The position in football that is no longer worth it

IRVING, Texas - Looking at Dallas Cowboys rookie running back Joseph Randle my first thought was, "Switch positions."

It is not his fault, or even any kind of indictment on his ability. Looking at any NFL running back these days is like the tired "dead man walking" cliche.

Randle is a fifth round pick out of Oklahoma State, which is just about the right place to draft a running back these days. 

With the way running backs "die" these days, why would any kid willingly want to play the position? 

"I like to run the rock," Randle told me.

Without any prompting he continued, "All of them (defensive backs) that were taken in the draft early. I thought about it. I was like, 'Man, I should have played defense.' I did think about that."

I don't have a son, but if I did and he wanted to play football I would tell him to play any position but running back.

With the pounding running backs take these days, and the way more teams both in college and in the pros rotate at least two of them, the "safer" long term plays seems to be something other than this position. Punter, perhaps.

Randle said he played running back, cornerback and safety in high school.

This draft was not running back heavy - the highest taken was North Carolina's Giovani Bernard. A total of six running backs were selected in the first three rounds. Sixteen cornerbacks were selected in the first three rounds.

ME: Running backs just seem to die out so fast.
Joseph Randle: Not my kind.

ME: What is your kind?
Joseph Randle: "I can do a lot. If you have more than one good back, like we do, that will help us. I'm a running back and that is the position I wanted to play. I wanted to score touchdown. It's more fun defense. I liked to tackle and hit people, but you can do that on defense. This is what I chose and I'm sticking with it."

 

Godspeed.

@MacEngelProf
tengel@star-telegram.com
Facebook Mac Engel

Top 5 all time Jerry Jones draft day quotes

So Jerry Jones wants Tony Romo to spend a Peyton Manning amount of time with the Dallas Cowboys in the offseason to make this team better.

You pay a guy who has one career playoff win $1 trillion and you expect certain things. As much fun and as much potential material as Jerry provided with this quote over the draft this previous weekend, this is a nothing compared to some of his previous winners.

I went back to review some of his great comments after certain classes.

Enjoy ...

5. "We are really pleased with not only the way we were able to trade down, but also with the players that we had pinpointed. We could, in this draft, really make a difference on our football team in 1995."
- Jerry on April 23, 1995 when the Cowboys traded down to select Sherman Williams, Kendell Watkins, Shane Hannah and Charlie Williams on the first day of the draft.

4. "I know what we’ve got coming tomorrow. It didn’t look good trading Herschel Walker and doing some things. But you had some information that you knew you were going to get better. While this wasn’t of that magnitude, we’ve got a chance to get some good players. We have a chance to get real extended value because of the early pick in the third round."
- Jerry on April 25, 2009 when the Cowboys had already traded out of the first round to obtain WR Roy Williams and then traded out of the second round in a draft where they selected 11 players, none of whom is currently on the roster.

3. “He was the best player available, and we were fortunate to get him."
- Jerry on April 18, 1999 after the team drafted defensive end Ebenezer Ekuban in the first round.

2. “Not in my wildest dreams."
- Jerry on April 17, 1999, after the Cowboys drafted defensive backs Dwayne Goodrich, Kareem Larrimore and Mario Edwards.

1. “We didn’t want to live with missing him if we bet wrong in the third round . (He’s) a player we may not see the likes again for a couple of years – if even then."
- Cowboys owner Jerry Jones on April 21, 2001 regarding the drafting of quarterback Quincy Carter.

To be fair, you could do this to just about any NFL GM, or coach, on draft day. Everyone misses with the draft. If you hit 50 %, you're a genius.

Jerry has presided over a lot of quality draft picks in his career (DeMarcus Ware, Jay Ratliff, Jason Witten, Troy Aikman, Larry Allen and countless others), but these one liners are just too much fun.

 

Twitter @MacEngelProf

tengel@star-telegram.com

Facebook Mac Engel

The Dallas Cowboys best draft picks of all time - No. 3

As a celebration of NFL draft week, The Big Mac Blog will look back at the best and worst of the Dallas Cowboys' draft history. We continue with the good. The criteria is simple - the lower the expection, i.e. the selection, and the greater the return, the better pick.

3. Jay Ratliff, DL, Auburn, 2005, 224th selection
This was a case of selecting a pretty good athlete from an SEC school and maybe hoping he might develop into a guy who could contribute. It took a while, and a position move from defensive end to nose tackle, but Ratliff developed into one of the nastiest nose tackles in the NFL.

He saw limited action as a rookie before he began to show signs as a potentially dominant player in 2006 when he had four sacks and three fumble recoveries as a backup.

An injury to starter Jason Ferguson forced the Cowboys to switch Ratliff to nose tackle where he excelled. He has been to four Pro Bowls and has been named an All-Pro once.

Ratliff has "the motor", not to mention one of the meaner streaks in the league. He's not dirty, but he's not pleasant.

He started all 16 games from 2008 to '11. Injuries limited him to just six games last season.

