Offical Dallas Cowboys Forum Thread

[kmanharris]

http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/news.cfm?id=CECF8CF3-D1B1-A9FB-E0C836BD5E2779D5&contentType=5

COURTNEY SCHROEDER, GREENSBURG, IN: You may have a field day with this one, but any chance a trade of Tony Romo for Jay Cutler has merit? Just a thought with Mike Shanahan possibly the coach after next year. Not sure how their contracts stack up, but it seems Cutler is a rising star and Tony Turnover is regressing.

Rob: Oh boy. I like Cutler, but if he's a such rising star then why is he supposedly being shopped around? Nevermind, it doesn't matter. Romo's not going anywhere.

Josh: I don't think either team would do it, unless things really go south in Cutler's relationship with the Broncos. Even then, they would probably send him to a team with no quarterback and get a high pick. The Cowboys believe Romo is their franchise quarterback, and you can't deny there are times when he really plays outstanding. He could stand to reign himself in sometimes, though. It'll never happen, but just in terms of 'What-If,' I think the Cowboys would have to seriously consider making that trade.

Nick: Rising star, huh? First off, you're not getting rid of Romo. Cutting someone and trading them is exactly the same in terms of signing bonus proration. It doesn't matter how a player leaves your roster, you still take an enormous hit. That being said, it's not even worth discussing. I'd take Romo over Cutler any day. You say rising star? I see a 17-20 overall record as a quarterback. Give me Romo all day.

This is from dallascowboys.com. Romo haters are one thing, Dallas Cowboy fans who are Romo haters is ridiculous. I have read some fans on the Dallas Cowboys group on facebook saying the same thing. I want to punch them all in the face and punt their babies. They are bandwagon fans who are fans for the good times and hate the team when we lose.

[kmanharris]

http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/news.cfm?id=D945BFC1-0C81-0D05-C20085E4B7F99446

Four days after losing Chris Canty to the Giants, the Cowboys have brought in Chargers free-agent defensive end Igor Olshansky to Valley Ranch for a visit.

Olshansky, a 2004 second-round pick of the Chargers, is arguably the best available free-agent defensive end. He played three years for Cowboys head coach Wade Phillips, who worked as San Diego's defensive coordinator from 2004-06.

Phillips spent some time late Thursday afternoon showing his former starter in San Diego around, and Olshansky also met with Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones, who had returned from Florida where he was attending NFL committee meetings and join owner Jerry Jones late Wednesday night informing Owens he was being released.

The 26-year-old Olshansky (6-6, 309) had 54 tackles and two sacks last season.

Three-year veterans Jason Hatcher and Stephen Bowen are the current candidates to replace Canty, though the Cowboys seem intent on signing Olshansky if they can agree on money.

[Rayman]

Igor Coming To Town
Posted by mickshot at 3/6/2009 5:32 PM CST on truebluefanclub.com

Free agent defensive end Igor Olshanky came into town during Thursday's commotion for a visit, and the Dallas Cowboys made sure he didn't leave town on Friday without signing a contract, which is exactly what he did around 5:30 p.m. (CST), putting his name on a four-year deal.Olshanky, a five-year starter in San Diego signed a four-year, $18 million deal, with roughly $8 million guaranteed.
Comments (0) | Permanent Link

[Rayman]

^^^^ I think this is a great pickup imo now that we lost Canty to the Giants he should step right in and play at a pro bowl level

Yankee fan, Cowboy fan, and a Boricua at that.


I think I'm gonna like this guy. :D

[Rayman]

Cowboys draft was pure horsehit. With the pick we gave to Detroit in the 3rd round, the Lions used it on Derrick Williams, WR out of Penn State. I remember when that dude was being recruited as the Top Prospect as an Athlete (QB, RB, WR, DB). He was that good coming out of high school ... but made a dumb decision to go to a school that made him the #1 wideout on a running team. Anyways, I was really hoping that the Cowboys would draft him but it looks like instead we wasted it on Robert Brewster. I say Brewster because he has less of a shot at seeing playing time than Jason Williams. If you're going to draft for depth on the offensive line, you don't draft them so early, especially when it was only your second fucking pick in the whole god-forsaken draft. So we draft Brewster, a player that will see almost no playing time this season, instead of a player of Derrick Williams' talent only to take a WR that might be better than Juaquin Iglesias in the 7th round. FWIW, Williams was drafted before Iglesias.

