Good News Travels Fast, Part II

Parcells has seen an awful lot of rookies. He is laughing and smiling again at press conference. I think he is tickled to death with his new additions to his team.

Tyson Thompson is a undrafted Rookie FA…….he also likes Polite at FB, and Pettiti Ratliff 6th and 7th rounders? Rumors Pettiti could compete at RT?

Just seeing Parcells smiling again……..and you know he likes this years draft class and undrafted rookie FAs……..

I feel good about the Draft, we finally look like we got some good young pass rushers. I say if the rookie is the best you got play them.

LAUSAKA POLITE- Fullback

Cowboys.com states that Parcells was full of praise for this guy- said he was on of the strongest guys on our team and really smart.

While he had good things to say about our new rookies, when asked, Parcells made two references praising Polite without even being asked….

This guyâ€â"¢s name doesnâ€â"¢t ring a bell. Is he a rookie FA? Was he with us last year? I thought only rookies are camp right now?

Sorry, it’s LOUSAKA POLITE, fullback.

It was a bunch of rookies out there. Last year Bradie James looked good. I’m a Bill believer but until I see some preason I ain’t listening to none of this.

Does anyone know the status of veteran safety Cory Hall. Rumor had it he signed with Atlanta and he does not show on their roster? I know the Cowboys had an intrest in this player? Let me know what’s going on?
John

Maddrich,

Polite was an undrafted FA last year from Pitt. He was one of the more prized guys they signed after round seven.

don,

yah its rookies but they have to start somewhere. to me if bp is smiling and giving praise to people he means it, bradie wasnt all bad either. theres nothing wrong with optimism

another thing is cory hall is still available i wonder if there has been any talks to him for the fs spot? dont know if it would be worth looking at him or trying to develope a rookie for it.

im liking the comments on polite alot i dont see us using a fb alot but when we do its nice to have 1 that cn block first and be a threat out of the backfield as well.

Can’t we use Bradie James and Kevin Burnett? We could use one as another ILB and the other as a OLB

This team is now "packed " with talent.If everyone turns out to be as good as promised or close,we should have a hell of a team.Reports from the ranch have also stated that there very well might be more FA pick ups after BP has a chance to see what he actually has to work with.In any event,this team is definately headed in the right direction!

what did CROWDER run the 40 in??????

Burnett should be good in pass coverage, He played safety his first year at Tennessee.

Andy Z,

They could use both James and Burnett, but in a 4-3, they’re both fighting for the weakside position. In a 3-4, I’m guessing that Ware and Thornton are the OLBs, with Nguyen at one ILB position and James and Burnett again fighting for the other ILB spot.

If this doesn’t light a fire under Bradie James, nothing will.

Wow. Isn’t it good to have so many options and fire power at your disposal. Last year we were complaining about having 1 or 2 good players on defense. This year seems to be different. Ware, James, Thornton, Burnett and Nguyen….I ain’t complaining, I’m smiling. Offenses around the league are now put on notice. Spear, Glover, Ellis, Ferguson etc…Now if only we could find ourselves a RT. If we did that, you couldn’t slap the smile from my face. Bring on football season.

Rafael that was Zach’s question,but thanks for the info!And I agree,and can add that our upcomming scheme variances will facilitate many linebackers with various degrees of skill and expertise.:P

K Thornton. What was so great about him and why are some folks penciling him in as a starter? I know he recorded a sack in preseason and earned praise from Parcells, but what did he do during the 16 games to jump from barely making the team to starting in our new, retooled, hot defense?

Not much.

Until further notice, Thornton is exactly what he showed us: an undrafted FA who caught Bill’s attention and performed just well enough to make 53 man roster and some active rosters last season.

I’d say the LB positions are all up for grabs with the probable exception of Dat Nguyen who will start in the middle — though maybe he’ll rest occasionally when we’re playing 3-4.

peace.

btw., here’s the skinny on Thornton from 1 year ago (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/2004/draft/players/47132.html)

Position: DE
Class: Sr
School: Texas
Conference: Big 12
Ht., Wt.: 6’2½, 275
40 Time: 4.89
Grade: 3.21

BIO: Totaled 51/9/4 as a senior after 28/5/2.5 during his junior campaign in which he battled injuries. Named as both an all-conference and all-academic player in the past.

