nuff said. Pierce is even steppin up, which is great with Ryan hurt.
QB. Backups are developing. Who cares if Romo doesn't have a gun, Henson and Bledsoe do. Romo is perfect 3rd string guy, smart and competent and can make do in an emergency. Too early to hang Bledsoe plus we knew his shortcomings, and his play will all depend on oline.
RB. Huge improvement depthwise, talent wise, Julius has health and experience and confidence. A Train is solid. Barber is uitility. Thompson is speed and they all complement each other well. Please keep 4 if Thompson is mature enough/smart enough and keeps making plays (he had decent yards in kickoff returns, though I didn't see many).
It's very early, with a new QB and new Defense and lots of holes needing to be fixed. Cowboys fans are PERFECTIONISTS, plain and simple. But that is just the way it is when you have an organization with expectations of greatness year after year, and it shouldn't be any other way. Like the Yankees in Baseball, or Montreal Canadiens in Football, storied franchises and organizations always are tougher on their teams and have higher expectations and that helps the team be better than average type organizations.
Just some thoughts. Yes it's disappointing that noone has emerged at RT and FS yet, but we needed to test the guys we had and we only had so many draft picks and only so many options are out there in FA.
Larry
Lets look at some semi-obvious improvements over last year.
Defense.
CB. Henry looks very solid. He's big and will help against TO's, Burris, etc, as jamming at the line is the way to go with them. Newman is looking like a 3rd year star should. Glenn is most solid guy we've had in years as 3rd guy. This is huge upgrade over last year.
Safety. Roy is in the right spot. He didn't help CB's or perform better than average at Free Safety anyway, so Strong Safety is better by default.
LB. James looks like he's almost there, which is a big relief. Some of the other undrafted young guys look like they can contribute (Thornton, Fowler, Shanle) and Dat and Al seemed to work in 3-4. Burnett looks like a guy that shows his stuff in real games.
Dline. Depth Depth Depth and potential. Come on, Canty hadn't played in what, over a year, with a recovering wheel and an eye that didn't allow contact. He showed the tools. Guys like Coleman all of a sudden fit and can contribute by being better in the 3-4 as well. Glover and Ellis still playing well despite the change in schemes is a relief. Spears and Ferguson are some big bodies we were missing and will help.
Free safety is the only concern and we couldn't fix everything in one offseason. I think Barry-O should be given some reps there. He makes plays and seems to have instincts.
Offense:
Oline: Flo and Larry aren't motivated for preseason games. Larry was mistake free and Flo didn't look that bad in the sack replay I saw as Bledsoe took a long time and stepped into DE when Barry rolled off Flo. Rivera will get comfy. Gurode needs to improve mental aspect but he's stronger at center than Al Johnson who gets pushed back a bunch. Al Johnson is more consistent and makes less mistakes. Decent tandem at center, which is far better than we've had in years, although you'd hope both these young guys would show a bit more potential for being really good. Remember though Oline can take a long long time to develop. Giving up on these two would be a mistake since they seem to work hard and stay outta trouble and have shining moments. Tucker should be cut now. Just can't trust him and he is taking reps from others and setting bad example. Petterman is a rookie really after being hurt most of last year and he shows some things and makes a few mistakes like expected. Rogers needs a major health turnaround or he becomes a backup for one year and then a goner and a "BUST". Sad but true. Vollers is default guy, and a decent backup with a tad of upside still (because the guy is massive, moves very athletically, with little fat, so he can still get bigger/stronger and more experienced.) Walters needs to show something, but with Tucker and Rogers sucking he might make it. Noll has been overestimated to this point and hasn't stood out at all, still PS type probably. I think we need to bite the bullet and get a Gragg in for one year till we can draft another guy next year.
WR - worries me. Bledsoe has to get ball to Key fast and close despite him not sepearted. Crayton, go go go. Keep improving. Glenn is fine. Morgan still doesn't show much to me other than backup material. Crowder better make this team as a ST ace development guy.
TE. Awesome, nuff said. Pierce is even steppin up, which is great with Ryan hurt.
QB. Backups are developing. Who cares if Romo doesn't have a gun, Henson and Bledsoe do. Romo is perfect 3rd string guy, smart and competent and can make do in an emergency. Too early to hang Bledsoe plus we knew his shortcomings, and his play will all depend on oline.
RB. Huge improvement depthwise, talent wise, Julius has health and experience and confidence. A Train is solid. Barber is uitility. Thompson is speed and they all complement each other well. Please keep 4 if Thompson is mature enough/smart enough and keeps making plays (he had decent yards in kickoff returns, though I didn't see many).
It's very early, with a new QB and new Defense and lots of holes needing to be fixed. Cowboys fans are PERFECTIONISTS, plain and simple. But that is just the way it is when you have an organization with expectations of greatness year after year, and it shouldn't be any other way. Like the Yankees in Baseball, or Montreal Canadiens in Football, storied franchises and organizations always are tougher on their teams and have higher expectations and that helps the team be better than average type organizations.
Just some thoughts. Yes it's disappointing that noone has emerged at RT and FS yet, but we needed to test the guys we had and we only had so many draft picks and only so many options are out there in FA.
Larry
