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Jerry's crazy if he can't see CB problem

January, 25, 2011


By Tim MacMahon

Cross your fingers that Jerry Jones is just throwing up a smokescreen with take-it-easy talk about the cornerbacks. If that isn’t the case, the man might be crazy.

“They’re a little better than probably the taste we have in our mouth,” Jerry told reporters at the Senior Bowl while sticking up for the cornerbacks.

OK, well, that’s true. But only because the cornerbacks can’t be much worse than the bitter taste they left with their 2010 performance.

Mike Jenkins gave up 935 passing yards, according to Stats Inc., which ranked second in the NFL. He also led the league’s cornerbacks in penalties committed.

Terence Newman gave up 871 yards, the sixth-most in the league. And he seemed to get worse as the season progressed, giving up a big play almost every game in the second half of the season.

Orlando Scandrick gave up a 65.3 completion percentage, the fifth-highest among corners who were targeted at least 50 times. At least he played significantly better after Wade Phillips was fired. At one point, teams had completed 21 of 25 passes thrown Scandrick’s way.

If the Cowboys don’t consider cornerback a glaring need, they’re delusional.

They have to hope that Jenkins can have a bounce-back season. He made the Pro Bowl as an alternate in 2009 and appeared destined for stardom. You can’t just give up on a recent first-round pick who has demonstrated that kind of ability.

But the Cowboys need to push Jenkins, not coddle him. It’s probably not a coincidence that he had his best season when he had to battle Scandrick for a starting job. If nothing else, that job ought to be an open competition.

The more pressing issue is replacing Newman. Maybe that doesn’t need to happen immediately. Perhaps Newman, who turns 33 in September, can squeeze one more decent season out of those legs.

The Cowboys just shouldn't count on that. And they ought to be eager to find Newman’s successor as soon as possible, considering that cutting him would create $4 million in salary cap space.

We’ll give Jerry a break and judge him by his actions instead of his words. We’ll wait until we see whether he passes on one of the top two corners in the draft -- LSU’s Patrick Peterson and Nebraska’s Prince Amukamara -- before coming down too hard.

If they end up with one of those corners in the first round, Jerry gets a pass. It's fine to mislead the media in the months before the draft.

It'd be ridiculous to fail to recognize such an obvious problem area.
 

sbk92

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lol

The Dallas media is complete shat.

They would draft a cornerback in the top 2 rounds every year if you let them.

Jenkins, Newman, Scandrick. That's enough to win with providing the front seven gets fixed, a rangy safety is found and the team is put through a proper training camp.
 

MichaelWinicki

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lol

The Dallas media is complete shat.

They would draft a cornerback in the top 2 rounds every year if you let them.

Jenkins, Newman, Scandrick. That's enough to win with providing the front seven gets fixed, a rangy safety is found and the team is put through a proper training camp.

I don't think the 3 leading corners are crap either. I'd like to see how they respond to a real training camp environment.

The lack of pass rush from the defensive ends along with perhaps the worst combination of safeties in the NFL put the corners in a bad position right from the get-go.

I would like to see a decent #4 corner on the roster though. Maybe McCann is it... Maybe not.

Of course some fans have suggested that Newman be moved to safety. If that were to happen then yeah another corner would be needed. I'm not saying a 1st round corner but somewhere early in the draft.
 

sbk92

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I don't think the 3 leading corners are crap either. I'd like to see how they respond to a real training camp environment.

The lack of pass rush from the defensive ends along with perhaps the worst combination of safeties in the NFL put the corners in a bad position right from the get-go.

I would like to see a decent #4 corner on the roster though. Maybe McCann is it... Maybe not.

Of course some fans have suggested that Newman be moved to safety. If that were to happen then yeah another corner would be needed. I'm not saying a 1st round corner but somewhere early in the draft.

Newman's not a safety. That's a terrible suggestion. He's not physical and he has no ball skills.

I think he'll play well next year. So will Jenkins and Scandrick. They really are the least of my worries.
 
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