Dallas Cowboys 2017 Offseason

Dallas won last night and the score doesn't really matter. This is evaluation time and this is who I saw do some good things last night.

> Rico Gathers - He made some nice catches and showed some balance. You could see the athleticism his basketball background would suggest.

> Rod Smith, Jaylon's older brother, tried making the team last year at fullback but Keith Smith (no relation), who switched from linebacker to fullback in the offseason in 2016, beat him out. He's working at RB in training camp just as he had in the OTA's and he's been really showing up so far and he showed up last night. He ran with effort, and 2nd effort and he was patient with good acceleration when he saw an opening. A short yardage run in the fourth Smith ran with 2nd and 3rd effort as he stretched his arms forward enough to get a first down. Alfredo Morris had better watch out because this kid is coming for his job.

> Cooper Rush, the UFA rookie QB from Central Michigan, came into the game in the 2nd half and he looked pretty good. He showed nice patience in the red zone in the fourth quarter when he bought a little time in the pocket and waited until his receiver cleared into an open zone. Rush hit the receiver who was open enough to run the ball into the end zone for a go ahead TD. Rush is a red headed kid that resembles a young Jason Garrett.

> CB Chidobe Awuzie had his moments but he had a pick six there for the taking but he failed to make the catch. He did break up the pass however which is a good thing.

> The O-line seemed like it did a good job. I have no desire to review film of the game to look but generally speaking the line did a good job opening holes for the runners and protecting the QB's. La'el Collins showed good feet and I know that because Al Michaels and Cris Collingsworth talked about it last night. The Cowboys are looking for a left guard and a swing tackle and these preseason games need to be the stage where those positions will be filled. If the line did as well as it looked the candidates for those jobs are not going to make it easy for the coaches to make a decision. That, is a very good thing.

> The D-line wasn't very good. They didn't get a lot of pressure on the Cardinals QB's and they did not record a sack. Same song different dance. That, is not a good thing.

Jerry Jones speech at his Hall of Fame induction was pure Jerry. By turns he was entertaining, aggravating and off the mark. He did pay homage to Tom Landry saying, “He was the Dallas Cowboys.” as Landry’s son was in the audience in Canton. Jerry also gave props to his old friend Jimmy Johnson. Talking about their days as teammates with the Arkansas Razorbacks which won the 1964 NCAA National Championship and to the co-architect of the Cowboys teams of the 1990’s which won 3 Super Bowls in 4 years, a fete that had not been accomplished before. The Cowboys, who had played Thursday night in the Hall of Fame preseason game were in attendance as was Tony Romo. Jerry gave props to the players of the 90’s as you might expect and he also gave props to the players from recent years and at the top of that list was Romo. I expected to Jerry to say more about him but the fact that he mentioned him and had kind words to say was nice. The most aggravating and off the mark remarks were about Roger Goodell. Jerry complimented the man and the work he’s done as NFL Commissioner and any good will Jerry had developed flew right out the window and the boos in the crowd would attest. It was a decent speech but not one for the ages. There were other better speeches on the night. Like LaDanian Tomlinson’s call for unity and peace. He also admitted his heritage was mixed race as his great, great, great grandfather was white. It was a nice thing to hear a black man calling for peace and understanding and non-violence. On the flip side was a very entertaining speech by kicker Morton Anderson who came to America at 16 as a foreign exchange student and ended up the NFL’s all-time leading scorer. Kurt Warner has the best back story going from grocery clerk to the Arena Football League to NFL Europe in a roundabout journey to the NFL. Kurt has probably got a little freak in him too judging by his wife’s out-there hairdo. For a middle-aged woman to look like she should be a character in an X-Men movie and he’s happy with her look says there may be some kinky stuff going down at the Warner house. The fact they have 7 children shows that they 1) have a healthy sex life 2) don’t give a hoot about birth control.

The Cowboys should be back in Oxnard today to resume practices as their next preseason game is soon approaching.

As Dallas prepares for its second preseason game against the LA Rams this Saturday there are some things going on in Oxnard.

DT Tyrone Crawford left practice yesterday with an ankle injury that looked like it could be severe. X-rays later revealed there was no fracture but there could be some torn ligaments. The best new is it is not the dreaded high ankle sprain that can keep a player out anywhere from 2 weeks up to 2 months.

