Dallas Cowboys News

[DC_fan]

Claiborne is making noises about wanting to be considered to be a two way player. Dropping a few suggestions about playing receiver.

 

[Monk]

Did he play there at all in College?

 

[DC_fan]

Did he play there at all in College?

To the best of my knowledge, at college no he didn't. But at high school he played wide reciever and quarterback along with cornerback.

 

[Monk]

IMO - if you're an elite corner. Playing WR is a fast way to get injured. He should stay away from having to go near opposing defences or he will have a big ol' target on his head.

 

[DC_fan]

IMO - if you're an elite corner. Playing WR is a fast way to get injured. He should stay away from having to go near opposing defences or he will have a big ol' target on his head.

I would be very surprised if the Cowboys played him at WR.

 

[DC_fan]

Cowboy rookies will go Star-less on their helmets this training camp. They wil have to officially make the roster to get the Star on their helmet.

 

[DC_fan]

Rookie Minicamp Roster

Draft Picks (7)

Morris Claiborne CB LSU
Danny Coale WR Virginia Tech
Tyrone Crawford DE Boise State
James Hanna TE Oklahoma
Matt Johnson S Eastern Washington
Caleb McSurdy LB Montana
Kyle Wilber LB Wake Forest

Rookie Free Agents (22)

Jeff Adams T Columbia
Levy Adcock T Oklahoma State
Cole Beasley WR Southern Methodist
Tim Benford WR Tennessee Tech
George Bryan TE North Carolina State
Taylor Dever T Notre Dame
Lance Dunbar RB North Texas
Harland Gunn G Miami
Saalim Hakim WR Tarleton State
Adrian Hamilton LB Prairie View A&M
Charley Hughlett LS Central Florida
Donavon Kemp WR UTEP
Ronald Leary G Memphis
Isaac Madison CB Arkansas
Tyrone Novikoff T Idaho
Justin Taplin-Ross CB Utah
Darrell Scott RB South Florida
Lionel Smith CB Texas A&M
Andrew Szczerba TE Penn State
Aston Whiteside LB Abilene Christian
Eddie Whitley S Virginia Tech
Troy Woolfolk CB Michigan

Eligible First-Year Veterans (4)

Mario Butler CB Georgia Tech
Robert Calloway DL Saginaw Valley State
Orie Lemon LB Oklahoma State
Teddy Williams CB UT-San Antonio

Workout Players (15)

Delbert Alvarado K South Florida
Tom Mante K Yale
Larry Smith QB Vanderbilt
Nathan Dick QB Central Arkansas
David Little WR Midwestern State
Craig Ratanamorn P Marshall
Dave Harrington P Idaho State
Bryce Beall RB Houston
Royce Hill CB North Texas
Jamize Olawale FB North Texas
Dorvus Woods LB Arkansas State
Myles Caragein NT Pittsburgh
Luke Black DE Fairmont State
Chris Thompson C Houston
Ben Bass DE Texas A&M

 

[DC_fan]

The third and final day of the rookies mini-camp has finished.

Players who stood out included LB Kyle Wilber who come across as being intense and smarts. Fourth round pick S Matt Johnson made some big plays including an interception. Rookie free-agent LB Adrian Hamilton showed he could get after the quarteback. WR David Little made some good catches.

First round pick CB Morris Claiborne was not a part of this camp. He is getting over a wrist injury.

Its early days yet and most of the 48 players from this camp will not see the start of training camp let alone play this season. But their could be a few surprises.

 

[DC_fan]

Nate Livings will be left guard and Mackenzy Bernadeau will be on the right.

Bill Callahan, Cowboys offensive coordinator and line coach has said that two free agent acquisitions will start out at those positions. The team will see how it works out. They could swap sides if needed.

Bill Nagy will be given the chance to show he can play centre. It is a problem area with Phil Costa having all sorts of trouble last season.

At this stage the OL looks to be. From the left side Tyron Smith, Nate Livings, Bill Nagy or Phil Costa, Mackenzy Bernadeau and Doug Free.

 

[DC_fan]

The Cowboys have released LB Brashton Satele. He was always only ever going to be a camp body.

The team now has 87 players on a maximum 90 men roster.

 

[Raider_69]

Who is going to rush the passer... Ware aside?

 

[DC_fan]

Who is going to rush the passer... Ware aside?

If you are talking about linebackers then outside of Ware their is no one who stands out as a pass rusher. I like Spencer, but he is run stopping OLB first. He will get a few sacks but never get anywhere near what Ware gets. Victor Butler is a spot player who you can count on to get a few sacks. A couple of rookies in Kyle Wilber and the undrafted Adrian Hamilton could be interesting. Hamilton finished his senior season withh 22 sacks playing for Prairie View A&M.

