FanPost

Strongest, and weakest, position groups on the 2014 Cowboys

With roster cuts looming, I thought I would try to rank the strongest to the weakest position groups on the current roster. There are 5 groups on offense: offensive line, wide receiver, tight end, running back/fullback, quarterback. 4 groups on defense: defensive line, linebacker, cornerback, safety. Plus placekicker, punter, and returns. 12 groups in all.

Now, what criteria am I going to use to rate these groups? I'm using a number of factors. How many Pro Bowl players or potential Pro Bowl players are in the group? How does the group look for 2014, but also beyond? In other words, how stable is the group. How soon will we need replacements?

Here's my ranking.

1. Placekicker - Dan Bailey. Dan Bailey was 28-30 last year, for a 4th best 93.3%, with only Matt Prater significantly better (and he's kicking in mile-high air). He was 6-7 from beyond 50 yards, one of only 4 kickers with 6 successes from that range. His kickoffs boomed into the end zone, leading to lots of touchbacks. This year, Bailey's field goal range has extended to where they may try him from 55-60 yards. With Matt Prater serving a 4-game suspension, Bailey may be best in the NFL. He's also signed for several years.

2. Offensive line - Tyron Smith, Travis Frederick, Zach Martin, Ron Leary, Doug Free, Mackenzy Bernardeau, Uche Nwaneri, Jermey Parnell, John Wetzel. With 3 first-round picks, this better be one of the strongest units on the team. There is a Pro Bowl left tackle Tyron Smith. He hasn't been perfect this preseason, with a few holding calls, but I expect he'll clean that up. He's also signed for 10 years at a bargain price. Nice to have that anchor. Travis Frederick is a fast-rising center who may make the Pro Bowl very soon. And all reports are good on Zach Martin for right guard. The fact he might move out to right tackle as early as next year is another positive. The weak link last year was rookie guard Ron Leary, but he can improve, and the team also has Mackenzie Bernardeau to sub for him if he doesn't. With Leary, that's 4 young linemen who could be around for years to gel and improve. If Nwaneri makes the team, that's another experienced interior lineman for depth. At right tackle, Doug Free had a bounce back year in 2013. If he plays well again in 2014, he might be extended for another couple of years at his current modest rate. He's the only one who's 30. On the downside, Bob Sturm's post today shows how potential weak links at right tackle and left guard can lead to sacks.

3. Wide receiver - Dez Bryant, Terrence Williams, Cole Beasley, Devin Street, Dwayne Harris. This group has a top-5 NFL receiver in Dez Bryant, who is only starting to realize his tremendous potential. Terrence Williams has big play potential, Cole Beasley is an elusive Wes-Welker type, Devin Street looks very polished already and could fill in well if anyone went down for a few games. Dwayne Harris has more value on special teams, but also might do really well if they give him some bubble screens or quick hitters. The fact that all these guys are young and don't seem at all threatened for jobs by a very solid group of backup receivers in camp says a lot. This is a stable, deep, young, talented group. It's close between them and the O-line.

4. Returns. Dwayne Harris. He was arguably the best overall return man in the NFL last year, right there with Devin Hester. He didn't have the number of returns that Devin Hester had, but his average of 30.6 yards on kickoffs was second only to Cordarrelle Patterson, but the latter doesn't return punts. Harris ranked second there, with 12.8 yards per return, behind Hester's 14.2. The tie-breaker is that Harris can also cover kicks. Don't underestimate this role. Special teams win games.

5. Running back/fullback - DeMarco Murray, Lance Dunbar, Joseph Randle, Ryan Williams, Tyler Clutts. Murray finally made the Pro Bowl on the backs of 1,121 yards rushing @ 5.2 yards a pop. He missed 2 games, or he could have been 4th in overall yardage, between Jamaal Charles and Alfred Morris. With a better offensive line, and a contract year, he ought to have his best season yet. Lance Dunbar was totally underutilized last year, but looks to break out this year as Linehan tries to get him the ball in space. Ryan Williams was a high draft pick, is running hard, and will likely force the team to keep him (I would, with the health issues our RBs have had). Randle looks much better than last year. All seem capable of catching passes as well. With the O-line, should be a great strength for the team. May be changed up by next year, depending on Murray's demands, but could also be kept together for multi-year production. Not sure Clutts is the lead blocker they could use. Hope they don't keep him over Williams.

6. Tight ends - Jason Witten, Gavin Escobar, James Hanna. Witten has many Pro Bowls to his name. Even if he's slowing down, he was still 5th in receiving yards for TEs, behind Graham, Cameron, Gates, and Gonzalez. Vernon Davis was also right there. With Gronkowski back, but Gonzalez retired, Witten still fits in with the top 5-6 TEs in the game. Escobar and Hanna weren't used last year because they aren't the best blockers. In the pre-season, we saw Linehan get Escobar down the field for big plays. Hanna also had a TD down the seam. This is a very solid, deep group, good for at least a couple more years.

7. Quarterback - Tony Romo, Brandon Weeden. Romo has been a Pro Bowl QB 3 times. But he slipped noticeably in 2013, and with his back, you wonder how many years he has left. His yards, QBR, and yards per attempt were all down. He cut the picks from 2012 (from 19 to 10), which helped his QB rating. He's probably a top-10 QB, but he's not likely to ever make the Pro Bowl again. Behind him, Brandon Weeden is NOT capable of being a full-time starter on a winning team, and at 31, has no real NFL future. His only redeeming quality is he's cheaper than Kyle Orton was. I wish the Cowboys would have drafted Jimmy Garoppolo, who seems polished already backing up Tom Brady, and could have been had for our 2nd round pick (without giving up a 3rd). He would have made Weeden expendable, and offered a long-term future at the position. Cowboys absolutely have to address this area soon. If Romo drops off like D Ware did, Cowboys don't have a Plan B.

