5 weeks in

[UK Cowboy]

It's not a glass half full or glass half empty view, IMO -- okay, maybe as far as it pertains to Jaylon Smith. It's Just what I see on the field. Which of my points do you disagree with, and why?

I don't think TSmith is in decline at all. He has back issues, but he's missed 4 games in his career, and I am betting more GM's would take him than any other LT in the game.
You made the statement ''with Dak's limited accuracy''...Don't know what you are talking about there. Every QB misses passes, Dak hardly ever throws a pick that is on him, a lot of times, I think he is throwing it away. Dez runs terrible routes and he does not come down with the 50-50 balls he did when Romo was here, but I put that on Dez.
I think Fred is getting ''beat'' more because Cooper is giving him help instead of Leary.
JSmith is a rookie, I think next year, if he stays healthy, he will be night and day. The only reason he started this season was the injury to Hitch, he was thrown in and did the best he could
Lot of season left to be played

 

[tomodach10]

I'm assuming sports talk radio is a big thing in Dallas. If so, aren't there discussions about Heath not being very good and that he shouldn't be playing and if so does anyone actually disagree - hosts, callers, etc...It seems so obvious that he never should have been given the job and should not be starting. Didn't we all know this before the year started? Haven't we known this for years? Yet they brought no FA of any value in when they absolutely had options and opportunity to do so and still don't seem willing to sit Heath down in favor of Woods or perhaps Awuzie.

This seems almost like Barbie Carpenter lol

 

[Manster7588]

I'm assuming sports talk radio is a big thing in Dallas. If so, aren't there discussions about Heath not being very good and that he shouldn't be playing and if so does anyone actually disagree - hosts, callers, etc...It seems so obvious that he never should have been given the job and should not be starting. Didn't we all know this before the year started? Haven't we known this for years? Yet they brought no FA of any value in when they absolutely had options and opportunity to do so and still don't seem willing to sit Heath down in favor of Woods or perhaps Awuzie.

I'm guessing he's in possession compromising pictures of Jerry.

 

[ArlingtonCowboys100]

I'm guessing he's in possession compromising pictures of Jerry.

Heath has played terrible. No instincts . Woods needs to start

 

[es4m11]

I don't think TSmith is in decline at all. He has back issues, but he's missed 4 games in his career, and I am betting more GM's would take him than any other LT in the game.
You made the statement ''with Dak's limited accuracy''...Don't know what you are talking about there. Every QB misses passes, Dak hardly ever throws a pick that is on him, a lot of times, I think he is throwing it away. Dez runs terrible routes and he does not come down with the 50-50 balls he did when Romo was here, but I put that on Dez.
I think Fred is getting ''beat'' more because Cooper is giving him help instead of Leary.
JSmith is a rookie, I think next year, if he stays healthy, he will be night and day. The only reason he started this season was the injury to Hitch, he was thrown in and did the best he could
Lot of season left to be played

Regarding T.Smith, last year he was not as good as in 2015, this year he looks worse than in 2016. He missed a few games last year, including quite a bit of practice. This year he is sitting out more practice than ever, while flirting with missing games due to the bad back. Smith didn't even make it out of preseason this year before the back started flaring up again. That seems like a decline to me. Is Tyron Smith still an elite LT? Yes, but I don't think he is in the conversation for best LT after last year and what I have seen so far this year. I can think of a few guys playing better than Smith right now. Shame, when healthy, Smith is a unique talent.

What I mean regarding Dak's accuracy is this: Dak is a pretty accurate passer as far as getting the ball to a receiver in a general area, and he does a very good job of keeping the ball away from defenders, for the most part. That said, his precision as far as where he hits a receiver in his body (hands, chest, stomach, etc.) is not the greatest, IMO. In comparison to Romo, who could put it on a guy's back shoulder every time, or pretty much anywhere else on a guy he wanted to within 30 yards of the LOS. The reason I brought this up is to help illustrate a point about Dez. Bryant gets very little separation, we all know this, in fact he is among the worst in the entire league at creating separation. Dez put up monster numbers with Romo because it didn't matter as much how little separation Dez created because Romo could reliably put the ball where only Dez could catch it, or would have a better than 50/50 chance to catch it. Dak is not nearly as accurate as Romo in this respect - not even close. And that is in part why I think we have seen such a steep drop off in Bryant's production.