Dallas has been taking a very deliberate approach to working LB Jaylon Smith through his rehab. The Cowboys have taken to alternating days off between him and Sean Lee. Lee gets regular ‘veteran days off’ and the reason they alternate is to make sure when they are at practice they get plenty of reps. It really sounds like Smith is close to full participation even though he still has a way to go before the nerve in his ankle and foot is totally healed. Still no word if he will play against the Rams this weekend or not.

The Cowboys signed veteran OL Byron Bell this past spring but it was just a numbers move looking forward to filling out the 90 man roster heading into offseason work. The Cowboys also had to be looking at the swing tackle spot because the options are okay but not great. The problem at the time of his signing was his weight. Bell weighed 360 lbs and was slow and sloppy. The link below to the article from DallasCowboys.com talks about Bell’s progress up to this point and it looks like Joe Looney and Chaz Greene need to worry about their jobs.

http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2017/08/08/byron-bells-hard-working-paying-first-team-reps-left-guard

Nobody has said so in so many words but considering how well Cooper Rush played last Thursday night I’m thinking Kellen Moore had better watch out because his job could be in jeopardy. I believe Luke McCown will be on the team as a veteran backup and I like what I’m seeing from Rush. It’s not like I’m hating on Moore but I just have never been overly impressed by his play. If the season started today I’m thinking my depth chart would be Dak, McCown and Rush. Needless to say I am looking forward to seeing all three backups play on Saturday.

Here are some thought from yesterday’s practice from Bryan Broaddus.

http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2017/08/08/scouts-notebook-sean-lees-instincts-switzer-working-his-way-back-more

The NFL league office is filled with a bunch of stupid people. After their investigation of Ezekiel Elliott’s conduct and the investigation into domestic violence that occurred BEFORE he was drafted last year the NFLLO has handed down a 6-game suspension on Elliott. This comes down after Elliott was cleared of any wrong-doing in the domestic violence case but does include the parade this past spring in Ohio where Elliott pulled a young lady’s shirt briefly exposing her breasts, an event that the young lady in question took no offense to. It also includes allegations that he was involved in a fight at a night club. The police reports on the matter resulted in no charges or fines by the authorities and is yet another non-incident. Basically, Elliott is being suspended because he’s been linked to these stories but has not incurred the wrath of the judicial system. 6 games of a 16-game season is exactly 37.5% of a season and that is way too much of a penalty for a guy who, in the eyes of the law, hasn’t done anything wrong. Cowboys COO Stephen Jones said at his father’s Hall of Fame induction festivities in Canton, Ohio last week the Cowboys don’t see any suspension in Elliott’s future. Apparently, the Jones family doesn’t have a reliable source at the league office for information. Jerry, welcome to the world of Robert Kraft and Tom Brady. It’s ironic that just last Saturday night in his HOF speech Jerry praised Roger Goodell for the job he’s doing as commissioner. I’ll bet Jerry is singing a different tune today. This is another clear-cut example of the NFL league office’s policy of “guilty until proven innocent but we’ll still hang you either way if we feel like it.” In a way, I agree Elliott had to be sent a message because he’s young and immature and reckless and somebody or some entity needed to dial him back a notch but 6 games is too extreme and it doesn’t just punish the player, if also handicaps the team he plays for. This punishment does not fit the crime just as the deflate-gate punishment was extreme. Deflated footballs fall under equipment tampering and the worst punishment prior to deflate-gate was $10K. Goodell and his vigilante committee fined the Patriots $1 MM and suspended Brady 4 games. Hopefully, the Cowboys will get the last laugh by winning the Super Bowl like the Patriots did last year. Elliott has the right to appeal the decision but Goodell is the arbiter for appeals so guess how that is going to go. Basically, Elliott is what you get when you bond two objects together helically around an axis --- screwed. (Thank you, Big Bang Theory!) Here’s the official notice from the NFLLO from the Cowboys website.

http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2017/08/11/nfl-releases-official-statement-regarding-ezekiel-elliotts-suspension

The Cowboys have lost DT Tyrone Crawford yet again to injury. Crawford has either been lost or has been handicapped by injuries since being drafted in 2012. The injury isn’t serious but he’s likely to miss a lot of training camp with an ankle injury.

