Veteran player with the most to prove to you?

[sureletsrace]

Read the question carefully.

Which veteran player on the Cowboys has the most to prove to you as a fan of the Dallas Cowboys? This is a personal question, meaning I want an answer based on who you want to prove something to you, not necessarily to JJ, JG, or anyone else. Try to keep it to more established veterans, meaning 3-4+ years in the NFL.

I want Brandon Carr to prove to me that he was worth the big contract. I like him, but I'm not enamored. He needs to establish himself as a top 10-12 CB in the NFL. He showed some last year, especially with that clutch pick in OT vs the steelers, but I want to see more.

 

[JBS]

Romo. Easily.

Silence all the haters already.

 

[Idgit]

Probably Ratliff for me, just because he's had a string of injuries but is still capable of playing at a very high level.

I think Vickers gets cut.
I don't worry too much about the veteran OGs, though one or more could lose their jobs.
I've got low expectations for the veteran S.

Miles would be another on the list of vets I'd like to see perform. Tryon Smith ought to improve, too, in his third year.

 

[DenCWBY]

Read the question carefully.

Which veteran player on the Cowboys has the most to prove to you as a fan of the Dallas Cowboys? This is a personal question, meaning I want an answer based on who you want to prove something to you, not necessarily to JJ, JG, or anyone else. Try to keep it to more established veterans, meaning 3-4+ years in the NFL.

I want Brandon Carr to prove to me that he was worth the big contract. I like him, but I'm not enamored. He needs to establish himself as a top 10-12 CB in the NFL. He showed some last year, especially with that clutch pick in OT vs the steelers, but I want to see more.

Demarcus Ware,
I was disappointed with DWare last season and he looked atrocious towards the end of the season. I know some of that was due to injuries however I want to see him prove he can stay healthy and to be effective for not just a few plays but throughout the whole game.
He also had been given excuses that Ryans D scheme was a part of the problem so I'll give him grace however I would like to see him put a full season together and see him get better as the season rolls on, not worse.

 

[unionjack8]

Ratliff, even when not injured his play has declined dramatically.
He needs to prove he can be a true disruptive pass rusher or his 8m/yr is history after this season.

 

[Future]

Demarcus Ware,
I was disappointed with DWare last season and he looked atrocious towards the end of the season. I know some of that was due to injuries however I want to see him prove he can stay healthy and to be effective for not just a few plays but throughout the whole game.

I think anyone along the OLine could be a choice, but I agree with this. Whatever the reason was, regardless of sack totals, he was not nearly as much of a force last year as he has been in the past.

 

[CF74]

I don't know about proving something to me but I would really like to see Hatcher have a career year, especially since we are switching to the 4-3 and he might have more one on one situations...

 

[RoyTheHammer]

I'd have to go with Murray or Romo.

Murray needs to prove he can be the guy already and not be injured every other game.

Romo needs to silence the guys saying he can't win the big game already. Hopefully, this is the year he puts the team on his back and takes us to the promised land.

 

[nalam]

Miles Austin
Demarco to some extend

If they can play 16 games our offense would be explosive and half of our problems will be solved.

Now whole D needs to step up, last year decimated by key injury one after another , should get a break now.

 

[Apollo Creed]

Dez Bryant, kid can take over games by himself and be the difference in 8-8 and 11-5.

And Jason Garrett, the game management issues are inexcusable for an ivy league educated genius when average fans know when to challenge and manage then clock better than him. He can be the difference between 11-5 and 8-8 in how well he gives his team a chance at the end of each game.

 

[DBOY3141]

Sean Lee.

Stay healthy for 16 games and show for a whole year what we have seen in small glimpses. Become the unquestioned leader of this defense and truly earn that contract extension.

 

[FiveRings]

Smiles

Dude has been such a disappointment with the exception of like ten or so games. His hammies cost us every year

 

[RoyTheHammer]

Smiles

Dude has been such a disappointment with the exception of like ten or so games. His hammies cost us every year

I'd actually vote him as the guy who takes much more crap than he deserves. He can't control when he's going to be injured, but since his breakout year, he's has 3 1000 yard seasons out of 4, and the other year he was hurt for half the games so didn't have a chance to get to 1000 yds.

