Right Cornerback
This was supposed to be Mo Claiborne’s for years to come, but injuries and changing schemes have slowed his progress. The Cowboys are counting on him having a breakout season and here are a couple of reasons why. This will be the first time since Claiborne was drafted that he’ll be heading to training camp completely healthy. Also, this is the first time Mo will have been in the same defensive scheme for consecutive years. So watch for Mo to end this competition early and put an end to all this bust talk.
I do expect Mo to take the starting position back, but I don’t think Orlando Scandrick will hand over the position easily. Scandrick was hands-down the Cowboys most consistent player in the secondary and it wasn’t even close. He had his best season as a pro last year and looks to build on that. But I feel Scandrick playing in the slot and staying in the slot is best for him and this entire defense. Playing time isn’t an issue here because most teams field 3 or more WR’s for most of the game and to have both of these players at the top of their game is what everyone wants.
Names to watch: Sterling Moore, Terrance Mitchell, B.W. Webb
Sterling Moore has the edge here because the team is going to play more man coverage. He was cut last year because he just wasn’t that good in zone coverage (turns out, nobody was). He was brought back later in the season because of crappy play and the team opting for more man to man coverage later in the season.
Terrance Mitchell has been viewed as a steal. Drafted in the 7th round, most experts had him going somewhere in the 5th round, and I saw a couple mock drafts that had him going as high as the 4th round. So far Dallas is glad things worked out the way they did.
Mitchell was late getting to camp due to meeting his academic requirements, but when he did show up for the last two days of mini-camp he had an interception on both days and played tight man to man coverage on everyone he played against. Mitchell looks to make things very challenging for the 4th corner position.
Not a lot of positive things happened for B.W. Webb last season. At times he looked lost and confused and that’s because he probably was – just like the rest of the defense. If Webb doesn’t show some kind of improvement early in camp, he’ll be lucky to make it to final cuts.