Sean Lee left practice on Wednesday with a slight hamstring pull. The Cowboys are being ultra-cautious with the veteran players and it’s true in Lee’s case. The team says the hammy is not serious and they are just taking a conservative approach to injuries like Lee’s.

WR Ryan Switzer has been out because of that conservative approach to muscle pulls. He pulled a hamstring last week but he returned to practice on Wednesday.

Here are some observations from yesterday’s practice by Bryan Broaddus.

http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2017/08/11/scout%E2%80%99s-notebook-impressive-coverage-secondary-solid-lb-play

The Cowboys lost to the Rams last night by a score of 13-10. It was a fumble-fest last night as the Rams and Cowboys combined to put the ball on the ground a total of 9 times with the Rams losing 2 of them and the Cowboys lost one. Most of the fumbles occurred without contact. Dallas has some bright spots like Taco Charlton's first sack as a pro. Xavier Woods leading the Cowboys with 6 tackles and an assist while the main competition for the fourth safety spot, Kavon Frazier, was second with five tackles.

There were some iffy performances too like OL Byron Bell who was flagged for holding several times. Kellen Moore played the entire first half and he only managed to lead the Cowboys to 3 point. Moore didn't look good doing it either.

The first team defense, minus Sean Lee, looked good holding the Rams to just 7 points and that coming off a turnover and some misfortune. At the Cowboys six a quick slant from Jarod Goff to Robert Woods was going to get the Rams a first down, if not a TD, until Anthony Hitchens clocked Woods causing a fumble. The ball rolled into the end zone where the Rams rookie WR Cooper Krupp recovered it for the score.

In the 3rd quarter Cooper Rush came into the game and really did a good job. He went 9/11 passing including a beautiful 25 yard TD pass to Rico Gathers. Rush looks like a guy who is going to be good in the NFL. It's ironic that it took 10 years to find a quality backup for Tony Romo and it looks like one year into the Dak Prescott era they may have found his successor. Of the three QB's Dallas played, Moore, Rush and Luke McCown, Rush played the best of any of them.

Dallas didn't score any points of note but they did show signs of rounding into shape. It was a decent game that also featured some hard running by Darren McFadden and Alfred Morris who will be counted on heavily with Ezekiel Elliott being suspended the first 6 games of the season.

Dallas has one more practice Wednesday in Oxnard and that was it for the California leg of training camp. The Cowboys will returned to Dallas as they prepare to take on the Indianapolis Colts Saturday night.

Speaking of Saturday, that game is likely going to feature Dallas’ 2nd round pick from last year, Jaylon Smith. The long-anticipated debut of the guy Dallas took a huge chance on because of the devastating nature of the knee injury Smith suffered on January 1st 2016 in the Fiesta Bowl against Ezekiel Elliott’s Ohio State Buckeyes. Some thought that Smith might never play football again considering the severity of the injury which included nerve damage in his ankle and foot. His rehab has been nothing short of remarkable as the damaged nerves are again beginning to fire. Smith still has to wear a brace to correct the “drop foot” condition but reports are that the nerves are firing more and more and, while nerves heal at their own pace, all indications are he will eventually recover fully and he will not need the brace any more at some point in the future. I will be excited to see the guy play at long last.

http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2017/08/16/cowboys-excited-see-jaylon-smiths-hard-work-rewarded-vs-colts

Who will play left guard? That is the million-dollar question right now. None of the candidates have stepped up and taken control of the job and after Byron Bell fumbled his chance last Saturday night in Los Angeles the job seems to be back in Jonathan Cooper’s court. It might be on Joe Looney if not for the fact he’s been out with a toe injury. Looney was the backup guard and swing tackle last year. Speaking of swing tackle, that job is getting more and more important given the fact that Tyron Smith is having back problems. He just returned to practice earlier this week after missing some time with back soreness but questions about Smith’s condition and the loss of Ronald Leary is looking more and more serious as the training camp days grow shorter. Chaz Green is back at practice after missing a considerable amount of time but he has played in a grand total of 4 games in this 3-year career. All four games came last season before he was again injured and missed the rest of the season. At this point, you can’t say you can count on Green at all given the fact that his injury history goes all the way back to his college days at Florida. It was his injury history that caused Green to drop into the 3rd round of the NFL draft.

