On Schedule

I’ll give the benefit of the doubt until Wednesday evening.

this just in ESPN says key departures from the Cowboys were Testaverde, Wiley, Hunter, Woodson, Geogre, Richie Anderson and Randal Williams

Uh…….lets see Woodson did not play at all last year. His departure was last summer, Hunter played what 2 or 3 games………not a key departure there…….Wiley not even worth mentioning, and Testaverde replaced by an either year younger starter from last year Bledsoe. Richie was a great player til his injury, but no offense to Richie he was an over 30 RB that was playing out position at Tailback and did great. But he also finished the year on IR. Just loooking at our KEY losses is reason to get excite this year because every one of those positions was addressed in FA and in the DRAFT. I think we got better at every one!!!!

They do mention som good points about camp and the rest was pretty glowing. Funny anybody would think of of those departures as Key…….other than Woodson, but he was gone all of last year.

Jon,

Man, you are right. Every single one of those guys barely contributed, other than Testaverde. Just having different people in those positions will be an upgrade. Not only that, but I think that the people that are plugged in there are gamers. This years team could be a good team.

Testaverde -> Bledsoe

Wiley -> Spears

Hunter -> Henry

Woodson ->

George -> Thomas

Anderson -> Barber

Parcells and Jones effectively up graded every position, except S. Plus the additions of Ware, Ferguson, Canty, Glenn, and Riveria makes this offseason the best in 10+ years. For the past three years the Tuna and JJ have filled the roster with a lot of young players (late round picks/undrafted FA/practice squad pick-ups), that gives the coaching staff depth and options. Many of these guys could fill out the roster and be excellent roll players. … The Cowboys are making the turn from poor/average team to good/great team.

Eric Richard
Woodson didn’t play last year so you would have to put another name there. So this year there will be an upgrade at FS. The Bledsoe upgrade, I will have to wait and see what he does before I call it an upgrade. The Bills let him go so they can give the ball to someone that hasn’t played yet. Spears, Henry/ Glenn and Thomas are upgrades right now. Barber don’t know until he plays

True, I was going off of Jon’s list.

I know I will get a lot of heat over this, but I personally think that loosing Coakley was a plus. Our LBs played aweful last year. I can name at least two games (Philly and Minn) were big, critical plays resulted from a LB out of position. Dump off passes shouldn’t result in 20+ yard gains, especially during crunch time.

Coakley -> Burnett (undetermined, but my guess is Burnett will be better for Zimmer’s system)

And I must correct myself, we didn’t upgrade at that FB/HB position Richie Anderson played. None-the-less we are an improved team.

Hey guys I haven’t wrote in a long time because I have been deployed to the desert but I just couldn’t help but think how good out defense could be if we just stayed with the 4-3.
Our line would be Ware/Spears—-Ferguson—-Glover—-Ellis
Linebacker Singleton/Burnett—-Nguyen—-James/Shanle
Cornerback Newman—-Henry/Glenn
Safeties Williams—-Davis/Reese/Scott/Berriualt

lilbeast,

God be with you and thank for your service to this counrty.

Jon,
The decline of espn is more evident everyday. On the plus
side it looks like they’ve moved ED “keyshawn is holding out”
Werder to covering Miami Dolphin camp…..so he can screw up
there.

ER,
I agree letting Dex go while not ideal for Dallas was the
best move for Dex.He will be playing in D geared for his
talents and will get good money.We will miss his leadership
but clearly Dallas was going in a different direction.I wish
him the best.

As for Bledsoe I find it interesting that B.P. is often accused
of running players off but Mularkey cuts his starting QB to
give “his guy” the starting job with no competition and nary
a peep from the press about it……kinda makes you wonder

Eric Richard

The whole D sucked last year so don’t blame just Coakley but I wasn’t mad when he was let go. I wish him the best of luck. Now its just time for someone to step up. Burnett has the tools to be better but so do a lot of other players too that aren’t better. Lets be real here for some reason Dallas has been trying to get a QB but cutting corners since # 8 left. Every year we need a QB. Bledsoe hasn’t been good in years. I hope Bledsoe is only going to start this year and Henson starts next year.

becker:

Simple, The Tuna is a Hall of Fame coach… Mularkey is an up and coming coach, but they will have growing pains this season…

AW:

Buffalo set Bledsoe free to go, because their Offensive scheme wasn’t made for the type of play Bledsoe plays because their OLine isn’t one that can give the passer enough time to wait for a receiver to get open, and still, at times Bledoe needed to wait to make something happen, obviously at times he was sacked (like twice every game)… In Dallas Bledsoe’s got a better OLine (in the paper) and a better TE set, RB is arguable, though in depth Dallas gets the edge, and Buffalo might have a better WR corps (Evans and Moulds). But those two plusses might have a big influence in the mobility aspect of Bledsoe’s game as he can get rid of the ball in less time and also wait for a receiver to get open.

And I’m not considering the plus that play action also brings, opening passing lanes and making Defenses wary of going all for the QB, because that way they all get burned…

becker
i agree with you bro. if parcells would have cut him to play an umproven player. there would have been all kinds of heat and smack over it. and needless to say. all of the guys that bp has brought in has been pretty good. except for the like of a couple.

Chandus
The bills let him go because they think he sucks.(other teams do to) They have a better receiving group (there is no might about it) so our line has to be twice as good to allow our receivers to get open. The bills rather go with someone that hasn’t played a game over him, that should tell you something and two they didn’t even try to get anything for him. Bledsoe would be a good back up. The sad thing about it is Viny is more moble then Bledsoe, and that is not saying much. But being a fan I hope Bledsoe lights it up.

Chandus,
Shouldn’t the HOF coach get the benefit here not the up and
comer??

Darrell,
there is clearly a double standard with B.P. and the media.
Some of his player moves have worked some haven’t but
i don’t see any players that haven’t worked still on the roster.
One thing about B.P. he ain’t keeping a bust around for P.R.
sake.

I’m a daily reader but this is the first post i have put up. I live in Rochester NY which is about an hour away from Buffalo and live in a Buffalo fan household. So i hear daily how much Bledsoe sucks and how the cowboys are stupid for signing him, but living here i watch the bills week in and week out (mainly because other than divisional game the cowboys are never on tv) and i know that bledsoe still has some fight in him. The bills O-line was terrible, often giving up on some plays. That’s why Bledsoe was always on his back. But when he was given time to throw he was as accurate as anybody and he still has an arm. Anyone who doubts him will soon see with a strong line in front of him and a pro bowl tight end he will pick defenses apart with short throws and then burn teams with the deep ball. With 3 pro bowlers in front of him he will have time to make those throws and pick defenses apart. I’m not saying he will be a pro bowl quarterback, but there is no doubt in my mind that he is an upgrade to testerverde.

Welcome to the party Nate!
I’m holding on to my hope that Bledsoe will at least be a couple of steps better than Vinnie. I do think Vinnie was in a lot of bad game situations that led to him forcing the ball or getting wreckless. I like the depth around Bledsoe so he will be in a better situation starting off.

(Off Topic) I just heard Thiesman is moving over to the Monday night games when they go to ESPN. I hate him!! I wish his leg would get broken again on every game he commentates. I’ll be watching but not listening. (sorry, had to vent a little)

lilbeast-be safe in the sandbox brother.

Seconding Sean welcome Nate good to have you aboard.I
hope Bledsoe works out.He will have a better O line,backs
and healthier rec. corp than Vinny.
Nate just curious why is Buff. so high on LosmanAnd
then to hand him the starting job??
Talk about putting all your eggs in one basket…..

Sean,

I can’t stand Al Micheals…..he never shuts up!!!!!
Babbling meaningless stats about nothing.I firmly
believe he is the reason the ratings for MNF have
declined.They have partnered him with everyone
commentator possible and still the ratings sux….
gee abc maybe change Al?No lets partner him
with the second worst commentator ever in Joe
T. Brilliant!!!!!………like you the mute will be on.

