USAToday - Inside Slant: Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys have had a revolving door at free safety since Darren Woodson retired.
The lack of stability has forced Pro Bowl strong safety Roy Williams to play out of position, out of his comfort zone and ultimately get exposed as a poor pass defender and inadequate quarterback for the secondary.
The Cowboys are betting that free agent Ken Hamlin will fill the void.
He signed only a one-year deal, worth $2.5 million, but the Cowboys are hoping that it will be a long-term arrangement.
"I've got the thought right now," Jones said. "We've got a one-year contract with him. But it's certainly implied if everything works the way we want it to, we're going to have a long-term deal together."
Hamlin is hoping for the same but he plans do his talking on the football field.
"You try not to think about it," Hamlin said. "I don't really see myself preparing for the season any different. You just want to go out there and play your game. If you do that, all the contract stuff should work itself out."
The Cowboys are confident enough in Hamlin that they didn't address the safety position in the draft. Four safeties were drafted in the first round but the Cowboys traded out and then traded back to take edge rusher Anthony Spencer.
"What he does for us, to fill a need we didn't have (filled), that was going to be hard to get in the draft," Jones said. "It's hard for a rookie, no matter how high you took him, to come in here and set the defense and be your quarterback on defense. To count on that happening was really asking a lot. And having (Hamlin) really took the pressure off of us because this was a good draft for safeties and a good draft for free safeties."
For the record, Pat Watkins and Keith Davis are also competing for the starting job at free safety.
Both players split time at the position last year, to limited success. Watkins started nine games and Davis, who started 15 games at the position in 2005, started six.
However, the problem of giving up too many big plays in the passing game remained. The woes at free safety forced Williams to spend too much time in coverage and away from the line of scrimmage where his skills suit him best. Williams was exposed as a pass defender. He also did not do a good job making the calls on defense.
Hamlin is expected to solve those problems. He has the knowledge to call the defense and the skills to play center field.
"It matters, but you really can't control it," Hamlin said of starting. "It's good to be out there and working with the first team. But it's May. I want to be the starter when the season starts. That's when you want to be starting. But I'm just going to go out there and play like I play. We'll see what happens."
NOTES, QUOTES
—The Cowboys won the rights to host the 2011 Super Bowl at the new Cowboys Stadium in Arlington. Now, the goal is to become the first host team to play in the Super Bowl. Although the game is a few years away and the roster will be decidedly different by then, a few Cowboys players are hopeful of playing in the game as a members of the team. "I've always had this vision of one day playing it at your own stadium, that would be kind of neat," quarterback Tony Romo said. "You never know how it's going to go. I think it just brings a legitimacy to the area. It just shows the commitment from the owner and the organization to build a stadium and a place like that. It's exciting because that atmosphere around a Super Bowl, I don't think there's much like it. To have it here is just going to be super exciting." The Cowboys will be trying to make history.
41 Super Bowls have been played and no team has played the game in its own stadium. Two came close. The Los Angeles Rams played Pittsburgh in Super Bowl XIV at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, and San Francisco beat Miami in Super Bowl XIX at Stanford in Palo Alto, Calif.
—OG Leonard Davis knows big expectations come along with his seven year 49.6 million contract, which includes a team record $16 million signing bonus. But he said he can handle it. "There's always pressure on everyone to succeed," he said. "It's really no different with me. I've had that my whole career. I think if you don't come out and feel pressure to play well and do your job, then you're not going be around very long."
—The organized team activity days are voluntary and supposedly non-contact. But there was plenty of action on the field on Thursday.
Two fights occurred in practice in front of the media. DE Jay Ratliff battled rookie T Doug Free, and G Cory Procter took on DE Stephen Bowen.
—DE Anthony Spencer is the third Cowboys player to make the transition from defensive end to linebacker in as many years, following DeMarcus Ware and Greg Ellis. So the rookie from Purdue is not in uncharted territory. Still, he acknowledges it's a transition he must make.
"It's just knowing where you're supposed to be and reacting," said Spencer, who rarely dropped into coverage at Purdue. Every practice is different, realizing what I have to do. I'll go to the film room, watch it, go over what I did wrong, and it's easy to correct stuff like that."
QUOTE TO NOTE: "Last year was a little difficult. But with this defense it allows you to run and make more plays. It's not near the structure of how you have to play within the scheme. You get to let your athletic ability take over." — Linebacker Bobby Carpenter on why he hopes for a better sophomore season after being a disappointment as a rookie.
