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Final Cuts Suggest Line Moves Ahead

Update: I’m looking at the league waivers and here’s what’s out there.

At quarterback, the list pretty much begins and ends with Chris Simms. Interested in Todd Bouman, Joey Harrington, or Brooks Bollinger ? Didn’t think so. The Tampa Bay Tribune is speculating that Dallas, Green Bay and Chicago are the most likely landing spots for Simms.

At wide receiver, the veteran pickings are slim. Guys like Reche Caldwell, Sammy Parker, Travis Taylor, and Cliff Russell. There may be a name among the rookies and 1st year vets the scouting staff knows and likes, but no names jumped out at me.

I still think another move or two is coming. The Cowboys don’t need eleven offensive linemen or seven corners.

Dallas cut 21 players today, including Larry Allen, who had been signed to a one day contract in order to retire as a Cowboy.

Here’s the full list:

1. OL Larry Allen
2. WR Danny Amendola
3. TE Drew Atchison
4. NT Remi Ayodele
5. WR Mark Bradford
6. RB Alonzo Coleman
7. FB Julius Crosslin
8. SS Dowayne Davis
9. DE Marcus Dixon
10. LB Tearrius George
11. OL Ryan Gibbons
12. TE Rodney Hannah
13. WR Mike Jefferson
14. RB Keon Lattimore
15. OL Cory Lekkerkerker
16. WR Todd Lowber
17. LB Darrell Robertson
18. NT Junior Siavii
19. DE Marcus Smith
20. LB Tyson Smith
21. LB Erik Walden

Comments:

– There’s some surprise that Dallas cut both Danny Amendola and Mike Jefferson. I’m not too surprised. Neither played exceptional football and would have made the team by default. As I wrote Thursday night, if the team finds a WR they like on waivers who is better, they’ll pick him up. If they can find a better WR for a late draft pick, a la Montrae Holland, they’ll pick him up.

This tells me the team has confidence that Miles Austin and Sam Hurd will return to full strength shortly.

– The Cowboys have 11 offensive linemen on their roster. This won’t last. None of the second unit guys were cut — Free, Berger, Procter, Marten and McQuistan. Add Montrae Holland and this is just too many linemen.

A former scout I spoke to a couple of weeks ago told me that offensive and defensive linemen are the hardest players to acquire this time of the year. While Dallas may not love any of the second five, the fact that demand far exceeds supply means a deal may be in the works for one of these guys.

– Surprising cut: Erik Walden. I don’t think the Cowboys are done shaking up their roster and he’s the most likely to be re-signed or pursued for the practice squad, in my opinion.

– Most disappointing: Marcus Dixon. Todd Grantham told me the week before the Chargers game that he was most excited to see this rookie play. Back problems wiped out his entire preseason. He’s another player who’s probably at the top of the practice squad wish list. to

Holland = Gesek?

In the summer of ‘90, the Cowboys took a small risk and gained a huge reward, shipping a 6th round pick to Oakland for guard John Gesek.  Gesek was never up to the standards of his Cowboys linemates, all of whom made the Pro Bowl.  He was steady, however and earned two Super Bowl rings in ‘92 and ‘93.

Dallas made a similar low-risk move today, sending a 5th round pick in 2010 to Denver for G Montrae Holland.  Holland had fallen out with the Denver coaching staff after reporting overweight and the move seems like an attempt by the Broncos to get something for a player they did not plan on keeping.  (The pick is in 2010, not 2009.)

The former Florida Seminole was a 4th round pick for New Orleans in 2003 and started all sixteen games for Denver last year.

Holland likely moves into the backup guard position and puts backups Joe Berger and James Marten on hot seats.  The team engages in self scouting, ranking its players at every position.  I know that one observer I spoke to rated ‘07 4th rounder Doug Free as 6 on the OL depth chart, but spots 7-9 were in flux.

Assuming backup Pat McQuistan can hold the LG spot while Kosier rehabs (we can’t assume that Holland is in game shape if the Broncos were dissatisfied enough by his conditioning to dump him), the team has a serious problem with coverage behind him.

Free worked almost exclusively at left tackle in camp.  If McQuistan is plugged in as a starter the Cowboys have no adequate backup for RT and at guard.  Consider that McQuistan got many of the starting reps in practice this week, and gets first crack at Kosier’s spot, though he’s only played RT in the preseason games.  This isn’t a good sign for second-unit guards Joe Berger and James Marten.

I’d say Marten is definitely on thin ice and Berger may be as well.  Then again, backup center Cory Procter has had all kinds of trouble with power rushers.  Watch the interior line carefully tonight to see if Berger gets any reps at center.