Thanks guys for the warm welcome. Becker honestly i dont know why everyone is so sold on Losman. He played a few series at the end of the season if a game was out of reach and had some highlights, but he was still a rookie and made mistakes. I think the main reason fans up here are so high on Losman is because he’s pretty mobile. unlike bledsoe he can make some plays with his legs and i think the fans are counting on him buying his own time when the line breaks down when last year bledsoe would have taken the sack. Buffalo fans are still looking for their next Jim Kelly, kind of like we are looking for the next Troy Aikman. Any one who doesnt win is ran out of town because they are starved for a championship, unlike the cowboys, buffalo still hasnt won a superbowl, and i think they want someone fresh and new to lead the team to glory.

just for the record when Bledsoe arrived in Buffalo people up here loved it. He was in all of the local commercials, newspapers, radio shows, etc. and i remember going to they’re training camp (because its like two minutes from my house) and the fans were crazy for him. It’s just funny how quick fans put a player in the doghouse.

When Jonas Jenning is your starting left tackle, you don’t have much hope to protect the QB.

nate:

You’re right, I guess many people takes too much value on the highlights of Bledsoe being sacked or hurried too much, think that they should’ve seen him at least in a couple of complete games, and they should had seen Bledsoe making something happen when protected and when his receivers got open fast… That wasn’t Moulds best season and Evans started to come together by midseason, add to that the lack of a good TE and you have a mess if you’re a pure pass QB…

AW:
“They have a better receiving group (there is no might about it)”.

Eric Moulds is as old as Glenn, and they’re pretty comparable, they’re fast with good hands… Evans is a much more faster version of a speedster with good hands, but they don’t have a possession receiver that averages nearly 14 yards per catch (Keyshawn)… So there’s a might…

How’s Everyone doin? (This is my first post on this awsome site)

I am going to have to be honest that when I first heard that they were bringing in Bledsoe I was skeptical. I mean the Bills were willing to let him go for nothing and start a first year player over him. But after I thought about it I realized that they only wanted him out because he cant scramble.
And we all know that with that horrible line over in Buffalo you better be able to scramble. (except Mike Williams, who I wish was our right tackle)
So considering that he has a much better line in front of him now and he hasn’t lost much of his arm I am very optimistic about this upcoming year.

Oh, one more thing. If you factor all that in with the fact that the Boys will be using a lot of play action with JJ and Bledsoe loves to hit up his Tight End (Ben Coates). Then I think he and the Cowboy offense are going to surprise a lot of people this year especially considering he has the second best TE in the league to throw to in Jason Witten IMHO and one hell of a running corps to utilize the play action with. Now if we could just draft a gamebreaking receiver like Santonio Holmes or Derek Hagan next year our offense would be set.

its weird that espn called those key departures. eric r called it. we upgraded at all those spots except woodson, and he didnt even play last year. the best player there was r anderson, and dallas greatly upgraded at rb this year. if those departures are our biggest issues(and i know theyre not) then were in good shape. what a binch of idiots.

I just hope that MB can contribute half as much as richie did versatility wise his rookie year. And I think he can considering he has a dimension to his game that richie never had and that would be returing the ball. Though I am definitely not trying to take away anything from richie because I’m sure I can speak for everyone when I say that his versatility and leadership will be sorely missed. But all in all we did an outstanding job of replacing him as well as every other position except of course Safety.

Personally, I think that the Cowboys are going to be OK at safety. There is no way that we can replace Woodson. He was a special player. Putting someone serviceable in there and upgrading the other positions, as Bill has, will make a huge difference over last years defense. We don’t need another Woodson to make this defense great. It wasn’t a great secondary that made the Cowboys’ defense so great in the 90’s. It was a great D-line. We are possibly on the verge of having that again.

I think that it is really interesting, if you look at the last three years, how Bill has focused on the trenches. The last 2 years he has brought in 3 high picks and a top FA to plug into the offensive line. This year he brought in two high picks and a top FA on the defensive line. This is where the game of football is won. If Bill is right about the guys he has brought in, then Dallas is going to be a very good football team.

Baltimore’s SB team is a good example of this. You can win it all if you can dominate other teams in the trenches. Perhaps, we have the ponies who are able to do that starting this year.

Thoughts?

It’s interesting to see an OLine with the depth of two second rounders (Johnson and Rogers) and a third rounder (Peterman) drafted by Parcells and another 2nd with Gurode, they make me wonder the kind of future our line’s going to have, let’s hope they start contributing by this season… And is the same from the front 7 standpoint, Greg Ellis is a first rounder, so as Ware and Spears.

