Before we begin, I would love to remind you of our August Training Camp special subscription offer to new annuals. This month, our best price of the year is available where you can lock in a year of Sturmstack for $5.33 a month ($64 annually). It ends when August ends. Jump on it!
Let’s knock out a weekend mailbag now that I have laid eyes on the Cowboys.
Back at the airport and I have about 90 minutes, so let’s make it work and see what you all would like to visit about this week.
But, please remember, we are in the very last weekend without Cowboys football for quite some time. There will be a bye weekend on Labor Day and another in December, but from here on out, we will be consuming actual football from now until Valentine’s Day.
Here is what the next few weekends will offer, if you can stand it:
And with that, we will have some players to evaluate and wonder about as this roster comes together.
But, now, on to your questions and comments - these are all from the Sturmstack chat this week:
From Williamfulk76:
I know it’s early but what’s the most notable difference you can see on the defense this camp, aside from a new coordinator.
William, it is early, for sure. There are many things we can over-react about with regards to training camps and the practice fields, but I always temper it because the schemes are being installed, secrets are being protected, and violence is under wraps.
But, you can see some real enjoyable things out there, so my report back to you will just confirm some of the premises from earlier this summer:
This is a very talented roster. I am not sure where it ranks at the top of the league because I am studying only this one at this level of depth, but I can say that compared to the last several Cowboys camps, there is a noticeable improvement at the “starter level” which is basically players 1-20 on the roster. As I have said in the past, the Cowboys have always been great from 1-6 or 1-8 on their roster (the stars on the roster), but then the 2nd-level players (let’s that level the starters) from 7-20 they are just not at the level of the big boys. They just don’t have the numbers for the guys who are highly leveraged but maybe not your biggest expenditures. But, in watching the defense, it is obvious that there have been add-ons that feel like massive adds that are hardly being mentioned. Cobie Durant, Dee Winters, and Otito Ogbonnia are three notable examples and all three might be playing over 600 snaps. That is huge and specific to the defense.
The other element that isn’t scheme-oriented would be the communicative manner of things to make sure that this is a well-organized group. The more wrinkles a defense has, the more it must be communicated on the fly. Offenses are determined to cause confusion at this level so the easier your guys on defense can sort things – often as the play is being snapped – the better chance you have at getting stops. Lack of communication and then busted responsibilities is the fast-track to losing. You are allowed to lose a battle if you just get beat, but if you simply do not get someone covered or a gap taken, then you are beating yourself and that cannot be tolerated if you want to be a good football team. So, the teaching being done appears well conceived and now we need to see the results.
From Eduardo Garcia Jr:
Realistic chance we trade for Brooks or Crosby? Who would you prefer? Or is offensive line a bigger concern?
I do not think they are in on either, to be honest. I could be wrong, but I think the ship has sailed on both and now they want to see what they have. I know patience is not our strong suit, but the Crosby situation is over because they opted to trade for Rashan Gary. When that happened, I believe they got out of the Maxx Crosby business. And I do not blame them. Gary is not Crosby, but he also doesn’t cost a huge amount in trade. That matters. If you did a Maxx Crosby trade now, you are basically trading the future of George Pickens to afford him. I don’t like that.
As for Brooks, I did hear the rumor of the Cowboys still being interested in the Texas Tech/Miami Dolphins star LB, despite him just signing with Miami on a 3/$48m extension. If it ends up happening, I will apologize, but I don’t see this at all. I would love having him, but I have never heard of a team signing an extension on a player at this age and stage of his career and then trading him elsewhere. This league doesn’t do sign and trades unless I am forgetting someone. So, I have no idea how this one is possible. Don’t really buy it.
If the Cowboys were going to do a big trade, I bet it would be for a big-time corner. We always hear that this scheme levels up if you have a top outside corner like Patrick Surtain or Quinyon Mitchell. If that means Christian Parker is pounding the table to go get his version of that, I would be interested. Otherwise, I don’t really want to get too antsy right now to pay top future draft pick capital to do this.
From Rusty Simmons:
Bob what should we look for Saturday night and will Downs get any snaps?
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