It would be nice if more of the Cowboys 2017 draft could actually participate in training camp. So far, we have not seen CB Jourdan Lewis and CB Chidobe Awuzie and WR Ryan Switzer have spent way too much time in the training room instead of the field. All three are nursing hamstring injuries and Lewis and Switzer have yet to participate in a preseason game. Taco Charlton made a positive impression with his work against the Rams last Saturday. WR Noah Brown is making his presence felt in the WR competition as he is pushing 2nd year player Andy Jones to the limit, which is a very good thing. Joey Ivie finally got back on the field after dealing with an injury issue and he is making positive impressions. S Xavier Woods and CB Marquez White are taking advantage of injuries to showcase their talents and they will push the coaches into making some tough decisions when cuts begin. It’s Awuzie, Lewis and 2nd year CB Anthony Brown who need reps and they aren’t getting them nursing lower leg injuries.

The Cowboys won on Saturday but the real win was the play, or non-play, of the players trying to make this roster.

The first team offense was smooth and unstoppable. Dak was really good and if not for a Darren McFadden fumble the Cowboys would have likely scored two TD’s in their only two drives of the game.

Jaylon Smith got into the first real game action since January 1st 2016, almost 600 days, and he looked pretty good highlighted by a nice tackle for a 3rd down stop forcing the Colts to punt deep in their own territory.

The first team offenses and defenses looked pretty good but, as for the defense, they never had to face Andrew Luck who is continuing to rehab his right shoulder which underwent offseason surgery.

Continued to be totally underwhelmed by backup QB Kellen Moore. For the second game in a row he has really underperformed and if I was part of the Cowboys brain trust I would under way in preparing for his eminent departure.

Cooper Rush, on the other hand, has been impressive. I realize that he’s facing the other team’s bottom of the roster guys by the time he gets into the game but he has been impressive in all 3 of the Cowboys preseason games so far. I would love to see him come in and play with and against the 1st and 2nd stringers just to see how he does. Assuming Luke McCown’s shoulder comes around right now my depth chart would be Dak, McCown and Cooper Rush. It is quite possible Dallas has hit on QB drafts in back-to-back years.

So, let’s see what The Scout thinks about the Cowboys win on Saturday night.

http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2017/08/20/scout%E2%80%99s-notebook-beasley-space-brown%E2%80%99s-route-impressive-young-defenders-more

Nick Eatman, after each game last year wrote about 5 plays that had a definite impact on the outcome of the game. He has been doing that same article in the preseason and these are his 5 plays from Saturday night’s win over Indianapolis.

http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2017/08/20/don%E2%80%99t-forget-about-these-5-plays-taco-shines-cooper%E2%80%99s-comebacks-more

I am so disappointed in not seeing Ryan Switzer, Chidobe Awuzie and Jourdan Lewis. All 3 have been dealing with hamstring issues and only Awuzie has seen any action in a preseason game so far. It would be nice to see your top two CB’s in action from this year’s draft but coaches have not had a chance with them on the sideline. CB Duke Thomas has made the most of his opportunities and he’s making a strong case for making this team. As for Switzer, he wasn’t going to be a big factor in the passing game but coming in he is a better route runner than Lucky Whitehead was but, he was going to have a major impact as a kick returner. That is something Switzer excelled in at North Carolina where he was amongst the top in the nation in kick returns during his college career. An inadvertent grab after a catch in the 2nd week of practice and Switzer has been on the sideline ever since. The Cowboys have another rookie, UFA Lance Lenoir who has been handling the kick return duties. So far in 3 preseason games he has not been able to make an impact outside of 2 fumbles, both lost, that led to opposition scores. Lenoir scares me every time he goes back to field a kick. That is not a good situation. If I’m scared imagine how Cowboys special teams coach Rich Bisaccia feels. I’m sure he would love to see what they have in Switzer but there are only two games left to evaluate Switzer. Let’s hope he gets into one of them.

I was thinking this morning what a weird movie ‘The World According to Garp’ was. It was a great vehicle for Robin Williams but Garp’s ‘world’ was odd to say the very least. That’s how I feel this past two weeks have been for the Cowboys. A much deserved Hall of Fame induction followed almost immediately by a 6 game suspension of the Cowboys best player. Or is he? In the preseason there have been 3 guys who have looked pretty good making you wonder just how much Dallas is going to miss Ezekiel Elliott. Darren McFadden, Alfred Morris and especially Rod Smith have given the impression that they won’t let Elliott’s suspension hurt the team.