BTW, Eric R:

Have you seen Spags article? He mentions Ogbogu at OLB which is exactly what I said before… I guess Parcells wants to see Ellis concentrated on the Weak side DE with all the uncertainty at DE (Canty), because who’s behind Ellis on the 3-4? Coleman? Carson? There’s not much hope for Ellis to reduct his time on the field…

Aren’t the players supposed to report at noon tomorrow(Thursday)? We still have five players left to sign. I know we wait til the last moment but this is a bit crazy.

Chandus
Eric Moulds is better than Glenn period, age has nothing to do with it.

Kevin
Is not going to be hard to upgrade FS this year from last year because it was so poor last year.
Chandus
We have depth on the O-line but Gurode lost his job and Rogers hasn’t done anything (I’m pulling for him because he went to my high school). Now Johnson is the real deal and BP thinks Peterman is the real deal. I know last year people were saying Peterman would get in the game before Rogers. And maybe if he didn’t get hurt last year JJ would have went after a RT.

Chandus,

If you are looking at Spags article, then August 8 is Canty’s target date. Canty, Spears, Glover, Carson, Ferguson, Ratliff or possibly Coleman could give Parcells 6 DL to rotate into the 3-4. Jerry Jones said last week that he expects Ellis to be an intrigal part of the Cowboys future, but doesn’t see Ellis as a plug-the-middle type of player. With those 6 DL, 4 expected to be big contributors, Parcells will have the flexability with Ellis to put him where he sees Greg fits in best. Spags, also mentions the much needed size at LB … would there be a better fit than Ellis? … Spears, Glover, Ferguson (D-line) with Ware, Dat, Ellis, and Singleton (LBs) would be a very formidable front 7, and give the Cowboys’ version of the 3-4 the size and speed you look for. Let’s just say Spears, Glover, and Fergie each play 70% of the defensive snaps, and Canty does the same when healthy, then Carson, Ratliff, and Coleman would make up 20% of the D-linemen’s plays. That is not asking too much. Of course injuries change things, but going into training camp, if the team is healthy, Ellis fits better at one of the LB spots. ….. Kirkland (275 lbs) went to 2 Pro Bowls playing MLB for Pittsburgh’s 3-4. Why not Ellis?… All I was ever suggesting with Ellis was to try to see what he has at OLB. Just as Jerry said, with Ellis’ size, it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to think he will be lining up clogging the middle every play. Maybe he’ll get some snaps at DE, and probably a bit more as Canty rehabs, but Ellis eventually getting a shot at LB … it just makes sense.

Hey AW are you sure Molds is better than Glenn with
J.P. losman at QB ?

Nate,

Thanks for the input on Bledsoe/Losman as Chandus
mentioned its hard to judge a guy from only highlights
and stats.If you could give some insight on I. Reese
when you get a moment.

AW,

I would take Terry over Moulds any day of the week, thats my opinion, faster more athletic tougher grabs.

any day.

becker yes Im sure.

Danimal this is why your opinion would be wrong.

Glenn has only played in all 16 games twice in this career
Moulds has only not played in all 16 games twice in his career

Glen has missed at least 5 games in four different time and more than 10 games twice.
3 games is the most Moulds has missed in one season.

Glenn has 2 thousand yard seasons and one 900+ yards .
Moulds has 4 thousand yards seasons and two 900+ yards.

6 is the most TDs Glenn as had in a season
Moulds has topped that three different times.

Moulds is a #1 and Glenn is a #2.

Jon Says:

July 26th, 2005 at 11:47 am
this just in ESPN says key departures from the Cowboys were Testaverde, Wiley, Hunter, Woodson, Geogre, Richie Anderson and Randal Williams
 
  Long time reader first time poster.
 
Woodson was a big part of the cowboys secondary. My question is wheres Coakley? Coakley Was a bigger lose than Vinny, Wiley, Pete, Eddie Or Williams combined!!
  Richie was a good change of pace but A-train and Barber will fill that spot.
 
   Clock is ticking on trianing camp. Any new news on unsigned rookies?

 GO COWBOYS!!!!!!!

