Melton Signed

[Texas Ace]

I'm not all that impressed with Church, either. We've been served up so many shit sandwiches back there over the years, our desperation has made him look way better than he really is. I wouldn't cut him just to say I did, but wouldn't hesitate to kick him down the road if the opportunity presents itself.

I think you can get by with Church if you have a solid FS next to him.

He's a solid tackler and has good pursuit skills, but his shortcomings are more evident because of the crap he plays next to.

Once you have crap at FS, then he too becomes a liability.

 

[Simpleton]

Yea, nothing wrong with Church starting if you have a competent guy next to him. He isn't a Pro Bowler or anything but for what he's making he's a solid starter. You don't even need an Earl Thomas next to him, just a competent starting caliber safety with some range on the back end.

 

[Cowboysrock55]

Yea, nothing wrong with Church starting if you have a competent guy next to him. He isn't a Pro Bowler or anything but for what he's making he's a solid starter. You don't even need an Earl Thomas next to him, just a competent starting caliber safety with some range on the back end.

I don't know that having two "just competent" safeties is really a good thing at all. I mean it's good compared to where Dallas has been over the last decade or so but I think it's difficult to field a really great defense when you don't have a stud safety roaming the deep parts of the field.

 

[Angrymesscan]

I'm waiting for Jerry to speak.

I'm waiting for him to retire...

 

[radkowboy]

Bring back spencer on a one year deal and call it a day.

I wonder if Spencer could be signed to a similar deal as Melton? If so I'm all for it.

 

[Smitty]

Get a rangy safety next to Church and you'll be ok there. If you had a guy like that already, we'd certainly have much bigger fish to fry at LB, DL, OG, RT and future QB. If a safety was clearly BPA, you pull the trigger.

Church is certainly very replaceable though.

 

[Cotton]

I wonder if Spencer could be signed to a similar deal as Melton? If so I'm all for it.

As far as the structure of the contract, I would agree. I just wouldn't pay Spencer 5 mill in the first year. It would be way lower. But, I like the prove it year in the contract followed by reward if you do prove it.

 

[Cotton]

Henry Melton can deal with the pressure
March, 19, 2014

By Calvin Watkins | ESPNDallas.com

The Dallas Cowboys' biggest free agent signing is defensive tackle Henry Melton, who left the Chicago Bears, to sign a one-year deal with an option for three additional years at the club's discretion.

After losing star defensive end DeMarcus Ware and standout defensive tackle Jason Hatcher in free agency, the Cowboys, with limited salary cap space, were struggling to find the right fits from a financial and scheme standpoint for a defense that finished last in 2013.

Melton becomes the main guy for the pass rush in 2014 as the pass rushing defensive tackle.

"That's what the position demands," Melton said in a conference call with reporters on Wednesday. "It doesn't matter. I was part of a great defense (in Chicago). I had a lot of Hall of Famers, future Hall of Famers on my team but I still have a bullseye playing that position. For the defense to be successful, the three technique has to do his job and be very disruptive."

As part of the recruiting process, defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli had dinner with Melton at the Gaylord Hotel on Monday night to talk about all the beautiful music they could make together.

In 2012, while playing for Marinelli in Chicago, Melton earned a Pro Bowl berth with 44 tackles and six sacks. In a two-year span, 2011 and 2012, Melton had 13 sacks and emerged as a young talented player for the Bears 4-3 defense.

Outside of last season where Melton played in just three games before suffering a season-ending ACL injury, his tackle totals increased and that's because of what Marinelli commands of his linemen.

"The under tackle in Marinelli's scheme is very disruptive," Melton said. "It's fun. Not a lot of people can do it. You have to be very athletic to make plays when doing it, but it's fun. It's never wrong when you’re trying to rush the passer, you're never wrong when you're being physical. It's something that I know and trust and I believe in."

 

[Cotton]

Scouting Report: Melton Must Find 2012 Form In Dallas
Posted 23 minutes ago

Bryan Broaddus
Football Analyst/Scout

Henry Melton

Defensive Tackle, Texas

Height/Weight: 6-3, 295

Drafted: Fourth round, No. 101 overall, 2009 NFL Draft by Chicago

Games Studied: 2013: Cincinnati, Minnesota 2012: Dallas, Houston, San Francisco

Melton was a much better player in his 2012 film than he was in 2013. He didn’t show the same explosive quickness and get-off that he did two seasons ago. Under Rod Marinelli as the defensive coordinator, he was on the move more, and this is where Melton thrives. When he can get on the outside shoulder of the guard and attack the gap, he can be difficult to block. Before his knee injury against the Steelers in 2013, you didn’t see this type of use in the scheme. He played slow and sluggish.