The lack of stability has forced Pro Bowl strong safety Roy Williams to play out of position, out of his comfort zone and ultimately get exposed as a poor pass defender and inadequate quarterback for the secondary.
The Cowboys are betting that free agent Ken Hamlin will fill the void.
He signed only a one-year deal, worth $2.5 million, but the Cowboys are hoping that it will be a long-term arrangement.
"I've got the thought right now," Jones said. "We've got a one-year contract with him. But it's certainly implied if everything works the way we want it to, we're going to have a long-term deal together."
Hamlin is hoping for the same but he plans do his talking on the football field.
"You try not to think about it," Hamlin said. "I don't really see myself preparing for the season any different. You just want to go out there and play your game. If you do that, all the contract stuff should work itself out."
The Cowboys are confident enough in Hamlin that they didn't address the safety position in the draft. Four safeties were drafted in the first round but the Cowboys traded out and then traded back to take edge rusher Anthony Spencer.
"What he does for us, to fill a need we didn't have (filled), that was going to be hard to get in the draft," Jones said. "It's hard for a rookie, no matter how high you took him, to come in here and set the defense and be your quarterback on defense. To count on that happening was really asking a lot. And having (Hamlin) really took the pressure off of us because this was a good draft for safeties and a good draft for free safeties."
For the record, Pat Watkins and Keith Davis are also competing for the starting job at free safety.
Both players split time at the position last year, to limited success. Watkins started nine games and Davis, who started 15 games at the position in 2005, started six.
However, the problem of giving up too many big plays in the passing game remained. The woes at free safety forced Williams to spend too much time in coverage and away from the line of scrimmage where his skills suit him best. Williams was exposed as a pass defender. He also did not do a good job making the calls on defense.
Hamlin is expected to solve those problems. He has the knowledge to call the defense and the skills to play center field.
"It matters, but you really can't control it," Hamlin said of starting. "It's good to be out there and working with the first team. But it's May. I want to be the starter when the season starts. That's when you want to be starting. But I'm just going to go out there and play like I play. We'll see what happens."
NOTES, QUOTES
—The Cowboys won the rights to host the 2011 Super Bowl at the new Cowboys Stadium in Arlington. Now, the goal is to become the first host team to play in the Super Bowl. Although the game is a few years away and the roster will be decidedly different by then, a few Cowboys players are hopeful of playing in the game as a members of the team. "I've always had this vision of one day playing it at your own stadium, that would be kind of neat," quarterback Tony Romo said. "You never know how it's going to go. I think it just brings a legitimacy to the area. It just shows the commitment from the owner and the organization to build a stadium and a place like that. It's exciting because that atmosphere around a Super Bowl, I don't think there's much like it. To have it here is just going to be super exciting." The Cowboys will be trying to make history.
41 Super Bowls have been played and no team has played the game in its own stadium. Two came close. The Los Angeles Rams played Pittsburgh in Super Bowl XIV at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, and San Francisco beat Miami in Super Bowl XIX at Stanford in Palo Alto, Calif.
—OG Leonard Davis knows big expectations come along with his seven year 49.6 million contract, which includes a team record $16 million signing bonus. But he said he can handle it. "There's always pressure on everyone to succeed," he said. "It's really no different with me. I've had that my whole career. I think if you don't come out and feel pressure to play well and do your job, then you're not going be around very long."
—The organized team activity days are voluntary and supposedly non-contact. But there was plenty of action on the field on Thursday.
Two fights occurred in practice in front of the media. DE Jay Ratliff battled rookie T Doug Free, and G Cory Procter took on DE Stephen Bowen.
—DE Anthony Spencer is the third Cowboys player to make the transition from defensive end to linebacker in as many years, following DeMarcus Ware and Greg Ellis. So the rookie from Purdue is not in uncharted territory. Still, he acknowledges it's a transition he must make.
"It's just knowing where you're supposed to be and reacting," said Spencer, who rarely dropped into coverage at Purdue. Every practice is different, realizing what I have to do. I'll go to the film room, watch it, go over what I did wrong, and it's easy to correct stuff like that."
QUOTE TO NOTE: "Last year was a little difficult. But with this defense it allows you to run and make more plays. It's not near the structure of how you have to play within the scheme. You get to let your athletic ability take over." — Linebacker Bobby Carpenter on why he hopes for a better sophomore season after being a disappointment as a rookie.
posted by The Gryphon at 10:49 AM
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