Coakley is the one guy that will be missed. If the other Linebackers step up we will be fine. I am sort of thinking Ware, James, Nguyen, Burnett…….with Singleton and Shanle seeing some time also. Then perhaps some DEs getting rotation at OLB like Ogbogu and maybe if Bill reads Eric Richard……….Greg Ellis.

But yeah Coakley is definitely a KEY, not sure why he did not get mentioned. You know last year Woodson’s back injury came late. We were counting on him. That was a huge loss last in the summer. But he was the KEY loss last year, not this year.

I like Coakley, he was great but I sure hope we can get some hard hitting LBs out there who can beat down the Offense and put fear in the hearts of QBs, WRs, and RBs. The way Roy Williams brings the wood in the Secondary. Give me a couple guys like that and we are going to be hitting on something!!!!

Danimal real quick there is no way Glenn is better than Moulds. I’m a huge Glenn fan but from a person who watches both week in and week out Moulds is the all around better receiver. AW your right on every point u make Moulds isnt plagued with injuries and has more 1,000 yard seasons.

Becker, when it comes to I. Reese he is a solid safety. He won’t make any spectacular plays but really we dont need someone like that, we just need someone who can cover. Honestly i dont remember him ever making huge plays in Buffalo but he has started over 30 NFL games which is more than any other of the saftey candidates can say, i think he willbe the starter opening day, whether he holds onto it all season or not still remains to be seen but i think he will win the job in camp.

K.D.
Woodson is not a key departure because he wasn’t there last year. Really there are no key departures from that list. Wiley and George are key additions by subtraction. I’m glad Vinny is gone.

Nate
I hope Reese is not the starting FS he is better then what we had last year but I hope Davis wins it because he has the tools to be better then Reese and he would cause more turnovers. Plus if Davis wins the job we are set for a min at FS.

AW
Your right Davis will cause more turnovers than Reese and like i said eventually Davis will win the starting job but i think out of camp Reese will win it because of experiance.

I think for Davis to be the starter he is going to be the clear cut winner. Reese is not a starter he is a player that can hold you down until you get the guy.

AW,

Nice break down of that arguement. Moulds is a better WR for all the reasons noted.

Our FS will be Davis. Parcells has been holding off from that because Davis has been so valuable to Dallas’ special teams. Mark my words … Mike Goolsby will take Davis’ spot on special teams, hence giving Parcells the room to play Davis at FS. Goolsby brings another dimension to special teams, kind of like “the shark”, Kennith Gant, did for us in the 90s. He is that good! … My prediction is Goolsby will wow Parcells so much on special teams that one of the LB’s spots might go to him, putting someone’s elses roster spot at jeopardy.

Does anyone else have predictions, like suprises to make the squad? Suprise cuts?

Predictions:
Reese will be the starter at FS at the beginning of the season. After the bye week, look for Davis to take over.

Vollers will take over at ROT. If not, LA will move there and Peterman will take his spot at LOG. Also, don’t forget Pettiti. If he gets that weight down and speeds up his feet, he may surprise.

This is a longshot, but Cundiff may be replaced at PK some time this year.

Bledsoe could be replaced by Henson or Romo sometime this year.

We do have a problem with our rookies. The players report tomorrow at Oxnard and we still have 5 rooks to sign. I’m not worried about Canty because he will be late to show up because of his injuries. But it does worry me at this late date that we have not signed at least Barber, our 4th rounder. The whole league seems to be moving slow this year signing 1st rounders, but this camp is CRITICAL for us switching to the 3-4. A holdout or late reporting by Ware, Spears, or Burnett would hurt pretty bad.

I believe Reese will start the year off at FS unless Davis has an incredible training camp. But that wont last long because I believe Davis will learn the nuances of the S position bye no later than the bye week. Also this is a little far fetched but not really considering Parcells’ “play the best player” mentality. I think that Aaron Glenn could very well beat out Anthony Henry for the other starting CB spot alonside TNew. I know they gave him a lot of money but if Glenn outplays him which I think he just might then we could very well see a duo of glenn and newman in the near future. What do you guys think?

It would depend on how much Jerry J wants a return on his money. But yah, if Henry stinks it up in camp, Glenn will move in; he is after all one of BP’s “guys”.

