I’ve decided to adopt Isaiah Stanback as my new "pet cat" for training camp. Last year, it was NT Sammy Taulealea, but I knew he didn’t stand a chance. Sammy T. was a pet cat headed for the animal shelter. Hopefully, Stanback will fare much better if his foot heals in time.
Poor Bobby Carpenter. I don’t care how anybody spins it; he can’t be that happy that the Cowboys spent a #1 pick on the same position he plays – one year after they drafted him with a #1 pick. Maybe he is going to move inside, we certainly are thin there. Maybe Wade is concocting some unusual match-ups and imaginative ways to get him involved. Carpenter was more suited for Bill Parcells’ version of the 3-4, a kind of jack-of-all-trades SOLB. In the Phillips 34, Wade wants his OLB’s to be pure pass-rushers, who can occasionally do some of that other stuff. But the #1 attribute has to be getting up field and after the QB, which is Anthony Spencer’s forte. I’m not saying anything remotely like Carpenter doesn’t fit anymore, but it’s more likely he fits inside.
Jacques Reeves, Nate Jones, Tyson Thompson, Lou Polite and some of these other guys from the Parcells Era are going to be fighting for roster spots in August. Some of the offensive linemen are in trouble, too. There should be some very entertaining roster battles at camp at the bottom end of the roster.
Either Jay Ratliff, Montavious Stanley or the newly signed Ola Dagunduro – Ola might become a pet cat also just because of that cool sounding name – have to come up big as a back-up for Jason Ferguson. The Phillips 34 is going to require a lot more movement from Fergie, he could use a rest now and then.
Since we drafted Nick Folk, he better be able to beat out the diminutive one, Martin Gramatica, for the outright kicker spot. FG’s, XP’s, and kickoffs. He’s supposedly got the big leg, but he better be accurate, too. I hate carrying two kickers as much as I hate drafting them.
OK, that’s enough for me. You got any pet cats out there yet? Maybe one of the UDFA’s? What about some of the roster battles, any ideas on where those are going?
Rob Phillips does a good job breaking down our picks, here. Calvin Watkins takes a look at passing on WR’s and taking the unconventional route to get one, here.