Of our draft choices, I like the odds of 1 of the 3 4th round picks having a better career than anybody else on this list, with the exception of maybe Mickens out of Cincinnati.. My money is Brandon Williams being the better 4th round pick.

OLB Jason Williams, Western Illinois
Who? He's 6'1, 241-lbs. Athletic and fast as hell. Sounds fine and dandy with me ... until I realized that we pretty much wasted our first draft selection on a god damn special teams player.

OT Robert Brewster, Ball State
Good size. Likely to move inside at guard. Perfect, logical choice ... until you consider that Jamon Meredith went in the 5th round to the fucking Packers. Meredith had the best technique out of a lot of the linemen. You need guys that have a fucking clue the first day they get in the NFL. Meredith already had a fucking clue. His technique was pretty sound. Could definatly be stronger, meatier, whatever, but that's why they pay for their trainers. Meredith is more NFL ready than most linemen that were drafted before him, excluding those in the First Round.

QB Stephen McGee, Texas A&M
Good prospect for a career backup. Mike Sherman, apparently his coach, says he's a good prospect for the NFL. I make it a point to point that out because I ready that Mike Sherman should know because he coached Brett Favre at Green Bay. Ummm, last I checked Mike Holmgren put Brett Favre on the fucking map and Favre took it from there. Sherman did not have much to do in molding him. Still, I like him as a developmental pick.

DE Victor Butler, Oregon State
6'2" 248-lb defensive end ... that will definatly be moving to OLB because his size warrents no look at DE in the 3-4 scheme. Once again, he's a special teams player and likely won't see that many snaps as a backup DE. On paper, he's small.

DE Brandon Williams, Texas Tech
6'5" 252-lbs, another OLB prospect. Better size than Butler and there is word that he would have been better served playing his final season at Texas Tech instead of entering the draft.

CB DeAngelo Smith, Cincinnati
Decent size, zone coverage cornerback. Could be moved to safety if we wanted but with the losses of Henry and Jones, he's got better odds as the 4th or 5th corner.

FS Michael Hamlin, Clemson
Great size for a safety. Not particularly fast but hits hard.

K David Buehler, USC Trojans
Ummmmmm, can someone please shoot Jerry Jones for me. I'd really fucking appreciate it. Nick Folk was 91% on his field goals last season and perfect on his PATs. I understand the need for competition ... but why waste a fucking draft pick on a kicker when you could just as fucking easily pick one up in the free agency pool after the fucking draft. When your kicker has already solidified his roster spot during the last two seasons of fantastic play, why would you waste a draft choice on a kicker? Ummm, according to Jerry Jones, it's because he's a physical specimen.

SS Stephen Hodge, TCU
Just more roster fodder as we continue our search for a starting safety that can cover and is not scared to tackle after the NFL Rules Committee names one specifically after you when you couldn't tackle in the first place. Oh, I'll give Roy Williams credit for having a vice grip on the backside neck of the shoulder pads. That takes some serious muscles to be able to grab a hold of that spot, hang on for dear life and drag someone down that is going full speed.

TE John Phillips, Virginia
Need pick. 3rd TE, won't see a lot of snaps. Perfect spot to be drafted. Makes the most logical sense.

CB Mike Mickens, Cincinnati
When was the last time the Cowboys picked two players from the same University that plays the same position? According to reports, he is better than his partner, DeAngelo Smith. Led the nation in interceptions, blazing fast. You can't coach speed ... well, yes you actually can, but the deal here is that he already comes with speed. Could push for the nickel duties. Great value pick.

WR Manuel Johnson, Oklahoma
Heard that he was better at catching the ball than Iglesias and he's got good speed. He definately has a shot at slot receiver, most likely seeing more time at the 4th or 5th spot though.

