Hostile
04-29-2012, 06:50 AM
I know it is coming, so let me get it out of the way. Yes, I am disappointed that we did not address OL in the Draft. No, I am not distraught that we did not take my favorite player in this Draft, David DeCastro. If I have shown anything over the years about my agendas with the draft it is that I can move on.
Morris Claiborne does make it a little easier to move on. I want to stop here and say one thing. Either we suddenly became great at smokescreens or Jason Garrett has the lid nailed down tight at Valley Ranch. Nothing that I heard and shared about this Draft happened. That starts with how quiet this team was about Morris Claiborne. I am impressed. I never saw this player coming to Dallas.
I also know this is coming, no I do not like him more than I did Patrick Peterson last year. All I can tell you is I love the pick.
The rumors have begun to fly about Mike Jenkins. It is his contract year. There is a liquor store guy who talks to him. Supposedly he has demanded a trade. Let's stop and take a deep breath. At this point in time there is no way any of us can project what will happen with Mike Jenkins. Let's enjoy the speculation. I mean that. It is a great football topic. Where can we trade him? What can we get? Let's face it, this kid is a potentially great CB for someone and if he started all 16 games this year and hit the FA market could be next year's Brandon Carr CB.
Quick observation that many have mentioned, and I pointed out in my penultimate mock draft. Jason Garrett is going to go after high character, team captain kind of guys. If you have listened to these secret phone calls and the radio interviews what did you hear? A lot of "Yes sir" kind of polite, eloquent, respectful talk. Every player we drafted this year is someone who is going to be about football first.
Barring injury, a meteoric rise by a UDFA at the same position, or a complete collapse each of our 7 Draft picks are going to make this football team. They will make the team for a combination of reasons. The first and foremost reason is these kids can all play. A couple of them are sure fire developmental projects, but each one of them has an evident skill set and each one of them has produced. But more than just that, these kids are football focused. As mentioned, many were team captains. That rubs off. You can't help but be affected when you see a kid busting his hump to earn his spot.
Jason Garrett says it a lot. They are the "Right Kind of Guys." What that means is real simple. They are coming to work. This is a game, but it is their job. These kids we just drafted are known for their work ethics. That focus pays off.
Using an example from our Historic past I will take the all time leading rusher, Emmitt Smith. Many felt we made a bad pick when we took Emmitt. He was too small. He wasn't fast enough. You know what he was though? The right kind of guy. He came in and worked his rear end off and became a Hall of Famer. Make no mistake about it, Emmitt arrived here with talent galore. But he also arrived here ready, willing, and driven to go to work.
Pay off, Hall of Fame, all time leading rusher, legend. I'm not telling you any of these kids will have his kind of impact. I am absolutely telling you each of them has his kind of attitude.
You take a Kyle Wilber and an Adrian Hamilton and you put them on the football field and do you know who gets better immediately? Alex Albright. I think most of us liked him last year. He came in as a UDFA from Boston College and he worked his butt off. Now, he's going to work it off a little more to keep his roster spot. You know who that makes even better? Victor Butler. Yet another later round guy we all liked. He starts working harder you know who that pushes? Anthony Spencer.
It's a chain reaction on a football team. Each of these guys we took the last 3 days are known for being early on the practice field, late to leave. If you see a kid staying late to work on drills, and he plays the same position as you, and you aren't a DeMarcus Ware with your spot guaranteed pretty much for life, you feel pushed.
Pressure. It's a wonderful on a football team in some ways. Jimmy Johnson was a high pressure guy. None of us from the Jimmy era are ever going to forget, "That's the asthma field over there." Jason Garrett is operating differently, but one thing he is doing that Jimmy did as well. He is finding guys who will accept their part on the team.
That's why if we trade Mike Jenkins it is no big deal. He can stay here and earn his spot. He can. No starting CB spot has been guaranteed. If he really is asking for a trade do you know what it tells us? He isn't confident enough in himself to beat out Carr presumably since they both play RCB.
In other words, he will either fight for his roster spot and starting role, or he won't and he'll be traded. The right kinds of guys are arriving and the wrong kinds of guys will be leaving. I want to clarify, I am not calling Mike Jenkins the wrong kind of guy. I happen to like him very much. But I will like him a lot less if he is already quitting on this team, making a business decision.
Football is a business. I won't deny that. But football is also a passion and if a player doesn't have it then we don't need him. Plain and simple.
Moving on to some evaluations.
Morris Claiborne. The highest rated Defensive player in this draft. Hard not to like it. I know we paid a price and personally, I wouldn't have made that trade. But if he turns out to be the kind of CB he grades out to be he has more value than an OG would have anyway. I am presuming my guy at our spot even though Stephen said Brockers. Call it poetic license with History. Others can fill in their pet cat, I am writing this so mine is in there. He had 6 INTs last year alone and that was with teams throwing away from him.
