Dallas Cowboys Draft Grades, off-Season Review and 53 Man Roster Projection

2 of 2

Recapping Free Agency

~~Cowboys announce retirement of OT Marc Colombo~~
~~Texans sign ILB Bradie James~~
~~Bengals sign CB Terence Newman~~
Cowboys claim QB Rudy Carpenter
P~~atriots sign FB Tony Fiammetta~~
Cowboys cut G Kyle Kosier
Cowboys re-sign WR Kevin Ogletree
Cowboys sign ILB Dan Connor
Cowboys sign S Brodney Pool
~~Jaguars sign WR Laurent Robinson~~
Cowboys sign CB Brandon Carr
~~Giants sign TE Martellus Bennett~~
Cowboys sign FB Lawrence Vickers
Cowboys sign QB Kyle Orton
~~Cowboys cut CB Terence Newman~~
~~Cowboys waive K David Buehler~~

Cowboys franchise DE/OLB Anthony Spencer

Projected 53 man Roster (ourlads.com)

QB (3): Tony Romo, Kyle Orton, Stephen Mcgee (Rudy Carpenter)

RB (4): Demarco Murray, Felix Jones, Philip Tanner, Darrell Scott (Lance Dunbar)

FB (1): Lawrence Vickers (Shaun Chapas, Jamzie Olawale)

WR (5): Dez Bryant, Miles Austin, Kevin Ogletree, Danny Coale, Dwayne Harris (Raymond Radaway, Tim Benford, Andre Holmes, Saalim Hakim, Donovan Kemp, Cole Beasley)

TE (3): Jason Witten, John Phillips, James Hanna (George Bryan, Andrew Szczerba)

OL (9): Tyron Smith, Doug Free, Mackenzy Bernadeau, Phil Costa, Nate Livings, Bill Nagy, Levy Addock, Jeremy Parnell, Kevin Kioalwaski(Tyrone Nokvikioff, Taylor Devar, Harland Gunn, Jeff Adams)

Defensive line 7: Kenyon Coelman, Jay Ratliff, Jason Hatcher, Tyrone Crawford, Sean Lissemore, Josh Brent, Marcus Spears (Clifton Geathers, Ben Bass)

OLB (4): Anthony Spencer, DeMarcus Ware, Kyle Wilber, Victor Cutler (Baraka Atkins, Adrian Hamilton)

ILB (4): Dan Connor, Sean Lee, Bruce Carter, Orie Lemon (Caleb McSurdy, Isaiah Greenhouse, Aston Whiteside)

CB (5): Morris Claiborne, Brandon Carr, Mike Jenkins, Orlando Scandrick, Mario Butler (C.J. Wilson, Lionel Smith, Teddy Williams, Isaac Madison)

S (4): Brodney Pool, Gerald Sensabaugh, Barry Church, Matt Johnson (Danny McCray, Mana Silva, Eddie Whitley, Justin Taplin-Ross)

K (1): Dan Bailey (Jake Rogers)

P (1): Chris Jones

Positions of Strength:

Receiving Weapons:

Dez Bryant still has yet to reach his full potential, but he has flashed a lot of ability. Miles Austin is a good steady player who should approach or surpass 1,000 yards again this season. The big question for the Cowboys in 2012 will be, who is the #3 WR? The trio of Bryant, Austin, and Witten though is among the league’s best.

Quarterback:

Tony Romo is a good player and Kyle Orton is the perfect back up. An injury to Romo this year might not derail their entire season and that’s a luxury few teams in the league have. I think a case for cornerback can be made here too with Jenkins as a #3 cornerback. But let’s see Claiborne play a game first before we declare this problem fixed for the 2012 season.

Potential position of need:

Safety-the Cowboys addressed the cornerback position, but the safety position is still in flux. Sensabaugh and Brodney Pool are just guys. That might not be good enough with the explosive options in the NFC East (and the Redskins could join that group this year). Safety will be the #1 need for the Cowboys after the 2012 season.

Overall depth-

The depth of the Cowboys to me is suspect across the board. I worry about what they have on the offensive line in case of an injury. The depth at the running back positions cares me. Murray is really good and Jones is not bad either, but both players have a history of nagging injuries. I really like the starting four linebackers, but an injury brings them with Bruce Carter? Word is the Cowboys don’t have glowing reviews for the very athletic Carter. The Cowboys theoretically improved their depth from a year ago, but we’ll have to wait and see if the young players step it up. I believe depth on the roster is what eventually seperated the Giants from the Cowboys last year as the Giants overcame injuries with replacement players like Victor Cruz, Kevin Boothe, Aaron Ross at corneback among others.

Home/NFL Draft