Yeah being a BP guy definitely doesn’t hurt his chances. I also agree with you that Cundiff could get the axe. Especially if he keeps up his inconsistency from 40+. And with the “best player/s” mentality in mind I think from all of the praise BP has been giving Stephen Peterman we could see an OL consisting of FA,Peterman,Johnson,Rivera, and LA at the start of the season.

About Henry, don’t get caught in his mini-camp performance, he’s a physical type of corner, and without pads there’s no room for that type of play.

Last year I saw the Philly – Cleveland game, before T. O.‘s injury and at times Henry was alone with Owens and limited him to only 4 receptions in the game, though being alone, Owens burned him in those 4 with 109 yards. But we don’t need him covering the best receiver, we only need him to cover the second and he’ll do a good job.

Eric R:

I’m starting to think that you might have a point with Ellis moving to OLB, but Kirkland is a bad example, as you said he was an ILB and there you don’t have to cover a RB or a TE looking for a coverage crack, which with his speed wouldn’t reach, Ellis is faster than Kirkland, though.

But I really don’t believe that you can have confidence in the type of players you seem to trust so much (Canty, Spears, Glover, Carson, Ferguson, Ratliff or possibly Coleman), what do you have in there? 3 Rookies, 3 DT’s and a FA that has proven to be worthless. As I’ve heard Spears looks like the real deal a stout 3-4 DE, maybe a bit slow for a 4-3 DE. Canty, well he’s more like a dice, we might get a 6 with him, or 1… His eye might not hold in this short period of convalecense, needing another surgery and then IR. Ratliff is what he is, a 7th rounder with a lot to learn. Glover might play some DE, just like Carson. If Coleman doesn’t start showing something by the next week, he might be one of the first cuts.

So, Ellis value, right now, is on the DLine, even with his lack of ideal size, he does have the power to be effective for an amount of time as a 3-4 DE. Then if by next season there’s a better depth on the line, well, I’m up for Ellis moving to OLB or ILB.

Or better knowledge on the Line Depth, because this depth doesn’t satisfy me:
right DE: Canty / Glover / Carson
NT: Ferguson / Glover
left DE: Spears / Ratliff / Carson
As I said, if we get a 1 with Canty and Ratliff proves to be nothing more than Practice Squad material, then we get this depth:
right DE: Glover / Carson
NT: Ferguson / Glover
left DE: Spears / Carson
And that won’t do.

Chandus,

If Ellis plays LB, I would think he is best suited to play OLB, but again he may line up at a few different positions during training camp, including ILB. Just to get a look! As you stated Kirkland was slower than Ellis, but Levon still managed 2 Pro Bowl appearances. Ellis might be asked to back up into coverages (zone defense), something he has done before, at North Carolina in college. Remember there are two ILBs and Dat is excellent in coverage .. Parcells has a knack for finding and utalizing players’ strengths. So covering RB will probably end up being Dat’s assignment more than not.

Our D-line depth:

Glover DE (45) – Canty (55)

Ferguson NT (75) – Glover (25)

Spears DE (75) – Carson/Coleman (25)

Why can’t this work? Glover, Canty, Spears, and Ferguson getting the majority of the snaps.

While Canty recovers, or Parcells is waiting to see someone else step up, then Ellis may see some snaps here.

Glover DE (50) – Ellis (25) – Ratliff/Coleman/Carson (25%)

Ferguson NT (75) – Glover (25)

Spears DE (75) – Coleman/Carson/Ratliff (25)

It is still not asking too much of the rookies, and Ellis neither. Carson started last season, and has good size here. Don’t be suprised too if Coleman adds a few pounds and they are both around 290. Carson and Coleman at 290 lbs and 25% of the snaps would work out well, as we wait for Canty to get healthy.

.. Its my opinion that way too much weight is being put on mini camp practices. Remember while Ellis lined up at DE, Glover worked out with the second team defense. Glover is not a back up!! Dallas has the horses on the D-line, especially if Canty is what we all hope he is. Canty gives Parcells and Zimmer 6-7 guys (without Ellis) to work into a rotation. While Ellis may see some snaps on the D-line, he probably will get a look at ILB and OLB … quite honestly his size and “football knowledge” may be best utalized there.