Tyrone Crawford. I'll admit it, I was so busy watching film of Shea McLellin that I did not study on this guy at all. What I have seen and heard in the small amounts of perusal and study I have done in the interim since we took him in the third has been encouraging to say the least. I will call my shot right now, Kenyon Coleman won't make it to Camp.
Kyle Wilber. Lots of criticism of this pick. I don't agree with those critics, but I get it. He wasn't talked about. We don't know him. Hey, no one knew Jay Ratliff at one time either. What I see in Wilber is a motor. What I hear form him is hunger. You have to love his comment about just wanting to execute QBs. I loved it.
Matt Johnson. Yet another panned pick. I just want to point out one thing. 15 INTs is nothing to sneeze at. He has proven that from his Safety position he can grab a football, and he did it over multiple years of production. He's going to thrill people on Special Teams. I thought we might miss Alan Ball there. I no longer believe we will. Stop obsessing over the level of competition. The building blocks are there. Jerry Rice and Walter Payton, not to mention Tony Romo, all played at small schools and produced at the NFL level. Nothing has changed. Opportunity is his.
Danny Coale. Probably my favorite pick. I wanted Ryan Broyles. This isn't a bad consolation. I watched the footage posted of him. He sells his first move great. I was really impressed with his route running. If it isn't perfect, then it's close enough to tell what cologne perfect is wearing. Hands seem decent as well. I think we found our slot guy.
James Hanna. Gotta admit, I didn't expect him to last as long as he did. Incredible athlete. Someone asked if he is our Aaron Hernandez? Certainly the athleticism would lead you to believe he can be. Definitely should see some time as an F Back with his speed and up the field skills.
Caleb McSurdy. We needed ILB depth so we didn't have to bring back Keith Brooking. I was hoping for Tank Carder. Let me tell you the only real difference between Carder and McSurdy. McSurdy is bigger and played at a smaller school. They play a lot alike. Each is a heat seeking missile looking for the ball carrier. Each doesn't just play the game they relish it. You will see it when he hits the field for his limited opportunities.
I like the UDFA haul so far. I think we got a few real gems. I don't want to comment too much since this is long enough already.
OTAs next weekend. Football news next weekend. Celibacy form football is over. Everybody get laid. Merry Christmas in April.
Morris Claiborne does make it a little easier to move on. I want to stop here and say one thing. Either we suddenly became great at smokescreens or Jason Garrett has the lid nailed down tight at Valley Ranch. Nothing that I heard and shared about this Draft happened. That starts with how quiet this team was about Morris Claiborne. I am impressed. I never saw this player coming to Dallas.
I also know this is coming, no I do not like him more than I did Patrick Peterson last year. All I can tell you is I love the pick.
The rumors have begun to fly about Mike Jenkins. It is his contract year. There is a liquor store guy who talks to him. Supposedly he has demanded a trade. Let's stop and take a deep breath. At this point in time there is no way any of us can project what will happen with Mike Jenkins. Let's enjoy the speculation. I mean that. It is a great football topic. Where can we trade him? What can we get? Let's face it, this kid is a potentially great CB for someone and if he started all 16 games this year and hit the FA market could be next year's Brandon Carr CB.
Quick observation that many have mentioned, and I pointed out in my penultimate mock draft. Jason Garrett is going to go after high character, team captain kind of guys. If you have listened to these secret phone calls and the radio interviews what did you hear? A lot of "Yes sir" kind of polite, eloquent, respectful talk. Every player we drafted this year is someone who is going to be about football first.
Barring injury, a meteoric rise by a UDFA at the same position, or a complete collapse each of our 7 Draft picks are going to make this football team. They will make the team for a combination of reasons. The first and foremost reason is these kids can all play. A couple of them are sure fire developmental projects, but each one of them has an evident skill set and each one of them has produced. But more than just that, these kids are football focused. As mentioned, many were team captains. That rubs off. You can't help but be affected when you see a kid busting his hump to earn his spot.
Jason Garrett says it a lot. They are the "Right Kind of Guys." What that means is real simple. They are coming to work. This is a game, but it is their job. These kids we just drafted are known for their work ethics. That focus pays off.
Using an example from our Historic past I will take the all time leading rusher, Emmitt Smith. Many felt we made a bad pick when we took Emmitt. He was too small. He wasn't fast enough. You know what he was though? The right kind of guy. He came in and worked his rear end off and became a Hall of Famer. Make no mistake about it, Emmitt arrived here with talent galore. But he also arrived here ready, willing, and driven to go to work.