Picked immediately after: Marcus Maxwell, WR, Oregon
Picked immediately ahead of: Paris Warren, WR, Utah

Twitter @MacEngelProf

tengel@star-telegram.com

Facebook Mac Engel 

Why Jason Garrett's influence is a positive for Jerry Jones

IRVING, Texas - As much as you may hate head coach Jason Garrett right now, the Cowboys are better off with him in the draft room than not.

If you look at the Cowboys' drafts run when the coach had a stronger personality (Jimmy Johnson, Bill Parcells, Garrett), those classes produced better results than when the head coach was simply agreeable (Barry, Chan Gailey, Dave Campo, Wade Phillips).

For whatever the reason, Jerry agreed more with the likes of Jimmy, Bill and Garrett. Jerry was led by those voices. The other guys - Barry, Chan, Campo and Wade - were more led by Jerry.

Some of the Cowboys' problems have to be traced to a pair of drafts under the combination of scouting director Tom Ciskowski and Wade. The classes of 2008 and '09 are a massive reason why this team finds itself swimming in mediocrity.

The only player left on the Dallas Cowboys from either the '08 or '09 drafts is nickel defensive back Orlando Scandrick. That is one player out of 18 draftees who is still with the team. Those two classes should comprise the guts of this team. 

In '08, the team drafted Felix Jones in the first round. Save for the truly special, running backs should never go in the first round. Defensive back Mike Jenkins was pretty good for the time he was year but between his injuries and the development of Morris Claiborne he became expendable. And I always hated the pick of Martellus Bennett because he was too much of screw off.

The '09 draft was a disaster.

To Ciskowski's credit, the team has hit on a decent number of picks in '10, '11 and '12 - Dez can play. Sean Lee is a player, when healthy. Sean Lissemore has something for a 7th rounder. Tyron Smith, Bruce Carter, DeMarco Murray and Dwayne Harris are all legit. Claiborne looks as if he will be worth the trade up to acquire him. Tyrone Crawford should be a decent pro. 

The lack of players left from '08 and '09 says either the draft board, or the picks, were a mess. The quality coming from the classes of '11 and '12 says the board was a bit cleaner, and the final pick was influenced by the head coach.

Twitter @MacEngelProf

tengel@star-telegram.com

Facebook Mac Engel

The Dallas Cowboys worst draft picks of all time - No. 4

As a celebration of NFL draft week, The Big Mac Blog will look back at the best and worst of the Dallas Cowboys' draft history. We will start with The Bad:

4. Bobby Carpenter, Ohio State, LB, 2006, 18^th pick
The last first round pick by Cowboys head coach Bill Parcells, the head coach knew on the first weekend of rookie minicamp this pick was a miss. Carpenter played outside linebacker in a 4-3 at Ohio State, and the transition to pro 3-4 outside linebacker never happened.

He is a very nice and professional guy, but the league appeared to be just over his head.

There was a flicker that he was going to come around at the end of his rookie year when he made some plays in a win at Atlanta, and in the playoff loss at Seattle.

The Parcells retired, and new head coach Wade Phillips was never too big on Carpenter. In four seasons with the Cowboys, Carpenter started three games and had two sacks.

He spent a little bit of time with the Miami Dolphins, and a little bit longer with the Detroit Lions.

The biggest contribution Carpenter made in a game was for the Detroit Lions against the Cowboys in Arlington. On Oct. 2, 2011, Carpenter intercepted a Tony Romo pass and returned it for a touchdown that began one of the biggest collapses in NFL history. The Cowboys led 27-3 in the third quarter when Carpenter's pick six started a comeback; the Lions won, 34-30.

Carpenter spent last season with the New England Patriots where he played two games.

Picked immediately after: Chad Greenway, LB, Iowa
Picked immediately ahead of: Antonio Cromatrie, DB, Florida State 

Twitter @MacEngelProf

tengel@star-telegram.com

Facebook Mac Engel

Doug Free has to be gone for the Cowboys to move forward, or right

IRVING, Texas - Jerry Jones 'n' friends addressed the media today as part of a mandated pre-NFL draft press conference that was much shorter than these meetings in the past.

Most of the questions anchored around the draft, but one did touch on a specific player - right tackle Doug Free.

"We haven't said where we are and he hasn't said where he is as we go into this draft," Jerry Jones said Monday. "That's by design. We want to see how what we do in the draft. We talked about it as late as this morning. If we draft a tackle how does that impact a player like Doug. And I'm sure he's looking it at there as well."

Fans of the Dallas Cowboys know that Free's best days are gone; those good days were short lived. He embodies the guy paid on potential, based on a limited number of productive NFL games.

Of the many large contracts this team has handed out in recent years (Roy Williams I, Roy Williams II, etc.) there may not be any more glaring example of spending gone stupid than Doug Free. He signed a four-year, $32 million deal two years ago. The Cowboys signed him to be a left tackle, then moved him to the right one season after Tyron Smith's rookie year.

Even on the right Free couldn't play.

