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Scout's Eye: Oxnard Day 4
August, 18, 2010
By Bryan Broaddus
My thoughts from Tuesday’s practice:
*This was the day that the receivers took the opportunity to shine. There were productive days that were turned in by several of Ray Sherman’s troops.
Roy Williams continued to impress me with his ability to run routes by sinking his weight and playing much lower in the route and not being so tall. When Williams sinks his weight, he makes better cuts in the route. Better routes lead to better timing with the quarterbacks.
It didn’t matter whether his route was inside or out, he was able to gain separation and make a secure catch. Thought that Romo did a much better job of getting him the football where he had a chance to at least make a play.
A problem that Williams has at times and I tried to explain this on the radio (ESPN 103.3 FM) that he tends to double-catch the ball. With Crayton, Austin or even Bryant, you see them snatch the ball cleanly with their hands. Williams at times will fight the ball, which will cause him to double-catch it. To Williams’ credit, he is working on his hands everyday with the Juggs machine.
Patrick Crayton was also productive. In the red zone from the slot. Crayton is able to work the middle of the field and in traffic with little problem. Solid, dependable hands have always been his calling card and when the quarterbacks needed a play Tuesday, Crayton was on point.
Kevin Ogletree, who has struggled with defenders knocking the ball out of his hands, played with much better ball security today. Ogletree is a talent, but there are times you just shake your head at his inability to finish plays. Smooth route runner, but would not say that he is in the class of Terry Glenn, as mentioned by Wade Phillips. Where there had been some struggle with Ogletree has been on the inside routes, but he had a nice catch on the slant Tuesday.
*Calvin Watkins of ESPNDallas.com wrote an interesting piece Tuesday morning about the possibility of just keeping two quarterbacks on the Cowboys roster in 2010. It’s a move that has been done before by Jerry Jones in 2008.
As a former personnel man for 13 seasons, there is nothing better than roster talk in my book. Each day, whether it’s minicamp, training camp or the regular season, a personnel man will sit down in front of the depth chart board and work through all the different combinations that you can possibly think of to build your football team.
There are a couple of factors that go into setting your roster that you must think about. You might need to carry more players at a certain position because of injury. Or you have some young players that are not quite ready but you do not want to expose them to waivers, because they might be claimed and you will lose the opportunity to have them for the future.
Another reason is you want to stock your roster with players to create a core for your special teams. These players will be solid backups, but more importantly, they do the job that will not expose your starters to extra work during a game.
The Cowboys will have some difficult decisions to make with their roster because there is a nice mix of veteran and young players that can fill many different roles. Stephen McGee is currently the third quarterback, which takes a roster spot. The question will be whether he will show enough during the preseason to hold that spot or if there currently is a player on this roster that will give the club something on game day that McGee can’t.
In watching these practices and preseason games, receiver, linebacker and defensive back are potential positions that the Cowboys might go heavy in. The makeup of this roster will be shaped by the influence of special teams coach Joe DeCamillis.
August, 18, 2010
By Bryan Broaddus
My thoughts from Tuesday’s practice:
*This was the day that the receivers took the opportunity to shine. There were productive days that were turned in by several of Ray Sherman’s troops.
Roy Williams continued to impress me with his ability to run routes by sinking his weight and playing much lower in the route and not being so tall. When Williams sinks his weight, he makes better cuts in the route. Better routes lead to better timing with the quarterbacks.
It didn’t matter whether his route was inside or out, he was able to gain separation and make a secure catch. Thought that Romo did a much better job of getting him the football where he had a chance to at least make a play.
A problem that Williams has at times and I tried to explain this on the radio (ESPN 103.3 FM) that he tends to double-catch the ball. With Crayton, Austin or even Bryant, you see them snatch the ball cleanly with their hands. Williams at times will fight the ball, which will cause him to double-catch it. To Williams’ credit, he is working on his hands everyday with the Juggs machine.
Patrick Crayton was also productive. In the red zone from the slot. Crayton is able to work the middle of the field and in traffic with little problem. Solid, dependable hands have always been his calling card and when the quarterbacks needed a play Tuesday, Crayton was on point.
Kevin Ogletree, who has struggled with defenders knocking the ball out of his hands, played with much better ball security today. Ogletree is a talent, but there are times you just shake your head at his inability to finish plays. Smooth route runner, but would not say that he is in the class of Terry Glenn, as mentioned by Wade Phillips. Where there had been some struggle with Ogletree has been on the inside routes, but he had a nice catch on the slant Tuesday.
*Calvin Watkins of ESPNDallas.com wrote an interesting piece Tuesday morning about the possibility of just keeping two quarterbacks on the Cowboys roster in 2010. It’s a move that has been done before by Jerry Jones in 2008.
As a former personnel man for 13 seasons, there is nothing better than roster talk in my book. Each day, whether it’s minicamp, training camp or the regular season, a personnel man will sit down in front of the depth chart board and work through all the different combinations that you can possibly think of to build your football team.
There are a couple of factors that go into setting your roster that you must think about. You might need to carry more players at a certain position because of injury. Or you have some young players that are not quite ready but you do not want to expose them to waivers, because they might be claimed and you will lose the opportunity to have them for the future.
Another reason is you want to stock your roster with players to create a core for your special teams. These players will be solid backups, but more importantly, they do the job that will not expose your starters to extra work during a game.
The Cowboys will have some difficult decisions to make with their roster because there is a nice mix of veteran and young players that can fill many different roles. Stephen McGee is currently the third quarterback, which takes a roster spot. The question will be whether he will show enough during the preseason to hold that spot or if there currently is a player on this roster that will give the club something on game day that McGee can’t.
In watching these practices and preseason games, receiver, linebacker and defensive back are potential positions that the Cowboys might go heavy in. The makeup of this roster will be shaped by the influence of special teams coach Joe DeCamillis.
