It's official: Leonard Davis and Jerry Jones hold press conference

by Dave Halprin on Mar 5, 2007 11:38 AM CST in Dallas Cowboys News

It's official, Jerry Jones, Wade Phillips and Leonard Davis had a press conference to announce his signing. Jerry praised his natural ability and his size, and likes that he's only 28-years old. He also mentioned his flexibility. Talked about the huge expectations that are on Leonard because of where he was drafted.

Jerry called the offensive line a "must" position to be fixed.

Wade Phillips said the football part of the signing is the important part. Felt like they needed to look at the offensive line, signing Gurode was key, and signing Davis was a key. Called him an outstanding player, he can run block as good as anybody, he can play guard or tackle, and he's experienced.

Leonard Davis said he's thankful to play for the Cowboys. Watched them growing up and watched them play in Super Bowls. Enjoyed his time in Arizona, but it's a new chapter in his life. Expressed that he really wanted to play for the Cowboys, wants to win games which hasn't happened so far in his career. Said he's here to win games and win championships. It's an honor to play for the Cowboys.

Wade said he could play any position along the line except center. No specific position was mentioned to him when signing. Wade said they have to solidify the rest of the personnel before deciding where he will play and told Davis that during the negotiations. Leonard said he is willing to play either guard or tackle and doesn't have a preference. Said the whole offensive line in Arizona received more criticism than it deserved. He likes the Cowboys running game and its balanced offense. He thinks sometimes expectations can be unrealistic on players and felt like he did all he could in Arizona.

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Davis will play well for us

You can't judge this signing by what Davis did in Arizona. People say he underachieved because he never made the pro bowl, but I say how many Cards ever the pro bowl? Not too many. Actually when he played G his first three seasons, he graded out pretty well.

Sometimes a change of environment is good for a player and I think this could be one of those instances.

Also don't forget that OL take awhile to develop and come into their own, and the Cowboys obviously feel he's ready to reach his potential, just like Gurode is now.

In Romo we Trust

by Terry on Mar 5, 2007 1:22 PM CST reply actions

huh

"You can't judge this signing by what Davis did in Arizona"

then what are we supposed to judge it on, his smooth dance moves? it seems the best people can say about him is that he isn't fat -- yikes.

this signing gets a C.

he isn't worth the $ but that is market and obviously the organization couldn't find a sleeper like kosier this year. the only good thing about this is we are spending to upgrade the OL and that in 3-4 years his cap number wont be that bad (based on how fast the cap is growing. perhaps in 3 years he will better than average and average guards will be earning more.

the odd thing is what little attention colombo is getting. maybe we get him back cheap for a 2 year deal.

by 325424 on Mar 5, 2007 3:04 PM CST up reply actions

Like Grizz's poll states

I'll love the Davis signing ONLY if Jones re-signs Colombo.

"WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" - Ric Flair

by kcbrett5 on Mar 5, 2007 3:08 PM CST up reply actions

no

why don't you judge him on his naturual talent and ability like all the other scouts do.

If Davis played for almost any other franchise, I can see judging him by past performance, but playing for one of the very worse franchises in all of sports has to take its toll on some players. Maybe Davis is one of those guys that wants to win and gets frustrated playing for a losing team. He's with a winning team now, so I'm assuming his atitude will change.

You can't say the guy doesn't have ability though, I mean he's a 6-6 365 monster who can physically dominate DL.

In Romo we Trust

by Terry on Mar 5, 2007 3:32 PM CST up reply actions

ok

in the last 24 hours you have said:

we shouldn't judge a football player on his last 6 seasons, but his athleticism
we should draft the best player available (even if its a qb) as long he fits our system
jerry jones is the 5th best gm in football

i disagree with all three statements independently.
collectively they speak for themselves.

by 325424 on Mar 5, 2007 3:41 PM CST up reply actions

It's a wicked summary

but not entirely accurate. Jeff Garcia was all washed up after failing in Cleveland and Detroit, but suddenly became the stuff again in Philly. Point is, context does matter. Not always the only or even main factor, but it does have a significant impact on how a player performs.

by dunkman on Mar 5, 2007 3:48 PM CST up reply actions

But in Garcia's case...

Last year, he was in Marty Morninhweg's system (Eagles' OC, who was the Niners OC during Garcia's best years in SF).

"WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" - Ric Flair

by kcbrett5 on Mar 5, 2007 4:30 PM CST up reply actions

The one thing nobody is taking about

was Davis' reputation (from Arizona fans) for false start penalties. A study of 2006 however reveals but 8 false start penalties by Davis and no game with more than 1. There were 2 offensive holding penalties also on Davis. I was surprised that it was not much worse. There were plenty of false starts and holding by other members of the O-line in Arizona though. It is hard to know without film study how many sacks Davis gave up. Arizona as a team gave up 35 which is similar to Dallas. However just about whenever Warner was sacked he also fumbled so the sacks had a significant factor to the won-loss record.

In summary I am saying Leonard Davis played in a very pass-centric offense and still produced a strong body of work at LT with reasonable penalties. He does not appear to have been the problem in the Arizona O-line.

by lee3022 on Mar 6, 2007 2:31 AM CST reply actions

Right

Arizona let him go because:
(1) He was in effect their LT (they have a left handed QB, so he covered Leinart's blind spot)
(2) He's not good enough (speed and quickness) to take on a team's better pass rushers
(3) He was going to command more money than they wanted to pay for a guy who isn't able to be (1) and do (2)

He was never rated as a poor player, just one who never met high expectations.

by dunkman on Mar 6, 2007 7:09 AM CST up reply actions