So. Every year, NFL teams bring in new players and lose some from the year before. Retirements and free agency are typically the check valve for teams not having to pull the trigger on a selection between two guys they really like. But, sometimes there are decisions that just have to be made.
Which of our beloved Cowboys are going to have to give way this year?
Call me a homer. But, I am a fan of each and every player that makes this team(53 man + PS). Mind you, there are exceptions. But, those are usually guys that I gave every chance in the world until they became a cancer or really weak link to our team.
I guess the first thing you would look at would be our current roster...
OFFENSE
David Arkin G
Miles Austin WR
Mackenzy Bernadeau G
Dez Bryant WR
Rudy Carpenter QB
Brandon Carter G
Shaun Chapas FB
Phil Costa C
Doug Free OT
Isaiah Greenhouse FB
Dwayne Harris WR
Andre Holmes WR
Felix Jones RB
Kevin Kowalski C
Nate Livings G
Stephen McGee QB
DeMarco Murray RB
Bill Nagy C
Kevin Ogletree WR
Kyle Orton QB
Jermey Parnell OT
John Phillips TE
Raymond Radway WR
Tony Romo QB
Tyron Smith OT
Phillip Tanner RB
Lawrence Vickers FB
Teddy Williams WR
Jason Witten TE
DEFENSE
Alex Albright LB
Baraka Atkins LB
Josh Brent DT
Victor Butler LB
Mario Butler CB
Rob Callaway DT
Brandon Carr CB
Bruce Carter LB
Barry Church S
Kenyon Coleman DE
Dan Connor LB
Clifton Geathers DE
Jason Hatcher DE
Mike Jenkins CB
Sean Lee LB
Orie Lemon LB
Sean Lissemore DE
Danny McCray S
Brodney Pool S
Jay Ratliff DT
Brashton Satele LB
Orlando Scandrick CB
Gerald Sensabaugh S
Mana Silva S
Marcus Spears DE
Anthony Spencer LB
Justin Taplin-Ross CB
DeMarcus Ware LB
C.J. Wilson CB
SPECIALISTS
Dan Bailey K
Chris Jones P
L.P. LaDouceur LS
That is 61 players. We then, have our draft class...
1 Morris Claiborne, CB, LSU
3 Tyrone Crawford, DE, Boise St.
4 Kyle Wilber, OLB, Wake Forest
4 Matt Johnson, SS, Eastern Washington
5 Danny Coale, WR, Virginia Tech
6 James Hanna, TE, Oklahoma
7 Caleb McSurdy, ILB, Montana
7 more makes 68. Plus, our UDFA class...
Darrell Scott, RB, USF/Troy Woolfolk, CB, Michigan/Ronald Leary, OG, Memphis/Jeff Adams, OT, Columbia/Taylor Dever, OT, Notre Dame/Adrian Hamilton, DE, Prairie View A&M/Aston Whiteside, LB, Abilene Christian/Levy Adcock, OT, Oklahoma State/Eddie Whitley, FS, VTech/George Bryan, TE, North Carolina State/Andrew Szcrerba, TE, Penn State/Isaac Madison, CB, Arkansas/Lionel Smith, CB, Texas A&M/Lance Dunbar, RB, North Texas/Cole Beasley, WR, SMU/Charley Hughlett, LS, UCF/Harland Gunn, OG, Miami/Tyrone Novikoff, OT, Idaho/Tim Benford, WR, Tennessee Tech/Donavon Kemp, WR, UTEP/Saalim Hakim, WR, Tarleton St./Nathan Dick, QB, Central Arkansas
Puts us at 90 players. Camp is ready to rock.
Now we'll look at position groups...
QB
Tony Romo
Kyle Orton (Free Agency)
Stephen McGee
Rudy Carpenter
Nathan Dick
RB
Darrell Scott
Lance Dunbar
Felix Jones
DeMarco Murray
Phillip Tanner (Injury Return)
FB
Lawrence Vickers (Free Agency)
Isaiah Greenhouse
Shaun Chapas
TE
George Bryan
Andrew Szcrerba
James Hanna (Draft)
Jason Witten
John Phillips
WR
Cole Beasley
Tim Benford
Donavon Kemp
Saalim Hakim
Danny Coale
Miles Austin
Dez Bryant
Dwayne Harris (Project)
Andre Holmes
Kevin Ogletree
Raymond Radway (Injury Return)
OT
Tyrone Novikoff
Levy Adcock
Jeff Adams
Taylor Dever
Tyron Smith
Doug Free
Jermey Parnell
OG
Ronald Leary
Harland Gunn
David Arkin (Project)
Mackenzy Bernadeau
Brandon Carter
Nate Livings (Free Agency)
OC
Bill Nagy
Phil Costa
Kevin Kowalski
DT
Jay Ratliff
Josh Brent
Rob Callaway
DE
Tyrone Crawford (Draft)
Kenyon Coleman
Clifton Geathers
Jason Hatcher
Sean Lissemore
Marcus Spears
LB
Adrian Hamilton
Alex Albright
Baraka Atkins
Aston Whiteside
Victor Butler
Caleb McSurdy
Bruce Carter (Project)
Kyle Wilber
Sean Lee
Dan Connor (Free Agency)
Orie Lemon
DeMarcus Ware
Brashton Satele
Anthony Spencer
CB
Teddy Williams
Isaac Madison
Lionel Smith
Morris Claiborne (Draft)
Mario Butler
Brandon Carr (Free Agency)
Mike Jenkins
Justin Taplin-Ross
Orlando Scandrick
C.J. Wilson
S
Eddie Whitley
Troy Woolfolk
Matt Johnson (Draft)
Barry Church
Danny McCray
Brodney Pool (Free Agency)
Gerald Sensabaugh
Mana Silva
K
Dan Bailey
P
Chris Jones
LS
L.P. LaDouceur
Charley Hughlett
The 42 players in bold are the guys I, personally, have as locks to make the 53 man roster. These players also have notes on how they were added. The players with scores through their names are guys I'm familiar with that I am pretty sure will be let go. That leaves 46 players on "The Bubble" with nothing really to separate them from the pack but skill and attitude. Pretty nice bit of competition and turn over if you ask me.
I really like the direction we've gone at back up tackle, WR, and interior OL.
Personally gunning for:
Jeff Adams
Danny Coale
Adrian Hamilton
Teddy Williams
So, if you were selecting 12 more guys to make the roster and 8 more for the PS. Who would your guys be?