Posted by Taz
Profootballtalk.com goes after Todd McShay and the rest of BSPN’s draft experts. While I wouldn’t be surprised that BSPN’s draft talent evaluators are failed scouts, I think it is a little too much to give BSPN responsibility for misleading Woodson, since they have no duty to tell him where he will be taken into the draft.
What is stupider than making power rankings in the middle of the summer when NO ONE knows how a team’s roster is going to shape up? Doing in-depth analysis of this exercise in futility. See here, here, and here. Even the fans can get involved here and here.
Thankfully we have nothing to do with James Hardy, especially since Jerry said he was #1 wide receiver on the Cowboys’ draft board
Everything you ever wanted to know about the process of random urine screenings.
Hopefully this is true. Then again, a month and a half ago they were secretly married, so who the heck knows?
Parcells and physical conditioning.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
COWBOYS - What to do with Roy
Posted by Taz:
I think most of you have heard about the latest Roy Williams controversy. In case you have not, then see here and here for a general summary of what was said. Most people seem to be interesting in using it as an excuse to bash Roy, or point out the obvious fact that Roy and coverage do not go together (see the picture to the right for an example of what happens to opposing players when Roy blows coverage and is making a last ditch effort to avoid giving up the big play). If you want a good disucssion of these problems, Mickey Spagnola’s article sums things up pretty nicely. But, I’m not interesting in Roy bashing (check your usual message board for such comments). Instead, I’m more interested in looking at the effect on the team. What does Roy’s general decline mean for the team?
It is obviously a problem. Despite the fact that there are eleven people on the field at once, it just takes one person screwing up to mess up a team (remember Santana Moss's 2 play, 2 touchdowns in 2005, induced by the secondary)? You can’t really throw extra corners out there and hope that it somehow makes up for Roy. The pass rush can compensate, but even if it does so, at some point, Roy is going to have to cover someone. Also, if you bench him, who replaces him? Do you trust Pat Watkins or Courtney Brown to be the starter? It also doesn't help chemistry. Teammates aren't going to be happy if a starter is constantly hurting the defensive effort of the other 10 players on the field. They have to compensate for this, and even worse, have to deal with the millions of media questions about this.
So now that I have spent a paragraph restating the obvious, there are several things that can happen by the end of this year.
1) Roy gets better at coverage – I don’t see this happening, even though it probably would be the easiest solution. Maybe he will unregress and not become a coverage liability. Or maybe he will somehow learn to fit into the system. I don’t know, but I just don’t see it happening at this point in his career. Maybe Dave Campo can work some magic into him to the point where we do not have to cut him. Don't hold your breath.
2) Position change – we could move him to linebacker. He did play linebacker on the nickel defense last year. Of course, this assumes a) that he would be effective at stopping the run as a 3-4 linebacker, and b) he would be starting, because you aren’t paying “pro bowl safety” money to a backup linebacker. I somehow don’t see him being able to take on guards (as inside linebackers do in the 3-4) or supplanting Ware or Ellis/Spencer at OLB. So I see this less likely than the first option.
3) Trade him – I know Cowboys fans want to do this. In fact, if you read message boards, they are probably wondering if we can send him and Bobby Carpenter for Boldin, Roy Williams the WR, Chad Johnson, or any other fantasy trade that fans seem to make that disregard the salary cap implications and the fact that any GM not named Matt Millen would trade quality players for a guy who is getting $4-6 million safety who fears coverage. Don't see this happening either.
(And before you complain that I do not have the accurate number, it’s not the easiest thing to find. I searched all over the internet and even looked through Dallas’s media guide, which does not mention cap figures. Instead, it contains such priceless information, such as mentioning that Richie Cunningham was the NFC kicker of the year in 1997 (page 195), Ken Hamlin was in National Honor Society in high school (page 93), Jason Garrett is a resident of Dallas (page 15), and that former General Manager Tex Schramm helped create the quarterback ball spike to stop the clock (page 347). I saw in an article it was $4-6 million, but I’m not sure (blogging isn’t my day job). So correct me if I am wrong. The only website I could find gave Roy’s base salary for last year, but no incentives. It did also tell me that Bobby Carpenter made $5 million. No comment. But if anyone knows where the heck accurate salary info is, please comment below).
Anyways, I don’t see us trading him for anything higher than a mid-round draft pick, but then again Matt Millen is still inexplicitly employed, so you never know if he finds a “WR Roy Williams for SS Roy Williams” trade amusing enough to pull the trigger on.
