George: Jerry Jones confident LB Bruce Carter can still be ‘outstanding’

Cotton

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Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones confident LB Bruce Carter can still be ‘outstanding’
By Brandon George / Reporter
bgeorge@dallasnews.com

Dallas Cowboys coaches believed that Bruce Carter was going to be a perfect fit for their new 4-3 defense at weak-side linebacker going into the 2013 season. But Carter never emerged into the type of player the Cowboys felt like he could become in their Tampa 2 scheme.

Carter seemed to lose his confidence at times and struggled in pass coverage more than the Cowboys ever thought he would.

But Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said he’s confident Carter can still be “outstanding.”

“He’s working at it, though. We saw things, there’s an old adage, if you’ve seen him do it a few times, you know they can do it at least and you go from there,” Jones said. “We know he can do what this defense calls for and be outstanding. We have some real reasons to be excited about him and certainly he’d be the first to say that he had some things that he’d like to take back.

“Overall, he’s got a future here … and that’s a positive. It’s not a condition, he’s going to become more of a pro and more understanding about the kind of commitment and the kind of detail and preparation it takes and he’ll be a lot better for it. He’s got the other stuff that nobody can coach, and that is speed and physical assets.”
 

boozeman

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Ah, I see.

So, instead of hedging our bets and bringing in competition, we can just hand Carter over the WOLB spot and then hope he does well so we can sign him to an extension!

Unbelievable.



Bruce Carter...YOU GET A CONTRACT!!!!
 

Smitty

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You should never say it in public, but there's not much you're gonna do, realistically, to bring in competition that will push Bruce Carter from a starting spot this year, unless he really implodes. You see if Holloman develops and if he can push him, great. But to think you're going to actively go out and find someone better than him is unlikely.

You have no cap space to sign a player that is better than even an underachieving Bruce Carter. The little cap space you have should go to, oh, I dunno, safety and DL.

Even if then you were to stumble across a BPA outside linebacker in the draft like Anthony Barr, he replaces Durant, not Carter.

It's just not likely that Carter gets replaced.
 

Cotton

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With the way he played this year, I think he's fairly easily replaced.
 

mcnuttz

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there’s an old adage, if you’ve seen him do it a few times, you know they can do it at least and you go from there,” Jones said.
That's probably one of the stupidest adages I've ever heard of.
 

boozeman

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But to think you're going to actively go out and find someone better than him is unlikely.
Bullshit. You draft the right coverage LB in the first three rounds and chances are pretty good they are better than Carter was last year. He is not a special talent that just can't be replaced. He is, plain and simple, a bad fit in this defense which requires a right outside linebacker with a functional brain.

We won't replace him simply because we don't want to. We are too fricking lazy. We just wait for the player to completely fail or just go away before we bother to ever do that.

I saw enough stupid lazy shit out of Carter last year to move on.
 

mcnuttz

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It's more of a Jonesage.
Hey boss, I've done it once before...so you know I can. Let's just go from there, huh? 6 year, $50 million?
 

Cotton

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Hey boss, I've done it once before...so you know I can. Let's just go from there, huh? 6 year, $50 million?
I'm thinking I might have to try that. You figure I can get a raise out of it?
 

boozeman

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Hey boss, I've done it once before...so you know I can. Let's just go from there, huh? 6 year, $50 million?
Add in that you have the ability, but since you just did not apply yourself, you really are capable. Should work like a damn charm if your boss is as eternally stupid as Jerry Jones.
 

Smitty

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I think he's getting a little underrated. I do not believe that just "any coverage LB" drafted in the first three rounds is better.
 

Smitty

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Oh, and Bruce Carter can be excellent in this defense with his skill set. Conversely, dumb players are bad fits in any defense.

Carter had a bad year, no doubt. And he'll be a "bad fit" in this defense, like he would in any defense, if he continues to play dumb. But he's actually tailor made for a Tampa-2 defense, if he gets over whatever idiocy plagued him last year.

I don't know, but I do have a strong feeling that he won't be as bad this coming year as he was last year, and if that's the case, then the first OLB replaced is Durant/Holloman, not Carter.

Sometimes players take a while for it to click. Andre Gurode was another player who had the "dumb player, will never live up to his physical ability" label before the light went on around year 4.

I think some of the analysis of Carter's future is stemming from anger at his span of poor play for a few weeks last year and not actual projection going forward.
 
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UncleMilti

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You should never say it in public, but there's not much you're gonna do, realistically, to bring in competition that will push Bruce Carter from a starting spot this year, unless he really implodes. You see if Holloman develops and if he can push him, great. But to think you're going to actively go out and find someone better than him is unlikely.

You have no cap space to sign a player that is better than even an underachieving Bruce Carter. The little cap space you have should go to, oh, I dunno, safety and DL.

Even if then you were to stumble across a BPA outside linebacker in the draft like Anthony Barr, he replaces Durant, not Carter.

It's just not likely that Carter gets replaced.
I know you are a UNC homer, but theres no doubt Carter could easily be replaced....he hasn't been all that great lately. Matter of fact his play sucks about as bad as Jones' talent evaluations.
 

Cotton

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I know you are a UNC homer, but theres no doubt Carter could easily be replaced....he hasn't been all that great lately. Matter of fact his play sucks about as bad as Jones' talent evaluations.
Harsh.
 

Smitty

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Also lets not forget that he played with a JV line in front of him and he is a player that is at his best flowing to the ball.

So I'm not giving up on Carter. I'll call it a bad year for sure but it's too early to say he's gotta go or even that he's the first OLB to be replaced if an upgrade does come along.
 

L.T. Fan

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It's been one bad year after another with Carter be it injury or otherwise. After a while you have to question his reliability.
 

Genghis Khan

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Sometimes you can motivate or light a fire under a player by calling him out a little.

Sometimes, instead of saying, "we believe in him, gosh darnit," it's more effective to say "we were disappointed that he didn't progress like we had hoped, and he needs to get better. We've talked to him and he knows that."

That's what good management does sometimes when it's necessary.

We ALWAYS prop our players. Gives them a sense of security and entitlement. A player like Bruce Cartershould not have that.

Of course, it should be the coach doing this, not Jerry, but that's another issue.
 
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