2013 Minicamps/OTA's Thread

[Midswat]

@toddarcher QB Kyle Orton struggled in 1 v 1throws. Wind gave him trouble. Dez Bryant owned Brandon Carr in every rep

@MoClaiborne gained 6 lbs of muscle. But DB quickness/footwork unmatched on #cowboys roster

@fishsports In this drill v DBs, @DezBryant & @Bease11 are virtually uncoverable #cowboys

 

[Theebs]

FWIW they seem to like wilber at end so far.

glad to hear harris was the only one taking punts. Thats how it should be, there should be no question on this, he is a stud on returns.

 

[Iamtdg]

It sounds like Dez is tearing it up. :towel

 

[Midswat]

A couple tweets about how well James Hanna is doing.

Not to bang on the Pablo pick, but Hanna is going to be a very good player in this league, which will make the Pablo selection pretty questionable in a few years.

 

[Theebs]

A couple tweets about how well James Hanna is doing.

Not to bang on the Pablo pick, but Hanna is going to be a very good player in this league, which will make the Pablo selection pretty questionable in a few years.

I will take that bet, or meet you at best buy to fight about it...

in two years escobar will get stronger and develop into an excellent player...I think hanna will be the dallas clark type to run good routes and make catches.

hanna certainly looked good doing it in december of last year.

 

[Midswat]

I'm not saying Pablo won't be a good player.

I'm just saying Hannah will prove to also be a good player, and we already have Witten... and you don't really need that many stud receiving TE's, especially when you have so many other glaring holes.

 

[Iamtdg]

I'm not saying Pablo won't be a good player.

I'm just saying Hannah will prove to also be a good player, and we already have Witten... and you don't really need that many stud receiving TE's, especially when you have so many other glaring holes.

Absolutely right. It would be one thing if Escobar was also a stud blocker, but he is far from it.

 

[Midswat]

Not to be all hostile or anything but there was a play against Pittsburgh last year where Hannah lined up in the slot and a LB went out to cover him and I was at my friends house and we were watching on his big ass 79" TV and I yelled at the TV pre-snap OH HIT HANNAH IN THE SLOT THAT LINEBACKER CAN'T COVER HIM! And so the ball was snapped and Romo hit Hannah for an easy completion for like 20 yards or so. Then some houseplants fell on my head.

 

[Theebs]

I'm not saying Pablo won't be a good player.

I'm just saying Hannah will prove to also be a good player, and we already have Witten... and you don't really need that many stud receiving TE's, especially when you have so many other glaring holes.

its about more than catching the ball though and that is why we need a number of good ones, its part of why we struggled on offense last year.....I imagine if cochart can stick this offseason we will end up with four smart, hard working good tight ends for the first time in a while.

We have been trying to do this since parcells showed up in 03. It started right off the bat with campbell, robinson, whalen and then witten.......Its been in flux ever since. I really think we might have the best mix we have ever had at the spot this year.

also, jason witten couldnt block his first year either. he had only been playing tight end for two years in college and was recruited as a defensive end......He got stronger and learned to do it just like escobar will...

 

[Theebs]

Brad Sham‏@Boys_Vox18s
@Boys_Vox let's try again: under " file & watch:" TE Cochart, LB Magee

I think they wanted cochart to stick last year when they signed him but it was just too late and he never really had a chance...seems he could be the 4th tight end we need.

 

[Midswat]

I need to play around with roster predictions, but do you really keep 4 TE's and 4 RBs?

Plus... think of the young talent we have at WR..... Dez, Harris, Beasley, Williams, Austin, and I feel like I'm forgetting a name or two.

We're going to release some talented skill position players most likely.

 

[Theebs]

I need to play around with roster predictions, but do you really keep 4 TE's and 4 RBs?

Plus... think of the young talent we have at WR..... Dez, Harris, Beasley, Williams, Austin, and I feel like I'm forgetting a name or two.

We're going to release some talented skill position players most likely.

that is what is tough, where do u go heavy? 4 tight ends, 4 running backs, 3 rbs +FB, or 6 wr?

going to be a tough cut. Personally I say forget the fullback for starters......at the same time parnell can check in as the third tight end in the big sets....

coale or beasley? dez, austin, harris, williams, coale, beasley

again though what will dunbar do that randle can not?

