As fans, we love to read, watch, tweet, analyze, and do anything we can to get our hands on any possible information about the Dallas Cowboys.
We stream the Cowboys' war room on draft night, we travel to or watch training camp online, and we salivate over the insight which those close to the organization provide us about events as trivial as OTA's.
OTA's are interesting to me.
There are no pads, there is limited contact, and the main goal of the practice time is to keep everyone upright and healthy for when actual football is ready to be played.
With all that being said, I refuse to believe any time the team is together and lining up as an offense or defense is meaningless.
Every day, every practice, every meeting, it all means something.
How much? Well, we will have to wait and see to get a real answer for that. But in the meantime, we can understand and evaluate what the Cowboys are doing as a team, and what each individual is showing the staff en route to position battles and training camp.
This elongated introduction brings me to my main point: Jameill Showers has a real chance as a Cowboy.
The questions surrounding the Cowboys quarterback position have been well documented. Outside of Tony Romo, we don't really know what we have in place. And to be quite honest, we don't know how much football our beloved Romo will be healthy enough to play in 2016 and beyond. Hopefully its every game, but we don't know that.
Considering both the end of the 2015 season and how the current roster is constructed, Kellen Moore would seem to be a shoo-in for the “QB2” job.
Moore saw limited time last year, relieving the horrendous Matt Cassel against the New York Jets, and starting the final two games of the season.
In his first start against Buffalo, Moore showed flashes of being able to move the ball effectively during the first quarter. But, after that first possession or so, the offense sputtered and resembled the awful offense we had seen for the previous Romo-less games.
He moved the ball well against the Washington Redskins, but there are of course questions about how serious that Redskins team was taking their useless week 17 matchup.
Regardless, owner and general manager Jerry Jones enlisted a certain level of trust in Moore when he announced that he would be the backup quarterback going into the offseason.
Jason Garrett has come out and said that while Moore is currently QB2, there is still a competition for the job between him, rookie Dak Prescott, and Jameill Showers. This may just be coach-speak, but after the last week of OTA's, I do believe there is some truth to this competition.
DallasCowboys.com insider Bryan Broaddus furthered the idea of this competition when he released his notes on the first couple days of OTA's. He sung the praises of Showers, going as far as to say he has been the second-best quarterback on the field.
Hearing some whispers from those in the know that through two days of OTAs – Jameill Showers has been the second-best quarterback on the field. In watching him during practice, I thought his accuracy and poise were outstanding in the opportunities he received.
Dallas Cowboys writer Jon Machota then went on to question the certainty of Moore's position on the team, stating that if offensive coordinator Scott Linehan wasn't on the staff, Moore wouldn't be on the roster.
This is all shaping up to seem like Showers has a real shot to not only make this team, but possibly fulfill the QB2 role in 2016.
Showers built up some trust and support within the organization last season, as he played anywhere and everywhere the coaches asked him to, even filling a Special Teams role when needed.
The Cowboys announced that Showers would be focusing on being a quarterback this offseason, and would be abandoning his “do it all” type of role. This came as a surprise to most, but Showers may be ready to prove that he can play some quarterback in this league.
https://twitter.com/dtsturner/status/735961215692902401
The problem for Showers is simply the numbers game of the depth chart.
Dak Prescott is going to have a spot on the team considering where he was drafted this year, and Kellen Moore has been in the system and has some real game experience. And, of course, Tony Romo is going to be on the roster come September.
The odds of the Cowboys carrying four quarterbacks are slim-to-none, which may make Showers the odd man out. But if he can continue to impress the way he has during OTA's come training camp and preseason games, he will have a real shot at making this roster.
I try to remain objective in all of my analysis, but I am definitely rooting for Jameill Showers to make a real push for the QB2 job this season.
