MacMahon: Quickie primer on Cowboys' position battles

[bkeavs]

acMahon: Quickie primer on Cowboys' position battles





Quickie primer on Cowboys' position battles

July, 10, 2012


By Tim MacMahon | ESPNDallas.com


One of Jason Garrett’s goals is to create as much competition as possible within his team. So you could consider it a good thing that the Cowboys will have plenty of position battles during training camp.

That’s better than considering it evidence that this roster still has a lot of question marks, right?

At any rate, here’s a look at the five most intriguing camp competitions:

ILB -- Bruce Carter/Dan Connor: The Cowboys considered Carter a first-round talent who fell to them early in the second round last year because he was coming off injury. However, they wouldn’t have given Connor a $2.7 million signing bonus if they were certain the speedy Carter would be prepared to start this season. Connor missed all of the offseason workouts while recovering from shoulder surgery, but the Cowboys aren’t concerned about Sean Lee’s former Penn State teammate’s ability to learn the scheme. Predicted winner: Carter

SS – Brodney Pool/Barry Church: Pool replaces Abe Elam as the inexpensive stopgap solution who has experience playing for Rob Ryan. Church, who is entering his third season, has been productive in a limited role, primarily playing a safety/linebacker hybrid position in sub packages. They split time with the starters during offseason workouts. If Church wins the job, Pool probably won’t survive final cuts after getting only $100,000 guaranteed. Predicted winner: Church

DE – Kenyon Coleman/Marcus Spears/Sean Lissemore: Coleman and Spears are solely run stuffers. Lissemore, who was the Cowboys’ most productive defensive lineman on a per-snap basis last season, offers playmaking potential. Can Lissemore be as productive with an increased workload? Predicted winner: Lissemore

C -- Phil Costa/Bill Nagy/Kevin Kowalski: The Cowboys signed two guards in free agency, but they didn’t address the offensive line’s weakest link this offseason. Costa struggled in his first season as a starter last year, and he’ll compete against a couple of unheralded second-year players. Predicted winner: Costa

Third WR – Kevin Ogletree/Andre Holmes/Danny Coale/Dwayne Harris/Raymond Radway/Cole Beasley: This position battle will probably get the most ink, in part because Laurent Robinson was so productive as the third receiver last season and in part because there are so many candidates. If there are this many candidates, are there really any? It wouldn’t be surprising if the Cowboys comb the waiver wire in early September to find their third receiver again. Predicted winner: Holmes

 

[dbair1967]

Agree with him on Carter and Lissemore. Not sure I agree on any of the others.

Costa would have to be significantly improved I think to keep his job. If he doesnt win the starting C job, he probably wont even make the team as Nagy and Kowalski both offer more position flexibility.

Not sure Church is a starting calibar S either.

Not convinced the 3rd WR is currently on the roster.

 

[bkeavs]

There is always a first but I agree with you on all accounts

 

[LAZARUS_LOGAN]

Agree with him on Carter and Lissemore. Not sure I agree on any of the others.

Costa would have to be significantly improved I think to keep his job. If he doesnt win the starting C job, he probably wont even make the team as Nagy and Kowalski both offer more position flexibility.

Not sure Church is a starting calibar S either.

Not convinced the 3rd WR is currently on the roster.

I agree with you except on the #3 WR. I think Holmes takes that next step. I'm hoping Matt Johnson wins the FS job. I'd rather see Church at SS than FS. And I'm still hoping Kowalski wins the Center. His injury had set him back during OTAs.

 

[peplaw06]

If Miles or Dez go down, we are gonna be strugg a lin

 

[Midswat]

Not sure Church is a starting calibar S either.

Dallas media guy Jon Mochata (sp?) recently said in a chat that "Church was too good to keep off the field."

Not sure where that came from, if it's his own opinion or someone from the coaching staff is really high on Church.

Nevertheless, I found it interested and he'll be someone I'll be paying more attention to this coming pre-season.

 

[Midswat]

If Miles or Dez go down, we are gonna be strugg a lin

Naw. Wide receivers are the hood ornaments of a Romo-led offense.

He can make anyone look decent.

Besides, we still have Witten, Murray, Jones, and that white guy from Virginia Tech.

 

[dbair1967]

Dallas media guy Jon Mochata (sp?) recently said in a chat that "Church was too good to keep off the field."

Not sure where that came from, if it's his own opinion or someone from the coaching staff is really high on Church.

Nevertheless, I found it interested and he'll be someone I'll be paying more attention to this coming pre-season.

Yeah I saw that. Maybe he is showing alot of improvement, but I still think his lack of speed may keep him from ever being more than a dependable backup.

 

[ZeroClub]

Third WR – Kevin Ogletree/Andre Holmes/Danny Coale/Dwayne Harris/Raymond Radway/Cole Beasley: This position battle will probably get the most ink, in part because Laurent Robinson was so productive as the third receiver last season and in part because there are so many candidates. If there are this many candidates, are there really any? It wouldn’t be surprising if the Cowboys comb the waiver wire in early September to find their third receiver again. Predicted winner: Holmes

I feel the same way about Center, except there aren't that many candidates there. And somehow I doubt there will be a September waiver wire solution at Center.

Oh well. I guess we'll get to test the hypothesis as to whether quality matters in the interior OL.

 

[Bonecrusher#31]

Come on Matt Johnson !!!!