I think you will find Ryan's defense will work around a lot of different fomations spreading the pass rush across a few different positions. Good play by our defensive backs to tie up receivers should help the pass rush. That's where the signing of Carr and the drafting of Claiborne will help.

 

[Raider_69]

We are talking a 3-4 team, so yes, we are talking LB, There is still no immediate pass rush from the cowboys aside from Ware.

Carr and Claibourne (IF and he wouldnt be the first 1st round CB would didnt work out) can produce coverage sacks but the cows left a lot of depth and talent to back fill their roster on the board in terms of needs

the NFC E is a bad bad division. Like all teams, they could be 12-4 or 7-9, i dont know if their draft improved them in a meaningful way. We will see

 

[DC_fan]

We are talking a 3-4 team, so yes, we are talking LB, There is still no immediate pass rush from the cowboys aside from Ware.

Carr and Claibourne (IF and he wouldnt be the first 1st round CB would didnt work out) can produce coverage sacks but the cows left a lot of depth and talent to back fill their roster on the board in terms of needs

the NFC E is a bad bad division. Like all teams, they could be 12-4 or 7-9, i dont know if their draft improved them in a meaningful way. We will see

With the 3-4 defense, outside of Ware their is no obvious pass rushing threat. Spencer will get a few, as too will Butler. But neither of those will post double digit sacks. But I am not sure we need them to. Last season the Cowboys finished the season with 42 sacks which placed then 7th in the NFL. Which is a pretty good effort. The interesting thing there is that Ware got 19.5 of them. Next best was Spencer with 6.

With Carr and Claiborne on the corners it should allow the Cowboys to blitz more with their safeties without having the worry of being burnt with big pass receptions.

The Cowboys base defense is the 3-4. But I think you will find they will make use of the 4-2-5 a lot this season. It really wouldn't surprise me if they used that defense more then the 3-4. For me its a sign of the times in the NFL.

In the 4-2-5 Ware will put his hand a hand on the ground and rush from the three point stance. It is also the defensive formation that could allow the team to make use of draft pick Tyrone Crawford who really is undersized at 280 pounds to be a 3-4 DE.

 

[DC_fan]

The Cowboys are not concerned with 3rd round draft pick Tyrone Crawford having a heart murmur.

Fourth round draft pick Kyle Wilber could be out till training camp recovering from. Broken finger.

The first OTA runs May 22 to 24. The second, May 29 to 31. The final, June 4 to 7.

 

[DC_fan]

Each team has a maximum of $76,585 worth of bonuses to spend on Undrafted Free Agents (UDFA). The Cowboys spent all but $85.

The most they spent was $10,000 on WR Saalim Hakin. OL Levy Adcock and Ronald Leary were next best with $9,000 each.

Leary is an interesting player. Plenty of draft experts were surprised he was left undrafted. He suffers from a chronic knee problem and this was probably the reason he was. Dallas thought about drafting him in the mid to late rounds. But passed on him hoping to pick him up as a free agent, which they have done. They signed him to a contract worth $390,000 with $205,000 of it guaranteed. Obviously the team believes he has potential.

 

[DC_fan]

Donald Driver to the Cowboys?


Should the Cowboys sign WR Donald Driver if he becomes available?

Their is some talk around the traps that the Packers may release the 37 year old. He is due to recieve $4.5m this season and people are wondering if he would be worth that cost for the Packers. Especially when you take in to account the quality of receivers they have.

So if he were to become available do the Cowboys sign him?

Obvviously the Cowboys are need of a third WR. With Robinson moving on through free agency its has opened that position up. The team has some promising, but very young and inexperienced options. Radway and Holmes show potential but need more experience.

I wouldn't mind the team signing Driver for one year. It would give the young receivers a chance to gain experience without the pressure.

 

[DC_fan]

Recently aquired free agent G Mackenzy Bernadeau will miss the next 2-3 months following surgery to his hip.

Training Camp starts July 28 so he may miss most or all of it.

 

[DC_fan]

The Cowboys have not given up on their former punter Mat McBriar. The teams former punter is recovering from surgery to remove a cyst from behind the knee. Though he is 33 years old the Cowboys are keeping close attention to how his recovery goes with a chance of re-signing him.

 

[DC_fan]

Adrian Hamilton is a rookie out of Prairie View A&M who the Cowboys picked up as a free agent. He is 6-2 and weighs 250 pounds. Played some DE/OLB at college.

Last college season he broke the Southwestern Athletic Conference single season sack record with a total of 22. The record was previously held by Robert Matthis of Indianapolis Colts fame.

Haamilton was invited to the combine, but his college did not pass on the invite in time.

Here is some video of Hamilton

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhHVqLJtijE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XU34I3duRw

If you are keen they are both well worth looking at. The kid shows potential to be a good pass rusher in the NFL. I hope the Cowboys keep him. But if they don't I am pretty sure some other team will pick him up.