Holland’s addition means you’ll likely see the last of at least one of the second line C/Gs tonight.

Now We’re Gonna Remember “the Other Guy’s” Name

Remember that old Seinfeld joke about The Three Tenors, where the cast members could all recall Luciano Pavarotti and Placido Domingo but couldn’t remember, “the other guy?”

Kyle Kosier has been “the other guy” on the Cowboys Five Redwoods line. People know Flozell Adams, Leonard Davis and Andre Gurode. They’re Pro Bowlers. We even mention Marc Colombo’s name, since tackles are visible on the edge and since he’s had a good camp.

People tend to ignore Kosier, except to rip him for being the guy who succeeded Larry Allen. When he was signed some folks posted links to YouTube clips of him getting beaten in his 49ers days, when he played out of position at tackle.

Come draft day, he’s always a whipping boy, whom some people are itching to bench. Last year there was a special section of bloggers here just dying to draft Texas’ Justin Blalock and drop him into Kosier’s spot, though Blalock was unproven.

In the meantime, Kosier has become the steady Eddie of the line, playing a solid, consistent left guard. He’s this decade’s John Gesek, the “other guy” from the ’90s,who toiled alongside bigger names like Erik Williams, Nate Newton, Mark Tuinei and Mark Stepnoski.

Last week, I mentioned that the Cowboys’ weakness is their interior offensive line depth. That fact could be rudely demonstrated next week against the Vikings because Kosier has suffered an apparent foot sprain and has an MRI scheduled for this afternoon to learn its severity.

Pray it’s not serious because the team needs him. The backups in the interior line, Joe Berger, Cory Procter and James Marten has been consistently underwhelming. Procter and Marten have looked just awful thus far and a source I spoke to this week, one who has seen game tape of the San Diego and Denver games, seconded that opinion. He also said Joe Berger had a poor performance against Denver.

I watched their games last night, brief as they were — the trio did not play until the last two series in the 4th quarter. I’m sorry to report that nothing has improved.

Berger and Procter are consistently being pushed backwards by bull rushes. This is a big no-no for an interior lineman. If you can’t anchor, how can your QB step up in the pocket and throw? Marten has had a lot of trouble handing quick interior rushers.

In short, I don’t trust any of these guys to sub in the absence of Kosier, Gurode or Davis. If Kosier’s injury is serious, I think the team might move RT Pat McQuistan to left guard. He worked at multiple positions in camp, but took most of his reps at RT and LG. He’s bigger and more athletic than any of the other three guys and played guard in college.

The Cowboys can’t afford any interior line leaks. The Vikings have two massive, athletic DTs in Pat Williams and Kevin Williams. They’re probably the best DT duo in football right now. If the Cowboys have to put Berger in at left guard I’m not confident he can keep the Williams boys off Tony Romo without center help. If Kosier isn’t around for the season opener, new Brown and former Lion Shaun Rogers will be lined up over Berger a lot.

It’s said you often don’t know what you have till it’s gone. If Kosier is gone for any appreciable amount of time, Cowboys fans may learn what he’s really worth — the hard way.

Update: Kosier is out up to six weeks. This is bad news, though the big brains at the DMN think Isaiah Stanback’s injury, which will cost him two weeks, is “the biggest blow.” I’ll refer you again to the title of my post.

Early Scouting ‘09 — Look to Offensive Line

Before camp started, a source told me that offensive line was probably the top priority going into the ‘08 campaign, as the Cowboys had concerns about their depth.

That same source told me today that line depth remains the biggest area of concern on the team.  I wrote last week that Cory Procter and James Marten struggled against the Chargers and Joe Berger played poorly against the Broncos.  Doug Free looks solid at LT but Pat McQuistan has been hot-and-cold under Hudson Houck’s tutelage.  He looked more stable to my eyes against Denver but looked more consistent in ‘07.

Offensive and defensive lines are the hardest positions to find, at any time of the year so don’t look for Dallas to get lucky plucking anybody off waivers.  Any young lineman who hits the market will have multiple claims put on him and the Cowboys have one of the last slots in the claim order.

Hope that the linemen stay healthy again this year, especially at the center and guard positions.

Other tasty crumbs from the source:

– the Cowboys are NOT nervous about their WR play, even with Miles Austin’s setback.  “They want to see the young guys play,” I was told.  I’ll say it again.  Watch Isaiah Stanback carefully against Houston.  He’ll get a lot more reps with the second unit and while he’s not as far along as Austin, he is improving.  Hold off on those Anquan Boldin trade packages, folks, at least for the time being.

