Dallas
Cowboys' 2006
Schedule
Pre-Season
1. Aug. 10-14 @Seattle
2. Aug. 21@ New Orleans
3. Aug. 24-28 vs. SF
4. Aug. 31-Sept. 2 vs. MIN
Regular Season
1. Sept. 10 - @ Jacksonville
2. Sept. 17 - vs. Washington
3. Bye
4. Oct. 1 - @ Tennessee
5. Oct. 8 - @ Philadelphia
6. Oct. 15 - vs. Houston
7. Oct. 23 - vs. NY Giants
8. Oct. 29 - @ Carolina
9. Nov. 5 - @ Washington
10. Nov. 12 - @ Arizona
11. Nov. 19 - vs. Indianapolis
12. Nov. 23 - vs. Tampa Bay
13. Dec. 3 - @ NY Giants
14. Dec. 10 - vs. N.O. Saints
15. Dec. 16 - @ Atlanta
16. Dec. 25 - vs. Philadelphia
17. Dec. 31 -vs. Detroit
Cowboys' 2006
Schedule
Pre-Season
1. Aug. 10-14 @Seattle
2. Aug. 21@ New Orleans
3. Aug. 24-28 vs. SF
4. Aug. 31-Sept. 2 vs. MIN
Regular Season
1. Sept. 10 - @ Jacksonville
2. Sept. 17 - vs. Washington
3. Bye
4. Oct. 1 - @ Tennessee
5. Oct. 8 - @ Philadelphia
6. Oct. 15 - vs. Houston
7. Oct. 23 - vs. NY Giants
8. Oct. 29 - @ Carolina
9. Nov. 5 - @ Washington
10. Nov. 12 - @ Arizona
11. Nov. 19 - vs. Indianapolis
12. Nov. 23 - vs. Tampa Bay
13. Dec. 3 - @ NY Giants
14. Dec. 10 - vs. N.O. Saints
15. Dec. 16 - @ Atlanta
16. Dec. 25 - vs. Philadelphia
17. Dec. 31 -vs. Detroit
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Ridiculously Early Roster Prediction
This is my insanely early roster prediction. I know its too early to
predict this kind of stuff, but what the heck. What's the point in
writing an article about the undrafted free agents we signed when
you guys have already seen the list of players.
QB - Tony Romo, Brad Johnson, Matt Moore
The first two are no brainers. The final spot will be up for grabs
between Moore, Brock Berlin, and Matt Baker. I think Moore has
the edge. I really like Moore a lot. He is a better prospect coming
in as a rookie than Tony Romo was. I would have been happy if we
would have taken this guy in the 5th Round. He is similar to Romo
in that he is athletic and a gamer with great leadership skills and
intangibles. This guy engineered several comeback wins with the
Oregon State Beavers last season including their thrilling victory
over USC.
RB - Julius Jones, Marion Barber, Tyson Thompson
The same trio from the last two seasons is back for one more
season. Look for Thompson to have a bigger role in the offense
this season. Look out for Alonzo Coleman though. He was a
productive runner that has a good blend of speed and power.
FB - Oliver Hoyte, Deon Anderson
This year is the return of the fullback. We know this because our
roster currently has four fullbacks on it while we only have four tight
ends on the roster. Hoyte showed to much last season not to make
the team. He regressed some last season on offense, but he will
only get better not to mention he is a great special teams guy.
Anderson should make the team because of his considerable
upside at the spot as well as his special teams ability. Polite is as
good as gone because he has been around long enough to show
more. Watch out for rookie free agent Jackie Battle though. He
played running back at Houston, but he could be a big asset to this
team as a backup at both fullback and running back. He has
big-time special teams potential to because the guy is 6'2 235 and
he ran a 4.42 40.
WR - Owens, Glenn, Crayton, Austin, Hurd, Stanback
The five guys from last season make the team again. Austin and
Hurd stick around because they showed so much promise last
season. Stanback will make the team as well. He will be behind
because he won't be healthy until training camp, but he will make
the team being a 4th Round pick unless he just shows absolutely
nothing to the coaching staff (Skyler Green).
