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Five Wonders: Time to draft a QB early?
November, 4, 2014
By Todd Archer | ESPNDallas.com
LONDON -- Welcome to the first international edition of Five Wonders as we check in from London where the Dallas Cowboys are preparing to play the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday. With seven games to go, I wonder if the Cowboys are in a must-win scenario with a two-game losing streak. But I'm wondering about a lot more.
Away we go:
November, 4, 2014
By Todd Archer | ESPNDallas.com
LONDON -- Welcome to the first international edition of Five Wonders as we check in from London where the Dallas Cowboys are preparing to play the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday. With seven games to go, I wonder if the Cowboys are in a must-win scenario with a two-game losing streak. But I'm wondering about a lot more.
Away we go:
- I wonder if Tony Romo's back injury has the Cowboys moving quarterback up near the top of the list of draft needs. I've believed they will not draft a quarterback until they are ready to move on from Romo. With three back injuries in two seasons, the Cowboys might want to get ahead of the game next spring. You can make the argument that every player is one hit away from having a career come to a close sooner than people wanted or hoped, but Romo will be 35 next April. The Cowboys can say they like Brandon Weeden and Dustin Vaughan, but the reality is Weeden will be going into the final year of his deal in 2015 and Vaughan is an undrafted free agent from West Texas A&M. It's not out of the realm of possibility that Vaughan develops into something, but the odds are against it. Since the Cowboys lucked their way into finding Romo as an undrafted free agent in 2003, they should not bet on getting as lucky again with Vaughan.
- Doug Free has missed the past three games with a small fracture of his right foot. He has made solid progress and could play this week against the Jaguars. I wonder if he should play. With the bye week coming after Sunday's game, it might make more sense to give Free another week of rest. The Wembley Stadium field does not offer up the best footing, so why risk Free? This has nothing to do with whether he is better than Jermey Parnell. It might be wise to let Free get closer to 100 percent. He is a tough guy and has played through a lot of stuff we've never known about. As I've ripped off from Bill Parcells more than a few times over the years, football players play football during football season. But he might be better served to wait one more game.
- I wonder if the Cowboys are putting too much stock in what Josh Brent can bring them when his suspension ends after Sunday's game. I understand why the Cowboys gave Brent a contract extension. I understand why Brent signed it. He should feel a debt of gratitude to the franchise that stood by him through his legal troubles. The Cowboys want to make sure they get some sort of return on their patience and without an extension he would have been a free agent after the season. But does he really fit this scheme? He does bring size. He checked in around 320 pounds when he played before the car accident. Let's assume he will be a little thicker when (if?) he comes back this season. The Cowboys have a lot of three-technique types masquerading as one techniques. Nick Hayden is the largest at 303 pounds, Davon Coleman is at 300 and Terrell McClain is 300.
- I wonder if the Cowboys still look to do a deal with injured linebacker Justin Durant, who is out for the year after undergoing biceps surgery. He is set to be an unrestricted free agent after the season. If you're wondering why they would try to re-sign an injured player, I'd point you to Barry Church. The Cowboys signed Church to a four-year extension that guaranteed him $3.9 million after he tore his Achilles. Durant turns 30 next September. He was leading the defense in tackles before getting hurt. Coming back from a torn biceps should be a lot easier than coming back from a torn Achilles. He looks to be a great fit for the weak-side linebacker spot in this scheme, but if the Cowboys are able to re-sign Rolando McClain, then that would seem to mean Sean Lee would play the Will in 2015. There is something else to consider: Durant has played a full season just once in his career. That came in 2012 with the Detroit Lions.
- I wonder if McClain is running into a little bit of a wall. It's not that he is playing poorly. It's just that he is not making the same impact plays he made earlier in the season. He missed far too many tackles against the Washington Redskins but was better in that department against the Arizona Cardinals. But I think it would only be natural if he slows down a little. He did not play football last year. He didn't spend an offseason building up his conditioning, having retired for a second time before his trade to the Cowboys in July. He has been slowed by injuries since training camp, but he has proven to be a gamer. The season is a grind. Players get used to the grind through the years, but he missed so much football that he can't be expected to handle it all. The Cowboys have tried to manage his work since he arrived. They'll have to do more of it over the final seven games, too.