8. Cornerback - Brandon Carr, Mo Claiborne, Orlando Scandrick, Tyler Patmon, Sterling Moore, BW Webb, Terrence Mitchell. This groups SHOULD rank much higher, given the resources Dallas put into this group -- 1st and second round picks for Claiborne, $50 million K for Carr, multi-million contract for Scandrick. If it repeats last year's performance, it could rank worse. The problem is that Carr was pretty bad last year, ranking 57th, with a -0.3 rating from PFF. Scandrick was the best, ranking 39th at 3.4, but he's out 4 games for being stupid. Mo Claiborne was 87th, at -5.9, only getting 522 snaps as the third guy, and sitting out all the pre-season games this year with injuries. Behind them, does Dallas have anyone worth keeping and developing? BW Webb only got 185 snaps last year, and was still -3. Moore got a +3 with only 87 snaps. You have to like the number, but the snaps give you pause. Terrence Mitchell is in negative territory in preseason, and may well be cut. The guy who might have real potential here is Tyler Patmon. Mostly off the Miami game, he's ranked 4th in the pre-season with a +4.5. But he also ranked well against Baltimore, the only other game he played. Cowboys have Scandrick locked up, but will have to make a decision on Claiborne next year, and will probably cut Carr as soon as next year if doesn't shape up. Can Tyler Patmon make the leap from UDFA to starting CB by next year? Seems pretty crazy.

9. Defensive line - Henry Melton, DeMarcus Lawrence, Tyrone Crawford, Jeremy Mincey, Terrell McClain, George Selvie, Davon Coleman, Ken Bishop, Anthony Spencer, Nick Hayden, [Josh Brent], [Ken Gardner], [Chris Whatley], Ken Boatright, Zach Minter, Amobi Okoye. I ranked these based on likelihood they will make the team, and potentially be on the team next year. I think Brent will replace Hayden when he's reinstated and in shape. Gardner and Whatley are on IR. There isn't a whole lot of quality in this group. Henry Melton is a potential Pro Bowl player, but will be hard pressed to make it as Dallas's main threat. Double teams should be able to negate him. Spencer might provide a spark this year, but we'll have to see him in action to know. D. Lawrence better be as good as the team hopes, given what we gave up to get him. Davon Coleman seems to have the best game among the young guys. George Selvie needs to repeat, but with a bum shoulder, may have issues. Is Crawford anything other than a journeyman? Mincey? McClain? Once all these guys get on the field, Dallas may have a competent D-line, but no one is going to fear our pass rush. I expect a lot more turnover among this group over the next couple of years.

10. Punter - Chris Jones. He was 19-20th in the NFL in yards per kick and net punting average. He was tied for 8th putting them inside the 20. I think it's no accident that Dallas has brought in 2 guys to compete for his job. The new one just kicked 63, 63, and 56 yarders in Miami. It's possible that Jones won't even make this roster.

11. Safety - Barry Church, JJ Wilcox, Jeff Heath, Ahmad Dixon, Jakar Hamilton, [Matt Johnson]. This is a sorry group. Church ranked 42nd by PFF stats with a -0.2. Wilcox was -3.2. Heath was -4.7. Dixon brings hard hitting this year, but also boneheaded plays and poor coverage. Meanwhile, SF took our first rounder last year and got Eric Reid, who ranked 16th at +4.9. We were the worst in the NFL last year at giving up big plays. Unless Wilcox makes great strides, I think we may need 2 new starters, and much better depth. Heath and Dixon should only be special teams players.

12. Linebacker - Kyle Wilber, Justin Durant, Rolando McClain, Bruce Carter, Anthony Hitchens, Cam Lawrence, [Sean Lee]. This group might be better than the safeties, but it's still in huge flux with only one pre-season game left. A lot depends on whether Rolando McClain can realize the potential that made him the 8th pick in the draft. Bruce Carter has been a disappointment, ranking 4th from last in 2013 for 4-3 OLBs. (He's 3rd from last in the preseason.) Justin Durant, on whom much hope rides this year, played only 202 snaps last year. Kyle Wilber keeps getting moved around. Anthony Hitchens has not graded well this pre-se2014 ason, but may be thrust into the starting Mike role if McClain is not ready. And Cam Lawrence should be a special teams guy only. Are there any multi-year starters here? Maybe Wilber if they leave him alone at the SAM. And maybe McClain if can reclaim his career. But it seems like a real weak spot without Sean Lee, who would easily be the best player on this D if healthy.

2014 and Beyond

This is not a strong roster. The offense is set at O-line, WR, TE, and possibly running back. That's pretty good. The problem is we need Tony Romo's long term replacement ASAP, and no later than next year. Or you will keep gambling seasons on his health. That means potentially having to invest a high pick next year when you desperately need to spend it on D.

On the defensive side, how many long term impact players do we have? Sean Lee (if he can stay healthy). D Lawrence? Henry Melton? Orlando Scandrick? The cupboard is pretty bare. Cornerback could be fixed if Carr rebounds and Claiborne stays healthy enough to be a quality starting CB. But the D-line needs an infusion of quality pass rushers, the linebackers are in disarray, and the safety position needs serious upgrading.

Special teams may be the best part of the team with Dan Bailey, Dwayne Harris, and Coach Bisaccia.

How would you rank our roster?

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