– Dallas is happy with the safety play as well.  Take an early bow, Roy Williams.  And does this mean that Courtney Brown has a chance to make the final roster?  He made some plays on the line of scrimmage late against Denver, knifing in from the edge to spill a Broncos runner in the backfield.  On the other hand, he was also victimized by a long bootleg pass on a 4th-and-1 play.  These next two games are huge for him.

– I asked about the John Beck-to-Dallas rumors and was told that the characterizations from the Miami press, that Dallas had shown “mild interest” were “a nice choice of words.”  I take it there’s not much to this story.

It’s Only the Beginning

Training Camp has been encouraging. It’s been fun. It’s been informative.

But it’s only the beginning of the Cowboys’ journey.

On the opening day of camp, I asked Hudson Houck what he could tell about his linemen, with OTAs and mini-camps under his belt. He refused to handicap his group, saying, “all I know is that I have 22 more practices to go.”

On Wednesday, with 18 of those practices in the books, I asked him the same question. He again deferred, saying they still had pre-season games to play before the staff determined how many players the Cowboys would keep at each position and which ones.

Armchair GMs like me like to play the “pick-53″ game, where we try to determine the Cowboys final roster as soon as possible. Because the Cowboys are so deep and veteran-laden, this exercise is not so hard, give or take a half dozen or so players.

But we don’t really know and can’t know about the back roster today. The games count, in that respect.

Will Danny Amendola stick? He’s been promising, but if he looks pedestrian in the games, all the good workouts come to nothing. James Marten, Joe Berger, Keon Lattimore, Alonzo Coleman, Marcus Dixon, Erik Walden, Evan Oglesby, Alan Ball, Courtney Brown… All these guys have put themselves in position to grab a roster slot. Nothing more.

That doesn’t mean camp has been worthless. It tells us a lot about veterans. We know a Flozell Adams is ready because he has years and years of play to draw upon, in addition to his camp work. The kids, on the other hand, are a blank slate.

That’s why you need to adjust your pre-season viewing. Don’t look to the score. Look at the guys fighting for jobs. And treat their play as individual auditions. The kids I named will get a lot of playing time. But they will do so with and against a lot of second and third teamers who won’t have real chances to make a squad.

Find them as soon as they enter the game. Note how they perform, especially against first team opposition. Note how each of them does on special teams. Make a point of learning where they line up on special teams. I’ll have a piece on this tomorrow. And let those plays be your guides for establishing the Dallas back roster.

Because the last two weeks have only been the prelude. The real auditions begin tomorrow in San Diego.

Note: We’ve got a full plate for this afternoon’s episode of “The Sports Doctors.” Bryan Broaddus, a former NFL scout and a regular of “Galloway & Company” on ESPN 103.3 in Dallas. He’ll discuss the Brett Favre trade, what teams are looking for this time of the year, Steve Smith and Anquan Boldin and how hard it is to make a trade and how good the Dallas back roster really is. He’ll also take on as many questions you can serve up, either in this thread or via call.

Bryan will be with us from 5:05 to 5:20 CT. As always, our number is 888-806-1661. We’ll also continue our profile of team hot spots with a look at the special teams, with comments from ST coach Bruce Read. You can listen locally at 1240 AM or listen to our live stream here on site. We hope you can join us. And if you join us, we hope you participate.

T.O. Beats Everybody: Dallas Cowboys Camp Report: July 27th

Your line for the day: T.O. beats everybody.

Repeat after me: Terrell Owens beats everybody.

Owens put on a scintillating show for HBO and the crowd, schooling every defensive back who tried to cover him. Adam Jones was on the down end of the day’s signature play; in a one-on-one drill, Owens rotated into a matchup with Jones. Richard Bartel was under center but with the desired matchup up for the first time today, Tony Romo was waved into the spot. Jones locked on to Owens for five yards but T.O. exploded away when he added the second half to the out-an-up. He was five yards in the clear when he gathered in Romo’s deep pass.

It’s always a question when a receiver is running free whether the receiver is really that good or the secondary is suspect. I remember watching Terry Glenn do the same thing to Terence Newman and Anthony Henry back in ’05 and it was the set up to a big season.

The corners are good. They knock down bad passes and they take some good ones away too. Owens is simply playing at a different level at the moment.

Say it with me…

The day began with the setup for kickoff return and coverage units. On the far field Bruce Read set up his first and second units, which lined up as follows:

First unit:

• First line: Pat Watkins, Bobby Carpenter, Justin Rogers, Martellus Bennett, Kevin Burnett
• Wedge: Tony Curtis, Cory Proctor, Pat McQuistan, Anthony Spencer
• Returners: Miles Austin, Sam Hurd

Second Unit:

• First line: Tashard Choice, Darrell Robertson, Mark Bradford, Erik Walden, Dowayne Davis
• Wedge: Julius Crosslin, Stephen Bowen, Jason Hatcher, Ronnie Cruz
• Returners: Orlando Scandrick, Mike Jenkins

You probably wondering where Adam Jones, Felix Jones and Isaiah Stanback were?

