Wade Phillips made some interesting moves this weekend
by Dave Halprin (Grizz)
I admit to some uneasy feelings about the Dallas Cowboys over the past couple of weeks. For a while there, I was flying high with our early success while also trying to stay grounded. But the mood started darkening a bit with the Terence Newman injury that wasn’t even reported to us until someone asked, then the diagnosis kept changing. Then Kevin Burnett got hurt and Greg Ellis got a second opinion that didn’t change anything about his status. Then came the roster cuts. With the cornerback and linebacker positions unsettled due to injury, the Cowboys decided to part ways with a couple of guys who had been lining up with the second teams. It seems that I wasn’t the only one confused by those moves. A couple of Dallas players weren’t very excited by the moves, either.
"I'm pissed off," safety Roy Williams said of Glenn being cut, a move that came at a time when the Cowboys are uncertain about cornerback Terence Newman's status for Sunday's game against the New York Giants.
Linebacker Bradie James questioned the wisdom of releasing Glymph while Greg Ellis remains out and rookie Anthony Spencer is struggling to master strongside linebacker after playing defensive end in college.
"I was surprised," James said of the Glymph whacking. "There were a few surprises in this 53 that came up. But, hey, they got the plan. It's my job to execute it."
I’m the first to admit that I thought Aaron Glenn’s skills were eroding and wondered all offseason if he had what it took to still be effective. After watching training camp and the preseason games, I wouldn’t have minded if they elevated Jacques Reeves ahead of Glenn to third corner. Yes, Glenn’s 1.7 million dollar salary would have been way out of line, but I would rather pay 1.7 million to keep Nate Jones off the field at cornerback. In his previous Dallas history, Jones never proved he had the skills to actually play CB, and he didn’t do it this year in preseason, either. He couldn’t have because he rarely played.
That means {Nate} Jones, who has played mostly on special teams his first three years, will likely be asked to contribute in the dime package, too.
Jones was considered a surprise to make the final roster, considering he didn't play much on defense in the last two preseason games. And when he did get extensive time in the second game against Denver, he allowed a 90-yard touchdown pass in the second half.
But while Glenn and recently-released Joey Thomas might have made a few more plays in the preseason, Jones makes up for it on special teams.
Great, Jones makes up for it on special teams, yet he faces the very real possibility of being the nickel corner on opening day. This makes me nervous.
The cutting of Junior Glymph I was less concerned about, because he hasn’t really shown himself to be a player in the past, and while he had a strong start to training camp his play got progressively worse as the preseason games rolled on. In some ways, he’s not much better an option than new pickup Justin Rogers, but at least Junior had some experience under his belt and knew the Dallas defense. Rogers will be learning on the fly.
Mickey Spags examines this more in an article, here. Wade Phillips made some interesting moves that better payoff, or Dallas could get themselves in a hole early.
The new corner Evan Oglesby gave some quotes today and Nick Eatman relays them to us.
"It's not easy to come to another team and try to step right in," said Oglesby, who originally signed with the Bills in 2005 as an undrafted rookie free agent, but joined the Ravens later that season. "But I'm looking forward to come in here and helping in anyway I can. Hopefully I can come in and make this team better somehow."
And Oglesby should know a thing or two about good defenses, having been a part of Baltimore's stingy unit that ranked No. 1 in the league in both yards and points allowed. Oglesby said he learned a lot just by being a part of a defense that featured two of the best defensive players in the NFL in linebacker Ray Lewis and safety Ed Reed.
"Hopefully, I can bring what I learned from Ray and Ed and bring it here to the Cowboys," Oglesby said. "It looks like we've got a good group of guys here, good leaders. So I'm just hoping I can get in here and pick it up quickly."
Some Dallas players changed their jersey numbers.
New linebacker Justin Rogers is in No. 50. New cornerback Evan Oglesby is in No. 23
Ken Hamlin took over No. 26 with Aaron Glenn's departure. He had been wearing No. 27. Rookie tackle James Marten switched from No. 79 to No. 78, which Remi Ayodele wore during training camp. Rookie safety Courtney Brown is moving from No. 40 to No. 27.