Let's break it down.

I think the J. Williams pick is solid. Dude's very raw but already shows flashes of being a playmaker. 14 Forced fumbles for his career. Former safety. Dude could be our Joker next to Bradie James for a long time.

Not crazy about Brewster, but let's be honest, when was the last time we drafted a quality offensive lineman? Par for the course.

Really like the McGee pick, even though I would have preferred Bomar. Heard many a scout say McGee was cast in the wrong offense and will be a solid pro with some fine tuning. Might be the guy to run some wildcat stuff, but otherwise won't see the field as long as Kitna's here and Romo stays healthy.

Butler will be a good special teamer if nothing else. This and B.Williams starts to signal the end of Greg Ellis' tenure.

B.Williams led the Big 12 in sacks last year. Same conference as Orakpo. I look forward to this guy being a future in our rush packages. He's gonna contribute. Room to grow.

Smith compares to Scandrick in some ways and if he's anything like Scandrick, we got good value. Might be a contributor at FS.

Hamlin - No comment. I was hoping McBath would fall to us, couldn't believe we passed on Sean Smith.

Buehler? Buehler? (lol) Seriously, I was irate when I first heard this one too, but upon further evaluation, this pick makes sense. Why? Well, as clutch as Nick Folk has been, his kickoffs have been shit. Buehler can boom them, sending 54.4% for touchbacks in his collegiate career. Not only that, but he's not going to be a target to be run over should a returner break one on us. The guy can tackle and as stated, is a physical specimen (outbenched a few top tier linemen at the combine). This could be a boon for our special teams (more on that in a moment).

Hodge is camp fodder.

Phillips is an upgrade to Tony Curtis. Can play H-back as well. Solid pickup for his draft position.

Mickens if healthy could be the steal of the draft. Meniscus is a concern, but our training staff is among the best. This guy makes the 53 for sure.

Manuel Johnson - More special teams fodder. Decent returner, has potential to be something more, but let's cross that bridge when we get there.

All in all, this draft wasn't sexy at all, as we've been accustomed to. But to me, there were three significant weaknesses over the last year with this football team:

Crippling mistakes - This is penalties, miscues, blown assignments, whatever. This falls on the coaching staff. Can't say what's gonna happen this year, but if those guys have any pride, I would think they would place emphasis on fixing this issue. Also, someone has to reign in Romo, and if we move towards a ball control offense like I think we should, that goes a long way toward doing so.

Depth at key positions (QB, LB) - Guys got hurt, we couldn't deal. Brad Johnson blew goats, Bollinger wasn't much better. Kitna is a massive upgrade behind Romo. McGee I think really has a chance to be special. All these new LBs won't pay immediate dividends, but they will be contributers and they have the potential to have long careers.

Special Teams - Contrary to popular belief, this killed us more than just about anything last year. Singlehandedly cost us the Arizona game. Bruce Read was awful. Kickoff and kick coverage were putrid. We consistently lost the battle for field position, except for punting, because IMO Matt McBriar is the best in the league. And then he broke his foot and we were royally fucked on ST.

We now have a kicker who can actually boot the ball past the 10 and potentially get many touchbacks which will go a long way with our defense continuing to improve under Wade (one of the few things he's doing right). Also, every single one of these players is capable of providing a boost on kick coverage and most importantly, they're all hungry. That's exactly the type of guys you want on you coverage teams. Let's face it, talent is not the Dallas Cowboys' problem. We have the biggest OLine in football. We have the best QB in the conference. We have the best TE. We have a guy who may not be the best WR in the league, but has to potential to be up there. We have this three headed monster at RB. And like it or not, we have a very solid D which continues to get better. Our biggest weakness was clearly special teams and with these kids and the firing of Bruce Read (Joe DeCamillis is considered one of the best in the game), that hopefully won't be an issue.

Yeah, the Giants and Eagles had great drafts. Sexy picks. That's fine. The Eagles will always concern me, but I believe that when focused, they can be handled. Our guys can cover Maclin and Jackson. We just have to keep the pressure on McChunky.

