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Very good analysis. Trimming the distractions from the roster was the right thing to do and they didn't waste any time doing it.

I thought they'd go after a speed receiver in free agency or the draft but it wasn't meant to be. I'm glad they didn't overpay for a diva or a "#2-who-thinks-he's-a-#1" receiver. Speaking of receiver I think they'll be able to use Martellus Bennett's skills in a receiver role. I also think we'll see a more balanced run/pass attack with Barber, Jones and Choice.

I am however miffed at their first draft selection, picking a lineman in the 3rd round that was projected to be an undrafted free agent. The defensive backs were good value selections and should should bolster the reserves and special teams. We'll need all the DB help we can get with NY and Philly.

Correction - linebacker in the 3rd round.

"But I am biased....so we will see. "

Dude thats fine, everyone here is biased. Only d.bags call ppl out for it.

Cowboys are life, the rest are just details

QUOTE(#1):

Originally posted 11:27 AM ET  04.30 by Dr. B-f-G

Very good analysis. Trimming the distractions from the roster was the right thing to do and they didn't waste any time doing it.I thought they'd go after a speed receiver in free agency or the draft but it wasn't meant to be. I'm glad they didn't overpay for a diva or a "#2-who-thinks-he's-a-#1" receiver. Speaking of receiver I think they'll be able to use Martellus Bennett's skills in a receiver role. I also think we'll see a more balanced run/pass attack with Barber, Jones and Choice.I am however miffed at their first draft selection, picking a lineman in the 3rd round that was projected to be an undrafted free agent. The defensive backs were good value selections and should should bolster the reserves and special teams. We'll need all the DB help we can get with NY and Philly.

The backer was projected by some as undrafted, while others had him as a 3rd-5th rounder...

The Boys were high on him obviously and his size and speed is very similar to Ware...we can all hope that his production is similar.

Those backer picks appeared to be great moves considering we have zero depth beyond the starters and to me, it looks like Ellis is going to play 3rd downs this year while Spencer plays 1st and 2nd down.

Mostly, with 12 young guys trying to make the roster, it is going to bring some serious competition to camp and that is what these vets need...

Cowboys get a c/d on draft review, go figure, we coulda got number one pick and somehow someway the Cowboys would have not suited him, wrong pick, how could COwboys make such bad decisions!!, its the territory, the picks were fine I thought, but what do I know..Im not Skip Bayless...

What people failed to realize is that the Cowboys didnt go into the draft lookin for starters. We had specific areas that we wanted to add depth to and I think they accomplished that. While some of the selections are iffy at best, I can see the logic in their choices.

I liked all of our free agent pick-ups this off-season. Especially interested in the Sensabaugh pick. A young guy with adequate cover skills and a nose for the ball. If he plays like they hope he does then he and Hamlin will really help out whichever of our young corners starts opposite Newman. I really had high hopes that we would go after Ken Lucas when he was released. Not that i'm not confident in Jenkins and Scandrick, I just think that one more year for Jenkins as a nickelback would have done him wonders as opposed to being the starter this year.

Defensively, I think everything hinges on two players....Anthony Spencer and Jay Ratliff. Wade has always had great defenses. He is brilliant at running the 3-4 and positioning players to be successful. Look at any 3-4 defense in the league and you will see two main ingredients for success....a great or adequate NT and 2 sack happy OLBs. I like wat Jay showed me last year. He is hungry to be a success. i will take that over physical gifts anyday. You know he is going to give you 110% every down he plays. Spencer has got to stay healthy this year and compliment Ware. Greg Ellis is on his last leg. We were able to get that last great year from him a year or so ago. Now he is basically just out on the field. Spencer has the talent to be Ware's Shaun Phillips. 8 to 11 sacks for him over a 16 game season is not out of the question. He just needs to stay healthy. How may sacks do you think Ware would get with a legitimate threat on the opposite side?

Not much to say about the offense. Think everyone putting this on Garrett is crazy. Miles Austin is either going to be the reason this team wins or the reason they loose or the reason we give up another set of picks for someone. He should easily beat out Crayton for the number 2 receiver spot. If not then he basically becomes useless except for on special teams because he is too big to play the slot receiver. Perfect scenario is that Dallas runs a 2 back shotgun set. Our greatest talent is that we have 3 RBs that can run and catch. We put two in at same time along with Roy, Witten, and Austin. Basically means we have a 5 receiver set. Hard to focus on everyone. If Witten ends up with over 100 receptions this year then we are in trouble. If he has round 80 and Roy has bout 70 then that means that they were telling the truth about spreading the ball.

Thank you Jeff....I have been arguing with people over the cowboys picking this kicker from USC since the draft ended. We couldnt find the endzone on kickoffs last year. This kid might kick the ball out of the stadium everytime. Beautiful thing to have when your special teams unit is going to have several new pieces.

I saw the schedule and said that we could go 13-3. Then i looked again and said maybe 11-5. Your guess of 12-4 is in the middle so I will go with you on that one. But you are right, They could easily be 9-7 by the end of the season. Just got to hope that we were smart in deciding that shipping talent off would make us better, because most teams in the NFC got better this year and the Eagles and Giants are just plain scary with the talent they gained.

i think Roy Williams the wr is waste of a good 1st round and 3rd round pick

the cowboys could of picked up anquan boldin for less

Well written State of the union address. Only point I might add, all will be for naught if Dallas suffers the same number of injuries as last year. Provided more players stay healthy in 09 than last year, Dallas should be sporting a stellar offense that sows fear and despair of truly biblical proportions into the hearts of their opponents, not to mention the defense.

Injuries took a heavy toll on the team in 08, year of the 9-7 season. Only the dearly deparTed One, Crayton, Gurode, Davis and Colombo were not affected by injuries.

Compare that to the 07 season which was virtually injury free and ended 12-3. Significant personnel differences between those two years? Hardly any - and F. Jones' couple of games in 08 before injury don't count.

But the true test for the cowboys will remain the playoffs - They were healthy in 07 and didn't get it done (and for the sake of the argument, I'll discount that one high ankle strain).

So here's predicting a strong regular season campaign, with 10+ wins, a top 5 offense and significantly improved special team performance.

In the meantime, I will say a daily prayer to the playoff gods from now through December.

Injuries did kick our butts last year. We were in playoffs til Romo got hurt.