POSITIVES: Hard-working pass rusher who improved his game as a senior. Breaks down well, bends his knees and rushes the edge with speed. Tough to move off the point, stays on his feet and immediately redirects to the action. Disciplined, immediately locates the ball and works hard to defend the run or rush the passer.

NEGATIVES: Lacks bulk and strength, handled by opposing tight ends and slow to shed. Lacks the top edge speed and overall explosion.

ANALYSIS: A productive lineman four years running at Texas, Thornton has flown under the radar screen because of only marginal size-speed numbers. Has the skills to be a backup at the next level and to his credit has shown a steady line of progress the past twelve months.

PROJECTION: Undrafted Free Agent

Did we jsut sign A-Train AKA Anthony Thoams?

yes we sure did

i guess RB is DEFINITLY all set, with JJ, Lee, Barnes, Bickerstaff, barber, polite, and tyson thompson (i think) im sure we’ll find JJ’s backup and he’ll be good. Hey, we may just have several backups to change the offensive look throughout games….

plus, this just shows you CAN NEVER have enough RB’s, CB’s, etc.

i mean last year we thought we were covered at CB and look what happened. now we have henry, glenn, and some othersd that look pretty good. same goes with RB. we though george was good enough with anderson and JJ, but we were SORELY mistaken…i guess BP has learned that ITS BETTER TO BE SAFE THAN SORRY….any comments??

ryan,

did we really sign a train? if so i watched alot of bears being 2 hours from chicago i see tham alot, hes a hrd runner had a good rookie year fizzled soph year and did real nice in a back up role last year…

yes we did….go to ranch report .com

Anthony Thomas?? WHY?! Should we be spending money on a RB when we’ve got Julius and now Barber?

Are these young guys gonna get a chance to play extensively?

Shouldn’t we be saving money for a vet. wide receiver or safety that may become available?

Any thoughts?

i was just there and didnt see it but i do now ty. he is big so maybe therell be some fb in him for us kinda like a richie anderson did for us. hell be a decent backup for jj if barber isnt ready yet.
i read the titans might be releasing fs lance shulters as well another player to keep your eye on, he missed like games last year.

rich,

i would bet since a train was a backup hes not getting a lot of money, they might see him in richie andersons role of last year to, he is a big back and cold see time at fb for us and give us even more dimension.

sorry for the third post in a row but its only a 1 year deal and it looks like rashard lee is on his way out. barber or someone else returning kicks for us, bp said in the article on www.dallascowboys.com that lee is a liability, and would you want to go in the season with a guy who has 1 year under his belt, and a rookie, undrafted fa thompson, and bickerstaff who tore his acl last year? i wouldnt…

I’m very excited about our LB’s and RB’s… But when we went into this draft, everybody agreed that we needed a FS.

Where is he.. I didn’t hear any reports about the one we drafted??? that doesn’t sound promising..

This position must be fixed, to bring ROY in the box, that is when Dallas was the #1 D in the NFl..

WHERE’S MY FS????

I dotn see him being a FB. We are going mostly 2 TE sets anyway with Cambell bacdk. Now we can run 40+ times a game, and grind out wins.
Julius 20+
Barber 10+
A-Train 8+
Kincade 2+

And we can control the clock, keep pur defense even extra fresh, on top of the rotation well be having.

Dare I say playoffs everyone?

mike:

Parcells never felt comfortable with Lee’s fumblitis that he showed last year. If let go, it wouldn’t surprise me.

All:

Interesting roster assignments for the Class of 2005:

Demarcus Ware is wearing #94 and Chris Canty is wearing (gasp) #74!

ron,

i dont mean the typical fb role but remember richie was a fb/hb i can see a-train in the same role. and yes i believe we will be in alot of 2 te sets, but you also have to mix it up alot, thats where i see a-train being there plus hes a totally different kind of runner then jj.

