State of the team one day before TC (3 days before first practice)

[jblaze2004]

lets hope some players catch us by surprise because we are going to need it.

 

[zrinkill]

It's up to Marinelli and his staff to get the most of the talent, bad or not.

Then we are doomed

 

[Denim Chicken]

Lets be honest here. There really is NOTHING to be excited about in the middle of our Dline. If you are taking about in comparison to the DE position then fine. Crawford has been a injury case and has never blossomed into what we thought he might and the FA DT we signed is solid, but that is all he is. He is NOT some stud coming here that will blow up the line. He simply is not that type of player. A solid run stuffer has been his mantra.

The honest truth is that to make this line great, we will need two pass rushing demons on the outside. Our two interior guys are solid and neither I would call a play maker. I dont see either ever making a pro bowl.

Disagree on Crawford. Think he's going to show why he got that contract this year. Feel good about 1-tech with Thorten and McClain (who may even be better than Thorten if healthy).

 

[Mountaineerfan]

I think 2014 and 2015 were flukes. One was too good the other too bad and we are probably closer to the 500 mark than ever before. I hope to be proven wrong.

 

[CowboyRoy]

Disagree on Crawford. Think he's going to show why he got that contract this year. Feel good about 1-tech with Thorten and McClain (who may even be better than Thorten if healthy).

Crawford has been here long enough that he would have busted out by now. I am glad you have confidence there, but I dont see it. And his injury prone nature doesnt help for me. Thorton I like as a solid 1 technique. But he is not a pass rushing play maker. Never has been. He will hold his position and that is about it.

McClain? What has he EVER done? These are the numbing comments for me. If you have confidence in McClain you would have confidence in any lineman we have.

 

[Denim Chicken]

Crawford has been here long enough that he would have busted out by now. I am glad you have confidence there, but I dont see it. And his injury prone nature doesnt help for me. Thorton I like as a solid 1 technique. But he is not a pass rushing play maker. Never has been. He will hold his position and that is about it.

McClain? What has he EVER done? These are the numbing comments for me. If you have confidence in McClain you would have confidence in any lineman we have.

Crawford has been at DE, injured, and had a crappy 1-tech playing next to him. I'll see what he does this year when healthy, at the 3-tech, playing with 1-techs callable of freeing him up. Crawford has been double-teamed a lot due to Hayden's weak play.

McClain pushes the pocket when healthy. http://www.bloggingtheboys.com/2016...-film-review-what-can-he-bring-to-the-cowboys

 

[CrownCowboy]

Stability and solid play I definitely think we got now. But the fact that these guys arent play makers makes in more important to have two studs outside. I think Lawrence can be a very good DE on the right side. But I dont see him as some pass rushing nightmare. I am not sure where we are going to get that type of player on the other side.

I agree, my friend.

I share you concerns about the front four. I reckon my intrigue comes from the fact that Thornton potentially will be a big upgrade over Hayden as well as what Collins could bring to the table. I admit that it's all hype and I might be wishful thinking. None of the guys mentioned in the middle are big time playmakers, as you pointed out.

The outside is completely up in the air now and it's extremely disappointing. This defense is the reason that I really don't expect much overall this season.

So pretty much, we have to stay healthy on offense at key positions especially and we have to rely that our defense will make a decent jump from last year with all of the question marks surrounding the lack of talent we have at multiple positions. It's just too many question marks for me.

 

[CrownCowboy]

McClain's big issue is his health.

Granted he is not an earth shattering ballplayer, however he has done some good things when he has been out there. I'm just looking for some consistency at the point of attack and hopefully for a change a healthy year.............knock on wood.

 

[Gameover]

Simply put

Our D isn't stopping anyone especially when it counts...... That's a proven fact.

Nothing has been proven. That's a fact

 

[Gameover]

It's been a hard off season no doubt. I loved our draft but there's been a lot of bad too

What's been hard?

 

[theebs]

lets hope some players catch us by surprise because we are going to need it.

The team needs guys they drafted to come through.

Ryan Russell
Anthony Hitchens
Damien Wilson
anthony brown.

and terrell mcclain needs to play 16 games.

Basically those guys have to be contributing players in some way each week. If they are the suspensions will end up just being offseason distractions.

 

[NEODOG]

Nothing has been proven. That's a fact

Well...... '14 playoffs &' 15 season 4qtr trumps that assumption

Thats PROVEN

 

[Gameover]

We are in trouble with all of these suspensions

How so?

1 guy who should've never been resigned(McClain)

1 guy who has zero career sacks(Gregory)

 

[DandyDon1722]

lets hope some players catch us by surprise because we are going to need it.

Agree - we need that once in a decade "player out of nowhere" to emerge and I've got just the answer.

Charles Tapper needs to be Charles Haley.

 

[Gameover]

Well...... '14 playoffs &' 15 season 4qtr trumps that assumption

Thats PROVEN

ignored

'14 playoffs? I'm sorry, they weren't the '15 Broncos. Spoiled much?

'15 season? You think maybe they were worn down a little?