4) Cut him – I think this is the most likely. We play him this year, see if he improves to the level of serviceable, and then cut him at the end of the year, when the salary hit is more palatable. It may not be the most ideal outcome, and there is no guarantee his replacement will not cause more problems. But the problems we currently have will probably force the team to make such a change.
5) Deal with it and keep him through his contract. – well, we can just keep him on the roster and deal with it. This is probably the one thing that fans don’t want to see. I don’t think this will happen, since the Cowboys will want to upgrade the position at some point for someone younger, cheaper, and possibly better. But you never know.
UPDATE: I found Roy's actual salary cap hit here
I think most of you have heard about the latest Roy Williams controversy. In case you have not, then see here and here for a general summary of what was said. Most people seem to be interesting in using it as an excuse to bash Roy, or point out the obvious fact that Roy and coverage do not go together (see the picture to the right for an example of what happens to opposing players when Roy blows coverage and is making a last ditch effort to avoid giving up the big play). If you want a good disucssion of these problems, Mickey Spagnola’s article sums things up pretty nicely. But, I’m not interesting in Roy bashing (check your usual message board for such comments). Instead, I’m more interested in looking at the effect on the team. What does Roy’s general decline mean for the team?
It is obviously a problem. Despite the fact that there are eleven people on the field at once, it just takes one person screwing up to mess up a team (remember Santana Moss's 2 play, 2 touchdowns in 2005, induced by the secondary)? You can’t really throw extra corners out there and hope that it somehow makes up for Roy. The pass rush can compensate, but even if it does so, at some point, Roy is going to have to cover someone. Also, if you bench him, who replaces him? Do you trust Pat Watkins or Courtney Brown to be the starter? It also doesn't help chemistry. Teammates aren't going to be happy if a starter is constantly hurting the defensive effort of the other 10 players on the field. They have to compensate for this, and even worse, have to deal with the millions of media questions about this.
So now that I have spent a paragraph restating the obvious, there are several things that can happen by the end of this year.
1) Roy gets better at coverage – I don’t see this happening, even though it probably would be the easiest solution. Maybe he will unregress and not become a coverage liability. Or maybe he will somehow learn to fit into the system. I don’t know, but I just don’t see it happening at this point in his career. Maybe Dave Campo can work some magic into him to the point where we do not have to cut him. Don't hold your breath.
2) Position change – we could move him to linebacker. He did play linebacker on the nickel defense last year. Of course, this assumes a) that he would be effective at stopping the run as a 3-4 linebacker, and b) he would be starting, because you aren’t paying “pro bowl safety” money to a backup linebacker. I somehow don’t see him being able to take on guards (as inside linebackers do in the 3-4) or supplanting Ware or Ellis/Spencer at OLB. So I see this less likely than the first option.
3) Trade him – I know Cowboys fans want to do this. In fact, if you read message boards, they are probably wondering if we can send him and Bobby Carpenter for Boldin, Roy Williams the WR, Chad Johnson, or any other fantasy trade that fans seem to make that disregard the salary cap implications and the fact that any GM not named Matt Millen would trade quality players for a guy who is getting $4-6 million safety who fears coverage. Don't see this happening either.
(And before you complain that I do not have the accurate number, it’s not the easiest thing to find. I searched all over the internet and even looked through Dallas’s media guide, which does not mention cap figures. Instead, it contains such priceless information, such as mentioning that Richie Cunningham was the NFC kicker of the year in 1997 (page 195), Ken Hamlin was in National Honor Society in high school (page 93), Jason Garrett is a resident of Dallas (page 15), and that former General Manager Tex Schramm helped create the quarterback ball spike to stop the clock (page 347). I saw in an article it was $4-6 million, but I’m not sure (blogging isn’t my day job). So correct me if I am wrong. The only website I could find gave Roy’s base salary for last year, but no incentives. It did also tell me that Bobby Carpenter made $5 million. No comment. But if anyone knows where the heck accurate salary info is, please comment below).
Anyways, I don’t see us trading him for anything higher than a mid-round draft pick, but then again Matt Millen is still inexplicitly employed, so you never know if he finds a “WR Roy Williams for SS Roy Williams” trade amusing enough to pull the trigger on.
4) Cut him – I think this is the most likely. We play him this year, see if he improves to the level of serviceable, and then cut him at the end of the year, when the salary hit is more palatable. It may not be the most ideal outcome, and there is no guarantee his replacement will not cause more problems. But the problems we currently have will probably force the team to make such a change.