I admit to some uneasy feelings about the Dallas Cowboys over the past couple of weeks. For a while there, I was flying high with our early success while also trying to stay grounded. But the mood started darkening a bit with the Terence Newman injury that wasn’t even reported to us until someone asked, then the diagnosis kept changing. Then Kevin Burnett got hurt and Greg Ellis got a second opinion that didn’t change anything about his status. Then came the roster cuts. With the cornerback and linebacker positions unsettled due to injury, the Cowboys decided to part ways with a couple of guys who had been lining up with the second teams. It seems that I wasn’t the only one confused by those moves. A couple of Dallas players weren’t very excited by the moves, either.
"I'm pissed off," safety Roy Williams said of Glenn being cut, a move that came at a time when the Cowboys are uncertain about cornerback Terence Newman's status for Sunday's game against the New York Giants.
Linebacker Bradie James questioned the wisdom of releasing Glymph while Greg Ellis remains out and rookie Anthony Spencer is struggling to master strongside linebacker after playing defensive end in college.
"I was surprised," James said of the Glymph whacking. "There were a few surprises in this 53 that came up. But, hey, they got the plan. It's my job to execute it."
I’m the first to admit that I thought Aaron Glenn’s skills were eroding and wondered all offseason if he had what it took to still be effective. After watching training camp and the preseason games, I wouldn’t have minded if they elevated Jacques Reeves ahead of Glenn to third corner. Yes, Glenn’s 1.7 million dollar salary would have been way out of line, but I would rather pay 1.7 million to keep Nate Jones off the field at cornerback. In his previous Dallas history, Jones never proved he had the skills to actually play CB, and he didn’t do it this year in preseason, either. He couldn’t have because he rarely played.
That means {Nate} Jones, who has played mostly on special teams his first three years, will likely be asked to contribute in the dime package, too.
Jones was considered a surprise to make the final roster, considering he didn't play much on defense in the last two preseason games. And when he did get extensive time in the second game against Denver, he allowed a 90-yard touchdown pass in the second half.
But while Glenn and recently-released Joey Thomas might have made a few more plays in the preseason, Jones makes up for it on special teams.
Great, Jones makes up for it on special teams, yet he faces the very real possibility of being the nickel corner on opening day. This makes me nervous.
The cutting of Junior Glymph I was less concerned about, because he hasn’t really shown himself to be a player in the past, and while he had a strong start to training camp his play got progressively worse as the preseason games rolled on. In some ways, he’s not much better an option than new pickup Justin Rogers, but at least Junior had some experience under his belt and knew the Dallas defense. Rogers will be learning on the fly.
Mickey Spags examines this more in an article, here. Wade Phillips made some interesting moves that better payoff, or Dallas could get themselves in a hole early.
The new corner Evan Oglesby gave some quotes today and Nick Eatman relays them to us.
"It's not easy to come to another team and try to step right in," said Oglesby, who originally signed with the Bills in 2005 as an undrafted rookie free agent, but joined the Ravens later that season. "But I'm looking forward to come in here and helping in anyway I can. Hopefully I can come in and make this team better somehow."
And Oglesby should know a thing or two about good defenses, having been a part of Baltimore's stingy unit that ranked No. 1 in the league in both yards and points allowed. Oglesby said he learned a lot just by being a part of a defense that featured two of the best defensive players in the NFL in linebacker Ray Lewis and safety Ed Reed.
"Hopefully, I can bring what I learned from Ray and Ed and bring it here to the Cowboys," Oglesby said. "It looks like we've got a good group of guys here, good leaders. So I'm just hoping I can get in here and pick it up quickly."
Some Dallas players changed their jersey numbers.
New linebacker Justin Rogers is in No. 50. New cornerback Evan Oglesby is in No. 23
Ken Hamlin took over No. 26 with Aaron Glenn's departure. He had been wearing No. 27. Rookie tackle James Marten switched from No. 79 to No. 78, which Remi Ayodele wore during training camp. Rookie safety Courtney Brown is moving from No. 40 to No. 27.
posted by The Gryphon at 9:07 AM
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