Cowboys Camp Wednesday Observations
By Jeff Cavanaugh | @JC1053
This will never change. Cover Dez as well as you want in 1 on 1s, he's going to go get the ball.
Other WR's that are unstoppable in 1 on 1 drills are Beasley and Whitehead. I think Whitehead is the 4th best WR in camp at worst. He's making the team. I have zero doubt about that. Got some run with the 1's when they went 4 WR and they'll throw to him. Shifty, quick, fast and sure handed.
Sean Lee's knee looks 100% healthy. They're still holding him out of the full team stuff but in position drills and 7 on 7 he's the one that looks the best athletically, all of his burst is still there. The change of direction, the acceleration, the instincts and the hands (this actually matters for him, his super natural hands + instincts leads to INTs) all look great.
I think they've done a great job of preparing themselves at the LB position in case of injury depletion. I feel quite comfortable with at least McClain/Hitchens/Brinkley at MLB, Wilber/Hitchens at SLB, Lee/Wilson at WLB. Can't remember another year where they had that sort of depth.
We had Damien Wilson sit down with us today and I'll mention him because I think he's a good fit for their weakside LB spot in case something (cross your fingers it doesn't) happens to Sean Lee. He's a really natural pursue the ball/evade blockers/find ball/hit ball kinda guy who can run. We visited with him today and sure enough that's the only LB spot that they've had him working at so far although he'd like to learn more of them just in case. It looks to me like he's not 100% comfortable yet with where he is, there's some hesitation in spots where in college you didn't see that. He'll get there.
Just for fun, here's my notes on him from studying him before the draft.
Damien Wilson - Minnesota #5 -6000 245 4.79
Games Studied: Northwestern, Ohio State, Wisconsin
He can run. Forget that 4.79. 4.20 short shuttle and plays quick. {retty sure tackler. Would wanna have him be the "kept clean" guy at Will and let him chase the ball. Can make some guys miss at 2nd level with lateral quickness. Not a powerful guy to shed blocks. Will come downhill and dip a shoulder to get inside an OL coming up to him. Gonna fly to the outside on runs and screen plays. Pursues. Does a decent job of staying clean and up through the mess. Finds a way through blockers its just not with power, it's with quickness aggression and fight. Big time fighter. Not gonna get loose if you get your hands on him. 120 tackles. Bat down vs OSU when he knows he can't get home elevates. Shows awareness. Plays some man on RB out of backfield. Drops into coverage some. Struggles taking on blocks. Doesn't have a lot of help on that defense, he's making all the plays. Some coverage ability.
As he gets more comfortable and just plays naturally I think he's gonna be a good one.
At the CB spot they keep going in team with the three guys being Carr/Scandrick/Claiborne. Mo looks totally healthy and more confident, but to me so far Patmon has been the 3rd best corner. Byron Jones shows flashes once a ball is in the air of his athleticism to make some big plays, but would like to see him be more consistent getting his hands on guys at the LOS both at CB and on the punt coverage unit. Level of comp for him at UConn wasn't great but he's out there improving.
Lache Seastrunk and Gus Johnson both made some nice plays today running the ball when Dunbar had to leave practice because of an ankle injury (Stephen Jones says they don't think it's serious). Seastrunk can really scoot and Johnson runs hard. Randle is looking fine.