I still believe we're better than the Giants and it's been proven that when we bring our A game, they can't touch us.

We'll see how we look in camp.

[kmanharris]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=4199484

Looks like Ellis is on his way out.

DALLAS -- Dallas Cowboys veteran outside linebacker Greg Ellis finally may get his wish to be traded or released by the club, as the Cowboys have reached out to at least two teams to measure interest in a deal, according to a club source.
Wade Phillips on 2009 season

NFL.com Video

Cowboys coach Wade Phillips looks ahead on the 2009 season.
AOL Fanhouse first reported the story Thursday evening, indicating the Cowboys had approached the New England Patriots and Cincinnati Bengals about a possible trade. Ellis has longtime ties to Bengals defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer, who held the same position with the Cowboys.

Ellis, 33, did not participate in Thursday's organized team activities session. If the Cowboys release him, which seems the most likely result, they'll save the $4.15 million he's scheduled to make in 2009.

Ellis' agent, James Williams, told The Dallas Morning News on Thursday that his client was "looking forward to being a Dallas Cowboy [in 2009]," but that his future was out of their hands.

Ellis has grumbled about his role on the team ever since Bill Parcells moved him from defensive end to outside linebacker in 2006, but he hasn't said anything this offseason. Last year, the Cowboys were set to make Anthony Spencer the starter ahead of Ellis, but Spencer couldn't stay on the field because of injuries.

In last month's draft, the Cowboys focused on players who could help them on the pass rush, so Ellis' status became even more tenuous.

Ellis, a former first-round pick, spent eight years at defensive end before being moved to outside linebacker. He excelled at the position and was having a solid season in 2006 when he ruptured his Achilles tendon against the Arizona Cardinals, an injury that contributed to the Cowboys' late-season struggles. He bounced back to have 12.5 sacks in 2007 and made his first Pro Bowl appearance.

If he's released, the Bengals, Patriots and Miami Dolphins could be likely destinations.

Matt Mosley covers the NFC East for ESPN.com.

[Rayman]

Found this on another board. Good points

Only in Dallas....

..........can a pass rusher collect 20 sacks in a single season - leading the entire NFL - and be accused of not doing enough - people like Sapp saying, "He needs to step it up."


..........can an undrafted QB come out of nowhere and lead his team to a franchise-best 13-3 record, win 66% of all his games, break numerous franchise records held by pro legends Aikman, Staubach, and others, earn 2-time Pro Bowl honors..........................and have fans calling for his head and demanding that he be traded for Jay Cutler.


..........can a head coach who has a 22-11 career record in Dallas and whose playcalling led to his defense leading the entire NFL with 59 sacks have people calling for his head and have media provocateurs question if his job is in jeopardy.


..........can a quarterback (an offensive player) be blamed for a playoff loss that was mostly the fault of defense and special teams.



..........can fans forget about how bad Carter, Leaf, Stoerner, Hutchinson, Cunningham, Testaverde, Henson, Wright, etc. were - none of whom ever won a playoff game for the Cowboys

[Rayman]

BTW, called it after the draft ended.

Butler will be a good special teamer if nothing else. This and B.Williams starts to signal the end of Greg Ellis' tenure.

[Rayman]

Robert Brewster tore his pectoral muscle during workouts and will miss training camp.

This team has the worst luck with drafting offensive linemen...

[Derrville]

Robert Brewster tore his pectoral muscle during workouts and will miss training camp.

This team has the worst luck with drafting offensive linemen...

Mother fucker.... I was looking forward to watching him.

[Rayman]

Watching him do what? Brewster was one of those players that I questioned the front office about because there were better quality linemen available. It sucks that he's hurt but he was never going to be anything more than roster fodder.

I just hope it's not the start of another rash of injuries like last year.

Still no word on if Kyle Kosier will be ready this week.

[Rayman]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAnnnnnd just as I say that, word comes down that Brewster's on IR.

So much for that.

[Dez]

woooooooo

im goin to the 'Boyz training camp next Saturday. 1st time ever going to one.