Eric R,
There ARE legitimate concerns re Ellis’ and Glover’s size as it relates to their effectiveness in the 3-4. You are very correct though about not reading too much into the depth chart for mini-camp practices. The REAL CAMP is finally here, pads and all; and we’ll finally be able to make some sound speculation based upon the results coming from its practices.

Eric R:

I’ll start with Glover being also undersized to play DE in the 3-4, he’s ok playing Nose because he’s lining in front to the Center and maybe a Guard, while in the outside he lines to a Guard and a Tackle, what combination do you think is tougher?

Again, my statement of Ellis not playing LB this season, has more to do with the things that I don’t know, and all of us, from the rookies, because even Spears is a rookie and mistakes are expected from him. We still don’t know what to expect from Canty he’s returning Aug. 8, the day where he’s going to be cleared by the medical staff to be really physical but no one knows if his eye will hold and physically, how far behind is he from the rest of the team? Stating that he would play something close to 50% from the snaps could be far from truth, but you could also be right, that’s why I said he’s more like a dice… Ratliff may prove to be worst than Coleman. Coleman is a fourth or fifth DE in a depth chart. Carson is a DT, may have something as a DE in the 3-4, but may not. That’s why I say that Ellis value, right now, is on the Line, so he’s going to play there all Training Camp and a position change by mid-season is kind of difficult, especially if the player hasn’t played the position in a while….

And I would really like to see him at ILB, imagine the center of the backfield with a 6-6 player in there next to Nguyen…

What i ment about Woodson was he WAS a key part. but last year he was more of a coach.

Chandus,

You knock the move, but then say you would like to see him at ILB? … As far as knowing what Spears will be .. it is what you have to expect from him being a 1st round draft choice .. and like I said 75% of the defensive snap isn’t asking too much for him. ….. Glover on the other hand is the reigning “NFL’s Strongest Man”, isn’t he? Don’t give me too small, or can’t handle. He too at 75% isn’t too much. …. Ferguson was signed to play 75% of the D’s snaps. Just those 3 guys will probably account for 75-80% of all the D-line play. Carson, Canty, Ratliff, & Coleman can each play 15-19% to make up the difference. If you add Ellis to that mix then they can each play 12-16. By no means asking too much from anybody. Now if Canty can be what we all expect him to be, he can play close to 70 of the snaps, and so can Glover, Spears, and Fergie. Which would leave Carson/Coleman/Ratliff splitting 20% of the snaps. That isn’t a bad split at all. … Now ask yourself .. if Ellis can end up being buried on the D-line depth, or he can thrive playing LB .. where do you play him? The reality is Coleman and Carson may be better suited to play DE in the 3-4 than Ellis, which would drop Ellis in the depth chart. We need size at LB, and he IS INDEED fast enough to play LB in this system. So why not?

I would love to see an opening day lineup that looked like this (3-4)

Ware——————-Ellis———————Nyguyen———————Burnett

Spears—————————Ferguson———————————-Glover

and as for the 4-3 I would love to see a lineup that looked like this

Ware————————————Nyguyen——————————-Burnett

Spears——————Ferguson————-Glover————————Ellis

Eric:

I haven’t knocked the move, all this time I’ve been saying that Ellis value is on DE for this year, I’m leaving the door open for next year, if you don’t remember I’ve been defending Ellis speed before, but I do believe that right now might be a bit slow for the OLB position, he would need to trim some weight and work a bit more on his speed. That’s why I’ve been saying that Ellis to change positions would need time, to adjust his body to it, or might be a square peg in a round hole…
I won’t defend this stance anymore, by this weekend we might start hearing some info on Ogbogu’s adjustment to OLB.

JRich:
That 3-4 looks heavy on one said and pretty light on the other…
The 4-3 looks stout. I wouldn’t believe that Parcells and Zimmer doesn’t see the potential that Defense has.

Okay flip Nguyen and Ellis LOL

Yes the potential is definitely there but whether or not they can get all the parts moving at the same time……..well we can only hope so.And I believe by the time the bye week comes around people are going to be fearing Dallas’ D-Fense if not sooner.