Cajuncowboy
Preacher From The Black Lagoon
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I got to thinking about the issues this teams has and what we would be needing going forward to improve. There were so many that it was easier to focus on what we don't need and use it as a process of elimination and also to lift my spirits a bit heading into the long drought of no Cowboys football.
QB- Romo is still one of the top QB in the league. He can be frustrating at times but I think most of his mistakes are caused by others errors. (Bad routes, no blocking, poor play calls). His back up is really an unproven player and I would like to see someone else behind him but if Stephen McGee is it so be it. Not that big of a deal.
RB- This is one of the brightest spots on the team, surprisingly. Providing Murray makes a full recovery. He along with Felix Jones Phillip Tanner and who knows with Sammy Morris, this is a pretty strong position. I imagine we will end up allowing Morris to leave because of the upside to Tanner combined with Morris' age.
WR- Another strong area for us. Austin, Bryant and Robinson (providing we resign him) gives us one of the best triumvirates of receivers in the league. We also have some decent depth as well with Holly and Harris. As a matter of fact, I wouldn't mind seeing us trade Austin for some DB help and moving Holley into the #3 role. Witten is a hofer and I like Phillips. Marty B? Eh, I can take him or leave him.
After that process of elimination here is what I think we should look for in order of priority.
Secondary. We are horrendous. The Jets have Revis Island. We have Gilligan's Island. The only guy in the secondary that I have any confidence in is Jenkins. Other than that it's a group of castaways who can't figure out how to patch a hole in a boat to get off the island. And none of them are sexy like Mary Ann.
This is kinda where I think we have to nut up and make a move. I think a trade could be made to move Austin (a deep position) to help shore up this area. I also think we need to be smart in the draft as well with respect to filling in some young talent here as well.
LBers. I love Ware and Lee. I don't know what we have in Carter and I dang sure don't think Brookings and James need to be here. Spencer has been lackluster and while he has had some good games, they certainly are fewer and further between that what one would expect from a first round draft pick. We have to get more pressure opposite of Ware.
Oline needs fixed. Moving Smith to LT will solve some of the issues and I would love to see a big mean guard loaded up along side of him. Free was too often made the whipping boy by some of the leagues best pass rushers and he wilted under the pressure. He might be better suited to RT. Oddly I am comfortable with the center position provided Costa improves and Kowalski is given the chance to take the job. I think Killer played well in the games where he had the chance. Maybe a complete off season and he can be THAT guy.
Special teams- Overall a so-so unit. But we need more than that. McBriar is great and I am sure he will recover from his injury. Bailey has been a bright spot for us and regardless of the two misses that cost us games, one never should have happened and the other was just a great play made by JPP. Where this unit gets low scores is from the coverage teams. Breakdowns and mental mistakes have killed this unit and has cost us a lot of field position.
Coaching- There won't be any changes made as much as I hate to say that. The one area where Garrett was supposed to be so good at, being a genius, proved to be a weak point in that he doesn't understand game flow and game management. This was, for the most part an unimaginative offense. Maybe it was the fact that the players didn't grasp the system but that has to fall on the coach to have the team ready.
I had all kinds of high expectations for Rob Ryan. I was excited about his style of defense coming to Dallas. What I found was a guy who thought his scheme was bigger than his players and no matter how bad the players was at trying to grasp the scheme or executing it, by god, he was going to run his scheme. His arrogance wasn't backed up by his execution. He also showed an inability to adjust to the game situation. I think his rep was damaged enough that he won't be getting a HC interview anytime soon, but in Jerry's eyes, not enough to look elsewhere.
Decamillus needs to be let go. This unit has underperformed on coverage again and they have too many mental breakdowns.
And of course GM- We all know nothing is ever going to change here. While Jerry isn't afraid to spend money to get good players here, he doesn't know nearly enough about players and personnel as the other GMs around the league. I think we just have to hope that the blind squirrel finds and acorn every now and then.