Lee fumbled? I know pass protection was an issue…

lee never funbled last year, its his blocking and mental errors all the time that has bp concerned about him

what A Train will mostly give us is a Veteran that can sit a rookie like Barber on the bench if he messes up……..or sophomore like Jones who is still young……or if Lee cannot learn to block and is relegated to the practice squad…….

unlike a few years ago when Emmit was all we had, and all we needed………last couple of years we showed we could have used some depth at RB. Now we got some of it. A nice mix like most of the other positions on the team, a lot of youth and a little inexpesive experience!!!

this is the Cowboys best draft in years, and the addition of the undrafted FA Tyson Thompson and now the A-train. this Cowboys team could compete for the superbowl if they can get stabilty at Safety.

with Aaron Glenn, Anthony Henry, Terrance Newman………..Hunter and the 2nd year Sophomore committee of Reeves, Thornton, Jones, and Frazier………we got guys that can cover………add in Bierault……..we are going to be AOK………

lets go dallas

A-Train gives us much needed VETERAN depth at RB, and the fact that he has FB size doesn’t hurt either. BP is smiling because he finally has some depth in the backfield, and the defense is starting to look stacked as well. Don’t forget that BP is a defense and running game guy first and foremost, even if he has had some gun-slinging offenses in the past.

Now, what to do at FS? I think Beriault will get a real shot, but it sure would be nice if we could sign a vet like Cory. Other than that, barring injury, we should have a pretty good defensive backfield. I am salivating about this upcoming season!

BP and the Cowboys staff have come back with a vengence with all these new players!For all of us who suffered thru the salary cap strapped years I say WooHoo……..I can’t wait to see all this talent hit the field!

Everyone is complaining about the lack of a proven FS on this roster. Everywhere else on the defense looks like it will be dominant., so we can afford to have an average player who would be second string somewhere else there. Especially with the depth we have at cornerback. I don’t know if anyone remembers what salary cap hell was like, but I sure do. They don’t need to overspend on something that is not a dire need.

Hey Guyâ€â"¢s guess what. A couple of you have made some very key points based upon your individual observations (on the outside looking in). We are fans and not the coach or owner of the Dallas Cowboys. Bill knows EXACTLY what he is doing and what we as fans think quit frankly, doesnâ€â"¢t matter at all. What we have to do is the same thing everyone else has to do to include Bill and Jerry. We have to hope and pray that things work out the way Bill has planned them. Bill and the rest of the coaching staff have ALL of the inside information on the players they currently have on the roster as well as the ones they have recently acquired and plan on acquiring in the future. They also know how they than plan on fitting the personnel into their offensive and defensive schemes. That being said a person you think should be on the team in a select position may or may not be a could idea. I havenâ€â"¢t even mentioned team chemistry which is the most important ingredient ask the Vikings about Randy Moss and what about TO and the Philly situation. Think about the Patriots and who taught Belichick what he knows. Look, what Iâ€â"¢m saying here is just sit tight and let the professionals do what they know how to do and letâ€â"¢s see how things turn out. We need to be positive and stop all the second guessing of the professionals. Iâ€â"¢m all for extreme pressure on the opposing offense and I think Bill does as well.

I can’t see us overspending. I heard on the radio that prior to the a-train signing we still had 9 million dollars to play with. and a-train cost a million leaving 8 million. Not too bad.

Subtract $4,915,540 from the 8 million because that is our rookie pool allocation for 2005. We have the sixth highest out of the 32 teams. That be said if your facts are right because I know mine are that leaves $3,084,460 for additional personnel between now and the end of training camp.

you want a bit of cap room going into the regular season just in case you have an injury and need to add a player or two………

i think our secondary went from a weak link to one of the best with the addition of Aaron Glenn and Anthony Henry. Newman and Roy Williams, and then you add in the sophomore committee of Frazier, Reeves, Thornton, Jones……and then Hunter gets his head on straight………and then the fight at FS with Davis, Scott, Bierault……….we are going to be able to cover with Glenn, Henry, Newman playing the corners and nickel………then you add an upfront pass rush like Ware, Spears or Canty…….just one of those guys has to be good pass rush to be a difference maker with Glover, Ferguson, and Ellis already proven NFL guys……..and that is in the 4-3……..we mix in the 3-4 with WARE at OLB……oh la la………I do not think McNabb is going to run away from Ware, and I like the way Ware finished his sacks in College……..I like it a lot!!!!!