Then you’ve got a weird situation at QB behind Dak Prescott. Kellen Moore is the pet cat for Cowboys’ OC Scott Linehan and the presumed primary backup to Prescott. The trouble is in 2 of the 3 preseason games Moore has looked like total crap. On the other hand, you have an undrafted rookie free agent, Cooper Rush, who has been looking good in practice and in games. He’s done excellent work in all 3 preseason games and has looked good in practice. Then you have a veteran guy who can’t get on the field because he got body slammed in the first preseason game and he’s been nursing a sore shoulder ever since. If McCown could get reps it would look really bad for Moore. Now, with the training camp days quickly counting down it could be McCown who is the odd man out.

Lastly, there is the re-emergence of LB Jaylon Smith. He of the torn ACL, MCL and LCL not to mention severe nerve damage that won’t let him flex his foot at the ankle. He made his first appearance in a game since injuring that knee in the 2016 Fiesta Bowl. He looked good in the three series he played giving hope that he is recovered enough to join the starting lineup on a regular basis despite the fact his nerve hasn’t fully regenerated from “the injury”.

The biggest trouble I have had in all this is deciding just who is “Garp”? I’ve decided Dak Prescott is Garp. He’s in the center of the action but he doesn’t have any control of the world around him and he’s sort of resented by fans of his “mother”, Tony Romo’s, ill treatment at the hands of Jason Garrett. I know it’s a stretch but that’s as close as I can get to aligning this analogy. It’s an analogy that is stretched to its limits but, for some reason, the odd world of the Dallas Cowboys made me think of Garp this morning. Maybe it’s the rain. Yeah, okay, I’ll go with that---it’s the rain making me go to odd places this morning. Whew, glad that’s settled.

Sean Lee returned to practice yesterday and Ryan Switzer also reappeared on a limited basis. Bryan Broaddus gives his Scout’s Notebook view of yesterday’s practice in the link below.

http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2017/08/22/scout%E2%80%99s-notebook-byron-jones-coverage-sean-lee-returns-cbs-getting-healthy-more

The Cowboys did not play their final preseason game with Houston last night because the Texans had an opportunity to get back to their families and homes on Wednesday and everyone agreed that these things were way more important and a meaningless football game. That was a good call by all involved realizing there was something more important than a football game going on.

Dallas took advantage of the situation to hold their last training camp practice at the Ford Center in Frisco. Not only that, but there was a fund raising telethon being held right on the sideline of the practice field featuring current and former Cowboys players and Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders answered phones right on the sideline. The Cowboys raised 2.3 million dollars for the Salvation Army relief fund for SE Texas. One million of those dollars came from Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.

http://www.dallascowboys.com/video/2017/08/31/jerry-jones-calls-dez-donate-1-million

The Cowboys and the rest of the NFL will have to make their one and only cut down of their rosters from the current 90 players to their final 53 man roster. This is something new this year. During training camp there have traditionally been cuts after each preseason game but this year it has all been saved for the end. The big debate is who will make that final 53 and everyone has their own perspective and it's interesting talk but we will all find out who makes that final roster on Saturday. The regular season starts for all intents and purposes Monday when teams begin practice in earnest for Week 1 of the 2017 season.

The Senior Bowl was played last Saturday with the South winning in easy fashion by a score of 45-16 over the North squad. The score is just an afterthought because the real value of the game was to showcase a big chunk of the college seniors that will be a part of this year’s NFL draft class.

I am including links to impressions from DallasCowboys.com writer Bryan Broaddus who points out some of the best players from the game as well as some disappointing performances. Also linked are the 22 observations made by Texans.com writer John Harris on Day 3 of the Senior Bowl practice. These links give a nice perspective from two guys who are first and foremost football analysts.

http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2018/01/29/scout%E2%80%99s-notebook-standouts-surprises-breaking-down-senior-bowl

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/22-observations-from-Senior-Bowl-Day-3/335bfa40-e3b4-46ea-9b90-6fe9893ed05e