A. I'm looking for how the RB's will be used. I want the team to continue to stress their strength (running the ball and then throwing over the top). You've got competition between McFadden, Randle and Williams for the top spot and the 2nd spot. Then Dunbar who will presumably be playing for the #3 spot. I want to see if they plan on making the starter more of the bell cow. I also want to see how much the #1 and #2 RB fit into the passing game.
B. I think our biggest weakness, even last year, was the defensive backfield. I'll be in particular focusing on Mo and Patmon. If those two can step it up it would be big for us. I will also be interested in the development of Byron Jones. Romo said he would be the breakout player. He said the same about Crawford last year and I can't tell you how good and underrated Crawford was last year. So perhaps Tony is onto something.
C. With that, I'll be interested to see what role Jones plays. Will he play more corner or more safety. I like Wilcox quite a bit, but Church I'm not overly high on.
D. I'll be looking to see how the offensive play calling changes, if it changes at all. Last year we mostly ran the ball on first down. Then we would usually throw on 2nd down from the shotgun. It worked fantastic, but at times I felt they needed to change it up a little. Especially with getting Romo under center more on 2nd down to make defenses questions if we were throwing or running. With Romo looking healthier, I think we may see more of that. But, QB's always love to throw it and do it from the shotgun.
E. I'll be looking at the linebackers. What are we going to do at MLB with McClain out for the first 4 games?
F. I'll be looking at what they do with Collins. I'm a believer in sticking a young O-Linemen at one particular position and letting them learn that position and perform as well as they are going to perform and then move him to a different position. I think Callahan was a believer in that as well. I think the previous issues we had with the O-Line is that we moved the younger guys around too often. They would play left guard, then right guard, then right tackle and then get some center time in. Too much, too soon. If they move around Collins when unnecessary, I'll be more skeptical of Frank Pollack as an O-Line coach..
G. Randy Gregory. I think we got a great steal in the 2nd round. The more I watch old Nebraska games of him, the more he looks like he should have been a top-5 pick in this draft and likely a top-5 pick in any draft. Really love his technique combined with his long arms and athleticism.
H. Devin Street. What they liked to do with Dwayne Harris is use him to help block because he is a ferocious blocker. In particular, they liked to go with 12 personnel and put Harris and Dez on the outside. This threatened the run because we had 2 TE's and a great blocking WR in Harris. But, we could also throw the ball from there if Dez got single coverage. The problem was that Harris was no threat as a WR, so it limited our passing options in that formation. They started to use that formation with Street a bit last year and it indicated to me that they really liked Street's blocking. He may not provide the wallop that Harris provides with his blocks, but he can still be as effective of a blocker. And because he has a much larger catch radius, he may provide us with a better receiving threat in that formation and we can be even more proficient from 12 personnel.
I. Geoff Swaim. Boy, Hanna really blocked well for us last year and he does have legit speed. But, I always feel uncomfortable with Hanna because he was such a horrible blocker in the previous seasons and he still had some inconsistencies. I'm always a sucker for a good blocker at any position because I don't believe you can have a 'too many good blockers on this team' problem. From what I saw on YouTube, Swaim looked like a ferocious blocker. You never know how one adjusts to the pro game, but he has piqued my interest.
J. Dustin Vaughn. We need to start looking for a replacement for Romo. He's not going to play for forever and all it takes is one injury that no QB in their mid 30's is going to come back from. Last year, I saw Vaughn as a big kid with a good enough arm to play in this league and with nice athleticism. He had really good pocket presence which to me, is the #1 priority for any QB in this league. If you don't have pocket presence, you're screwed. I don't know if he has the arm or athleticism to become a quality starter in this league, but hopefully we'll get more of an answer this year.
YR
