Cowboys Blog Official

Cowboys Enter Offseason

The Cowboys enter the offseason after finishing 9-7 and out of the playoffs. A few weeks ago I predicted a final record of 9-7 and out of the playoffs, and that's what happened. We made strides on defense, but the offense remained conservative and predictable all year long. There's alot of "coulda beens" but at the end of the day we lost. Was is the kickers' fault, Sean Payton, Mike Zimmer, Parcells, Drew Bledsoe, the Offensive Line?? We can keep going and going, and that in itself is no good. The fact remains that we still have ALOT of holes and the future remains very clouded.

For the benefit of the team, it would be great for Parcells to make a decision in the coming week. If Parcells retires, we're in serious trouble. This is going to be a huge coaching transition year for the NFL, and good coaches will be hard to come by. Let's hope Parcells comes back. He's built a great foundation, and another year should yield even better results.

Let's talk a little about some positions that need attention:

QB:
If Parcells returns, Drew Bledsoe is back for sure. If not, Bledsoe's future will be in question. Philip Rivers and Matt Schaub could be the premium QBs available this year. Either way, I doubt we draft a QB.

Send Henson to NFL Europe, if he fails, then let's hurry up and move on. The potential is there, but actual field time and the results from game play would be a good thing for all parties involved.

C:
Al Johnson had a horrid year, and I'm not sure that he is the answer here. We should look into FA for some possibilities.

RG:
I think Marco Rivera's return is in question, he did not return from his injury, and when he did play, it was mediocre at best. We drafted Stephen Peterman as a 3rd rounder, and its time for him to play.

RT:
Petitti is a servicable backup, but he cannot handle the bull rush OR speed rushers. We need to go into FA for a RT or a instant impact rookie RT that can jump in and play well.

OLB:
Kevin Burnett showed us some flashes, but he also showed us he is injury prone, is Fujita the answer? What about Al Singleton, do we keep him? We are paper thin at OLB, upgrades should be seriously considered here.

MLB:
Does Dat Nguyen return, and if he does, would he be effective. Bradie James looked pretty good for us this year, but still needs work. Fowler and Shanle are not starter quality either. We are thin here too. I'd like to see us invest on an impact FA or possibly on the first day of the draft.

FS:
Keith Davis is NOT the answer here. We went with what we had, and we got ate more than enough from Davis' lack of coverage skills. Let's keep Davis as our ST specialist and let him excel there fulltime. We need to upgrade someone above average, someone good in FA or on day 1 of the draft.

K:
The worst year that we've ever had at the placekicker position, this costs us a few games without a doubt. Let's stop screwing around here and get someone legitimate!

Depth:
Depth of the defensive line is pretty good, we have a pretty solid rotation there. I like what we have in Thomas Johnson and Jay Ratliff. Ratliff was quite impressive when he played. Canty will probably take over fulltime at DE, sounds like Ellis is out, same for Glover.

LB depth is paper thin at MLB and OLB, we need to improve that

Secondary depth is pretty good, we should have Justin Beriault back in the mix, he showed some really great playmaking ability. We could probably add some depth at FS for sure as well.

CB depth is alright, I'm not sold on Reeves though. Henry was a bright spot, but faded quickly after his first injury. Aaron Glenn did a good job for the most part coming in for the injury prone Henry, but we may need to add some more quality depth here.

Sean Payton should be canned, the plays were "Tecmo Bowl" predictable.

Let's hope for an improved team for 2006. Let the offseason begin!