[Rayman]

Quick breakdown of camp so far-


QB - Romo looks amazing, but then we knew he would. He's hitting just about everything accurately and going through his progressions on every play. That's great news, since it seems to be a solid indication he won't force throws to certain guys anymore. Let's see how it looks when the D is allowed to hit him come gametime.

Kitna has not looked so good as of yet, struggling with mechanics (snaps being fumbled, running into RBs in the backfield, etc). Hopefully it's just adjusting to the system and he'll improve in time for the season. Good news is he's still leaps and bounds ahead of Brad Johnson and his arm is live enough to make all the throws he'd need to make should Romo go down again.

McGee looks like a rookie adjusting to a new system. Need I say more? He'll get a lot of reps in the preseason games.

RB - All three guys are looking good so far. Choice seems to stand out the most. He's hitting the hole quickly and showing some breakaway speed. He's always had outstanding vision, and his effort is like MBII's when he broke onto the scene a few years back. He's gonna be a spark. Felix seems 100% after the hamstring/to issues and is making a lot of guys miss right now. He says he put some weight on and is yet faster than ever. MBIII has been solid, but not spectacular, but I think that's more because his forte is initiating contact and doing damage on his runs. He still looks good, and I look forward to seeing him in game action. I think the rotation will start with Barber, mixing in a lot of Choice and Felix after the first drive (Felix will line up wide or with one of the others in the backfield a lot), with MBIII returning to his "closer" role late in games. Our trio of RBs should be amazing this year.

FB - Deon Anderson is still Deon Anderson. He should keep his job, but with the emphasis on the 2 TE set, he'll be contributing just as much, if not more, on special teams.

WR - I'm more convinced of it now after the stuff I'm hearing; Roy Williams is going to have a big year. He's catching everything. He's dropped down to 212, which he says he hasn't been since college. He seems a lot quicker than last season (he was suffering plantar fasciitis), and all hte criiticism he's gotten this offseason really seems to have motivated him. Let's hope it sticks. Patrick Crayton has been working on his speed and it is a bit noticable. He's been pretty consistent and might once again lock down the #2 spot. Miles Austin is still the fastest guy out there and has improved his consisitency from last year. Hopefully he doesn't have another injury. Sam Hurd will be #4 again. The competition for the #5 spot will be interesting with Kevin Ogletree, Manuel Johnson, Stanback (who's hurt yet again) and 4th and Long winner Holley. Ogletree's looked the best so far and is my pick to make the team.

TE - Witten and Marty B will play a huge part in our attack. 2 TE will be our base set. Marty B is a stud. Great speed and leaping ability, he's a Gates clone in the making. Combine him with Witten, the best all-around in the league, and it's a tough combo to stop They've both looked excellent thus far. John Phillips is far and away better than the others and will be the third TE

OL - Our first sign of trouble. The starters look great with the return of Kyle Kosier, but the 2nd unit is a mess. Robert Brewster was supposed to step in and let us bump Pat McQuistan from the roster, but his injury means McQ makes it by default. Cory Proctor still sucks, and Montrae Holland is a fat bastard, but at least a reliable backup. The only guy showing any real progress is Doug Free, but there's still debate if he'll be ready to step in if Columbo or Adams go down.

If we have another major injury on the line, we're in trouble. As last year showed, we'll only go as far as the big guys can take us.

DE - Spears, Olshansky, Bowen, Hatcher. That will be our 4. Maybe Marcus Dixon makes it as the 5th guy but is still very raw in camp. Olshansky claims to be pound for pound the strongest player in the league. Haven't seen it thus far, but I think he's at least a comparable replacement for Chris Canty. Might end up being a better fit, even. Spears and Bowen line up inside next to Ratliff in the nickel.

DT - Jay Ratliff is having a great camp. Behind him is a question mark. I guess Junior Siavii will be the #2, but I've heard very little about him thus far. Doesn't seem to be making many plays. Hopefully Ratliff stays healthy. We ask a lot of him.

