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On The Subject Of Competition
Posted by jellis at 4/6/2011 11:58 AM CDT on truebluefanclub.com
Let's see if we can expand a little bit on something brought up in yesterday's dismissal of Martellus Bennett's assertion that all jobs on the Cowboys roster should be up for grabs, including that of Tony Romo.
Presumably, Bennett is referring to a competition in training camp, which is fine for certain spots, like No. 2 tight end, or for more snaps in the defensive line rotation, or if there is a toss up between two young players, like the Cowboys had at cornerback in 2009, between Mike Jenkins and Orlando Scandrick.
But more often than not, starting jobs aren't lost in a training camp and preseason, a month of work that's really devoted to getting the entire team ready for the start of the season. I've noticed a lot of folks agreeing with Bennett's assertion that there needs to be competition for all positions.
But what does that mean, really? I mean, come on. If Michael Jordan had a cold streak before the season, were the Bulls going to hand his minutes to Ron Harper? If Emmitt Smith fumbled a couple times in some meaningless preseason game, was Chris Warren going to get his carries?
Past performance must be considered. In this specific case, Romo's career quarterback rating of 95.5 is the fourth-best in league history, third among active players. Kitna's is 77.5.
Now, Kitna was pretty good last year, with a rating of 88.9 in his 10 games, but Romo's rating was higher (94.9) in the six games he played in, even with guys like Bennett dropping his passes into the hands of defenders.
The point is, the "competition" has already been settled for a lot of these spots, and there's no reason to have a player who has already proven himself superior split snaps with his backup, or be involved in an illusion that he could really lose his job.
The most important function of camp and the preseason is to prepare the team, and nothing can distract a locker room as quickly as some artificial quarterback controversy.
Posted by jellis at 4/6/2011 11:58 AM CDT on truebluefanclub.com
Let's see if we can expand a little bit on something brought up in yesterday's dismissal of Martellus Bennett's assertion that all jobs on the Cowboys roster should be up for grabs, including that of Tony Romo.
Presumably, Bennett is referring to a competition in training camp, which is fine for certain spots, like No. 2 tight end, or for more snaps in the defensive line rotation, or if there is a toss up between two young players, like the Cowboys had at cornerback in 2009, between Mike Jenkins and Orlando Scandrick.
But more often than not, starting jobs aren't lost in a training camp and preseason, a month of work that's really devoted to getting the entire team ready for the start of the season. I've noticed a lot of folks agreeing with Bennett's assertion that there needs to be competition for all positions.
But what does that mean, really? I mean, come on. If Michael Jordan had a cold streak before the season, were the Bulls going to hand his minutes to Ron Harper? If Emmitt Smith fumbled a couple times in some meaningless preseason game, was Chris Warren going to get his carries?
Past performance must be considered. In this specific case, Romo's career quarterback rating of 95.5 is the fourth-best in league history, third among active players. Kitna's is 77.5.
Now, Kitna was pretty good last year, with a rating of 88.9 in his 10 games, but Romo's rating was higher (94.9) in the six games he played in, even with guys like Bennett dropping his passes into the hands of defenders.
The point is, the "competition" has already been settled for a lot of these spots, and there's no reason to have a player who has already proven himself superior split snaps with his backup, or be involved in an illusion that he could really lose his job.
The most important function of camp and the preseason is to prepare the team, and nothing can distract a locker room as quickly as some artificial quarterback controversy.