There becomes a time, where teams rebuild, and youth becomes superior and preferable to age. We’ve seen it time and time again. Eli Manning Replaces Kerry Collins, Tom Brady replaces Drew Bledsoe. Typically teams go into a slump, losing game after game while trying to quickly breed a plethora of youth into becoming superstars.
Luckily, the Cowboys have a more unique and much better situation. Through good drafts and free agency moves the Cowboys are able to (or have) replace seasoned veterans with well bred, talented young players that will kick start the next decade of Cowboys players. So fittingly I thought we’d take a look at what moves and players we’re prepared to see.
Anthony Spencer replaces Greg Ellis– It’s been coming for a while now. Greg saw a re-emergence in the 2007-2008 season, but has slowed down considerably from what he was, and though he’s still a good player, he’s not as dynamic as Spencer, who has 4.5 sacks in extremely limited play. I like what I’ve seen so far and expect great things from him as Ellis come to the end of a wonderful career.
Orlando Scandrick and Mike Jenkins become play makers– With Anthony Henry Gone, expect a hard battled competition to emerge to replace him, though Jenkins may have the upper hand, expect to see Scandrick rotate with him. These two young cornerbacks bring speed and coverage abilities, and Scandrick has shown good tackling abilities. As Scandrick and Jenkins figure out their strengths, our defense will emerge as a turnover machine. I believe that we will see Scandrick flourish in zone coverage’s, while Jenkins will bring man to man coverage abilities comparable to Mel Renfro.
Hatcher and Bowen become a relief tandem worth fearing– The release of Chris Canty had the Cowboys believing Hatcher and Bowen would be starting, that is before the signing of Ivan the great. Hatcher and Bowen however, will offer fresh legs, strength, and speed that will harass opposing running backs, offensive lines, and quarterbacks.
Felix and Tashard force Garrett to make the right Choice– Felix is the speediest back that I can recall ever seeing play. He has explosive speed from the handoff and can shed tackles. However, His play-making ability may be limited due to fatigue so he needs to see a smaller number of carries then Barber and Choice. Yes I said it Choice. He has displayed stellar workhorse back attributes and has me excited to see how dynamic he makes our rushing attack. Barber is a given but I see split back formations featuring different combinations of backs to include our full back Anderson. Our running backs will be the core of this offense and ultimately this teams Super Bowl chances.
Long Shot: Bobby Carpenter shows that he has– So far Bobby Carpenter has been a bust and not exactly a fan favorite. He has displayed great play-making ability but has been awfully inconsistent. This is it Bobby! I’m rooting for you here, DON’T MAKE ME REGRET IT! I predict that bobby will see increased snaps and will emerge as a coverage linebacker whose speed will contribute to filling holes and getting to pocket quarterbacks.
As time goes by, our team grows, and I think our front office has planned for us to dominate for years to come…Thoughts?
I agree on your RB assessment mostly. I’m thinking more and more that Choice is (ugh) the right choice (pun unavoidable). It comes down this; Choice has the best of both Barber and Jones, so he is the logical starter and every down type of back. Plus he’s the only one of the three who has ever been a feature back before.
Jones can come into the backfield or split wide in the slot and throw some serious explosiveness into the lineup whenever he’s called upon, either that he can be a decoy for those cheating linebackers.
Barber can then resume his role as a closer, slamming a win home and breaking across the goal line to put it away. That’s what his strength is and that’s where he should stay, Recognize him with a paycheck, not the starting job, not 20 carries a game, unless of course we’re trying to put it away by mid-third quarter.
Going this route you get the best of all three backs and some very interesting match-ups for opposing defenses that will ultimately open up the passing game for some quick slants into the secondary and posts/flys when the blitz is coming.
Did I mention Romo working on a three step drop that only includes three steps? That’s kind of important for beating the blitz.
http://www.bangcartoon.com/2008/shuffle.htm
Hysterical