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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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.
Breakin' Down the Roster: Quarterbacks
This is the first part of my new series breaking down our roster.
The 53 guys that will make our team this fall are probably already
in the fold, so I can now rate the strengths and weaknesses of this
team with some amount of accuracy.
Quarterback is one position that I'm very satisfied with going into
the 2007 season. It appears we finally have our quarterback in
Tony Romo. He struggled some down the stretch, but every young
quarterback is going to struggle some. He had about as good of
season as any first year quarterback has ever had. The bottom
line is, if Tony Romo would have been available in the 2007 NFL
Draft, he would have been the #1 overall pick. That is also why we
didn't take Brady Quinn. Tony Romo is a better quarterback
prospect at this point in their careers.
We entered the off-season without a proven backup on our roster.
We fixed that quickly with the signing of Brad Johnson. Johnson
should be a good mentor for Tony Romo and he is a guy that is
capable of stepping in and playing pretty well if needed. Johnson
gives me the most confidence I've had in forever that if our starting
quarterback goes down we will still be able to win games.
Every team wants to develop a young quarterback. The guy
doesn't have to be a high draft pick, you just want somebody with
some upside that three or four years down the road could be a
possible starter. We did this with Tony Romo and it paid off. It
took him over three years to develop, but we were patient with him
and he developed into one of the top young quarterbacks in the
NFL. Going the undrafted route like we did with Romo is a really
good idea because it takes pressure off of the player. Nobody
including myself ever expected anything from Tony Romo. It wasn't
like the media was clamoring for him to start halfway through his
rookie season.
It appears we are going to try this strategy over again with Matt
Moore. There is no denying Matt Moore was some skills. There is
also little doubt why he wasn't drafted. The guy will need three
years before he even has a fighting chance in the NFL. The key is
though is he will get that chance with the Cowboys. You have to
give kudos to Jerry Jones for this move. He got what I would
consider a legitimate developmental quarterback with starting
potential without having to use a draft pick.
Another aspect of our quarterback situation I like is its overall
depth. In addition to the three guys mentioned above, we also
have Brock Berlin and Matt Baker on our roster. These guys give
us plenty of arms to use in training camp which we need because
Brad Johnson is at he point of his career where he really doesn't
need to be throwing very many passes.
Discuss at the Cowboys-Fan Blog
This is the first part of my new series breaking down our roster.
The 53 guys that will make our team this fall are probably already
in the fold, so I can now rate the strengths and weaknesses of this
team with some amount of accuracy.
Quarterback is one position that I'm very satisfied with going into
the 2007 season. It appears we finally have our quarterback in
Tony Romo. He struggled some down the stretch, but every young
quarterback is going to struggle some. He had about as good of
season as any first year quarterback has ever had. The bottom
line is, if Tony Romo would have been available in the 2007 NFL
Draft, he would have been the #1 overall pick. That is also why we
didn't take Brady Quinn. Tony Romo is a better quarterback
prospect at this point in their careers.
We entered the off-season without a proven backup on our roster.
We fixed that quickly with the signing of Brad Johnson. Johnson
should be a good mentor for Tony Romo and he is a guy that is
capable of stepping in and playing pretty well if needed. Johnson
gives me the most confidence I've had in forever that if our starting
quarterback goes down we will still be able to win games.
Every team wants to develop a young quarterback. The guy
doesn't have to be a high draft pick, you just want somebody with
some upside that three or four years down the road could be a
possible starter. We did this with Tony Romo and it paid off. It
took him over three years to develop, but we were patient with him
and he developed into one of the top young quarterbacks in the
NFL. Going the undrafted route like we did with Romo is a really
good idea because it takes pressure off of the player. Nobody
including myself ever expected anything from Tony Romo. It wasn't
like the media was clamoring for him to start halfway through his
rookie season.
It appears we are going to try this strategy over again with Matt
Moore. There is no denying Matt Moore was some skills. There is
also little doubt why he wasn't drafted. The guy will need three
years before he even has a fighting chance in the NFL. The key is
though is he will get that chance with the Cowboys. You have to
give kudos to Jerry Jones for this move. He got what I would
consider a legitimate developmental quarterback with starting
potential without having to use a draft pick.
Another aspect of our quarterback situation I like is its overall
depth. In addition to the three guys mentioned above, we also
have Brock Berlin and Matt Baker on our roster. These guys give
us plenty of arms to use in training camp which we need because
Brad Johnson is at he point of his career where he really doesn't
need to be throwing very many passes.
Discuss at the Cowboys-Fan Blog
I Need Help With This Site!
I'm asking anyone who is a fan of this site to become a co-writer for
it. I have a new job that will take away from the amount of time I can
put into this website. I'm probably only going to have time for a
couple of articles a week, which is hardly enough to keep visitors
coming back. All you would have to do is e-mail me the article and I
would be able to post it and give you credit for it.
Have your opinion heard! A different viewpoint would be great for
this site. Please e-mail me if your interested. My e-mail address is
admin@cowboys-fan.com
I'm asking anyone who is a fan of this site to become a co-writer for
it. I have a new job that will take away from the amount of time I can
put into this website. I'm probably only going to have time for a
couple of articles a week, which is hardly enough to keep visitors
coming back. All you would have to do is e-mail me the article and I
would be able to post it and give you credit for it.
Have your opinion heard! A different viewpoint would be great for
this site. Please e-mail me if your interested. My e-mail address is
admin@cowboys-fan.com