5) Deal with it and keep him through his contract. – well, we can just keep him on the roster and deal with it. This is probably the one thing that fans don’t want to see. I don’t think this will happen, since the Cowboys will want to upgrade the position at some point for someone younger, cheaper, and possibly better. But you never know.
UPDATE: I found Roy's actual salary cap hit here
Monday, May 12, 2008
COWBOYS - Tony Romo tries Jessica's line of work
In case if you have been living in a cave for the past three days, and the first thing you did after got out is come to this website.
http://ballhype.com/video/tony_romo_seventh_inning_stretch/
http://ballhype.com/video/tony_romo_seventh_inning_stretch/
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Links I Find Amusing
Posted by Taz:
Here is ESPN’s Ultimate Standings – an “objective” measure of fan satisfaction with their team. I’m not convinced how accurate a system is where Dallas is ranked above the Giants in fan satisfaction, yet in the last decade, the Giants have two super Bowl appearances and a Super Bowl win, while the Cowboys are still looking for a playoff win.
Some media writer actually cares about offensive linemen (or it is a really slow week in the news department).
The Eagles Cheerleaders care about the environment. (Actually, I wanted an excuse to post this picture).
The O.J. Simpson story just gets crazier.
The last place I want to be in is the middle of this.
Power polls in the middle of the offseason, when NO ONE knows how good any of the rookies will do are fairly annoying, and trying to liven it up with superhero quotes doesn’t help.
Here is ESPN’s Ultimate Standings – an “objective” measure of fan satisfaction with their team. I’m not convinced how accurate a system is where Dallas is ranked above the Giants in fan satisfaction, yet in the last decade, the Giants have two super Bowl appearances and a Super Bowl win, while the Cowboys are still looking for a playoff win.
Some media writer actually cares about offensive linemen (or it is a really slow week in the news department).
The Eagles Cheerleaders care about the environment. (Actually, I wanted an excuse to post this picture).
The O.J. Simpson story just gets crazier.
The last place I want to be in is the middle of this.
Power polls in the middle of the offseason, when NO ONE knows how good any of the rookies will do are fairly annoying, and trying to liven it up with superhero quotes doesn’t help.
Friday, May 9, 2008
COWBOYS - Rookie Mini Camp
Posted by Taz
By now, I bet most of you Cowboys fans who have been starving for football news in the start of football's "dead zone" have been hearing a bit about rookie mini camp. Because I am football starved as well, I've been reading 15 different journalists write the same 3 articles about a couple days of practice between rookies and last year's practice squad.
So what do we know from minicamp? Absolutley nothing.
How can we know anything after one minicamp? First of all, these are rookies going up against other rookies. I'm not too impressed that they can beat up on other rookies. I'll be more impressed if they can block the Giants' boatload of DEs or cover Washington's plethora of #2 receivers. Second, in two weeks, they went from college students to being thrown into a NFL minicamp, in which they were given a ton of new information and forced to play against competition equal or better to them, (somthing they probably did not experience too much of in college). So, there may be a bit of an adjustment period, in which they look like utter morons.
(On a random aside, I really hate when every year, college football mediots take that year's "Greatest College Football Team Ever" and say that they could beat the worst team in the NFL. How stupid is that, considering that few players from these college teams go to the NFL and become productive players? And of those college players who will go to the NFL, they still are undeveloped college players at this point. Yes, LSU/USC/Oklahoma can run it up against Northcentral Rhode Island State PolyTech, but how woud they fair against the Miami Dolphins, whose practice squad players are probably better than 95% of those on that college team?)
Ok, back to rookie camp. The problem here is that we all want information if our draft picks are busts and if "undrafted WR we think got shafted in the draft will make the team so we spend the season bitching on message boards about how we think he should start over Patrick Crayton" will actually live up to his potential.
But we don't know that information. No one does. We won't know until the end of training camp, if not later in the season. Which sucks because now we are going hear about the Felix Jones v. Rashard Mendenhall debate until we see both of them play in real games (and then still probably hear about it some more). Or about how undrafted Danny Amendola is going to be the next Wes Welker (or other productive NFL player). Just like Sam Hurd before him, and Patrick Crayton before him. And Randal Williams? Remember how we all loved him because how he was so quick and had so much potential? Remember when the Eagles decided to do an onside kick to start the game, he took it back for a TD? Stupid Eagles. Remember how he had one reception as a Cowboy? Remember Woody Danzler? He also had a memorable return, and yet is in the Arena League at this moment. You get the point.
