Scout’s Eye: Early Standouts From Saturday’s Practice

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Bryan Broaddus Football Analyst/ScoutFollow BryanBroaddus on Twitter All Bryan Broaddus Articles

OXNARD, Calif. – There are many more practices left to study before the Cowboys break camp here, but I wanted to share some early impressions from their first padded practice on Saturday. Several players showed up on tape – some for the right kind of reasons, and some for the wrong kind.

• I thought Devin Street had a strong start in his work against the defensive backs. This club is looking for a guy that can step into that fourth position if the plan continues to be Bryant, Williams and Beasley manning the top three spots. In the one-on-one drills, Street was able to show initial quickness and a burst off the line to gain separation. I like what I observed from his stem speed and the top of the routes mechanics. He wasn’t all over the place in his routes. You could see that he had a plan and he was doing a nice job of executing it. He protected the ball with his body, but if I did have a concern, I would have liked to have seen him extended better for the ball on his vertical route. By not doing so, it allowed the corner to knock the ball away from him where he could have made the catch.

• A linebacker that showed up when the pads came on was Kyle Wilber . For a player that, at this time last season, didn’t appear to have a spot on the defense that suited his game, Wilber has found a home as an outside linebacker for Rod Marinelli. I like the way he played with body control and balanced both run and pass. When he took on Tyler Clutts at the point of attack, he didn’t shy away from the contact or turn his body to avoid. Instead, he was square to the line and forced the ball back inside to his teammates to make the play. It appears that the coaches are going to use him in this scheme with his hand on the ground as a rusher, as well. In the one-on-one pass rush drills and during the Team Period, he was a handful for the tackles to have to deal with. I believe that the strength of Wilber’s game is his ability to play with range and a burst.

http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/a...Practice/2cbca894-c083-4b34-bb3b-e2820f576664

 

[DCBoysfan]

Good stuff, thanks.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

Sounds like Weems and Parnell have both underwhelmed initially.

I gotta say that I'm over Parnell beating out Free. Ain't gonna happen.

 

[speedkilz88]

Sounds like Weems and Parnell have both underwhelmed initially.

I gotta say that I'm over Parnell beating out Free. Ain't gonna happen.

It's day 1 of pads. Long way to go.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

It's day 1 of pads. Long way to go.

True.

But I doubt things are going to change between now and the start of the season.

 

[TwoDeep3]

Street is my pet cat. I don't usually have those. But this guy might be a real head turner after he gets his sea legs under him.

 

[ShiningStar]

some guys were good some guys are just warming up. Callahan has been running the line fine, and gets the most out of each player he puts on there, Weems has never been a talent and most likely has hit his potential, im not really going to throw the whole seaosn on him.

 

[Idgit]

Street is my pet cat. I don't usually have those. But this guy might be a real head turner after he gets his sea legs under him.

I really like him, too.

 

[BlueStar22]

True.

But I doubt things are going to change between now and the start of the season.

lol

 

[MichaelWinicki]

lol

I thought Parnell's big opportunity was last offseason. Free was coming off of a miserable 2012 (as we know) and Parnell had done some good things towards the end of that season.

Well between Free's rebound performance and Parnell being nicked up during preseason... Free clearly won the job.

Free is in a much better place at the start of this training camp and Parnell would need to be dynamite in order to take his job at this point.

And for their first day in pads Parnell was barely a firecracker.

Now Free could suffer an injury and Parnell could get the job, but I think the club is hoping Weems is able to beat our Parnell and the Cowboys would get some additional cap space by cutting Parnell end the end of training camp... And I wouldn't be surprised if that's exactly what happens.

 

[TwoDeep3]

I really like him, too.

I was so-so until he was interviewed and suggested he was a rookie and thought it was his job to learn how to play in the NFL.

I believe it was a Hitzges interview. Sounded like he was well grounded.

 

[Kaiser]

Sounds like Weems and Parnell have both underwhelmed initially.

I gotta say that I'm over Parnell beating out Free. Ain't gonna happen.

Give him time, its early. I still think Parnell could end up with the starting job.

 

[scooper]

Street is my pet cat. I don't usually have those. But this guy might be a real head turner after he gets his sea legs under him.

A year or two down the road maybe. I don't think he'll make much an impact year one. It'll be hard to get playing time with the established receivers we got.

 

[xwalker]

Sounds like Weems and Parnell have both underwhelmed initially.

I gotta say that I'm over Parnell beating out Free. Ain't gonna happen.

Slow your roll Mikey.

It's one day of padded practice. The OLinemen are at a disadvantage in many of the one-on-one type drills.

There's no need to cut Weems and Parnell today, just like it's too early to cut Sean Lee because McClain will send him to the bench next year.

There have been camp stars early every TC and other guys that did do much only for things to switch by the final couple of preseason games.

 

[jobberone]

Give him time, its early. I still think Parnell could end up with the starting job.

This ain't the way to start.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

Slow your roll Mikey.

It's one day of padded practice. The OLinemen are at a disadvantage in many of the one-on-one type drills.

There's no need to cut Weems and Parnell today, just like it's too early to cut Sean Lee because McClain will send him to the bench next year.

There have been camp stars early every TC and other guys that did do much only for things to switch by the final couple of preseason games.

Agreed.

But things are slow.

And we need to spice things up a little.

 

[TwoDeep3]

A year or two down the road maybe. I don't think he'll make much an impact year one. It'll be hard to get playing time with the established receivers we got.

I believe people are way over valuing Beasley's contribution. The implication of the article is this kid is vying for #4.

I think Harris is a special teamer who can make a difference on rare occasions, but will be supplanted on most of those by Escobar. So Street, who is not 5 feet 8 inches will have a shot.

 

[casmith07]

I still think this is Doug Free's last year in a Dallas uniform.

 

[scooper]

I still think this is Doug Free's last year in a Dallas uniform.

Hope so

 

[Bluestang]

Sounds like Weems and Parnell have both underwhelmed initially.

I gotta say that I'm over Parnell beating out Free. Ain't gonna happen.

Well those one on one drills put those guys at a "disadvantage"...

but then again, Martin, Frederick, and Smith didn't get put on their butts either.