Not gonna be a great Training camp/Preseason for camp battles for Cowboy fans. Most of the starter spots and key sub spots are set, and due to league wide FA limitations, much of the roster from 2009 returns. With that said, here is my run down of the Camp battles Starting Free Safety The Contestants Alan Ball, Mike Hamlin My Take Ball is getting the pub as the favorite, however I think Hamlin is going to be the landslide winner. Hamlin is a much better fit for the position, offers what the defense lacks (the ability to create turnovers) and push's Ball where he needs to be, solidify the secondary as a 4th CB, 3rd/4th safety. Ball winning this battle makes us shallow at CB Nickel LB The Contestants Jason Williams, Sean Lee My take Our two future starters at ILB, at least one breaks into the defense as a NLB this year. Hard one to call, however I think Williams will "win", however since we use 2 both could wind up in the Nickel. Im counting on one of the starters staying in the Nickel. Williams has been in the system for a year, and while Lee is the more cerebral player, Williams is athletically superior, and should be a lethal blitzer. By week 8, both will most likely be in the Nickel 4th WR The Contestants Patrick Crayton, Kevin Ogletree My Take Crayton wont shut the heck up, and he wont cover kicks. This one is over before it started. Bryant is returning punts this year. Cowboys also want to groom Ogletree for the slot. 4th WR spot is a great place to start as it gets him in the slot on some sub packages Thats is it for the role battles. Im leaving out HB (more organization than a battle), 3rd WR (Crayton probobly wont even make the 53) and LT (your on crack if you think there is going to be an actual camp LT battle), now to the bottom churning (cuts and such) 5th OT The Contestants Pat McQuistan, Sam Young, Will Barker, Mike Tepper My Take Young is the best OT out of the group, but our 5th OT (if we carry 5) may have to play inside. I think ultimately it will be Young since Brewster is capable of playing inside. However, Brewster was getting reps on the Left Side, so they may not want to move him around too much. I would like to see Baker make the PS 5th/6th WR The Contestants Ogletree/Crayton loser, Sam Hurd, Manuel Johnson, Titus Ryan, Jesse Holly My Take Who cares 6th Defensive Lineman(backup NT) The Contestants Junior Siavii, Sean Lissemore, Marcus Dixon, Junior Aumavae, Lorenzo Washington My Take Really, really hard to call this one. However I would much rather see 7 DL as opposed to 6 WR. We are gonna cut someone here who will make someone else's roster. My preference would be to keep 7 with Dixon and Aumavae as the widebody, and get either Lissemore or Washington (both if possible) onto the PS. With Spears, Bowen and Hatchers contracts up, it might be smart to keep 7 DL on the roster, and 8 on the team Defensive Backfield Clusterheck The Contestants Pat Watkins, Cletis Gordon, Jamar Wall, Bryan McCann, Barry Church, Danny McCray My Take Kept 9 last year. May keep 10 this year. Watkins ST play is going to carry alot of weight in this one. So will Wall's ST performance in camp. Kiss 2009's "Who are you and how did you get on our team" winner Cletis Gordon goodbye. Kiss rookie camp darling Barry Church goodbye too. He is the homeless mans Keith Davis and will start getting smoked once camp starts. Box safetys are irrelevent in this defense. Dont be fooled by his rookie camp showing. Who makes it out of Watkins/Wall/McCann depends mainly the Ball/Hamlin battle and on how many we keep. If Ball is our starting FS, Watkins is gone with Hamlin taking on his role. If Hamlin wins, Watkins stays and its Wall VS McCann. I would personally rather hold onto Wall and try to get McCann to the PS
It would take a miracle for him not to be the #2. Even if Bryant clearly outperforms him, Phillips/Garrett wont pull the trigger
Although this is very true, you guys need to remember that defenses still rolled coverage Roy's way. So taking him out (at this point and time) would not benefit the team. With that being said, I am in no way shape or form defending Roy, but you guys need to remember that there is a lot more to playing WR in the NFL than just talent.(i.e. Dez, Ogletree) There is blocking, (which Roy does very well) reads, hot routes, etc.. just sayin that there is more to this than we see. Cause how long did it take Miles to get into the starting line up? 3+ years... And he has more talent than any of our current WR's. But it took time to develop. Just sayin.. the coaches aren't stupid, putting Ogletree or Bryant over Roy (again, at this point and time) would be crazy. And from the feeling I am getting here locally I think the coaches and Jerry are giving Roy just this one last chance.(too little too late at this point. the damage is done) In my opinion I think if he doesn't perform well he wont be on the starting line up by week 5. just my .02 *puts on flame suite*
Cowboys Camp Predicitons With Training Camp starting today, I figured I would take a stab at it....... Mike Hamlin will win the Free Safety spot over Alan Ball Much better fit at FS and Ball provides better depth than Hamlin. Patrick Crayton gets cut He would be the #4 WR, and wont return kicks with Bryant takeing over at PR, and doesnt cover kicks. Goodbye Two rookie seize the kick returns Bryant will take over at PR, AOA will take over at KR Both Bradie James and Keith Brooking will lose NLB responsabilities Drafting Williams and Lee in the 3rd and 2nd round of the last two drafts has given us a solid staple of young ILB. I think both will be on the field in the Nickle opening day We will keep 7 Defensive Lineman Keeping one kicker opens up an extra spot somewhere, and I think the defensive line would have been the place we mot likley would have cut someone who would make an impact somewhere else
I can agree with everything you have said... Except for Crayton being cut. Crayton is a very solid asset. That is not to say he wont be traded at some point this year, but he will be on the team. GO COWBOYS!!
As a 4th WR you need to be playing on ST's and Crayton wont be. His return job is gone and he doesnt cover. No reason to keep him, especially when you want to develope Ogltree to be the slot WR
Maybe so.. But I highly doubt the Cowboys cut Crayton. If anything he will be traded. Cutting him outright just doesn't make sense IMO. He has already been paid.. just sayin... :beer:
They've done it before. We paid Owens before we cut him. Crayton doesnt have any trade value, I dont even think we could get a draft pick for him