TE - Jason Witten, Anthony Fasano, Tony Curtis
The first two guys are locks. We don't have much depth at tight
end, so it appears Tony Curtis is the early front runner for the 3rd
tight end spot with his blocking ability.
OL - Flozell Adams, Kyle Kosier, Andre Gurode, Leonard
Davis, Marc Colombo, Pat McQuistan, Corey Procter, Joe
Berger, James Marten, Doug Free
The first five are the projected starters. McQuistan and Procter
figure to be the top backups although both could challenge Kosier
for a starting spot. Marten, Free, and Berger make it as long term
developmental guys. A backup center will come from one of those
guys, but I'm not sure who it will be. None of them are true centers,
but Berger has the most experience in the middle.
A big question I have is who is the swing tackle? Conventional logic
says it would be McQuistan, but DC.com says the team is planning
on moving him to guard so he can challenge for a starting spot.
McQuistan is still raw, so it might be tough for him to be our swing
tackle while getting a bunch of reps at guard. Free and Marten will
need seasoning so it won't be them. The guy that might play tackle
in case of an injury would be Leonard Davis. It would be a lot of
moving parts but I guess I'd rather have him playing left tackle if
Flozell Adams goes down than any of the young tackles and that
would also take McQuistan off the hook and let him focus on guard
if that is where we want him.
DL - Ferguson, Spears, Canty, Hatcher, Ratliff, Stanley
Most 3-4 teams keep at least seven defensive lineman, but I don't
think we have seven guys on our roster that deserve to be on a
53-man roster. This probably means we will be a little bit
shorthanded, but you don't cut superior players at other positions
such as receiver just because you think you need seven D-lineman.
The lack of depth at both DE and NT worry me. Our only legitimate
backup nose tackle is Jay Ratliff, and he is better suited for DE. If
Ratliff is playing NT, Jason Hatcher is your only backup end.
Hopefully Stephen Bowen and Ola Dagundro can help bolster this
rotation, but I really don't like how we are sitting at these spots. We
don't have many proven guys and we don't have a large number of
unproven guys that can beat the odds and contribute.
LB - Ware, Ellis, Spencer, Burnett, James, Ayodele, Phillips
The first four will be our 3-4 OLBs. I believe that Spencer will start
from Day 1. Ellis can probably come back and be a good pass
rusher, but his mobility was already extremely limited before his
injury. He will be a major liability in pass coverage. Spencer won't
have much experience in coverage, but his athleticism alone will
make him better than Ellis. Spencer also play the run very well so it
isn't like he needs time to develop into a three down player, he is
already one.
The last four guys will be the inside guys. Carpenter will start.
James and Ayodele will battle for the other starting spot. Blair
Phillips and Dedrick Harrington will battle for the 4th ILB spot which
will mainly play special teams and the goal-line similar to what Ryan
Fowler did for us.
CB - Newman, Henry, Glenn, Reeves, Butler
The first three guys are sure things. The last two spots will be a
battle between Jacques Reeves, Nate Jones, Quincy Butler,
Courtney Brown, and Alan Ball. I think we want to keep one of the
experienced guys. Its really a toss up although neither guy will
make the team if they don't prove they could be a viable
replacement for Aaron Glenn. The 5th spot goes to Quincy Butler.
He was an undrafted free agent last season that gained experience
on the practice squad. He has a lot of upside as does Brown, but
the experience wins out.
S - Roy Williams, Ken Hamlin, Pat Watkins, Keith Davis
These four guys seem pretty set in stone. Abram Elam could
unseat Davis if he shows enough potential and special teams ability
though.
ST - Nick Folk, Matt McBriar, L.P. Ladouceur
Folk will have to improve his accuracy to win the kicking job, but he
had an impressive off-season and we obviously felt highly of him.
We could keep him as a kick-off specialist, but we won't do that
unless he is horrible at field goals because keeping Gramatica
would probably bump one of the young receivers of the roster
which isn't something we want to do. We could put Folk on the
practice squad, but then we would run the major risk of losing him
to another team.
Practice Squad
CB Courtney Brown
WR Jerard Rabb
NT Ola Dagundro
DE Stephen Bowen
RB Alonzo Coleman
LB John Saldi
TE Rodney Hannah
OL Robert Turner
This is my insanely early roster prediction. I know its too early to
predict this kind of stuff, but what the heck. What's the point in
writing an article about the undrafted free agents we signed when
you guys have already seen the list of players.
