Roy Williams Sent Packing

The Dallas Cowboys finally came to their senses and released Roy Williams! Now many of you are still on the Roy Willy band wagon, and for those of you that are I truly feel sorry for you. There has always been a common rule among draft experts, in where they all believe that you should never draft a safety in the top ten . I completely believe in this drafting rule. The proof is in the pudding. Can anyone name five safeties drafted in the top ten that has been successful in the NFL? When I say successful I am speaking about a few things in particular. First, the player must show signs of improvement through out his tenure in the league. Second, can the player perform no matter who is around him? and third, Does the player command that the opposing offense be aware of where he is?

Now I realize that some of you will blast me for having a bad attitude towards Roy and I am OK with that. All I am asking for is for you to truly sit back and look at his body of work, and be honest in your opinion. Roy was the typical Oklahoma player. Oklahoma since the arrival of Bob Stoops has been well known for getting the very best out of their players. This is great for the Sooners, and their fans. Unfortunately this is not good for the NFL teams drafting them. The knock is that what you see from OU players in college is exactly what you will see from them in the NFL. They normally will not get any better, as Stoops is able to get the maximum from them in college. This story is very true when it comes to Roy Williams. Roy is and has been the same player now that he was in college! No change!

Everyone wants to scream from the mountain top about the fact that he is a five time Pro Bowler! The Pro Bowl selections can never be taken away from him, but how many of them do you actually believe were deserved? The first two that he got were in my eyes the only ones that were legitimate. At that time Roy had the luxury of playing beside one Darren Woodson. Darren was a very capable cover safety, which allowed Roy to play up near the line and crack heads, knowing he did not have to cover anyone. Roy has never been a good coverage guy, Never! Since Woodsons departure Roy has been more liability than Pro Bowler. The problems had become worse and worse by the year. What he has always been known for was his ability to crack skulls. When Roy hit someone they were down! This element of his game however has not been there in a looooooooong time. He no longer was able to lay the proverbial “knockout Blow”. So he began to tackle people by the “Horse Collar” (on a side note this is one of the dumber rules the NFL has ever come up with) and hang on to them like a steer wrestler. So as the deterioration has taken place teams not only do not worry with where he is they simply pray that he plays!

What has Roy’s impact been on the team? In my opinion not much! If you go back and look at what he has done, and I am talking about looking at past game film. You will see that during most games he is doing one of two things. Either over committing to the play action, or pointing fingers at teammates as to say “That was your man”. There are a thousand different people that the Cowboys could put back there and do the same thing, without paying them 7 or 8 million dollars. Hell for my current crappy salary I will go back there!

I am not asking for any of you to agree with me. As a matter of fact I expect to be harassed by most, and that’s ok. Just don’t fool yourself into believing that the Cowboys are doomed without him. As a matter of fact I propose that this team is in a much better place without him! I am more comfortable with Pat Watkins back there! At least Pat will admit that he failed to do his job!