Adam was on the short field, where a large group of returners was taking turns fielding punts, including Patrick Crayton, Terence Newman, Anthony Henry, Danny Amendola and Quincy Butler.

When the team broke into units the receivers worked on catching passes at their highest point on fade routes and making one-handed catches.

The quarterbacks and running backs started with the most basic of skills, perfecting the spacing on a handoff. Across the short field, Hudson Houck and his guys worked on combination blocking in the middle and on the edge of the line. Houck worked with the interior linemen and had coaching fellow Erik Williams working with the offensive tackles.

On the back field, Todd Grantham and his guys worked on proper footwork on stunts and on proper hand usage on rushes.

Across the defensive field Dave Campo ran the secondary through defending stack or “bunch” formations, stressing communication, switching and proper spacing when receivers criss-crossed.

The offense and defense then worked together, with the receivers going one-on-one against the corners and the offense going 9-on-9 against the defense. Following both produced a mild headache but here’s what I gleaned:

Adam Jones can blanket receivers. He nevertheless had a frustrating session as Sam Hurd, Patrick Crayton and T.O. caught passes in front of and behind him.

That’s because Crayton and Hurd are running very precise routes. Hurd has been very impressive the last couple of days at getting separation. He told me yesterday he’s gunning for a starting spot and he’ll definitely get more playing time if he keeps playing this way.

Same as it ever was with Anthony Henry. Guys seem ready to blow past him and eat up his cushion with ease, but he stays with his man up the field and makes up ground when the ball is in the air. He recovered and stole the ball from Hurd on a deep route early in the drill. Guys can get away from him on deep ins, but receivers have always been able to do this.

Isaiah Stanback can beat jams and get up the field but the two deep throws I saw in his direction were thrown out of bounds. Give him an incomplete for the day.

Meanwhile, the offensive line got the better of the defense on most of the running plays. Felix Jones and Tashard Choice made impressive gains in the session going inside and outside. Marc Colombo has showed some good drive on plays to the right, while the interior trio of Kosier, Gurode and Davis created lots of lanes for the backs.

Jones’ speed is as good as advertised, but I think the fans will be pleasantly surprised by Choice’s explosiveness. He’s decisive and is quick through the hole.

On the defensive side, Anthony Spencer stopped everything to his side. He started to get reps more late in the season for his run stopping ability and he looks like he’s still improving.

In the next session the team went back to kickoff returns, with John Garrett and Bruce Read splitting the duties. Garrett worked with the up men, drilling them on getting the proper drops back towards the wedge and then turning, finding their targets, engaging and maintaining blocks to the whistle.

Read meanwhile worked with the wedge players. After a few minutes both halves of the unit worked together. Here, Stanback and both Jones took turns as returners: one return pair consisted of Miles Austin and Felix Jones and a second had Adam Jones and Sam Hurd. It appears that Read may have an abundance of return men this year. Austin was effective last year after replacing Tyson Thompson and Dallas now has three other returners who may be as good or better.

The team again split up with the tight ends and receivers going 7-on-7 on one half of the field while the offensive and defensive linemen staged their 1-on-1 on the other half.

I spent most of my time watching the linemen but caught these tasty crumbs:

First, Dallas unveiled its two tailback set, with Felix Jones and Marion Barber lining up in the backfield together. Felix motioned into the flanker spot and ran a go route. He got wide open and Tony Romo found him.

Next, Martellus Bennett drew his first cheers of the camp, catching a deep seam route.

The lineman drill showed the relative skills of veterans and the rookies, as the kids could beat other kids but had a lot more trouble dealing with the vets.

Rookie Erik Walden showed an impressive burst on an inside counter move that left Doug Free grasping for air. He found no such room on his next rotation when he went after Flozell Adams, who was his steady self, keeping everybody, including Demarcus Ware, away from his quarterback.

Jay Ratliff is getting a lot of reps at both end and nose tackle. He zipped past Leonard Davis on one play but had trouble with Colombo when he tried going wide. Colombo handled all comers his way.

Tank Johnson shows some explosiveness, in the drills and in the 1-on-1s. He got the better of Andre Gurode on one play but was stacked up by Kyle Kosier on another. Kosier was another mister steady.