QB - Tony Romo, Brad Johnson, Matt Moore
The first two are no brainers. The final spot will be up for grabs
between Moore, Brock Berlin, and Matt Baker. I think Moore has
the edge. I really like Moore a lot. He is a better prospect coming
in as a rookie than Tony Romo was. I would have been happy if we
would have taken this guy in the 5th Round. He is similar to Romo
in that he is athletic and a gamer with great leadership skills and
intangibles. This guy engineered several comeback wins with the
Oregon State Beavers last season including their thrilling victory
over USC.
RB - Julius Jones, Marion Barber, Tyson Thompson
The same trio from the last two seasons is back for one more
season. Look for Thompson to have a bigger role in the offense
this season. Look out for Alonzo Coleman though. He was a
productive runner that has a good blend of speed and power.
FB - Oliver Hoyte, Deon Anderson
This year is the return of the fullback. We know this because our
roster currently has four fullbacks on it while we only have four tight
ends on the roster. Hoyte showed to much last season not to make
the team. He regressed some last season on offense, but he will
only get better not to mention he is a great special teams guy.
Anderson should make the team because of his considerable
upside at the spot as well as his special teams ability. Polite is as
good as gone because he has been around long enough to show
more. Watch out for rookie free agent Jackie Battle though. He
played running back at Houston, but he could be a big asset to this
team as a backup at both fullback and running back. He has
big-time special teams potential to because the guy is 6'2 235 and
he ran a 4.42 40.
WR - Owens, Glenn, Crayton, Austin, Hurd, Stanback
The five guys from last season make the team again. Austin and
Hurd stick around because they showed so much promise last
season. Stanback will make the team as well. He will be behind
because he won't be healthy until training camp, but he will make
the team being a 4th Round pick unless he just shows absolutely
nothing to the coaching staff (Skyler Green).
TE - Jason Witten, Anthony Fasano, Tony Curtis
The first two guys are locks. We don't have much depth at tight
end, so it appears Tony Curtis is the early front runner for the 3rd
tight end spot with his blocking ability.
OL - Flozell Adams, Kyle Kosier, Andre Gurode, Leonard
Davis, Marc Colombo, Pat McQuistan, Corey Procter, Joe
Berger, James Marten, Doug Free
The first five are the projected starters. McQuistan and Procter
figure to be the top backups although both could challenge Kosier
for a starting spot. Marten, Free, and Berger make it as long term
developmental guys. A backup center will come from one of those
guys, but I'm not sure who it will be. None of them are true centers,
but Berger has the most experience in the middle.
A big question I have is who is the swing tackle? Conventional logic
says it would be McQuistan, but DC.com says the team is planning
on moving him to guard so he can challenge for a starting spot.
McQuistan is still raw, so it might be tough for him to be our swing
tackle while getting a bunch of reps at guard. Free and Marten will
need seasoning so it won't be them. The guy that might play tackle
in case of an injury would be Leonard Davis. It would be a lot of
moving parts but I guess I'd rather have him playing left tackle if
Flozell Adams goes down than any of the young tackles and that
would also take McQuistan off the hook and let him focus on guard
if that is where we want him.
DL - Ferguson, Spears, Canty, Hatcher, Ratliff, Stanley
Most 3-4 teams keep at least seven defensive lineman, but I don't
think we have seven guys on our roster that deserve to be on a
53-man roster. This probably means we will be a little bit
shorthanded, but you don't cut superior players at other positions
such as receiver just because you think you need seven D-lineman.
The lack of depth at both DE and NT worry me. Our only legitimate
backup nose tackle is Jay Ratliff, and he is better suited for DE. If
Ratliff is playing NT, Jason Hatcher is your only backup end.
Hopefully Stephen Bowen and Ola Dagundro can help bolster this
rotation, but I really don't like how we are sitting at these spots. We
don't have many proven guys and we don't have a large number of
unproven guys that can beat the odds and contribute.