Frederick is suffering from a lack of continuity at LG, I agree completely. That's partly why I have been harping on letting Cooper settle in at LG instead of trying to force Chaz Green into position. Green can not be counted on. While LG is an issue, still, Frederick has been getting beat in some 1on1 situations far more often than I ever remember.

As far as Jaylon Smith goes, yes, I'm fairly pessimistic about his future. He shouldn't be on the field right now from a performance stand point. Can he get better? I have no doubt. The guy is a worker, and we all love his attitude and the way he carries himself, of course. But where are the guys who were saying "80% of J.SMith is still better than what we have!" - I think we have seen that this sentiment is pretty far off base. At the end of the day, if J.Smith can't contribute to the defense in a more positive manner at some point this season, I have to consider this pick a failure - it's bad business to spend a 2nd round draft pick on a guy who might only contribute in 2 out of 4 years of his rookie contract. And none of us know for sure how Smith will look 2 months from now, or next year, or the year after. One thing I do know is, Smith is nearly two years removed from his injury, and he looks like just a guy on an NFL field - that doesn't bode well for his future.

 

[jarntt]

Agree on Smith not being as good, but he is hurting right now. Let's see if he pulls out of it or not before we say he is on the decline. I think by year end he could be the top LT again. If the back bothers him all year he won't, but he still gets the benefit of the doubt from me to see if he can come back healthy in 2018 before I'll put others above him.

Disagree on Dak. He is as accurate and likely more accurate than Romo - no I'm not using comp % alone. Romo was more likely to throw an "area pass" or toss one up for grabs than Dak. Not sure I get that one. But, I do think Dak has tried to force some balls to Dez when he wasn't open which has been bad and made it look like his accuracy is down. I think some of those outside patterns when Dez is not open we are seeing Dak throw it away as he has been dealing with poor pass protection this year and some of them should not be thrown and are poor decisions by Dak. Dez is still good, but slower than he was when he entered the league and even looks a lot slower than a couple of years ago and getting less separation than ever, so completing passes to him is requiring more and more accuracy by the year. Not sure Rodgers could be doing much more with him until we start using him at what he is good at - slants, crossing patterns and just letting him use his strength. But for those patterns he needs to start catching more balls than he has lately. A lot of passes are hitting those hands and not being caught.

Not sure the reason for Frederick, but I agree with you. He isn't playing great so far this year. I have no clue why. I would still say he is the best center in the NFL, but so far this year he has absolutely not been. I was always a lot higher on Leary than most and I think that is of course part of it too.

Smith. Way too early IMO. If not for the Hitchens injury he wouldn't even be playing much and certainly not starting. Wasn't it like 4 months ago when he finally was able to lift his foot? It's possible Smith at 80% is better than what we have because I don't know think he is even at 80% yet. Just watching him on the field he looks nothing like the guy from Notre Dame. Is that the injury or the better talent in the NFL or a combo of the 2? I'd be lying if I said I knew. I said all along don't judge him until next year. To expect him to be the guy he will be at this point was a foolish thought. But he may look a lot better in the second half of the year as he hopefully gets healthier. What has been disappointing to me is the fact that his instincts and knowledge of what is going on around him seem very poor. Those were the things I expected to be off the charts good and help compensate for his injury. I think once Lee gets back he'll look a little better

 

[cowboycolors]

well as far as doom and gloom and a little sunshine at the end here's my take so far .

Ok some of you guys are going to hate me but Jaylon Smith is the worst player on the field on our defense except when Heath is on at Safety. Put Woods on the field and live with his mistakes and keep Heath on ST's period.
Now back to Smith he is not yet a full speed and I honestly believe the Cowboys have played him because of injuries to Lee and Hitchens. Smith shows flashes of what he once was but he is still not recovered from that injury and should be playing sparsely if at all. Im not hating on him just stating what some see and others don't are don't see yet. I want him to be a Stud but he is not even close yet.

Taco well his play so far is about like how much fear a snarling Chihuahua would put in a 325 pound big strong guy as opposed to a Doberman - Rottweiler cross with the same snarl and that's not a pretty picture. I wont call a bust but early returns are not good.

