WR a Postion of Strength for Cowboys

[cowboyjoe]

WR a Postioni of Strength for Cowboys
WR a position of strength for Cowboys

May, 13, 2014 May 13
3:00
PM ET

By Calvin Watkins | ESPNDallas

As it stands Tuesday, Dez Bryant and Terrance Williams are the starting wide receivers for the Dallas Cowboys.

Bryant
Team officials don't believe that's a bad thing.

Bryant enters his fifth season coming off his first Pro Bowl appearance and Williams emerged as a solid No. 3 wideout behind Miles Austin and Bryant last season.

But Austin is gone, released in a salary cap move, and while coach Jason Garrett said he's open to the veteran's return, it appears doubtful.

"I think as players get older, sometimes people wait," said team executive Stephen Jones, who expressed surprise that Austin was still a free agent. "Maybe Miles hasn’t signed because he decided, ‘Hey, I’m not ready to sign yet.' Some of these guys as decided as they get older that they want to wait and look at everything, especially if there’s not an offer out there that blows them away."

Harris
The Cowboys had some interest in a veteran wide receiver during the early stages of the free-agency period, but wanted to upgrade their defensive line first.

Nate Burleson, who worked with Scott Linehan in Detroit, was on the market before signing a deal with Cleveland.

In the draft, the Cowboys selected Devin Street from Pittsburgh to compete with Cole Beasley and Dwayne Harris as a No. 3 or No. 4 receiver.

The Cowboys note Street doesn’t have blazing speed, however, he’s a good route runner and has excellent hands. Wide receivers coach Derek Dooley went to Pittsburgh to workout Street and came away impressed.

Beasley
When the 2014 season starts, the Cowboys will have a very young receiving corps, which is a different vibe than we’ve seen in previous seasons.

The Cowboys have had at least one veteran in their 30s from Terrell Owens, Patrick Crayton and Roy Williams. But now, things are on Bryant, who becomes the 25-year-old leader of the group.
http://espn.go.com/blog/dallas/cowbo...medium=twitter
During the voluntary offseason workouts, Bryant has been a called a vocal leader during the weight lifting and running sessions at Valley Ranch. Team officials never want to stifle a player’s voice, and Bryant is one who speaks his mind in a positive way.

This is a critical year for this group, seeing that Bryant is entering the final year of his deal and turning into one of the best receivers in the NFL.

Williams was third on the team in yards (736) and touchdowns (five) last year, and after a few rookie mistakes, proved he could become a trusted player for quarterback Tony Romo. Beasley and Harris are solid backup receivers when used properly. Harris has more value as a returner while Bealsey is a solid receiver from the slot.

And while the Cowboys are looking to get younger at many positions, wide receiver not only does so, but could be a position of strength this upcoming season.

 

[Nation]

Personally I disagree completely. If Dez were to go out with an injury the unit would be toast as you can roll a safety Williams way and press-cover the lot of them. I think there is always going to be a dropoff if a team loses their number one weapon, but you can't call a spot a strength if they'd be as problematic as things would be.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

I do to. What's more, if Dez were to get hurt and the offense were to fall off the map, Calvin, IMO, would not be saying these same things. I just don't get how anybody can look at our team and come to the conclusion that WR is solid. I don't see it at this point but what do I know?

 

[big dog cowboy]

WR a position of strength for Cowboys

I hope so. Because I read we also have a top 5 offense.

 

[Gameover]

Romo would just make another guy.

I think Romo would be better w/o Bryant. It's not like they have amazing chemistry. Most of Dez's production comes from when teams are dumb enough to cover him in single coverage.

 

[cowboyjoe]

I do to. What's more, if Dez were to get hurt and the offense were to fall off the map, Calvin, IMO, would not be saying these same things. I just don't get how anybody can look at our team and come to the conclusion that WR is solid. I don't see it at this point but what do I know?

don't worry with what we drafted at wr, Williams last year, and street this year, and about 5 wrs undrafted, 2 of them could be gems, now granted first year might be rough, till they learn, but we have hit gold this year at wrs, drafted and undrafted

 

[Alexander]

Any time there is this mention of a "strength of the team" something invariably happens to make that statement come back to haunt us.

Just have to hope we hit it big with Devin Street and that maybe Washington and Chris Boyd were lucky pickups. The outside WRs are unproven aside from Bryant as I am still a little skeptical about Williams.

 

[DFWJC]

Personally I disagree completely. If Dez were to go out with an injury the unit would be toast as you can roll a safety Williams way and press-cover the lot of them. I think there is always going to be a dropoff if a team loses their number one weapon, but you can't call a spot a strength if they'd be as problematic as things would be.