LB - Ware, Ellis, Spencer, Burnett, James, Ayodele, Phillips
The first four will be our 3-4 OLBs. I believe that Spencer will start
from Day 1. Ellis can probably come back and be a good pass
rusher, but his mobility was already extremely limited before his
injury. He will be a major liability in pass coverage. Spencer won't
have much experience in coverage, but his athleticism alone will
make him better than Ellis. Spencer also play the run very well so it
isn't like he needs time to develop into a three down player, he is
already one.
The last four guys will be the inside guys. Carpenter will start.
James and Ayodele will battle for the other starting spot. Blair
Phillips and Dedrick Harrington will battle for the 4th ILB spot which
will mainly play special teams and the goal-line similar to what Ryan
Fowler did for us.
CB - Newman, Henry, Glenn, Reeves, Butler
The first three guys are sure things. The last two spots will be a
battle between Jacques Reeves, Nate Jones, Quincy Butler,
Courtney Brown, and Alan Ball. I think we want to keep one of the
experienced guys. Its really a toss up although neither guy will
make the team if they don't prove they could be a viable
replacement for Aaron Glenn. The 5th spot goes to Quincy Butler.
He was an undrafted free agent last season that gained experience
on the practice squad. He has a lot of upside as does Brown, but
the experience wins out.
S - Roy Williams, Ken Hamlin, Pat Watkins, Keith Davis
These four guys seem pretty set in stone. Abram Elam could
unseat Davis if he shows enough potential and special teams ability
though.
ST - Nick Folk, Matt McBriar, L.P. Ladouceur
Folk will have to improve his accuracy to win the kicking job, but he
had an impressive off-season and we obviously felt highly of him.
We could keep him as a kick-off specialist, but we won't do that
unless he is horrible at field goals because keeping Gramatica
would probably bump one of the young receivers of the roster
which isn't something we want to do. We could put Folk on the
practice squad, but then we would run the major risk of losing him
to another team.
Practice Squad
CB Courtney Brown
WR Jerard Rabb
NT Ola Dagundro
DE Stephen Bowen
RB Alonzo Coleman
LB John Saldi
TE Rodney Hannah
OL Robert Turner
A Lack of Depth At Two Positions
The Cowboys seem to have pretty good depth on their roster
besides two positions, tight end and the defensive line. I'm happy
with where this roster is at. We have good depth at positions like
safety and wide receiver, but those two weak areas are causes for
concerned. Now granted, I know the off-season isn't over and
management would probably make an effort to strengthen these
positions if at all possible, but injuries at either spot could prove
fatal if the depth isn't bolstered.
We have a great one-two punch at tight end with Jason Witten and
Anthony Fasano. There is also some pressure taken off this
position because we are going to start using fullbacks more often.
Still, I don't know if I see a guy worthy of making the team as a third
tight end though. Tony Curtis has been around awhile, but I'm not
sure whether he is any good or not. The only other guy on the
roster is Rodney Hannah who has good upside, but he isn't
anything more than a practice squad guy. I'm not sure, but right
now I think there is a chance we enter the 1st game of the season
with two tight ends on the roster with maybe two on the practice
squad.
Our lack of depth along the defensive line is even more troubling
than the tight end situation. As of now, we have only five proven
defensive lineman. Spears, Canty, Ferguson, Hatcher, and Ratliff
seem to be a pretty solid corp of guys. Spears, Canty, and Hatcher
are all decent options at end. Jason Ferguson is our anchor in the
middle of a defense. Jay Ratliff is our most versatile lineman. He
can play end or the nose in our base defense in addition to tackle
in the four man front. The problem is we have no proven guys after
that. What's even more worrying is that we only have three of these
unproven guys. If you have five or six of them you would bet that
you could find two guys that could contribute. That would give you
the customary seven defensive lineman that provides good depth in
a 3-4 defense.
To get those seven guys, we would have to hit on two of the three
guys which are Stephen Bowen, Montavious Stanley, and Ola
Dagundro. While possible, that appears to be pretty unlikely. We
will be lucky if we can get a contribution from one of these guys.
