With all the hubbub on the front page in the past fortnight, I suspect many of you haven't had as much time to peruse the FanPost pages. If true, that would be a shame, as our members have continued to churn out first-rate material amidst the free-agent melee. Thankfully, Ol' Rabble is ever vigilant, and has had a chance to read every delicious word. Now, he's here to share the best of the best with you, our loyal readership.
You ask, impatiently, "Who are the recipients of the coveted Rabbie?" We'll get to them, and soon. But there are some honorable mentions to hand out first, people. There are so many good FPs gracing our pages that we need several categories of recognition; as always, we have "duly noteds" "honorable mentions" and, finally, the "FPOTW."
As might be expected, several themes emerges in the past two weeks of FanPosts. Several of these were predictable; others less so. One that I found fascinating was the essential "BPA" question: if Trent Richardson is available at pick number 14, should the Cowboys draft him? My answer is an unequivocal "yes"; when you can get a blue-chip prospect in the middle of the first round, you have to pull the trigger, regardless of position. TheDynasty93 seems to agree with me, arguing that Richardson is a rare talent; Tyrone Jenkins (who is straight money in the comments sections) adds that, with a young O-line, Richardson and Co. could present as formidable offensive presence for years to come. Its certainly an interesting question to consider...
Who wins this week's Rabbie? Make the jump to find out...
Speaking of the offensive line, VAFan has been blowing up the FanPost pages recently, and frequently returns to the same theme: the Cowboys still haven't sufficiently addressed what he perceives to be the team's number one offseason priority: fixing the interior O-line. He has a point; all the previous Cowboys Super Bowl teams boasted at least three Pro-Bowlers along the O-line (of course, they might have received those accolades precisely because they played in the Super Bowl). In these and a slew of other posts, VAFan has offered up some superb contributions. For a look at his entire oeuvre, hit this linky right here--you'll be glad you did.
Another BTBer who has been churning out some top flight material of late is our resident Buckeye, ScarletO. This time around, S.O. can be found preaching to the choir a bit--but his sermon is a doozy. He crafts a persuasive argument for defying recent draft history and taking David DeCastro with the fourteenth pick. He is joined among the honorable mentions by CoachGary who, much to our delight, brings back his "Football 101" series, after an extended (and, for us, unwelcome) hiatus. This time around, its a second look at the defensive line--but through an offensive lens, specifically by looking at the emergence of zone blocking schemes. Glad to have you back, Coach!
This week's top honors go to a pair of posts, both by the same author. Another of my favorite BTBers, Specific (who I can never thank enough for all his fine work decoding the Cowboys 2010 draft board), takes a statistically-based look at the available defensive end and rush linebacker candidates in the upcoming draft. For each, he looks at the standard Combine measurables--forty time, bench press reps, broad and vertical jumps, short shuttle and 3-cone times--establishing baseline numbers for each test, and compiles all of this info into a handy chart. He then ranks the players and, finally distributes them by anticipated draft round.
What are Specific's findings? I don't want to give too much away (go read his FPs!), but I will share a couple of surprises: Boise State's Tyrone Crawford and Florida State's Nigel Bradham score much better than anticipated. But don't listen to me; read Specific's posts! Defensive ends can be found here; OLBs here. But before you do, hit the comments section and give some love to Specific and all of this week's terrific FanPosts.
Keep up the good work y'all!