Tag: Safety

The Dallas Cowboys announced their 53 man roster a few days ago and to be completely honest they made some head scratching moves, at least to the people outside the organization. I thought I would take this opportunity to share with all of you some of the questions I have...

The Dallas Cowboys defense was hit hard due to the suspensions of Rolando McClain, Randy Gregory, and probably most importantly DeMarcus Lawrence. All three of these players were more than likely starters and now the Cowboys coaching staff is left trying to find out who will replace them. It's understandable...

The time period between when mini-camp practices end and training camp begins is arguably the slowest and most worrisome for NFL teams, players, and the fans alike. Just about anything that is newsworthy around the NFL is of the negative nature. This is something the Dallas Cowboys know all too...

Lately it seems that most in Cowboys Nation have already moved on from J.J. Wilcox. I'm starting to wonder if we're not being a bit premature. A fourth-year pro and Dallas' 2013 third-round pick, J.J. Wilcox is assumed to be the odd man out now that Byron Jones has moved...

Yesterday, fellow writer Sean Martin wrote a good piece on reasons for optimism for the entire Cowboys secondary. I'm not quite as excited about the cornerback situation as he is, and because of that I wanted to go a little deeper on second-year man Byron Jones. Despite his youth and inexperience, I think he is still paramount to the Cowboys' defensive success in 2016. All indication is that Jones, who shifted between cornerback and safety as a rookie, will be locked in as the free safety this year. His athleticism and skill set make him prototypical for the rangy, ballhawking "center fielder" that the Cowboys haven't had since...

By now you know the news, Dallas Cowboys linebacker Rolando McClain has been suspended 10 games for violating the NFL's substance abuse policy. Now a linebacker group which has the talented names of Rolando McClain, Sean Lee, and Jaylon Smith will be lucky if they even get to see one of these players in action for the majority of next season. It's starting to look rough for the linebackers, and the defensive line will certainly be no better. The back end of the Cowboys defense, while not exactly elite, is possibly the strongest unit on this side of the ball right now. Byron Jones is coming off of an excellent rookie year and is expected to make a big jump in year 2, Orlando Scandrick is returning from his season ending knee injury, and the other corners have shown they can be solid contributors to the defense.

The NFC East position group outlook is coming to a close. Each and every position group in the NFC East has been discussed so far, besides one, the safeties. Sure, safeties and cornerbacks are normally combined into one "grouping" called the secondary, but I decided to split them up and discuss them separately. Without any more delay, let's take a look at the free and strong safeties this division has to offer. Dallas Cowboys Cowboys safety play over the past few seasons has been inconsistent, to say the least.

The Cowboys took four players in the sixth round of last April's NFL Draft. Two of them were cornerback Anthony Brown and safety Kavon Frazier. Given that both guys play in the secondary, I thought we'd take a quick look at what role they could serve this year and how they may affect each other. On Friday Dallas released defensive backs Terrance Mitchell and Brandon McGee.  While the Cowboys may be adding other cornerbacks and safeties to fill those spots, the moves could signify that they like what they've seen from their rookie players in the secondary.

The world of the Dallas Cowboys is always spinning, even in June, and on Friday the spin spun out two members of the roster. As it is indeed June the roster moves (like the ones Staff Writer Sean Martin wrote about here) aren't ever that surprising to Cowboys Nation. For what it's worth the waiving of Brandon McGee, no offense to him, falls in that category. The release of Terrance Mitchell has a lot of people scratching their heads, though. Mitchell played fairly well in the final games of the 2015 season, and it was just recently that he was actually being worked out at the Safety position.

I can't think of any position group on any team that has received as much criticism and blame as the Dallas Cowboys secondary has over the past decade or so. Trust me, they've been easy to blame. The downfall of Terence Newman in 2011, the failed Alan Ball experiment in 2010, and even the (so far) disappointing career of Morris Claiborne are all examples which detractors will point to in order to prove the Cowboys secondary as inadequate. The thing is, the last couple of seasons, the Cowboys secondary hasn't been bad whatsoever. Last year, they ranked fifth in pass yards against in both per game and overall categories.

Around the NFL, players are preparing for the upcoming 2016 season, but not all of them are at the same stage in their careers as others. Rookies will be entering their first year in the league not quite knowing what to expect, while seasoned veterans more than likely  already have a routine they have followed for a while now. It's the players entering their second year in the league that seem to struggle and go through some kind of regression, often referred to as their sophomore slump. Have you ever wondered why that is? My theory is that as rookies, the players are kept so busy after their final college game finding an agent, training, interviews, and different workouts with teams, that  they don't have time to become complacent.

Given the option of Ezekiel Elliott or Jalen Ramsey, the Cowboys opted for Elliott. I'm thrilled Elliott will be playing for Dallas and I'm rubbing my hands together in anticipation for Week 1.  While the idea of Ramsey paired with Byron Jones and Orlando Scandrick seemed exciting, that fantasy is not reality. So in reality is the secondary fine the way it is, or could it have used more attention in the draft? Many would agree that, at this point, the Dallas Cowboys’ achilles heel is the defensive line.

Surprise! It's Bonus Time! The #RJOShow dropped an episode reviewing Rounds 1-3 of the 2016 NFL Draft last Saturday, but since we love you so much we whipped up something special as an unexpected cherry on top. Kavon Frazier, Safety out of Central Michigan, was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in the 6th Round (212th Overall) on Saturday, April 30th. Not even 24 hours into his new football life...

Today, we will conclude this 10 part series by taking a gander at what I look for when the scouting the safety position. If you've been paying attention you may have noticed that I excluded the outside linebacker position. I did this because the Dallas Cowboys use a 4-3 defensive...

It has been said throughout numerous NFL off seasons that the teams that re-sign their own free agents are the ones that win. By that logic, the Dallas Cowboys should be doing plenty of winning in 2016. Today, they added to their list of free agent signings by bringing back...

Well, all the big name defensive line talent seems to be gone. While I'm not happy about that, I think the Cowboys deserve the credit from us to believe they have a plan here. Obviously defensive line is the major priority right now, but talent at other positions in free...

Though not the biggest news we'll hear this offseason, Dallas extending tenders to restricted free agents Jeff Heath and Ron Leary merits a little discussion. Here's what these moves could mean for the Cowboys' remaining strategy for the safety and the offensive line positions. Safety Assuming both guys sign their one-year offers,...

In the last couple of weeks we have looked at various strategies and players for each position. We looked at both free agents and draft prospects that could fill the Cowboys needs. This week, we're looking at defensive backs. The first part went out yesterday and covered the cornerback position,...

We're getting close to the time that teams start releasing players for performance and/or salary cap reasons. The business usually doesn't pick up until mid-late February but there is precedent for transactions happening almost immediately after the Super Bowl. I thought it was a good time to look over...

Is there such a thing as a can't miss prospect? Is there really less risk drafting positions outside of quarterback? When you are picking fourth overall, you should be getting yourself a great player. This type of opportunity hopefully will not come again for a long time. You can use...