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Aaron Donald makes sense for Cowboys - Dallas Cowboys Blog - ESPN
Well, yeah. He does. Welcome to the party.
The Cowboys need impact players from this draft. Donald could be their best bet.
"I feel I can make an impact right away," Donald said. "Earn the trust from the coaches, learn the playbook, get on the field right away and make an impact, earn the respect of the vets and try to get out there and win games with them."
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Barry Switzer Says Jimmy ‘Cheated On’ Jerry " CBS Dallas / Fort Worth
Here is a completely different take on one of the most famous breakups in the NFL. In what was apparently a wildly entertaining interview (there is an embedded link in the article if you want to listen), Barry Switzer puts the blame for the way things played out squarely on Jimmy Johnson and the way he was behaving towards Jerry Jones. He also defends Jones in other ways.
"He doesn't interfere with the coaches. He doesn't have anything to do with coaching the team. He doesn't tell you the play, what schemes to run, how to set the board - the draft board. He leaves that up to the people that know what they're doing - the scouts, the coaches that evaluate."
Switzer believes that a number of owners in the NFL don't care about winning a Super Bowl, but instead focus on turning a profit. That can't be said for Jones.
Before you laugh it off because it is Switzer, remember, he was there, and anyone with his college record can't be a total fool.
Dallas roster not stripped, but retooled - Dallas Cowboys Blog - ESPN
In another argument that the Cowboys are looking at the long haul and not just short-term goals, Todd Archer points out that, while Jerry Jones said it is hard to blow a team up and start over under current NFL rules, the Cowboys are working on a years-long process.
The 8-8 finishes the past three seasons have prevented the Cowboys from making the playoffs, but the roster overhaul has happened and the cleaning up of the cap, as Stephen Jones likes to call it, is in midstream.
This is another datum that supports the contention that Jerry Jones would really like to see Jason Garrett stay around, because long term planning and roster building are things Garrett is perceived to be very good at managing.
Scout’s Eye: Closer Look At LBs After Combine Workouts
Broaddus takes a look at a position group that is often neglected here, but perhaps we should be looking more closely. Some recent commentary has been about whether the oft-injured Sean Lee might need to be protected some by moving him to the Will position, which would mean the Cowboys would need someone to fill in at the Mike.
If you are looking for MIKE linebackers that were productive on the day, Lamin Barrow and Chris Borland were your guys. Barrow doesn't have idea strength numbers at 22 reps at 225 but he is an explosive player with a 35" vertical jump and 10'3" broad jump. His 4.64 40 was an eye opener as well. His movements in drills were not stiff or robotic. Has some smoothness to them. His foot work was not all over the place and he was able to hold things together well.
Borland is a blast to study on tape because he is all over the place when it comes to chasing the ball. If Bill Polian was still running a team, this is the type of guy that he would have selected. I know the 4.83 40 is not ideal or the height at 5-11 but this is an outstanding football player and he showed that going through the drills. He worked through the drills with the same passion and techniques that he shows on the field. His body is compact and his movement is the same way. There are not many wasted or false steps and when it comes to reacting, he manages to do it very quickly.
2014 NFL Draft: Manziel, Bridgewater headline upcoming pro days - CBSSports.com
Now that the main NFL Combine is over, the focus for draft prep turns to all the pro days and regional combines. This takes a quick look at why their respective pro days are important to Teddy Bridgewater and Johnny Manziel, bot of whom chose not to throw in Indianapolis.
Manziel needs to show the same velocity to all levels of the field with proper anticipation and placement at the top of each route. A pro day setting won't give Manziel a chance to show off his instinctive and elusive scrambling, but it will help show his ability to operate from within the pocket. It won't be surprising if a broom or two is involved to help simulate Manziel throwing over outstretched hands at the line of scrimmage. He seems to step up on the big stage so with every eye on him at his pro day look for Manziel to perform well.
Of course, how Manziel does is totally unimportant for Dallas and their fans, according to Jerry, because Tony Romo is the "ticket" for the Cowboys, and Manziel is too expensive anyway.
"We'll never see him," Jones said. "We couldn't get there if we traded three drafts to get him. But he's an outstanding player. The area I feel the best about our chances in is at our quarterback. And I feel that way for the next several years. The only exception to that being injury."
Or, maybe not. It wouldn't really be a Cowboys news roundup if there wasn't something contradictory to include.
"You certainly have to look at him in terms of if he were to fall, where he would stack up with the other options," Stephen Jones told the Ben and Skin show Tuesday evening on 105.3 The Fan [KRLD-FM]. "It's in no way saying that we're going to interview him because if he falls we're going to take him. We just have to know that if something were to happen, obviously he can be a polarizing character, so you have to be prepared."
Jerry Jones of Dallas Cowboys says it's his fault Tony Romo hasn't won a Super Bowl - ESPN Dallas
While many people put the blame for Dallas' recent lack of success, Jerry sees the fault as being with him.
"We should have been knocking on the door and we haven't and I have no excuses, it starts here," Jones said. "But we have not. I know that to the extent that we have a healthy Romo, our best chance to get back to the Super Bowl is a healthy Romo."
"Uniquely explains" in the sense of you may or may not have a clue as to what exactly he is trying to say.
"Jason Garrett has a very high tolerance for ambiguity. It's a great quality. He's very disciplined as well. He's very organized as well. Tremendously smart. But he's unique in that with all of that, he can basically play option quarterback and string it out until the last move is made and then make his decision. That's a good quality."
I came across this after I had done my piece on coverage of the Jones' 25th Anniversary as team owner. It is a nice, long look at things that has some other aspects of what happened, including how Jerry came to be one of the biggest movers and shakers in the league, despite being a new owner at the time.
Right off the bat after buying the team, he was instrumental in getting Paul Tagliabue hired as NFL commissioner instead of New Orleans owner Jim Finks. Then he resisted an attempt by NBC and CBS to low ball the league on the next TV deal. The networks claim they are losing money, but Jones leads an effort to stop a deal that winds up taking $8.5 million per team away from them - in the short run.
"You're a risk-taker, a wildcatter. We're not,'' one owner tells Jones. "We've got a plan to run our team. We may not be satisfied with how much, but we've got to know we have this revenue.''
Tagliabue invites Jones to join the broadcast committee and facetiously charges him to show the other owners how it should be done. Jones cites his I Love Lucy theory from his days with KARK, an NBC affiliate in Little Rock. The station lost money on the reruns but built brand identity and credibility for other programming.
Jones hears that media magnate Rupert Murdoch has interest but is reluctant because he feels he was used as a stalking horse in previous negotiations. Jones sets up a meeting with the founder of News Corp. and Fox.
"I assure you I will do everything I know to do to make sure you're not a stalking horse,'' Jones tells Murdoch. "If you do your best to give us the best deal, we will take it or I will holler so that everybody hears.''
Fox outbids CBS, and the league's next TV contract jumps from $900 million to $1.1 billion.
And from then on, whenever Jerry Jones talked, the NFL listened. Maybe that is what is to blame for him talking so much.