Go look on a Cowboys message board and you will see a ton of man love for Amendola. Never mind that the deck is stacked against him because the Cowboys are returning their top 4 receivers from last year, there is a possibility that Glenn will come back (I don't beleive it myself), and the coaches want to see what Stanback can do. There is also the fact that Texas Tech receivers usually are labled as system receivers and do not make it in the leauge (Welker is the exception). I love it when 7th rounders and undrafted rookies make it onto a roster. But you can't expect it. We all had man love for these guys listed above, and so far, only Patrick Crayton has shown that he will be a player in the NFL. There is a reason these players were undrafted. While I would like to see these people make it, there is a good chance it does not happen.
Unfortunetly, it will be three months of speculation before we can start knowing.
And this is why I hate this summer (in addition to the fact that I have to spend the next two months relearning all of law school so I can pass the bar and not be fired from the job I recently stumbled into). So unfortunetly, we have to have patience.
By now, I bet most of you Cowboys fans who have been starving for football news in the start of football's "dead zone" have been hearing a bit about rookie mini camp. Because I am football starved as well, I've been reading 15 different journalists write the same 3 articles about a couple days of practice between rookies and last year's practice squad.
So what do we know from minicamp? Absolutley nothing.
How can we know anything after one minicamp? First of all, these are rookies going up against other rookies. I'm not too impressed that they can beat up on other rookies. I'll be more impressed if they can block the Giants' boatload of DEs or cover Washington's plethora of #2 receivers. Second, in two weeks, they went from college students to being thrown into a NFL minicamp, in which they were given a ton of new information and forced to play against competition equal or better to them, (somthing they probably did not experience too much of in college). So, there may be a bit of an adjustment period, in which they look like utter morons.
(On a random aside, I really hate when every year, college football mediots take that year's "Greatest College Football Team Ever" and say that they could beat the worst team in the NFL. How stupid is that, considering that few players from these college teams go to the NFL and become productive players? And of those college players who will go to the NFL, they still are undeveloped college players at this point. Yes, LSU/USC/Oklahoma can run it up against Northcentral Rhode Island State PolyTech, but how woud they fair against the Miami Dolphins, whose practice squad players are probably better than 95% of those on that college team?)
Ok, back to rookie camp. The problem here is that we all want information if our draft picks are busts and if "undrafted WR we think got shafted in the draft will make the team so we spend the season bitching on message boards about how we think he should start over Patrick Crayton" will actually live up to his potential.
But we don't know that information. No one does. We won't know until the end of training camp, if not later in the season. Which sucks because now we are going hear about the Felix Jones v. Rashard Mendenhall debate until we see both of them play in real games (and then still probably hear about it some more). Or about how undrafted Danny Amendola is going to be the next Wes Welker (or other productive NFL player). Just like Sam Hurd before him, and Patrick Crayton before him. And Randal Williams? Remember how we all loved him because how he was so quick and had so much potential? Remember when the Eagles decided to do an onside kick to start the game, he took it back for a TD? Stupid Eagles. Remember how he had one reception as a Cowboy? Remember Woody Danzler? He also had a memorable return, and yet is in the Arena League at this moment. You get the point.
Go look on a Cowboys message board and you will see a ton of man love for Amendola. Never mind that the deck is stacked against him because the Cowboys are returning their top 4 receivers from last year, there is a possibility that Glenn will come back (I don't beleive it myself), and the coaches want to see what Stanback can do. There is also the fact that Texas Tech receivers usually are labled as system receivers and do not make it in the leauge (Welker is the exception). I love it when 7th rounders and undrafted rookies make it onto a roster. But you can't expect it. We all had man love for these guys listed above, and so far, only Patrick Crayton has shown that he will be a player in the NFL. There is a reason these players were undrafted. While I would like to see these people make it, there is a good chance it does not happen.
Unfortunetly, it will be three months of speculation before we can start knowing.
And this is why I hate this summer (in addition to the fact that I have to spend the next two months relearning all of law school so I can pass the bar and not be fired from the job I recently stumbled into). So unfortunetly, we have to have patience.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
COWBOYS- Chris Henry?
http://sports.aol.com/fanhouse/2008/05/06/did-the-dallas-cowboys-free-chris-henry-from-house-arrest/ I hope this isn't true...but if it is.
Right now, all of us are in the middle of law school finals...so next week, we will be posting more draft analysis, random links, and I'll rant on the Cowboys' bad luck charm (Jessica Simpson).
Right now, all of us are in the middle of law school finals...so next week, we will be posting more draft analysis, random links, and I'll rant on the Cowboys' bad luck charm (Jessica Simpson).
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