What is left is a guy who cashed a huge check and has since then been an over-powered starting NFL tackle. He is best suited as a backup, swing tackle. If he is starting for your team, your team isn't very good. And this idea that he can play guard is unrealistic; guard is a power position and Free's biggest problem is that he routinely pushed backwards. 

The sad part is that Free is not dogging it. This is not a lack of effort. He is a pro. He is simply not a high caliber pro.

The Cowboys have asked Free to take a pay cut, and right now both sides are being quiet. Free is due $7 million this season, while his cap hit is an incredible $10 million. That's a big hit to make a guy go away.

No way is he going to take a pay cut. The two sides may part ways before the draft starts Thursday.

By Saturday evening both the Cowboys and Free will know if they think have his replacement on the roster. The Cowboys have to find someone better than Doug Free.

 

Twitter @MacEngelProf

tengel@star-telegram.com

Facebook Mac Engel

Video: Galloway & Big Mac debate whether to sign or wait on Tony Romo

 

 

 

 

Twitter @MacEngelProf
tengel@star-telegram.com
Facebook Mac Engel

1-year deal the best way to go with Anthony Spencer

Since he was a kid playing sports in Fort Wayne, Indiana his coaches had to beg Anthony Spencer to care just a little bit more. His indifference and apathy got him in trouble with his high school coach. He was the classic case of a young man who took his considerable ability for granted.

When he was in high school at Bishop Luers, it wasn't until his high school coach pointed out the college recruiters who were watching him practice and play in games was Spencer suddenly interested in dominating games. He signed with Purdue.

When Spencer was at Purdue, it wasn't until his college coaches told him he could potentially be a high selection in the NFL draft did his interest level change. He was a first round draft pick by the Dallas Cowboys.

Keeping with a similar football trajectory, when Spencer saw that he could cash in huge as a free agent did his interest level match his talent, and the production took off.

For the second time in as many offseasons the Dallas Cowboys put the franchise tag on Spencer. It's expensive - Spencer will make a guaranteed $10.6 mil' in '13, but the best move to make regarding this player. He can't be trusted with a long term deal. The short term is the only way.

The Cowboys ensure they will have the services of a talented outside linebacker who will have the carrot of playing for a large contract after this season. He will be asked to return to defensive end, the position he played at Purdue, in defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin's 4-3 scheme.

According to Star-Telegram Cowboys' man Clarence E. Hill Jr., the team and Spencer's agent are talking about a long-term deal.

What's the rush? They have Spencer locked in for one season, and the allure of a long-term deal. It's best to keep it that way.

Twitter @MacEngelProf
tengel@star-telegram.com
Facebook Mac Engel

Video: Gallloway & Big Mac believe Jerry Jones from the Combine, at this time

 

 

 

Twitter @MacEngelProf
tengel@star-telegram.com
Facebook Mac Engel

The Cowboys have been dumbing down their defense since '08

Since certainly it can't be the player's fault, and God knows it ain't the GM, we have figured out that the problem for the 2012 Dallas Cowboys' defense is actually the scheme.

According to Dallas Cowboys head coach Jerry Jones, part of the problem the Cowboys had on defense in 2012 is not a 3-4 but the type of 3-4 Rob Ryan operates. There was too much of it.

"Where we fundamentally came down with Rob is that his philosophy is about multiple scheme," Jones told Mr. Clarence E. Hill jr. of the Star-Telegram. "I think you have to skinny it down. Philosophically, I don’t think Rob believes in that. And it’s not something that happened and all of a sudden at the end of the year we had a problem. I think Rob will tell you we had long visits about this in the off-season last year that there was too much scheme. He tried to cut it back and he did skinny it back, but it’s still a lot.

"This is no revelation we had after we went 8-8. This was after the year before’s 8-8. We just didn’t feel like at the end of the day Rob could skinny it back enough to our satisfaction that we could make plays."

The problem was turnovers. The Cowboys' defense didn't generate enough of them. The rub is they are too busy in their own heads rather than just playing fast. According to this story by Mr. Hill, "Since the beginning of the 2007 season, Dallas ranks only 24th in turnovers. It has averaged 23.8 per season in that span, including a franchise-low 16 in 2012 under Ryan."

If this sounds familiar it's because it is.

You may not recall but during the 2008 season, the second year under then head coach Uncle Wade Phillips and his 3-4 scheme, the team fell apart late by losing three of their last four. In December of '08, Wade said he was going to simplify the defense so his players could just react and play fast.

But in 2009, when the team finished 11-5 and won a playoff game, it wasn't a problem.

Now we are in 2013, and the team apparently was unable to simplify this scheme enough so they just scrapped the whole thing and embraced the 4-3 under new defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin.

(It should be noted that the St. Louis Rams and head coach Jeff Fisher were set to hire Ryan, but backed off after a second interview. One of the reasons was Fisher didn't like Ryan's schemes too much, either. There wasn't a fit. Now Ryan is the new DC in New Orleans).

Fast, simple, sophisticated ... has anyone given any thought that it just may be the players aren't good enough?

Twitter @MacEngelProf
tengel@star-telegram.com
Facebook Mac Engel