DL some of us have been screaming for a long time for DB help and we finally got some so now how about some Rottweiler -Pitbull interior DL types in the next draft. And Sadly we are still looking for another DE Along with Some LB help I love Lee and am praying for Jaylon to get over the hump on his injury but it is time to plan for when Lee's not here he is 31. What if Jaylon never recovers fully? just saying.

OL well they are not exactly the great wall of Dallas this year HUH? replacing 2 guys not all that easy Leary was pretty damn good and he got paid for it. Sadly Green is constantly injured and Cooper has never recovered from his knee injury back in 2013 and he is not even close to the same player. At RT Collins is more suited to Guard than tackle and I move him back if I can find a RT in the draft.

As far as sunshine well Dak is playing well we are in the bye week with a lot of football left and hey were all Cowboys fans with all that comes with it

JMHO guys have a great day

 

[jarntt]

well as far as doom and gloom and a little sunshine at the end here's my take so far .

Ok some of you guys are going to hate me but Jaylon Smith is the worst player on the field on our defense except when Heath is on at Safety. Put Woods on the field and live with his mistakes and keep Heath on ST's period.
Now back to Smith he is not yet a full speed and I honestly believe the Cowboys have played him because of injuries to Lee and Hitchens. Smith shows flashes of what he once was but he is still not recovered from that injury and should be playing sparsely if at all. Im not hating on him just stating what some see and others don't are don't see yet. I want him to be a Stud but he is not even close yet.

Taco well his play so far is about like how much fear a snarling Chihuahua would put in a 325 pound big strong guy as opposed to a Doberman - Rottweiler cross with the same snarl and that's not a pretty picture. I wont call a bust but early returns are not good.

DL some of us have been screaming for a long time for DB help and we finally got some so now how about some Rottweiler -Pitbull interior DL types in the next draft. And Sadly we are still looking for another DE Along with Some LB help I love Lee and am praying for Jaylon to get over the hump on his injury but it is time to plan for when Lee's not here he is 31. What if Jaylon never recovers fully? just saying.

OL well they are not exactly the great wall of Dallas this year HUH? replacing 2 guys not all that easy Leary was pretty damn good and he got paid for it. Sadly Green is constantly injured and Cooper has never recovered from his knee injury back in 2013 and he is not even close to the same player. At RT Collins is more suited to Guard than tackle and I move him back if I can find a RT in the draft.

As far as sunshine well Dak is playing well we are in the bye week with a lot of football left and hey were all Cowboys fans with all that comes with it

JMHO guys have a great day

All fair points. When I was defending Smith it wasn't to say he has been great. He hasn't and he needs to be much better or in a PT role. Even when he gets a bunch of Tackles they seem to be downfield too far. My only exception to the Smith criticism was that I feel we have yet to see the real Jaylon Smith. I certainly could end up being wrong, but I just don't think he is ready yet. He may never be ready or he may be ready after the bye, but as of today I still think the ceiling is still sky high with this kid.

Maybe trying Collins at LG and Green at RT would be worth a try...Not blaming either. Just trying to think of a way to jump start the group...

 

[ROMOTOOWENS]

Sorry about the face palm colors. I must have accidentally hit it.

 

[Manster7588]

I think we'll see a different D this week. Full roster and Lee had time to mend.

 

[ROMOTOOWENS]

I think we'll see a different D this week. Full roster and Lee had time to mend.

49ers were pretty game today. Skins were almost too conservative

 

[Manster7588]

49ers were pretty game today. Skins were almost too conservative

Ant given Sunday. Who saw NY beating Denver or Jets taking NE to the limit.

I do think a healthy Dallas D is in the top half of the league.
It would help if Heath wasn't playing that many snaps.

 

[ROMOTOOWENS]

Ant given Sunday. Who saw NY beating Denver or Jets taking NE to the limit.

I do think a healthy Dallas D is in the top half of the league.
It would help if Heath wasn't playing that many snaps.

There has been a lot of shocking games to me this yr. The Giants tonight is probably the biggest. I found myself pulling for them in the 3rd quarter for some reason.