Simply put, he didn’t even look like the same player. There were too many snaps where he didn’t come off the ball, and where he put that pressure on the blocker. There were times where he was washed out of the play, knocked to the ground and was a non-factor.

When Melton is really on a roll, you can see blockers have to reach for him to try and block. He can put them in bad positions with just his first step. He’ll make blockers overextend and lose their balance. He has a feel for how to make himself small when he is on the move in the pass rush.

He’s one of those players you want to play line games with because of this ability. The second you get him a little space, he is tight to pick and around the edge. In 2012, he had a sack against the Cowboys in that exact situation.

This is one of those tackles that can throwing pass rush moves as he is going up the field. He makes a quick arm-over move and then he is gone. He’s slippery when working toward and through the hole. He’s also a really nice space player, and he can change directions with the best of them.

The tape also shows that Melton’s lateral movement and quickness are outstanding. If the ball goes away from him, can really flatten down the line and chase after it. He makes it hard for blockers to keep up with him, and he shows the ability to beat the reach block with his quickness. In that sense, he does a nice job of reading blocks on the move.


If there’s one big problem to his game, it’s when he gets caught rushing down the middle of the blocker and he gets stuck. Where blockers have success against him is when they can get him to stop his feet --then he gets in a bind. Movement is such a big part of his game, it’s hard for him to get going again once he stops.

This happened to him more in 2013 than 2012. He’s not the type of player who plays with the power to beat double team blocks. He will extend his hands, but he’s not going to be able to stand in there toe-to-toe with blockers and slug it out.

Where he might get in trouble is when he tries to jump around blocks and he will leave holes.

It was amazing how different Melton’s film was between the two seasons. In talking with him on Wednesday, he spoke about Rod Marinelli working with him to get himself right again, so even in his own mind, he knows that he was a better player and that is the level he needs to play at for this to all work.

 

[Cotton]

Melton calls lawsuit ‘money grab’
Posted on March 19, 2014 | BY TOM ORSBORN

SAN ANTONIO – Newly signed Dallas Cowboys defensive tackle Henry Melton said Wednesday he isn’t worried about the lawsuit he faces for allegedly biting a bar owner in December while being kicked out of a tavern in Grapevine.

Police arrested the Grapevine High School graduate and Texas-ex on charges of public intoxication and assault after an altercation two days before Christmas.

“It’s just a bad situation that’s getting blown up by people trying to have a money grab,” Melton told Dallas’ KRLD-FM. “Other than that, it’s pretty much behind me. It’s not anything that will affect me, especially my play, nothing that I have to do time for or anything like that. It’s just people trying to get money.”

The Cowboys signed Melton to a cap friendly one-year contract that protects them should his surgically repaired knee prevent him from returning to the Pro Bowl form he showed in 2012, when he recorded six sacks for the Chicago Bears. Melton played only three games last season because of a damaged knee ligament.

Melton’s base salary for 2014 will be $1.25 million, although he can earn up to $5 million with incentives. The club can exercise a three-year option on Melton beginning in 2015 that will reportedly give him $9 million in guaranteed money, meaning he will be paid along the lines of the league’s top defensive tackles.

 

[Cotton]

Dallas Cowboys DT Henry Melton sounds off on Marinelli, the Cowboys’ defense and his knee
By Rainer Sabin
rsabin@dallasnews.com
5:18 pm on March 19, 2014 | Permalink

Signed, sealed and delivered as the newest member of the Cowboys, Henry Melton is already facing enormous expectations.

He is now the most distinguished member of a defensive line that bid adieu to two Pro Bowlers last week — DeMarcus Ware and Jason Hatcher.

But Melton, who finalized a one-year contract with a three-year club option, insists he doesn’t feel pressure to make up for the losses of Hatcher and Ware. As the three-technique defensive tackle in coordinator Rod Marinelli’s scheme, he already knows he will be counted on to perform at a high level.

“For the defense to be successful, the three-technique has to do his job and be very disruptive,” Melton said in a conference call with reporters Wednesday. “That’s what the position demands.”

Melton feels a kinship with Marinelli, who coached him for four seasons in Chicago and nurtured him into a top-flight interior defensive lineman.

The two went out to dinner at the Gaylord Texan on Monday when Melton was visiting the Cowboys.

“He’s a great guy,” Melton said. “I am excited to play for him. He genuinely cares about you as a person — not just what you can do for him on the field. Of course, he cares about that. But he actually does care about you off the field.”

