Cowboys cornerback duo top-5 in NFL?

A while ago our very own BTB-regular 5Blings had a FanPost about the teams with the best corners in the league. Today Clark Judge took on DeAngelo Hall’s assertion that he and Nnamdi Asomugha are the best duo of corners in the league. Typical Hall, that guy is always promoting himself – and overrating himself. So Judge presented five teams who might have a better duo of corners and the Cowboys made the list. Even though we made the list, there wasn’t a whole lot of praise for Terence Newman and Pacman Jones (I guess they’re also assuming that Jones will supplant Anthony Henry). Take this quote for instance

"Newman is a good, solid corner," said an AFC player personnel director, "but I don't consider him special. Pacman has special qualities, but he's a ding-a-ling. He's a better player than Bly, but he will take the same chances. Yes, he makes spectacular plays, but he also gives up big plays."

Eh, I consider Newman pretty special. I try not to engage in homerism but in this case I don’t think I am. Newman can cover anybody in this league and although he doesn’t make a lot of interceptions, he rarely gets beat, either. Remember that stretch a couple of years ago when he went for a season-and-a-half of not giving up a TD? That’s pretty special. And how about the time he shutdown Steve Smith so badly that Smith got thrown out of the game in frustration.

Now, with Pacman, it’s still up in the air. He has the natural talent to be as good as most, but we just have to see him do it consistently.

But back to Newman. Maybe that AFC player personnel director should check out this article about Newman that Brandon posted yesterday.

But Terence Newman can match any of these cornerbacks step-for-step, play-for-play. This is a very special football player. The ardent football follower knows him.

‘Nuff said.

*Disclaimer: I'm waiting for Adam "Pacman" Jones to come out and say for himself that he doesn't want to be called Pacman anymore. Until he says it, I'm not listening to reports that he wants that. He said in the Michael Irivn interview that he didn't mind it because that's the nickname his momma gave him. If he says he doesn't want the name Pacman, I really want to call him Donkey Kong Jones instead because I loved that game as a kid and it sounds funny. But I'll go with whatever he wants, i guess.

Dr. Z isn’t feeling us. 

Dallas is the winter-book favorite. The Cowboys are loading up with all sorts of fancy names -- Zach Thomas, who has already carved out a place for himself in Miami's Hall of Fame, 'Pacman' Jones, whose pardon from the league office seems to be coming an inch at a time. Marion Barber got a new contract that stunned him by its magnificence. So did cornerback Terence Newman. They even gave Terrell Owens enough money to make him happy.

This is their year, right? Sorry, but I just don't feel it.

Who does he feel? The Vikings. I can’t go with that, Tarvaris Jackson is not leading them to the Super Bowl this year.

This sums up about as succintly as possible my feelings about Chris Canty and Marcus Spears. 

[Chris] Canty blossomed as a run stopper and even showed a little pass-rush prowess last season and is viewed by the staff as a critical piece of the team’s front seven, likely more so than Marcus Spears, who was drafted three rounds before Canty in 2005.

That’s the difference. Spears does an OK job of holding the point of attack against the run, but he rarely makes the tackle and even more rarely puts pressure on the QB. I just think we can do better.