I hate whinny pukes. No one inpaticular, just in general

 

[Gameover]

12-4

 

[Idgit]

Crawford has been at DE, injured, and had a crappy 1-tech playing next to him. I'll see what he does this year when healthy, at the 3-tech, playing with 1-techs callable of freeing him up. Crawford has been double-teamed a lot due to Hayden's weak play.

McClain pushes the pocket when healthy. http://www.bloggingtheboys.com/2016...-film-review-what-can-he-bring-to-the-cowboys

Crawford's been a really good player for us under the circumstances, both in terms of pressure and run support. It hasn't translated into sacks, and that's why our fans underrate him, but you're right to be excited about him. Thornton, great. I'm happy we got him and he's come on a good deal for us. He'll be an upgrade. I think our fans, again, overrate his impact a bit because they tend to hate Hayden so much and overvalue Eagles players for whatever bad reasons. But he definitely ought to be an improvement.

I see what you like about T McClain, too, when he's out there. He's never out there, though.

I think we'll see a big improvement up the middle this season. That's great, though if we don't get pressure off at least one of the ends, too, it won't matter that much. And we still need to prove that we can handle run contain with Lawrence out the first four weeks.

Big questions at DE in Dallas this season. Yes, we've got some potential answers, but all of them are very unproven. From experience, when you have too many big questions and are relying on too many surprises to help you out, you usually don't get everything you need. We shouldn't really be in this position of rolling the dice when we had so many options for drafting and developing players who could be contributing right now. It's frustrating.

 

[EGTuna]

The biggest issue is a lack of talent and playmakers on Defense, and this can be attributed to atrocious drafting in rounds2-3 the last few years. 2nd and 3rd rounders should make up the bedrock of your team, and Dallas's history with these picks and resulting players has crippled the defense..

2016 Draft:
2nd round Jaylan Smith. Likely won't play this year, no impact
3rd round: Maliek Collins. Already injured, hopefully can contribute, but's obviously a total unknown.

2015 Draft:
2nd round: Randy Gregory. Failed a drug test while already suspended. Best case scenario he plays final 6 games. What impact? Impossible to predict, but would be silly to be optimistic.
3rd round: Chaz Green. Battling to be swing tackle, and has contributed nothing so far. Perhaps he's legitimately Doug Free's replacement. Unknown

2014 Draft:
2nd Round: Demarcus Lawrence. Solid player, and could be a borderline pro-bowler, but is suspended for the first 4 games, so at best we get 12 quality games from him. This is so far the best of the list. That's the problem.
3rd round: Traded away to move up for Lawrence. No player. Never good to trade up within top100 picks.

2013 Draft:
2nd Round: Gavin Escobar. Decent player, but certainly not helping the defense in any way.
3rd round: Terrance WIlliams. Inconsistent, but with a healthy Tony Romo, is a very, very good #2 Wide Receiver.

2012 Draft:
2nd round: Traded away for Mo CLaiborne. Enough said.
3rd round: Tyrone Crawford. Great player in 2014, and production diminished last year due to injuries and no DeMarcus Ware to take attention away as teams focused on Crawford. Hopefully has a bounce-back year.

2011 Draft:
2nd Round: Bruce Carter. Made some plays, but his picture is shown in the dictionary next to "inconsistent". No longer with the team, or the Bucs.
3rd Round: Demarco Murray. Had a great Cowboys career for a 3rd round pick, but the COwboys were wise not pay him.

So there you have it, 5 years of drafts where you should have gotten 12 players and would have hoped 6-8 turned out to be legit starters with pro-bowl potential. Instead we have guys on suspended lists, injured guys who won't play this year (and perhaps never), and mediocre players. Of those listed, TWO are considered good , AND reliable players - Williams and Crawford. Bad drafting will bite you every time. Luckily, with the exception of Claiborne, this team seems to have hit on all their 1st rounders since 2010. Imagine if they hadn't? (shudder).

The offense, if Romo stays healthy, will be exceptional. The defense, if asked to defend for too long, and against too many good QBs and OLs will get destroyed.

 

[StarBoyz83]

They should get at least 10 wins. It's an easy schedule. But they are not contenders this season. I will enjoy this season after last year's hot grabage anyway.

 

[CowboyRoy]

Crawford has been at DE, injured, and had a crappy 1-tech playing next to him. I'll see what he does this year when healthy, at the 3-tech, playing with 1-techs callable of freeing him up. Crawford has been double-teamed a lot due to Hayden's weak play.

McClain pushes the pocket when healthy. http://www.bloggingtheboys.com/2016...-film-review-what-can-he-bring-to-the-cowboys

Im just saying, but I really think you should up your standards a bit for this team and the expectations of the players. I know we have been lucky to make the playoffs the last 20 years, but if we are trying to build a championship team many of these cats on the defense especially wont do. We need play makers, difference makers and disruptive defensive guys. People that offenses have to game plan for. I dont see one of those players on our defense. Sean lee is great, but I dont see him as an intimidating force on defense.