What Melton does between the lines will draw the most headlines. But it’s hard to project how effective he will be. The 2012 Pro Bowler, who has collected 15.5 sacks in his career, recovering from an anterior cruciate ligament tear in his left knee. Potential suitors, he said, were concerned about his condition as he searched for a new job in free agency.

“Everywhere that we went, all the doctors that have seen it, they all said it looks great,” Melton said. “…I should be ready to go by training camp.”

That’s good news for the Cowboys and Marinelli, who are expected to lean heavily on Melton because he will line up at one of the defense’s most important positions.

“The under tackle in Marinelli’s scheme is just very disruptive,” Marinelli said. “It’s fun. Not a lot of people can do it. You have to be very athletic to make plays while doing it. But it’s fun. You’re never wrong when you’re trying to rush the passer and you’re never run when you’re being physical. It’s something that I know and I trust and I believe in when I signed here.”

 

[Cotton]

Melton says his knee will be fine
March, 19, 2014

By Calvin Watkins | ESPNDallas.com

Newly signed Dallas Cowboys defensive tackle Henry Melton said he's on target to be ready for training camp as he recovers from surgery on his left knee.

While playing for the Chicago Bears last season, Melton suffered a torn ACL in a Week 3 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers. Melton visited several NFL teams during the free-agency period and doctors said his health looks fine.

"Everywhere we went, and all the doctors who seen it, said it looks great," Melton said in a conference call with Dallas-area reporters on Wednesday. "I should be ready to go by training camp."

Melton's health is a partial reason why he received a one-year contract where he can earn as much as $5 million in 2014. If Melton struggles in 2014, whether it's because of his health or poor play, the Cowboys have protected themselves. The team has an option at the end of the 2014 season, where if picked up, it gives Melton three additional years and an average salary of $9 million.

Melton said he agreed to the deal because he thought it was fair and his play would speak volumes.

"That's something that I believe, I can do," he said. "Just buckle down and get physically and mentally ready and play my butt off and just be ready to go."

 

[ravidubey]

I just don't see a DE worth the 16th pick...Barr would be a dream there too.

Ealy is a playmaker, but it's looking like at this point he could be had later in the round. I don't get what's dinging his value so much but he would be a fine player for years. I mean WGAS if he runs a 4.92 40? The man weighs over 275 pounds FFS. I don't like his 22 bench press reps, but shit that's one better than Clowney. I do like his 3 cone time, which is a far better indicator of quickness than 40 time anyway.

Also, no one dominates as a pass rusher in their rookie year, but we'd still get quality snaps from Ealy in 2014. DeMarcus Ware himself had 5 sacks his entire rookie year until the light went on vs Carolina and he had 3 strip sacks in one game.

Dallas must accumulate DL talent starting with this draft. You can find DT talent later, but the DE talent dries up early. Ealy was at his best in big games and I think he's being overlooked.

 

[Genghis Khan]

I'm happy they signed Melton but it's hard to get excited when the line still isn't better than last year (or even as good).

 

[Carp]

It isn't better, but it is a start.

 

[Clay_Allison]

Ealy is a playmaker, but it's looking like at this point he could be had later in the round. I don't get what's dinging his value so much but he would be a fine player for years. I mean WGAS if he runs a 4.92 40? The man weighs over 275 pounds FFS. I don't like his 22 bench press reps, but shit that's one better than Clowney. I do like his 3 cone time, which is a far better indicator of quickness than 40 time anyway.

Also, no one dominates as a pass rusher in their rookie year, but we'd still get quality snaps from Ealy in 2014. DeMarcus Ware himself had 5 sacks his entire rookie year until the light went on vs Carolina and he had 3 strip sacks in one game.

Dallas must accumulate DL talent starting with this draft. You can find DT talent later, but the DE talent dries up early. Ealy was at his best in big games and I think he's being overlooked.

I worry he's not explosive enough to get around the corner. It's easy to wind up with a Jamaal Anderson type bust with guys like that.

 

[Cotton]

It isn't better, but it is a start.

Agreed.

 

[p1_]

I'm happy they signed Melton but it's hard to get excited when the line still isn't better than last year (or even as good).

But that will change. This is one signing , and you weren't gonna feel like we were equal or better until all is said and done to address this re-build.

 

[Genghis Khan]

But that will change. This is one signing , and you weren't gonna feel like we were equal or better until all is said and done to address this re-build.

Will it? You have more faith than I do.

 

[Carp]

Will it? You have more faith than I do.

They have said the DL needed to get better, I think they know they need more than what they brought in.