OLB - Ware, like Romo, looks to be on top of his game already. Spencer on the other side has started to get going the last couple of days. I think this is the year he lives up to his billing. 12 sacks is an attainable (no homerism, I think he can do it). Rookie Victor Butler is having a good camp and so is Steve Octavian, which is a surprise. Brandon Williams (DE turned LB from Texas Tech) needs to put some size/muscle on. He's far too lean and will need at least a full season in the offseason training program before he becomes a regular contributor.

ILB - Brooking has been silent thus far, but I hear he's already a better fit than Zach Thomas. Bradie James hasn't done too much, but he'll be ready. Bobby Carpenter is actually having a good camp, and gets first crack at the nickel LB spot, so we'll see if he finally puts it together. Rookie Jason Williams is a physical specimen, but like Brandon Williams is very raw. He will contribute on special teams, with a remote shot at unseating Barbie if he puts it together. Stephen Hodge is recovering from a minor injury and hasn't hit the field yet.

CB - Terence Newman is Terence Newman. First time in 3 years he's been healthy to start a camp. I think he'll have a solid bounceback year, and prove again that he's an elite corner. Mike Jenkins and Orlando Scandrick are competing for the other spot and they both look solid thus far. Jenkins was the #1 pick last year, so we'd like him to win it, but Scandrick is capable. He's going to cover the slot guy in the nickel anyway. Guy's got a major chip on his shoulder and I love it.

Behind those guys is a mystery. Mike Mickens hasn't looked that good coming off knee surgery. Very slow and looks lost at times. We could be in trouble if we have another injury at CB, since I don't like Courtney Brown.

S - I'll list it as one position. Hamlin and Sensabaugh will start, both look good so far, especially Sensabaugh. It's good to have confidence in a safety's ability to cover again, because let's face it, that was a major issue the last couple of years.

One guy who is having a great camp is Michael Hamlin from Clemson. He has very good instincts and leaping ability. Not great measurables, but just seems to be a natural football player. DeAngelos Smith is still learning the poisition, but is showing some flashes.

I think Pat Watkins is gonna get cut.

K/P - Matt McBriar is back and looks like he never left. No issues with the punter.

David Buehler was drafted because as clutch as he has been, Nick Folk sucks at kickoffs. But Buehler (who has hit nothing but touchbacks so far this week) is more than just a kicker, and will be playing a lot of roles on special teams. He's a tough guy and is the subject of many Chuck Norris style quips with the fanbase.

One thing about these two being on the roster together that has me excited

Cowboys Experimenting With Buehler, Folk
Posted by jellis at 8/2/2009 1:29 PM CDT on truebluefanclub.com

Rookie kickoff specialist David Buehler's possible forays into other special teams units have been well documented, but the Cowboys showed an interesting wrinkle this morning during a special teams walkthrough.

Buehler and Nick Folk were on the field at the same time while the Cowboys worked at onside kicks, one of them faking the squib, and the other booting it the necessary 10 yards.

Keeping two kickers on the roster gives the Cowboys some interesting possibilities.

"Joe (DeCamillis) is an innovator on special teams," Buehler said. "With two kickers he's trying to look for any advantage he can. So we could either go left, or go right. There are two able kickers out there to get the job done, it's just a matter of what setup the defense shows. It's a weapon most teams don't have."

A couple years ago the league made onside kicks more difficult for the kicking team with a new rule that the kicking team must split its coverage people up evenly on both sides of the field. The hands team generally knows where the ball is going and can stack its personnel to that side.

But the Cowboys might now be able to keep an opponent honest. Buehler's going to need plenty of practice, though, since onside kicks weren't often necessary for his team in college, the USC Trojans.

"I think I onside kicked once against Oregon State," he said. "I'm fairly new to that. Games are a lot closer in the NFL than they were at SC."

Can't wait for this.

More to come.

[Rayman]

Mike Jenkins had to be carted off today.

High ankle sprain. He'll miss at least a month, I'd say. Maybe 2.

Scandrick wins the RCB spot by default? Shame, because Jenkins was looking good. Scandrick was too, but now that 3rd CB spot is a question.