 

[Lodeus]

Miles Austin
Demarco to some extend

If they can play 16 games our offense would be explosive and half of our problems will be solved.

Now whole D needs to step up, last year decimated by key injury one after another , should get a break now.

This.

 

[JPostSam]

ratliff.

he needs to prove that he can earn a paycheck for another year.

you can't really say that for romo, miles, or anyone else in the comments above.

 

[Blue Eyed Devil]

Ratliff. I'm just not sure he has it anymore. I think he might have been banged around on that nose too many times by guards that outweigh him by 50lbs and taken too many injuries.

 

[Bluefin]

Probably Ratliff for me, just because he's had a string of injuries but is still capable of playing at a very high level.

Miles would be another on the list of vets I'd like to see perform.

Jay Ratliff (6 QB hits in 6 games) and Miles Austin (900+ yds playing injured) are two players who appear capable of ascending again if their health allows.

Demarcus Ware, Sean Lee and Bruce Carter are others capable of big years where the main concern is just staying healthy (all players get dinged but asking one arm Ware to log 50+ snaps per game last Dec was insane).

Injury concerns aside, the players I want to see step up are Orlando Scandrick and Jermey Parnell.

Scandrick is a good player, but he doesn't have a nose for the football when playing lots of man coverage. It's completely the opposite when in zone (which we saw in late 2010 under Paul Pasqualoni) and the team should play lots more of it now with Monte Kiffin.

He also has a knack for timing slot blitzes.

Parnell is dripping with potential (most athletic OL, strongest hand punch Mike Woicik has ever recorded) while remaining incredibly green after playing basketball and only one year of football as a defensive reserve in college.

Opportunity is knocking, Parnell will be in direct competition with Doug Free for the starting RT job this summer. Is he ready?

 

[Echo9]

Ratliff, even when not injured his play has declined dramatically.
He needs to prove he can be a true disruptive pass rusher or his 8m/yr is history after this season.

That's false. When healthy he was very disruptive last year. He does have to prove he can stay healthy though.

 

[Eskimo]

Let's put it this way - what veteran player has nothing to prove out there after last year.

Did a single vet play at close to his all-time peak form. Even Witten faces questions about speed and lower ypc. I guess you could say Hatcher since he's played at his peak the last two years but as you get into your 30s you've got to show yourself every year. You could say Spencer but he has to show the double digit sacks was no fluke.

On the plus side with so many guys coming off injury with either games missed or only partial efficacy due to injury it may not take much to go right for us to surprise everyone next year.

Anyhow, to answer the OP I'm going to nominate Austin. I understood the 2010 season with Kitna's weak arm unable to get the ball downfield. I also understood 2011 with those hamstring injuries that acted up after he dominated the 49ers game and pulled us to victory. I want to see the Miles that routinely took over games in 2009 and showed signs of doing it again in 2011 before the hammies acted up. Last year it really looked like he was hampered all year and didn't have that top gear that he used to have. The last time I saw it was when he was torching Seattle in 2011 before his hamstring got tight on that 40 yard snag down the sideline. If that Miles comes back this year with the current version of Dez we could break some records.

 

[Echo9]

Probably Ratliff for me, just because he's had a string of injuries but is still capable of playing at a very high level.

I think Vickers gets cut.
I don't worry too much about the veteran OGs, though one or more could lose their jobs.
I've got low expectations for the veteran S.

Miles would be another on the list of vets I'd like to see perform. Tryon Smith ought to improve, too, in his third year.

I'd like to see Tyron be a truly dominant LT in his 3rd year. It was tough to gauge his progress last because it was sometime difficult to know whether he was underperforming, or Livings was not meshing well. Some of the blame can also be placed on the Center (snap counts, etc). Overall I hope we can settle the starting 5 on the OL fairly quickly. Lack of cohesiveness was as much of a problem as lack of talent on the OL last year.

I'd add Ratliff to the list also, in that I hope he proves me right. I believe that he can be a monster at the 3 tech if he can stay healthy. Too bad he's only got a few years left.