Overall, there are some very positive things about this team and there are some glaring weaknesses. Most of the weaknesses can be addressed and I hope they are. Either way, I will be a Cowboys fan no matter what and will be there every game day rooting and hoping for the best.
QB- Romo is still one of the top QB in the league. He can be frustrating at times but I think most of his mistakes are caused by others errors. (Bad routes, no blocking, poor play calls). His back up is really an unproven player and I would like to see someone else behind him but if Stephen McGee is it so be it. Not that big of a deal.
RB- This is one of the brightest spots on the team, surprisingly. Providing Murray makes a full recovery. He along with Felix Jones Phillip Tanner and who knows with Sammy Morris, this is a pretty strong position. I imagine we will end up allowing Morris to leave because of the upside to Tanner combined with Morris' age.
WR- Another strong area for us. Austin, Bryant and Robinson (providing we resign him) gives us one of the best triumvirates of receivers in the league. We also have some decent depth as well with Holly and Harris. As a matter of fact, I wouldn't mind seeing us trade Austin for some DB help and moving Holley into the #3 role. Witten is a hofer and I like Phillips. Marty B? Eh, I can take him or leave him.
After that process of elimination here is what I think we should look for in order of priority.
Secondary. We are horrendous. The Jets have Revis Island. We have Gilligan's Island. The only guy in the secondary that I have any confidence in is Jenkins. Other than that it's a group of castaways who can't figure out how to patch a hole in a boat to get off the island. And none of them are sexy like Mary Ann.
This is kinda where I think we have to nut up and make a move. I think a trade could be made to move Austin (a deep position) to help shore up this area. I also think we need to be smart in the draft as well with respect to filling in some young talent here as well.
LBers. I love Ware and Lee. I don't know what we have in Carter and I dang sure don't think Brookings and James need to be here. Spencer has been lackluster and while he has had some good games, they certainly are fewer and further between that what one would expect from a first round draft pick. We have to get more pressure opposite of Ware.
Oline needs fixed. Moving Smith to LT will solve some of the issues and I would love to see a big mean guard loaded up along side of him. Free was too often made the whipping boy by some of the leagues best pass rushers and he wilted under the pressure. He might be better suited to RT. Oddly I am comfortable with the center position provided Costa improves and Kowalski is given the chance to take the job. I think Killer played well in the games where he had the chance. Maybe a complete off season and he can be THAT guy.
Special teams- Overall a so-so unit. But we need more than that. McBriar is great and I am sure he will recover from his injury. Bailey has been a bright spot for us and regardless of the two misses that cost us games, one never should have happened and the other was just a great play made by JPP. Where this unit gets low scores is from the coverage teams. Breakdowns and mental mistakes have killed this unit and has cost us a lot of field position.
Coaching- There won't be any changes made as much as I hate to say that. The one area where Garrett was supposed to be so good at, being a genius, proved to be a weak point in that he doesn't understand game flow and game management. This was, for the most part an unimaginative offense. Maybe it was the fact that the players didn't grasp the system but that has to fall on the coach to have the team ready.
I had all kinds of high expectations for Rob Ryan. I was excited about his style of defense coming to Dallas. What I found was a guy who thought his scheme was bigger than his players and no matter how bad the players was at trying to grasp the scheme or executing it, by god, he was going to run his scheme. His arrogance wasn't backed up by his execution. He also showed an inability to adjust to the game situation. I think his rep was damaged enough that he won't be getting a HC interview anytime soon, but in Jerry's eyes, not enough to look elsewhere.
Decamillus needs to be let go. This unit has underperformed on coverage again and they have too many mental breakdowns.
And of course GM- We all know nothing is ever going to change here. While Jerry isn't afraid to spend money to get good players here, he doesn't know nearly enough about players and personnel as the other GMs around the league. I think we just have to hope that the blind squirrel finds and acorn every now and then.
Overall, there are some very positive things about this team and there are some glaring weaknesses. Most of the weaknesses can be addressed and I hope they are. Either way, I will be a Cowboys fan no matter what and will be there every game day rooting and hoping for the best.