Pay off, Hall of Fame, all time leading rusher, legend. I'm not telling you any of these kids will have his kind of impact. I am absolutely telling you each of them has his kind of attitude.
You take a Kyle Wilber and an Adrian Hamilton and you put them on the football field and do you know who gets better immediately? Alex Albright. I think most of us liked him last year. He came in as a UDFA from Boston College and he worked his butt off. Now, he's going to work it off a little more to keep his roster spot. You know who that makes even better? Victor Butler. Yet another later round guy we all liked. He starts working harder you know who that pushes? Anthony Spencer.
It's a chain reaction on a football team. Each of these guys we took the last 3 days are known for being early on the practice field, late to leave. If you see a kid staying late to work on drills, and he plays the same position as you, and you aren't a DeMarcus Ware with your spot guaranteed pretty much for life, you feel pushed.
Pressure. It's a wonderful on a football team in some ways. Jimmy Johnson was a high pressure guy. None of us from the Jimmy era are ever going to forget, "That's the asthma field over there." Jason Garrett is operating differently, but one thing he is doing that Jimmy did as well. He is finding guys who will accept their part on the team.
That's why if we trade Mike Jenkins it is no big deal. He can stay here and earn his spot. He can. No starting CB spot has been guaranteed. If he really is asking for a trade do you know what it tells us? He isn't confident enough in himself to beat out Carr presumably since they both play RCB.
In other words, he will either fight for his roster spot and starting role, or he won't and he'll be traded. The right kinds of guys are arriving and the wrong kinds of guys will be leaving. I want to clarify, I am not calling Mike Jenkins the wrong kind of guy. I happen to like him very much. But I will like him a lot less if he is already quitting on this team, making a business decision.
Football is a business. I won't deny that. But football is also a passion and if a player doesn't have it then we don't need him. Plain and simple.
Moving on to some evaluations.
Morris Claiborne. The highest rated Defensive player in this draft. Hard not to like it. I know we paid a price and personally, I wouldn't have made that trade. But if he turns out to be the kind of CB he grades out to be he has more value than an OG would have anyway. I am presuming my guy at our spot even though Stephen said Brockers. Call it poetic license with History. Others can fill in their pet cat, I am writing this so mine is in there. He had 6 INTs last year alone and that was with teams throwing away from him.
Tyrone Crawford. I'll admit it, I was so busy watching film of Shea McLellin that I did not study on this guy at all. What I have seen and heard in the small amounts of perusal and study I have done in the interim since we took him in the third has been encouraging to say the least. I will call my shot right now, Kenyon Coleman won't make it to Camp.
Kyle Wilber. Lots of criticism of this pick. I don't agree with those critics, but I get it. He wasn't talked about. We don't know him. Hey, no one knew Jay Ratliff at one time either. What I see in Wilber is a motor. What I hear form him is hunger. You have to love his comment about just wanting to execute QBs. I loved it.
Matt Johnson. Yet another panned pick. I just want to point out one thing. 15 INTs is nothing to sneeze at. He has proven that from his Safety position he can grab a football, and he did it over multiple years of production. He's going to thrill people on Special Teams. I thought we might miss Alan Ball there. I no longer believe we will. Stop obsessing over the level of competition. The building blocks are there. Jerry Rice and Walter Payton, not to mention Tony Romo, all played at small schools and produced at the NFL level. Nothing has changed. Opportunity is his.
Danny Coale. Probably my favorite pick. I wanted Ryan Broyles. This isn't a bad consolation. I watched the footage posted of him. He sells his first move great. I was really impressed with his route running. If it isn't perfect, then it's close enough to tell what cologne perfect is wearing. Hands seem decent as well. I think we found our slot guy.
James Hanna. Gotta admit, I didn't expect him to last as long as he did. Incredible athlete. Someone asked if he is our Aaron Hernandez? Certainly the athleticism would lead you to believe he can be. Definitely should see some time as an F Back with his speed and up the field skills.
Caleb McSurdy. We needed ILB depth so we didn't have to bring back Keith Brooking. I was hoping for Tank Carder. Let me tell you the only real difference between Carder and McSurdy. McSurdy is bigger and played at a smaller school. They play a lot alike. Each is a heat seeking missile looking for the ball carrier. Each doesn't just play the game they relish it. You will see it when he hits the field for his limited opportunities.
I like the UDFA haul so far. I think we got a few real gems. I don't want to comment too much since this is long enough already.
OTAs next weekend. Football news next weekend. Celibacy form football is over. Everybody get laid. Merry Christmas in April.