Random Thoughts From Cowboys Training Camp
By Jeff Cavanaugh | @jc1053
This offense is gonna be pretty darn good again. When the first team is in they have no problem moving the ball down the field, starting (not surprisingly) with Romo and Dez. There's just not a lot anyone can do to stop it.
Witten continues to be an ageless wonder. He doesn't look like he's lost a step at all, might have even gained one.
One of my favorite players to watch is undrafted rookie WR Lucky Whitehead. I was hoping the Cowboys would take him in the 6th or 7th round of the draft because of his PR/KR ability, but his skills at WR are drawing everyone's attention at practice. He's just tough to stay in front of in the slot. He's similar to Cole Beasley in that way, and he'll certainly have to be on some special teams if he's going to make the team (which I'm betting he will) but he's making noise. He told me his favorite thing to do is actually something that's brand new to him, being a gunner on the punt team. Even with no football, he said he just loves being out there one on one and trying to beat the ball to the return man. I asked him if he can tackle and he told me "Oh ya, they can't run with no legs." Ankles beware.
The two guys that looked the best to me for the DL when it came to one on ones were Demarcus Lawrence and Tyrone Crawford. Lawrence has really added some muscle and has a lot of explosion coming around the corner, he's giving Doug Free a tough time. Crawford is showing he can win in multiple ways rushing on the inside, he has the quicks and the power.
Ron Leary isn't going to give up the LG job to La'el Collins or anyone else. He's just a house of a man that grinds and does his job and is hard to beat. I don't think there's going to be any changes to who the starters are on this OL this year, they're just going to keep growing together and opening holes.
Lance Dunbar looks like he'll finally be the weapon that he maybe should have been already. He's such a handful coming out of the backfield, he has route running ability like a WR and he consistently makes the first guy miss and makes big plays happen to keep the chains moving. When they ran 1st team O vs 1st team D, it was a lot of Dunbar out of the backfield and then Dunbar up the middle to punch it in. He looks outstanding. Also getting a lot of reps as a PR.
I don't know who is going to win the PR job, but I do think there's 3 guys that can do it and do it pretty well between Dunbar/Beasley/Whitehead. Dez jumps in to grab a few as well and if it's a big play opportunity with the other team backed up I wouldn't be surprised to see him out there some.
The secondary has enough guys that can play that I think they're going to be improved. Carr and Scandrick are what they are, but the addition of Corey White, the improvement of Tyler Patmon, the return of Mo Claiborne (who looks healthy and is moving around well) and the drafting of Byron Jones gives them different looks they can run with. White gives them some versatility with an ability to line up at safety or in the slot, Jones gives them a guy who can line up outside, inside in the slot or at safety. They've put together a group of guys with versatile skill sets and I think they'll be a solid group.
