Wow, how things change from week to week. Injuries occur, players get tested mentally and some see the field for the first time.
Although there were some improvements against Baltimore there were several roster questions left unanswered. How many QBs do they keep? Who will step up on the D-Line? Who will claim that MLB spot? Hopefully we can get some answers in Saturday’s game against Miami.
Please see my roster version 2.0 following the Baltimore game.
QB – Tony Romo, Brandon Weeden, Dustin Vaughan
I still think they keep 3 QBs, but as injuries pile up it will be less likely. I’m really worried that Dustin will not clear waivers if released and end up on the practice squad. David Helman from DallasCowboys.com wrote an article about keeping 3 QBs and Dustin Vaughan’s performance against Miami.
RB – DeMarco Murray, Lance Dunbar, Joseph Randle, Ryan Williams
A philosophical change from version 1.0. Ryan Williams gets on the roster and the FB position is eliminated for now. Ryan will need to have another strong performance but they like what they see out of the Arizona State product.
WR – Dez Bryant, Terrance Williams, Dwayne Harris, Cole Beasley, Devin Street
I think with the injuries to the defense they will need to trim the WR number to 5 and hope that Jamar Newsome clears waivers and makes it to the practice squad.
TE – Jason Witten, Gavin Escobar, James Hanna
No changes here and I don’t expect there will be this year. These will be your three TEs.
Offensive Line – Tyron Smith, Ronald Leary, Travis Frederick, Zack Martin, Doug Free, Mackenzy Bernadeau, Uche Nwaneri, Jermey Parnell
We’ll stay with these lineman for now, and see how the next preseason game plays out.
Defensive Line – George Selvie, Henry Melton, Terrell McClain, Tyrone Crawford, Jeremy Mincey, Davon Coleman, Ken Bishop, Caesar Rayford, Ken Boatright, Nick Hayden, Zach Minter, Anthony Spencer
Zach Minter was a pleasant surprise. I would like to see if he can do that against stronger competition. I believe they will take Spencer off of Active PUP and have him ready for week 3 or 4, and place DeMarcus Lawrence on some kind of short-term inactive list.
LB – Justin Durant, Bruce Carter, Kyle Wilber, Anthony Hitchens, Rolando McClain
Holloman’s career-ending injury was a big blow to this group, from a depth perspective. Who will they sign to add to the depth chart? It could be Jason Phillips, who worked out for the Cowboys on Thursday.
CB – Brandon Carr, Orlando Scandrick, Morris Claiborne, Terrance Mitchell, Sterling Moore, B.W. Webb
This should be the group to win the CB spots. But with Orlando out for the first 4 weeks, who will benefit from the roster exemption?
Safety – Barry Church, J.J. Wilcox, Ahmad Dixon, Jeff Heath, Jakar Hamilton
Does Matt Johnson go on IR again? Should we even care about him anymore?
Specialists – Dan Bailey, Chris Jones, L.P. Ladouceur
Nothing to say about these three guys. Just good.
Keeping only 5 linebackers is a bit of a risk imo. But overall I like it. I still haven’t seen enough to keep Vaughn on the active roster. I think Alex Tanney performed better last year and they didn’t keep him on the 53.
Tanney is a bad example. Romo didn’t have a back injury last off-season. And we had Orton at #2, not Weeden. The situation has definitely changed this year. I’m 50/50 on 2 vs. 3 quarterbacks. I want 3, but not sure what the team will do.
The overall situation with Tanney is different. But I don’t see anyway they keep Vaughn on the active 53 while having to deal with injuries at dline and the secondary.
I don’t think 5 is where they stay and hence the mention of Jason Phillips. A weak group overall and I am still worried about McClain.