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.

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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

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The one thing Jerry Jones has made good on

Jerry Jones may not be able to deliver a Super Bowl in the next 50 lifetimes, but the man can deliver others things as promised.

The crooks that run college football have not only decided on a College Football Playoff but that the first title game in the "playoff era" will be at Cowboys Stadium. The game will be Jan. 12 2015.

The Cotton Bowl will also be a part of the rotation for the semifinal games as well with the other rich-kid bowls such as the Rose, Fiesta, Sugar, Orange, and Chick-fil-A.

(BTW - Hats off to the people that devised this playoff to name it just that - College Football Playoff. This name is not some post-modernistic art of simplicity. By not including tag 'NCAA' or anything else it can easily sell the naming rights to a corporate sponsor without having to share a dime with the organization based in Indianapolis.)

Now let's just hope that Fort Worth/dallas is not buried in snow and ice the way this region was when the Super Bowl came to town in 2011. While we're at it, let's hope that every paying customer actually has a seat to sit in to watch the game. And that nobody dies, either.

This will essentially give the people at Cowboys Stadium, and North Texas organizers, the chance to correct the many screwups that happened when the Super Bowl came to town. By the time the Unnamed Corporate Sponsor College Football Playoff Title game comes to Cowboys Stadium it will have hosted a Super Bowl, NBA All-Star game, NCAA Final Four, Cotton Bowls, among many others high-profile events.

All of these have gone well with the exception of that one Super Bowl, which was a horror show for event planners.

North Texas is not on the schedule to host another Super Bowl. Those already in the books are:
2014: New York/New Jersey
2015: Phoenix

The Super Bowl in 2016 will be the 50th, and that will likely be in an area that has a tradition of hosting the big game at the end. Think South Florida.

If the College Football Playoff title game goes well, enough time will have passed since that fiasco in '11 that Jerry should enough street cred' to host the Super Bowl again.

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The Dallas Cowboys worst draft picks of all time - No. 2

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:

2. David LaFleur, TE, LSU, 1997, 22nd overall pick
Troy Aikman could not wait to pass it to LaFleur, who was going to replace Jay Novacek. Yeah .... that didn't quite take.

LaFleur was hurt all the time in his four years and caught 85 passes for 729 yards with 12 TDs. In 1999, his third year in the league, it looked as if he may break out as he caught 35 passes with seven TDs.

But the next season he battled injuries that he never could escape. As a player, he was a bit slow and was never able to command the type of presence in the middle of the field that Novcek did.

LaFleur was probably more of a fourth of fifth round type of talent whose career ended too soon because of injuries.

Picked immediately after: Renaldo Wynn, DT, Notre Dame
Picked immediately ahead of: Antowain Smith, RB, Houston 

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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.

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The Dallas Cowboys worst 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 will start with The Bad:

3. Shante Carver, DE, Arizona State, 1994, 23rd overall pick
He has the distinction of being the first draft pick in the post Jimmy Johnson era. Not that Jimmy didn't have his stinkers, but this was a major whiff as a first rounder. Shante was too thin, and not quick enough, to be a dominant defensive end. He wasn't awful, but the production never merited a first round selection.

In four NFL seasons, Carver collected 11.5 sacks. In 1995, he started three games as a backup behind Charles Haley on a team that won the Super Bowl.

Ironically, Carver's most productive NFL season came in 1997 when he had six sacks and started 16 games. Of course, that was the same year the team finished 6-10. This was Carver's last NFL season.

He played in the XFL's one year of existence, and then played for the Dallas Desperadoes of the Arena Football League to finish out his pro football career.

 

Picked immediately after: Rob Fredrickson, OLB, Michigan State
Picked immediately ahead of: Thomas Lewis, RB, Indiana 

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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 

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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.

 

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

 

 

 

 

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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.

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