Except for maybe 2-3 other WR groups in the league, if you remove a star WR from any group they are gong to be hurting.

 

[Alexander]

Romo would just make another guy.

I think Romo would be better w/o Bryant. It's not like they have amazing chemistry. Most of Dez's production comes from when teams are dumb enough to cover him in single coverage.

A healthy Romo would make another guy. I want to see that he's back to being himself before I figure that.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

don't worry with what we drafted at wr, Williams last year, and street this year, and about 5 wrs undrafted, 2 of them could be gems, now granted first year might be rough, till they learn, but we have hit gold this year at wrs, drafted and undrafted

That remains to be seen and even if that is the case, we still have this season in front of us. We have very, very little behind our starters. If you want to say that the future at WR looks bright, that's fine and I can understand that statement but not "WR is a strength of our team." That's just not accurate IMO.

 

[Deep_South]

Perhaps we could come up with another description besides "position of strength"? The last time I heard this with regard to the Cowboys was a couple of years ago describing our DL. Someone forgot to knock on wood.

 

[CowboyStar88]

A healthy Romo would make another guy. I want to see that he's back to being himself before I figure that.

Don't even reply this guy had been trashing Dez last year and saying things like Williams was the best WR on the team etc... Don't buy the bait

 

[Nova]

Good afternoon, Calvin


Good enough =/= position of strength


Regards,
Ntegrase96

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

I wouldn't call it a strength until I see it. I have faith in Dez. Its the rest of the guys i'm not so sure about. I have faith in Beasley and Harris as #3's or 4's but if Dez gets hurt....I have ZERO faith in Terrance being a #1 or either of those guys for being a #2.

 

[dogunwo]

I do to. What's more, if Dez were to get hurt and the offense were to fall off the map, Calvin, IMO, would not be saying these same things. I just don't get how anybody can look at our team and come to the conclusion that WR is solid. I don't see it at this point but what do I know?

I think it will be solid if one of Street AND one of the UDFA's emerges, which is a lot to ask for.

 

[dogunwo]

Romo would just make another guy.

I think Romo would be better w/o Bryant. It's not like they have amazing chemistry. Most of Dez's production comes from when teams are dumb enough to cover him in single coverage.

What?

 

[CowboysFaninHouston]

Personally I disagree completely. If Dez were to go out with an injury the unit would be toast as you can roll a safety Williams way and press-cover the lot of them. I think there is always going to be a dropoff if a team loses their number one weapon, but you can't call a spot a strength if they'd be as problematic as things would be.

if calvin Johnson goes down Detroit unit is toast. if Julio Jones goes down, Atlanta is toast (well that already happened). that statement is true for 28 out of 32 teams in the league. the facts are that in today's NFL having depth at all of the positions is impossible, even having depth in one position is difficult. usually teams that stay healthy have the best chance during the season and in post season. at this point, dez is not injured. so this is a strength of the team.

 

[TwoDeep3]

Above someone be suggested if Bryant were to fall, then the opposition will role a safety over toward TWill and that settles that.

I suggest they will role the safety toward Bryant and unless TWill can step up and burn them time and again, we will see more of what we saw last year.

Now, having said that, I also believe - if the guard drafted can make a difference with the OL as a whole - the running game will step up and this will create play action and make everyone better.

Remember a few years ago when Romo was brilliant at disguising the draw, and the running game was fairly good?

Now think of the reverse.

The play action causing safeties to think run first. Something that hasn't been a strength for a long time with this team.

It's early and anything can happen. The supporting cast of receivers will need to cause concern for the other team to give Dez some help.

But if this team actually gets a break for a change, this could be an exciting aspect of this team.

The accent is on COULD.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

if calvin Johnson goes down Detroit unit is toast. if Julio Jones goes down, Atlanta is toast (well that already happened). that statement is true for 28 out of 32 teams in the league. the facts are that in today's NFL having depth at all of the positions is impossible, even having depth in one position is difficult. usually teams that stay healthy have the best chance during the season and in post season. at this point, dez is not injured. so this is a strength of the team.

I think there is a difference between a guy going down and bringing in another player who is not as talented and having a guy go down and bringing in a guy who has never caught a pass in the NFL. Nobody is questioning the drop off factor. It's a matter of having guys who at least understand the offense and can give you snaps.

 

[SDCowboy]

I'm very excited to see what Twil can do as the official #2 and a full off season with Romo and the offense.