Dallas Cowboys Nation

Monthly Archives: January 2009

Dallas brings in a new tackle

Well, the Cowboys made some moves today. That’s a good way to come back from a fairly quiet weekend.

They signed two players to futures contracts, and the good thing is that one of them has been a starter before, and he’s a Defensive Tackle. He is a big DT at 6’3 and 325lbs and his name is Tim Anderson.

He’s only played 9 games in the last two seasons and has even fewer tackles during that time. He spent last year in Atlanta and the four previous years with the Buffalo Bills, the team that drafted him in the third round of the 05 draft.

They also signed a cornerback, Michael Hawkins. He’s played some for the Packers, and for the Dallas Desperados, but hasn’t made much of a splash yet.

As for Anderson, well I’m thinking that maybe the Cowboys are looking into the possibility of moving Ratliff to end and not resigning Canty. Anderson is a little bigger than Ratliff and could clog the hole a little better. Let’s just hope that there isn’t any good reason he only played in 9 games the past two years.

More to come on today’s activity, like an interview Bradie James did on The Ticket.

Doesn’t anybody do their job anymore?

There’s something to be said for a player that owns up to his role on a team.

I mean each position has clearly stated duties and responsibilities at all times. A wide receiver has to run routes, break jams at the line, make cuts, get separation, focus on the ball and catch it, keep his timing right etc. etc.

There’s a list like that for every position on the team, some longer than others, but all well defined and fairly standard on a position by position basis.

But these days it seems too common to get players like Owens who says, “give me the ball”. Or players like Ellis who says, “I want to start”. And even a player like Romo that just wants to have fun and enjoy what he does on the field.

All contract issues aside; there are several players on every team in the National Football League that wants particular things for personal reasons. And that should be fine; Owens wants the ball? Well, he makes plays so why not? It makes sense to get the ball to your play makers, and your play makers know it too so what’s the big deal if they say something about it?

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Any interest in Jim Leonhard?

He’s a free agent now, or will be shortly, and with the Raven’s having to deal with free agency with both Terrell Suggs and Ray Lewis, speculation is that they won’t have the cap space left to reward Leonhard for his performance this season.

A veteran that’s played safety for both the Bills and Ravens, Leonhard found his success under Defensive Coordinator Rex Ryan in Baltimore.

He’s certainly been a hot commodity for them, which begs the question from Dallas fans, Could he/Would he be a good fit in Dallas?

A fan has asked the question, now let’s hear some answers from fans. Use the comments and tell us all if you’re for or against this idea?

Talk about a nightmare …

A pointless post I realize, but I just refreshed the DC.com front page for updated content and saw in the news ticker “Ready to move on”. Using FF3 and flashblock, I allowed the ticker to show and saw Witten.

Almost shat myself at that very moment.

Good thing he only meant time to move on from the 2008 season, not from the team. That’s a blow this team wouldn’t survive anytime soon.

I’ll be back with more later.

Talking Owens, from a reader

Got a comment today from a reader, and I want to expand on what he correctly identified as another topic. The Wizard wrote:

“I’m in agreement with you about Garrett, who I truly believe is the biggest problem on the team right now. People can point at TO all they want. But, when they were 13-3 and Owens was heavily involved in the offense there were no problems. In fact, he was being called a model teammate. Now, with Sparano gone and Garrett’s reluctance to use Owens more effectively he was upset.

But, that is another topic.”

Something that always comes to mind about T.O. is what he says about getting the ball, “When I get the ball, good things happen.” He’s right, when he gets the ball, the Cowboys win the game, and that has yet to be proven otherwise.

Owens caused a lot of distractions late this year in his interview with Sanders where he called out Garrett’s scheme. He started an uproar when he had a meeting with Garrett about his perceptions of ball distribution. And he has been labeled as a trouble maker since he left San Francisco after problems, only to start a similar problem with his new team, the Eagles. We all know this stuff.

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CN.net Position Breakdown – Linebacker

I’m now going to do something that our defense had some issues with this year, tackle another position in my positional breakdown of the current roster. Yeah, cheap shot, but between Jenkins watching Ward run by and everyone missing McClain and McGahee, it kind of fits. Here’s the linebackers.


DeMarcus Ware -

A great overall athlete, big surprise here.

The guy has an outstanding work ethic and drive. He gets to the ball quickly, and is good at deciding where a play is going.

He’s versatile, quick, strong, and doesn’t rely on others to allow him a chance, he makes plays where others wouldn’t.

By far the only must have on this team, or any team.


Brady James -

The soft-spoken leader of this defensive unit, he’s been a steady contributor and a reliable linebacker. Sometimes he shows us why he gets left out of the Pro Bowl, but the 2008 season was certainly his best year. He deserved the vote, and he agreed, but he did publicly express his feelings about not making the all star team, and that isn’t okay.

Still, his play on the field overcomes the very few and minor issues that he brings to the team. An obvious keeper.

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Busted Barry Horn’s story for Saturday morning

Okay, I know it’s rather trifle or petty, but after reading the latest blog entry of Barry Horn at DMN, I just couldn’t help myself.

He throws in a little teaser about a incident Michael Irvin told him about. I’ve seen the reports already and know what happened, so I left a comment telling him we knew all about the incident, and that he should write it anyway. That at least we’d know he was telling the truth. I used the name BTreece.

I know Horn hasn’t been one of the major players in the recent rumor mill in the media, but I’m tired of hearing about a “source” and some outrageous claim from that source about the Cowboys.

We should all demand more from our journalists.

CN.net Position Breakdown – Safety

Since I believe the biggest need this off-season for the Cowboys is at safety, I’m going to offer my breakdown of the players we currently have on the roster.

Roy Williams -
I know, obvious first pick, but Williams is coming off his seventh year in the league and deserves first mention. After all, he has been a safety on the Cowboys roster longer than any other safety here.

Sad to say though, that after Woodson retired, Williams has done little else to warrant first mention, anywhere.

He missed most of 2008 after breaking his forearm not once, but twice, and landed on IR. Many will still agree now, as we did then, that him being injured actually solved the problem of how to limit his liability on the field in coverage.

I think he still has talent, but he doesn’t seem to keep his head in a game and loses focus, which leads to mistakes in all aspects of his game. If Campo, having a full season and two off-seasons to get Williams thinking like a football player again, then I say he stays. But he’d have to really wow the coaches and Jerry Jones in order to justify his salary for the year. Continue reading →