5 wr, 4 tight end 3 backs no fb?

 

[Theebs]

Bryan Broaddus‏@BryanBroaddus38s
Looks like the coaches are going to give Williams a real shot at this 3rd WR spot. Have him working outside with Austin in slot.

this is where we were limited last year, we needed somebody to do something on the outside when austin was inside, throw in witten not 100% and the offense was in neutral for a month or so.

that is where ogletree failed. In 08 this is where crayton was struggling outside and they went and gave up the 1 to detroit for williams hoping to get crayton back in the slot and williams on the outside.....hopefully this works better.

 

[LAZARUS_LOGAN]

The fourth has damn sure been a wasted round for Dallas. If Wilbur turns out to as a Victor Butler type of player, it would be great. I don't see it, but I wish he would pan out. The other fourth round pick has good bust potential even though he has unreal support from the team and fans. I have never seen such high hopes for a guy that
hasn't seen the field. The zoners act like Johnson is the next cliff Harris. Only the
very serious draftniks had any ideal who the guy was, but they love him just because the Cowboys drafted him. If either one pans out, it would surprise me.

I liked the Matt Johnson pick from the get-go, before all others. I was hoping that we would get him maybe in the 6th, because he was from a small school.

The guy's a football player. He plays hard and has great athleticism. He's the kind of guy this team can use. 26 INTs... say what you want about the level of comp, which really doesn't matter when the ball is in the air, and him knowing how to get to the ball.

I don't think people on this board are hyping Johnson up like over at the Zone, but you really can't help but like to hear that a player like Claiborne saying things of this manner about Johnson. Fact is, Johnson will be one of the players to watch this upcoming camp, and I like many are looking forward to it.

One thing going for Johnson is that at least he played the position for his entire college career, and is not a CB that they are trying to convert to safety, or a guy that only played for one year.

 

[ThoughtExperiment]

Agree with mid... Why the heck do you need four TEs? You *might* use three from time to time. Practically speaking those 3 and 4 guys need to be good special teamers because that's 90% of the playing time they'll get.

 

[Theebs]

Agree with mid... Why the heck do you need four TEs? You *might* use three from time to time. Practically speaking those 3 and 4 guys need to be good special teamers because that's 90% of the playing time they'll get.

Because they are an important part of what we do on offense and guys get hurt. Last year had we had four good tight ends the offense would have been better, instead we had 3 guys, one had a spleen injury, one was a rookie and one has had two knee surgeries and was not as effective.....nor was our offense.

so if you can have four good ones with three of them essentially being interchangeable on the line and off the line then you are making your team better.

I dont understand this mindset that says, Why do we need four and then uses the statement that four cant play at once at all to emphasize the point.

its about more than catching the football and its about having good ones.....like new orleans and new england do, they have a number of tight ends on their rosters and usually dont mess with a fullback much.

I dont remember anyone ever bringing up the fact that new orleans had 4 tight ends active against us last december...(david thomas is listed at fb but he is a tight end)

 

[Midswat]

‏@toddarcher 45m Jason Witten ends 2-minute drill with TD down Seam after beating Matt Johnson

 

[ThoughtExperiment]

so if you can have four good ones with three of them essentially being interchangeable on the line and off the line then you are making your team better.

I dont understand this mindset that says, Why do we need four and then uses the statement that four cant play at once at all to emphasize the point.

Okay, maybe I didn't word that well. You obviously need four for depth purposes. But your fourth TE is about like your 5th WR... Not a key player in all likelihood. The fact is, there's only one ball to go around, and there's still a pecking order in who gets it. And Witten and Dez are always going to be 1 and 2 with Miles and Murray probably 3 and 4. I mean, I really don't think the problem with our offense was that John Phillips was average.

I'm a lot more worried about our immediate backups at more important positions like OT, like DE, like 3-technique DT, like MLB.

 

[superpunk]

are we planning on doing this we didn't need Escobar dance until preseason or can we table it for a while/

 

[cmd34(work)]

‏@toddarcher 45m Jason Witten ends 2-minute drill with TD down Seam after beating Matt Johnson

Witten's a burner so that's no big deal really....