Todd Archer evaluates the defensive line, so go check it out. Since Archer has an evaluation, and we have another evaluation, here, I’ll make mine very short. Here’s my bullet-point evaluation of the defensive line.
Marcus Spears – Less talking, more tackling.
Chris Canty – Time to show us you can do it.
Jason Ferguson – Already proven he can do it, and do it well.
Jay Ratliff – The kid has a non-stop motor, valuable rotation player.
Jason Hatcher – If he can learn to play the run, he could blossom.
Stephen Bowen – Has an outside shot of making a mark this year.
Montavious Stanley – Needs to shed his "bust" label in his second go around.
Remi Ayodele – Don’t know much about him, but gets a shoutout because his brother gave BTB an interview.
Ola Dagunduro – My pet cat because I like his name.
The Cowboys hired Skip Peete to handle the running backs this year. You might know Peete’s younger brother, Rodney, who was in Dallas for a year and of course had a long career as a QB in the NFL. Skip has been around coaching for a long time and is ready to take on the JJ/MB3 situation.
As of now, Peete is simply trying to get to know his players and help them to learn the new offense. He said deciding how the team figures to utilize running backs Julius Jones and Marion Barber likely won't take place until the Cowboys hit training camp.
But know that the new running backs coach is no stranger to a system of shared carries.
"If you look at all my years in Oakland," Peete said, "from the time I got there I had a two-back platoon. Whether it was Napoleon Kaufman and Harvey Williams or Tyrone Wheatley and Charlie Garner, it was always two backs. Those guys fed off each other and kept each other fresh. Obviously, if one of them gets hot, then you stay with them a little longer. There was never any selfishness with those guys, and I don't see any of that with the two guys I'm working with now."
I’m not going to get into a family situation that I know nothing about, but this is a weird story. Jason Witten’s mother was arrested for stealing money out of another woman’s bank account. She mistakenly got the other woman’s bank notice in the mail and made 25 withdrawals worth $5,500. That’s all I’m going to say about that.