It’s one step back and one step up for James Marten, who is trying to make it as a guard. He was pushed deep into the pocket on one rotation but fought back on his next chances.

The practice ended with a full 11-on-11 drill, that I’ll term a stalemate. The offense made some plays while the defense stopped others. Newman blanketed Crayton out of the slot and picked off a pass. Felix Jones took a stretch play for a long gain up the left side, showing impressive speed around the corner.

A likely immaterial drill note:

Backup QB Brad Johnson is doing his best to give UFA Mike Jefferson a chance to make the squad. Johnson threw almost all of his downfield passes Jefferson’s way. The rookie make a couple of sliding catches but also dropped a few. He’s still a long shot from where I’m sitting.

Source: The Questions Are On Offense

I talked to a source who broke down the issues facing the team less than a month before training camp. Although the offense ranked 2nd overall in points, averaging just more than four touchdowns per game, I was told the organization sees its biggest questions on the offensive side of the ball. Some key points:

BSR: What are the biggest concerns on each side of the ball?

– The defense looks solid. I think the secondary looks strong, the linebackers look strong and the line looks solid. In the secondary, Terence Newman is solid, Adam Jones is solid. I think Anthony Henry didn’t look like he was 100% in the mini-camps, but he should be fine.

I think one of the rookie corners will be in the mix, though I’m not sure if it will be the one [Mike Jenkins] or the five [Orlando Scandrick]. One will be in the lineup this year and the other will be inactive. We won’t really know until they put on the pads at Oxnard.

I’ll add that I think the secondary will be improved with Dave Campo running that unit. They appeared to be better fundamentally. Nothing against the last coach [Todd Bowles] but I think Campo is an exceptional teacher and the guys know he’s got their backs.

BSR: So you don’t see an overhaul positon wise? I’m of the belief that they’ll stick with Ken Hamlin at the free and limit Roy Williams’ reps, getting him off the field when they’re in nickel and dime sets.

– Absolutely. Teams find guys like that. I also think the team is playing Hamlin right. Make him do it more than one year. If he plays well again, then you think about something long term.

BSR: What about the offensive side of the ball? Where are the weak links there?

– There are a few questions there. I think the team wants to get a better sense of its offensive line depth. They have Pat McQuistan going into his third year and Doug Free entering his second year and they moved James Marten to guard. They’ll give their starters some time but you may see the young guys going two and three quarters in some games so the team can get a really good look at them against top competition.

I also have some questions about backup quarterback. Brad Johnson is a smart guy but when he’s in there the ball goes sideways a lot. I think he’s here for 2008 but I’m sure the team has an eye out for another prospect beyond this year. 95% of the teams in this league are cooked if they lose their starting QB but if Tony Romo missed any significant time I think the Cowboys are an 8-8 team without him.

Without question, the biggest issue is at wide receiver. The team isn’t panicking yet, but I do think they have some worries about the #2 position. The offense stopped scoring touchdowns when Terrell Owens got hurt last year. Patrick Crayton is okay but he’s more of a #3 than a #2.

The team was looking for a young receiver before who could become a number one and could not find a fit.

I think they might need a little luck to fill that this year. It gets harder to fill holes once camp begins.

BSR: I know the Tom Landry Cowboys often filled holes with trades for veteran receivers. Lance Alworth, Billy Parks, guys like that. Might Dallas look at a veteran who’s dependable, in the way Keenan McCardell was for the Chargers a few years ago? And does this explain the Joe Horn rumors?

– My understanding is that Horn’s agent was given permission to shop him. The Cowboys have not called Atlanta.

BSR: So this is likely his agent trying to drum up interest?

– Yes, but if you asked me would I take Terry Glenn with nicks or Joe Horn, I’d take Glenn.

BSR: If the team can’t fill this need via trade, does this mean they’ll turn more to a guy like Felix Jones as a receiver?

– I think Jason Garrett is a guy who wants to open things up and get the ball down the field. I think one of the bigger questions is: how fast can Felix Jones learn what’s going on? He has to be a blocker, a catcher and a runner.

He’s got the potential to be a matchup problem, because he’s an explosive player, and because Dallas has T.O. and Jason Witten and Marion Barber, who can play every down, and they’re legitimate weapons, so defense can’t just lock in on him. But they will if he’s not clear on his responsibilities. It’s going to be interesting to track him in the one-on-one drills in camp, to see how he does against linebackers. Will they rag doll him, or will be be able to stay square and hold his ground?

If he doesn’t picks things up fast enough he’s Reggie Bush, a guy you draw up special plays for. And he has to be better than that. If all he can do is run special plays just for him, defenses will clue in very quickly that he’s in the game to get the ball.

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