Sean Martin, Author at Inside The Star Archives

ESPN Marks Jason Witten as Future Cowboys Head Coach

Jason Witten means many things to the Dallas Cowboys organization. Preparing to enter his 14th season with the team, the ever-reliable tight end has been through his fair share of losing seasons while also getting his opportunities in the playoffs – although still chasing his first championship ring. Should that elusive Super Bowl win not come for Jason as a player for the Cowboys, ESPN thinks that he could have a career trying to coach Dallas towards the promise land. As you see here, Jason Witten was selected as the current Cowboy that is most likely to one day coach his team, as ESPN picked an active player on all 32 teams. If Witten does one day trade in his cleats for a headset and coach the Dallas Cowboys, he would become just the third former professional player to lead the team as their Head Coach.

Written by: Sean Martin

Published on: June 25, 2016

Tweet Break: Checking in with Dez Bryant and Ezekiel Elliott

Another Friday without Cowboys football is upon us here at Inside The Star, and this time there’s not even the tease of mini-camp practices to keep us going! The anticipation continues to build for the 2016 season, but until training camp, the Cowboys will be relatively quiet. To help get you through these slow times, I once again turned my attention to the never-quiet world of Twitter – specifically Cowboys Nation – to bring you the best tweets from this past week. Let’s get started! Keeping up with #88 Dez Bryant Dez Bryant should be in store for big things on the field this season, with his next step being to ramp up the intensity of his on-field work come training camp.

Written by: Sean Martin

Published on: June 24, 2016

Cowboys Sophomores: TE Geoff Swaim

The 2016 training camp for the Dallas Cowboys is approaching quickly, as the team will hit the fields in Oxnard, California late next month. Beginning the process of bettering themselves and shaping the roster for a hopeful return to the NFC’s supremacy this season, the summer heat is surely going to bring out some intense competition. As we have seen under Head Coach Jason Garrett, the lower spots on the Cowboys’ roster are constantly being battled for by a multitude of players – perhaps with no better example than in this upcoming camp. One position that will force Dallas to make some interesting decisions on the depth chart is the tight end spot, where a lot could happen behind future Hall of Fame inductee Jason Witten. A second-year player that will be looking to take a big step up is Geoff Swaim, who the Cowboys traded a pick for in order to select Swaim with their last selection in 2015 at 246 overall.

Written by: Sean Martin

Published on: June 22, 2016

Cowboys Sophomores: Left Guard La’el Collins

The Dallas Cowboys have an embarrassment of riches along their star-studded offensive line. Coming onto the scene in 2014 by springing DeMarco Murray to the league rushing title, the unit that is full of former first round picks, excluding undrafted left guard La’el Collins, has only gotten better, younger, and deeper since then. This past season, with injuries derailing the team’s offense by taking out Tony Romo and Dez Bryant, the offensive line still led Darren McFadden to 1,089 yards on the ground – paving paths for the veteran to run through in a man-blocking scheme, which is not their collective strength. McFadden’s 2015 performance proved just how talented the Cowboys’ line is. A new face along this line was rookie La’el Collins, who replaced the reliable veteran Ron Leary as a starter for 11 games.

Written by: Sean Martin

Published on: June 20, 2016

Tweet Break: McFadden’s Mess, Mini Camp Motivation, and Eagles Gon’ Eagle

Last week on Tweet Break, we took a bumpy ride through some offseason tweets that made us laugh and smile, but most importantly, they made us miss Dallas Cowboys football. A new edition of this series here on Inside The Star can only mean that we are closer to watching the silver and blue on Sundays though! On top of that, we have an awesome collection of tweets this week to get through. Let’s get to it, Cowboys Nation! McFadden’s Mess One of the most notable events of the week was the unfortunate injury suffered by the Cowboys “starting running back,” Darren McFadden.

Written by: Sean Martin

Published on: June 17, 2016

Cowboys Mini-Camp: Day 3 Takeaways

The next time we will see the Cowboys on the practice field will be for training camp in Oxnard, California. By that time, the preparation for the 2016 season will be in full force, and the position battles across the field will be heated. For now, the Cowboys have concluded mini camp, with DallasCowboys.com once again bringing us a glimpse of Thursday’s historic practice. Here are my final thoughts on what fans were able to see.

Written by: Sean Martin

Published on: June 17, 2016

Cowboys Mini-Camp: Day 2 Takeaways

Yesterday here on Inside The Star, I took a look at the Cowboys first day of mini camp and shared some of my thoughts and analysis on what fans were able to view on the team website. The second day of Dallas’ camp practices got underway yesterday as well, with Bryan Broaddus and David Helman bringing more great footage and commentary to DallasCowboys.com. Click here to watch along while reading my thoughts on day two of Dallas Cowboys mini camp: Cole Powered Chemistry The entire offense for the Cowboys is designed around Tony Romo, who’s return to the practice field has boosted the overall chemistry of the unit.

Written by: Sean Martin

Published on: June 16, 2016

Cowboys Mini-Camp: Day 1 Takeaways

The Dallas Cowboys took the field yesterday for the first day of mini camp, with familiar faces on both sides of the ball like Tony Romo, Tyrone Crawford, Morris Claiborne, and Ezekiel Elliott – who have all been at every team practice this summer. Unfamiliar faces like Rolando McClain and Ronald Leary also arrived to Valley Ranch, where the practices are now mandatory. Head Coach Jason Garrett took to the podium and started off a day that would mostly be negative for the Cowboys though, as he announced the injuries to RB Darren McFadden and DE Benson Mayowa. Click here for more on the current status of both players. The not-so-great day continued for the Cowboys when the helmets went on for practice.

Written by: Sean Martin

Published on: June 15, 2016

Mini-Camp Injury Update: Darren McFadden and Benson Mayowa Out

For the Dallas Cowboys, the start of mini-camp was supposed to be a relatively exciting time. Cowboys Nation was eager to cross off another item on the checklist that will lead up to the 2016 season. While the now-mandatory practices will still closely resemble the light OTA work the Cowboys were doing, the team was also planning on slowly accumulating the likes of Dez Bryant and Orlando Scandrick back onto the football field. This morning, Dallas received even more good news, as Rolando McClain and Ronald Leary reported to practice. By the early afternoon though, the day had taken a sour turn for Jason Garrett’s squad.

Written by: Sean Martin

Published on: June 14, 2016

Cowboys Sophomores: LB Damien Wilson

It is no secret that the defensive unit for the Dallas Cowboys will be looking for play makers wherever they may come from in 2016. While Cowboys Nation will focus on the offense when it comes to replicating the winning ways of 2014 with rookie Ezekiel Elliott joining the established Tony Romo and Dez Bryant, the defense from that dominant season forced 31 turnovers – good for the second highest total in the league. This “Cowboys Sophomores” series has already profiled a few young defenders that could help Dallas in this regard, such as pass rusher Ryan Russell and hybrid safety Byron Jones. Another player that hopes to add his name to this mix is linebacker Damien Wilson, who was selected in the fourth round by the Cowboys in the 2015 Draft. When it comes to Defensive Coordinator Rod Marinelli, you can never have enough depth along the front-seven of your defense.

Written by: Sean Martin

Published on: June 13, 2016