Youth Will Be Served
by Vela
Take a bow, Jeff Ireland.
Nobody can say how his latest class will shake out. What we do know today is that all eight Cowboys rookies made the final 53. They are joined by Tony Curtis in the Class of ‘07.
Adding youth means older hands are dismissed. The coaches surprised by releasing veteran Aaron Glenn. Dallas obviously felt his price tag was too high. However, his inability to contribute as a slot corner probably sealed his short-term fate.
There are no major surprises on offense. Dallas kept six receivers, as expected, with Miles Austin beating out Jerheme Urban. The Cowboys kept two fullbacks, giving Deon Anderson a slot and cutting Lousaka Polite.
The one minor surprise had Dallas releasing QB Matt Moore to keep ten O-linemen, with interior lineman Cory Proctor and Joe Berger making the cut.
The defensive moves seem a bit puzzling. Dallas kept six linemen, going with Stephen Bowen over Remi Ayodele. This give Dallas five DEs and one true NT but Bowen was simply a better player than Ayodele, position notwithstanding.
Dallas kept only seven linebackers, and left themselves with little depth since Greg Ellis is one of them. None of the new backup candidates at inside or outside linebacker stuck. Don’t be surprised if Dallas makes a waiver claim in the next week or two here, should Ellis’ heel continue to trouble him.
Or is Ellis about to pull a Michael Strahan and find his health and motivation now that camp is over?
With Dallas going light at linebacker they stocked up on d-backs. The team kept five cornerbacks, with rookie Alan Ball joining veteran backups Jacques Reeves and Nate Jones. Their continued presence might surprise some but a closer look at the preseason makes their slots clear; Reeves was the one backup CB who showed some moxie the past two weeks. Joey Thomas regressed and Quincy Butler showed horrific tackling form against Minnesota.
Reeves play outside was no worse than Glenn’s and his smaller price tag probably figured into the team’s thinking.
As for Jones, somebody has to man the slot in the Dallas nickel if Terence Newman falters. Jones was a constant at backup there all camp, which is why I put him at 4th CB from the beginning.
Yesterday I wondered in print if Dallas would keep Abram Elam or Courtney Brown as the 5th safety? Elam stepped forward on the shaky Dallas coverage units. Brown was stepping forward at free safety.
Dallas decided to keep both, going with six safeties. In the end Junior Glymph’s inability to contribute on special teams gave Elam the final spot.
So how did you do with your picks? I took my last crack at the roster three weeks ago and missed with Moore over Berger. I also punted on choosing between Anderson and Polite, so I’ll count that as a miss. On defense, I predicted nine LBs, so I missed out on Elam and on Ball staying over Glenn. Martin Gramatica’s injury settled the kicking derby, so everybody gets a mulligan there.
Take a bow, Jeff Ireland.
Nobody can say how his latest class will shake out. What we do know today is that all eight Cowboys rookies made the final 53. They are joined by Tony Curtis in the Class of ‘07.
Adding youth means older hands are dismissed. The coaches surprised by releasing veteran Aaron Glenn. Dallas obviously felt his price tag was too high. However, his inability to contribute as a slot corner probably sealed his short-term fate.
There are no major surprises on offense. Dallas kept six receivers, as expected, with Miles Austin beating out Jerheme Urban. The Cowboys kept two fullbacks, giving Deon Anderson a slot and cutting Lousaka Polite.
The one minor surprise had Dallas releasing QB Matt Moore to keep ten O-linemen, with interior lineman Cory Proctor and Joe Berger making the cut.
The defensive moves seem a bit puzzling. Dallas kept six linemen, going with Stephen Bowen over Remi Ayodele. This give Dallas five DEs and one true NT but Bowen was simply a better player than Ayodele, position notwithstanding.
Dallas kept only seven linebackers, and left themselves with little depth since Greg Ellis is one of them. None of the new backup candidates at inside or outside linebacker stuck. Don’t be surprised if Dallas makes a waiver claim in the next week or two here, should Ellis’ heel continue to trouble him.
Or is Ellis about to pull a Michael Strahan and find his health and motivation now that camp is over?
With Dallas going light at linebacker they stocked up on d-backs. The team kept five cornerbacks, with rookie Alan Ball joining veteran backups Jacques Reeves and Nate Jones. Their continued presence might surprise some but a closer look at the preseason makes their slots clear; Reeves was the one backup CB who showed some moxie the past two weeks. Joey Thomas regressed and Quincy Butler showed horrific tackling form against Minnesota.
Reeves play outside was no worse than Glenn’s and his smaller price tag probably figured into the team’s thinking.
As for Jones, somebody has to man the slot in the Dallas nickel if Terence Newman falters. Jones was a constant at backup there all camp, which is why I put him at 4th CB from the beginning.
Yesterday I wondered in print if Dallas would keep Abram Elam or Courtney Brown as the 5th safety? Elam stepped forward on the shaky Dallas coverage units. Brown was stepping forward at free safety.
Dallas decided to keep both, going with six safeties. In the end Junior Glymph’s inability to contribute on special teams gave Elam the final spot.
So how did you do with your picks? I took my last crack at the roster three weeks ago and missed with Moore over Berger. I also punted on choosing between Anderson and Polite, so I’ll count that as a miss. On defense, I predicted nine LBs, so I missed out on Elam and on Ball staying over Glenn. Martin Gramatica’s injury settled the kicking derby, so everybody gets a mulligan there.
posted by The Gryphon at 8:48 AM
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