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Early Shopping List — Updated

November 4, 2008

Updated:  Losing Makes Everybody Stupid.

Including the fans.  I’m seeing sites calling for Mike Jenkins to get benched for his olé in the 4th quarter.

People.  Keep your senses.  Mike Jenkins is getting better every week.  He’s the future at one CB spot.  He had a pick six Sunday.  He’s doing crazy things but he’s got an excuse.  He’s a rookie.  If he keeps doing crazy things, fine, but he’s got one stupid example on his resume.  Adam Jones, by comparison, has a career’s worth of ass-clownery.

But seriously, you gonna bench him and play Anthony Henry, the one-legged man?  Who’s better going forward?  A guy who’s getting better every week, or a guy who’s slowing down every week and who is again injured?

Would you have benched Leon Lett after Thanksgiving ‘03 for being a knucklehead?  And what would it have cost you if you did?

*       *       *       *       *       *

I’m not bailing on ‘08 by any means, but we don’t have to wait until January to list the areas of weakness on this team:

Defense:

Safety — Keith Davis was a special teams ace, who was released outright by Miami and now he’s starting at strong safety for the Cowboys.  We can debate his value versus Roy Williams ’till we’re breathless, but Dallas has nothing at their position right now.  I would not be surprised to see safety at the top of Dallas draft wish list next April.  Imagine the secondary with a Bob Sanders instead of Davis and the potential improvement is obvious.

Nose Tackle — Jay Ratliff is Dallas’ best D-lineman, and it’s not even close.  He got the big money first — and so far alone at his spot — as the Cowboys have wisely held off splurging on either Marcus Spears or Chris Canty.  The Cowboys would love to move Ratliff to DE, but can you trust Tank Johnson as your every down NT?  He had 10 starts for Chicago in ‘06 and has never started more than four games in any other season.

Defensive end — who bookends Ratliff if he moves outside?  Marcus Spears looked like a goner before this year but has showed flashes this season.  Still, he’s been very erratic in his four years.  And is any defensive player more disappointing this year than Chris Canty?  When a player disappears in his salary-drive year, that’s a huge red flag.  Jason Hatcher is MIA.

Guard/Center — The injury to Kyle Kosier showed the cupboard is bare at interior line.  Cory Proctor was a short-term band aid, but he’s regressed with every passing game.  A bigger, meaner version of Proctor, who can play center and guard, would be a godsend.

Tackle — Teams will tell you, they don’t draft guys to be backups.  Pat McQuistan and Doug Free looked like up-and-coming players under Tony Sparano but they have looked lost under Hudson Houck.  Which brings up…

Offensive Line Coach?  — The Cowboys had a choice this spring.  Hudson Houck was available, but so was Mike Solari.  Solari started his coaching career working with the Cowboys, working with the tight ends and assisting Jim Erkenbeck in the late Landry days.  He moved on and coached those nasty Kansas City lines which paved lanes for Priest Holmes and Larry Johnson.  He washed out in his trial as K.C.’s offensive coordinator last year but he’s got a solid track record.  Think back to December ‘05, when Johnson ran wild in Dallas, behind Pro Bowlers Willie Roaf and Brian Watters.  That was Solari’s calling card.

Solari has brought a fair Seahawks line up from 20th to 12th in rushing this year.  The Cowboys have improved a bit in that department under Houck, but the sacks-allowed mushroomed, even when Tony Romo was hurt.

Wade Phillips apparently recommended Solari for the OL job.  The Cowboys brought back Houck.  We’ll get a much better idea of things when Kyle Kosier returns but this is the offseason move I ponder the most.

Written by Rafael Vela · Filed Under News | 127 Comments 

Back to School

November 4, 2008

I expect half the team to return from the bye in good working order — the offensive half.  Tony Romo will make an enormous difference.  I’m sure lots of folks were having some nasty Ryan Leaf/Chad Hutchinson/Drew Henson/Anthony Wright flashbacks on Sunday.  QBs with ratings near 100, even those with wild streaks, change your football world view — tremendously.

It was lost in the debris of the Cardinals loss, but that game was Romo’s 32nd as a starter.  News flash — he’s good:

Splitting his numbers down the middle — and that’s fair because he’s been remarkably consistent — we get this average season line:

528 att.; 341 comp.;  64.6 comp. %; 8.3 YPA; 35 TDs; 19 Int.; 97.8 Rating

W-L:  23-9,  72%

Remember this — Romo has been throwing all along.  He has not been playing because he can’t take a snap, transition the ball to his hand and get a pass off quickly under a rush.  But he’s been able to throw all along.

Which means he’s been developing timing with Roy Williams.

– Felix Jones will be back.  He’s not practicing now, as a precaution, but he’s running with no pain.  We should see him in Washington.  He’s another guy whose value became immediately apparent when he left.  Defenses had no answer for him.  He was averaging at TD a game.

And Jason Garrett didn’t use him in the first Redskins game, so he’s still a mystery to them.

– Kyle Kosier should also be back.  I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Dallas’ best rushing game of the season came in his lone start versus Green Bay.  I don’t want to make him out as a miracle worker, but offensive lines function as a unit, and losing a starter often hurts you more than his individual value, because the entire unit is weaker.  He may only be 10% better of a player than Cory Proctor, but it’s hard to put an accurate estimate on how much his loss has hurt the line’s overall play. I’d put it as more than 10%.

I do think his return makes Flozell Adams and Andre Gurode better players.  And it makes the Cowboys a more balanced running team.  They have been very right-handed so far this year.

The Cowboys offense should be humming again after the bye.  Romo’s return alone makes them much better.  Adding Jones and Kosier, not to mention the unknown potential of a Romo-Williams connection and the points should return.

And every point will be vital, because I don’t know what can be done to fix the run defense.  That’s the task facing the staff, because they’re going to be the Chargers East if they don’t figure that one out.  A source I spoke to yesterday said the front seven defenders “are having a hard time getting off blocks.”

Getting them free will determine this season — and the future employment of a lot of defensive players and coaches.

Developing…

Written by Rafael Vela · Filed Under Games | 13 Comments 

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