When Matt Mosely writes about football, he's pretty good. But you have to wade through all the other stuff he puts in his articles until you finally get to the football stuff. Today, he talks about golfing with a couple of people in the Cowboys organization and drops these nuggets on us:
Would it shock you to find out that second-year right tackle Rob Petitti was the first name mentioned? When last seen, Petitti was waving defensive ends through like an eager traffic cop.
In fact, former Chicago first-round draft pick Marc Colombo may also be ahead of Fabini on the depth chart. I had one member of the organization tell me that Colombo was the toughest player on the team and that he'd also made tremendous progress in the weight room.
If this is true, I'll admit I was totally wrong about Fabini. Either way, I don't care who plays RT as long as they get the job done.
Ed Reed, who along with Troy Polamalu and Roy Williams are usually mentioned as the best safeties in the league, recently signed a new contract. Why do we care? Because Roy is up for a new contract after this year and the Reed signing will play into his contract demands. Todd Archer speculates on that situation (sub. req.).
Reed was entering the final year of his rookie contract and would have been an unrestricted free agent following this season. Williams is in the same situation. The Cowboys could place the franchise tag on Williams and pay him the average of the top-five paid safeties in the league, but that's never a good way to keep things positive between player and team.
Archer provides us with a handy-dandy chart to compare the two players.
Category Roy Williams Ed Reed
Years 4 4
Tackles 346 269
Pass deflections 24 61
Interceptions 12 22
Sacks 6.5 4
Forced fumbles 9 4
Touchdowns 3 3
Pro Bowls 3 2
I think that chart proves what we've all known anyway. Reed is the better safety in coverage and making plays in the secondary, while Williams is the bigger hitter who intimidates and causes turnovers. I guess it's all a matter of your defensive philosophy.
Freddie Kitchens, who took over the TE coaching position from Paul Pasqualoni, is profiled here.