 

[Godstree]

I'm assuming sports talk radio is a big thing in Dallas. If so, aren't there discussions about Heath not being very good and that he shouldn't be playing and if so does anyone actually disagree - hosts, callers, etc...It seems so obvious that he never should have been given the job and should not be starting. Didn't we all know this before the year started? Haven't we known this for years? Yet they brought no FA of any value in when they absolutely had options and opportunity to do so and still don't seem willing to sit Heath down in favor of Woods or perhaps Awuzie.

I listen to TheTicket on the web. When they aren't trying to be funny and talk about politics (ugh) they have talked about how bad Heath is.

 

[Godstree]

There has been a lot of shocking games to me this yr. The Giants tonight is probably the biggest. I found myself pulling for them in the 3rd quarter for some reason.

I could never pull for the giants unless it was against he eagles or washington or Dallas playoffs were on the line.

 

[UK Cowboy]

NBowman to visit Oakland....and Dallas

 

[ROMOTOOWENS]

I could never pull for the giants unless it was against he eagles or washington or Dallas playoffs were on the line.

I thought the same. Hearing Eli talk about being traded and how he wanted no part of it. Hearing him talk about how much he loved the team he has was inspiring. What the Giants did last night without their so called best players should be a wake up call to some of these players that take certain things for granted.

 

[ArlingtonCowboys100]

Regarding T.Smith, last year he was not as good as in 2015, this year he looks worse than in 2016. He missed a few games last year, including quite a bit of practice. This year he is sitting out more practice than ever, while flirting with missing games due to the bad back. Smith didn't even make it out of preseason this year before the back started flaring up again. That seems like a decline to me. Is Tyron Smith still an elite LT? Yes, but I don't think he is in the conversation for best LT after last year and what I have seen so far this year. I can think of a few guys playing better than Smith right now. Shame, when healthy, Smith is a unique talent.

What I mean regarding Dak's accuracy is this: Dak is a pretty accurate passer as far as getting the ball to a receiver in a general area, and he does a very good job of keeping the ball away from defenders, for the most part. That said, his precision as far as where he hits a receiver in his body (hands, chest, stomach, etc.) is not the greatest, IMO. In comparison to Romo, who could put it on a guy's back shoulder every time, or pretty much anywhere else on a guy he wanted to within 30 yards of the LOS. The reason I brought this up is to help illustrate a point about Dez. Bryant gets very little separation, we all know this, in fact he is among the worst in the entire league at creating separation. Dez put up monster numbers with Romo because it didn't matter as much how little separation Dez created because Romo could reliably put the ball where only Dez could catch it, or would have a better than 50/50 chance to catch it. Dak is not nearly as accurate as Romo in this respect - not even close. And that is in part why I think we have seen such a steep drop off in Bryant's production.

Frederick is suffering from a lack of continuity at LG, I agree completely. That's partly why I have been harping on letting Cooper settle in at LG instead of trying to force Chaz Green into position. Green can not be counted on. While LG is an issue, still, Frederick has been getting beat in some 1on1 situations far more often than I ever remember.

As far as Jaylon Smith goes, yes, I'm fairly pessimistic about his future. He shouldn't be on the field right now from a performance stand point. Can he get better? I have no doubt. The guy is a worker, and we all love his attitude and the way he carries himself, of course. But where are the guys who were saying "80% of J.SMith is still better than what we have!" - I think we have seen that this sentiment is pretty far off base. At the end of the day, if J.Smith can't contribute to the defense in a more positive manner at some point this season, I have to consider this pick a failure - it's bad business to spend a 2nd round draft pick on a guy who might only contribute in 2 out of 4 years of his rookie contract. And none of us know for sure how Smith will look 2 months from now, or next year, or the year after. One thing I do know is, Smith is nearly two years removed from his injury, and he looks like just a guy on an NFL field - that doesn't bode well for his future.

I think leary was the most underrated player on the team during his seasons on cowboys. He deserved the payday

 

[ArlingtonCowboys100]

Novarro Bowman better sign. Probably not likely,but this Defense, stinks. Hitchens and Wilson are not the answer. They are almost worse than heath. Bowman would really help our run D.

 

[Godstree]

I thought the same. Hearing Eli talk about being traded and how he wanted no part of it. Hearing him talk about how much he loved the team he has was inspiring. What the Giants did last night without their so called best players should be a wake up call to some of these players that take certain things for granted.

Honestly I never heard about eli being traded cause I don't like the guy.