March, 5, 2013
By Todd Archer | ESPNDallas.com
IRVING, Texas – After the Cowboys released Gerald Sensabaugh on Monday, I wrote that the move was risky considering the Cowboys do not have a known commodity currently under contract.
After checking out the comments section, I soon realized Sensabaugh was the worst safety in NFL history and was responsible for the current sequester. Maybe I’m stubborn, but I believe Sensabaugh is solid. Great? No. Good enough? Sure.
Another reason why the move is risky is that the Cowboys have not been able to find a long-term safety since Darren Woodson.
And everybody believes the Cowboys struggle to identify quality offensive linemen?
Roy Williams had a good run for a few years but then tailed off badly. Ken Hamlin had one good season with the Cowboys, signed a big contract and then didn’t seem to like playing much again. Keith Davis was a special teamer turned starter out of necessity. At the prices the Cowboys paid Sensabaugh, I think they did OK with him for four years. Abram Elam lasted one season as a starter, which is better than Brodney Pool, who didn’t last a week in training camp.
Since 2001 the Cowboys drafted nine safeties and the best has been Williams, and he was the eighth overall pick in 2002, however, people will remind you that Ed Reed is a Hall of Famer and went later to Baltimore. Tony Dixon (second, 2001) never panned out. Justin Beriault (sixth, 2006) was hurt and never played.
Pat Watkins (fifth, 2006) was tall and an OK special teamer. Alan Ball (seventh, 2007) was drafted as a corner, became a forgettable starter at safety and moved back to cornerback. Mike Hamlin and DeAngelo Smith were fifth rounders in the forgettable 2009 draft and didn’t make an impact. Akwasi Owusu-Ansah (fourth, 2010) was hurt when drafted, came from a small school and made switch from corner to safety – and never made an impact.
Barry Church and Danny McCray were undrafted players in 2010 that have made an impact. But Church, as close to an incumbent the Cowboys have at the position, is coming off an Achilles tear, and McCray showed he’s a special teamer with the more work he got on defense last season.
Matt Johnson was a fourth-round pick last year and never played a snap because of recurring hamstring injuries. Judgment should be withheld until he actually gets on the field, but let’s just say history is not on his side.
The Cowboys needed to look at the safety spot before Sensabaugh’s release and now they must look at it.
But do you trust they will find the right safety even in a draft that is considered rich at the position?
By Todd Archer | ESPNDallas.com
IRVING, Texas – After the Cowboys released Gerald Sensabaugh on Monday, I wrote that the move was risky considering the Cowboys do not have a known commodity currently under contract.
After checking out the comments section, I soon realized Sensabaugh was the worst safety in NFL history and was responsible for the current sequester. Maybe I’m stubborn, but I believe Sensabaugh is solid. Great? No. Good enough? Sure.
Another reason why the move is risky is that the Cowboys have not been able to find a long-term safety since Darren Woodson.
And everybody believes the Cowboys struggle to identify quality offensive linemen?
Roy Williams had a good run for a few years but then tailed off badly. Ken Hamlin had one good season with the Cowboys, signed a big contract and then didn’t seem to like playing much again. Keith Davis was a special teamer turned starter out of necessity. At the prices the Cowboys paid Sensabaugh, I think they did OK with him for four years. Abram Elam lasted one season as a starter, which is better than Brodney Pool, who didn’t last a week in training camp.
Since 2001 the Cowboys drafted nine safeties and the best has been Williams, and he was the eighth overall pick in 2002, however, people will remind you that Ed Reed is a Hall of Famer and went later to Baltimore. Tony Dixon (second, 2001) never panned out. Justin Beriault (sixth, 2006) was hurt and never played.
Pat Watkins (fifth, 2006) was tall and an OK special teamer. Alan Ball (seventh, 2007) was drafted as a corner, became a forgettable starter at safety and moved back to cornerback. Mike Hamlin and DeAngelo Smith were fifth rounders in the forgettable 2009 draft and didn’t make an impact. Akwasi Owusu-Ansah (fourth, 2010) was hurt when drafted, came from a small school and made switch from corner to safety – and never made an impact.
Barry Church and Danny McCray were undrafted players in 2010 that have made an impact. But Church, as close to an incumbent the Cowboys have at the position, is coming off an Achilles tear, and McCray showed he’s a special teamer with the more work he got on defense last season.
Matt Johnson was a fourth-round pick last year and never played a snap because of recurring hamstring injuries. Judgment should be withheld until he actually gets on the field, but let’s just say history is not on his side.
The Cowboys needed to look at the safety spot before Sensabaugh’s release and now they must look at it.
But do you trust they will find the right safety even in a draft that is considered rich at the position?