The guy I'm still looking at is Stanley. I really liked him coming out
last season, and I still think he will make our team as the 3rd nose
tackle. The big question with him though is will he be a guy that
makes the team but rarely plays, or would he be a guy that could be
our backup nose tackle which would allow us to let Ratliff play more
at end which would give us four quality players at that spot. If this is
the case, we would be fine because we would at least have six
quality lineman and we could keep two guys on the practice squad
in case of injury. If Stanley is just a borderline guy though, we will
be counting on Stephen Bowen to give us the needed depth at
defensive end.
Stephen Bowen is a pretty intriguing guy because I think he has
some upside. He played college ball at Hofstra and he wasn't all
that productive. He stuck around all last season though and he
played pretty well in the game played in. His one sack gave him
nearly as much as our each of our starters had.
Ola Dagundro is a rookie defensive tackle from Nebraska. He has
some upside, but he is pretty raw so I don't see him making an
impact this season. He reminds me a lot of Montavious Stanley.
Both have good size and strength at the point, but both are fairly
good athletes. He would be a good developmental guy that could
start on the practice squad.
Overall, its way to early to be worrying about team depth, but these
are two spots to watch for. Hopefully we aren't completely done
acquiring players and we can shore up these spots a bit.
The Cowboys seem to have pretty good depth on their roster
besides two positions, tight end and the defensive line. I'm happy
with where this roster is at. We have good depth at positions like
safety and wide receiver, but those two weak areas are causes for
concerned. Now granted, I know the off-season isn't over and
management would probably make an effort to strengthen these
positions if at all possible, but injuries at either spot could prove
fatal if the depth isn't bolstered.
We have a great one-two punch at tight end with Jason Witten and
Anthony Fasano. There is also some pressure taken off this
position because we are going to start using fullbacks more often.
Still, I don't know if I see a guy worthy of making the team as a third
tight end though. Tony Curtis has been around awhile, but I'm not
sure whether he is any good or not. The only other guy on the
roster is Rodney Hannah who has good upside, but he isn't
anything more than a practice squad guy. I'm not sure, but right
now I think there is a chance we enter the 1st game of the season
with two tight ends on the roster with maybe two on the practice
squad.
Our lack of depth along the defensive line is even more troubling
than the tight end situation. As of now, we have only five proven
defensive lineman. Spears, Canty, Ferguson, Hatcher, and Ratliff
seem to be a pretty solid corp of guys. Spears, Canty, and Hatcher
are all decent options at end. Jason Ferguson is our anchor in the
middle of a defense. Jay Ratliff is our most versatile lineman. He
can play end or the nose in our base defense in addition to tackle
in the four man front. The problem is we have no proven guys after
that. What's even more worrying is that we only have three of these
unproven guys. If you have five or six of them you would bet that
you could find two guys that could contribute. That would give you
the customary seven defensive lineman that provides good depth in
a 3-4 defense.
To get those seven guys, we would have to hit on two of the three
guys which are Stephen Bowen, Montavious Stanley, and Ola
Dagundro. While possible, that appears to be pretty unlikely. We
will be lucky if we can get a contribution from one of these guys.
The guy I'm still looking at is Stanley. I really liked him coming out
last season, and I still think he will make our team as the 3rd nose
tackle. The big question with him though is will he be a guy that
makes the team but rarely plays, or would he be a guy that could be
our backup nose tackle which would allow us to let Ratliff play more
at end which would give us four quality players at that spot. If this is
the case, we would be fine because we would at least have six
quality lineman and we could keep two guys on the practice squad
in case of injury. If Stanley is just a borderline guy though, we will
be counting on Stephen Bowen to give us the needed depth at
defensive end.
Stephen Bowen is a pretty intriguing guy because I think he has
some upside. He played college ball at Hofstra and he wasn't all
that productive. He stuck around all last season though and he
played pretty well in the game played in. His one sack gave him
nearly as much as our each of our starters had.
Ola Dagundro is a rookie defensive tackle from Nebraska. He has
some upside, but he is pretty raw so I don't see him making an
impact this season. He reminds me a lot of Montavious Stanley.
Both have good size and strength at the point, but both are fairly
good athletes. He would be a good developmental guy that could
start on the practice squad.
Overall, its way to early to be worrying about team depth, but these
are two spots to watch for. Hopefully we aren't completely done
acquiring players and we can shore up these spots a bit.