The OTA/Mini Camp Thread...

[Cowboysrock55]

Sure, for this camp, but the writer made it seem like he was going to just be competing with Livings. Bernadeau needs more competition than RLAR.

It all seems ass backwards. Most teams put there power guard at RG and the pulling guy at LG. This is because teams like to run to their right side where they usually have a bigger RT and a bigger RG. Instead we are putting our more athletic, less powerful guys at RG.

 

[boozeman]

Dez Bryant dazzles at practice

June, 12, 2013

By Todd Archer | ESPNDallas.com


IRVING, Texas – With Miles Austin getting a day of rest, it was an understatement to say Dez Bryant was the focal point of the Cowboys’ passing game Wednesday.

Not surprisingly, Dez Bryant was the focal point of the Cowboys' offense on Wednesday.

In the final team period, Bryant was targeted on seven straight pass plays, coming down with two catches and drawing two pass interference penalties before Jason Witten’s touchdown. Bryant nearly had a third grab but was ruled out of bounds after he made a left-handed snag of a Kyle Orton throw.

Bryant was hoping for a little post-practice instant replay because he felt like he was inbounds on the throw.

“I feel like I push myself to the max and I love it,” Bryant said. “Not only for me, but I want a lot of these younger guys to see how hard you’re supposed to work to play in this league, and also that’s how you win.”

In one-on-one drills, Bryant was able to beat Morris Claiborne for touchdowns with the first coming over the top of the corner and the second on a slant.

“The thing you love about Dez more than anything else is his passion for the game,” coach Jason Garrett said. “He loves to play. He loves to go and get the football. Anybody that watches him practice each and every day or playing in games, you can see that. The big thing you have to do with him and all our players is keep the standard high. You don’t want to all the time being the guy patting him on back. ‘Hey, boy, that’s great. You’re the greatest.’ That’s not the world we live in.

“A good example (Tuesday) in practice, he caught a long ball up the sidelines, but his release was really bad. He got pushed really wide and made the play at the end of it. So what we have to do as coaches is recognize the finish of the play. That’s a positive thing. It was a 50-yard gain. It was a touchdown. At the same time, we’ve got to get that release right. He understands that. He’s the guy when you’re watching the tape afterwards, he says, ‘That’s a bad release, coach. I’ve got to do a better job there.’ We’ve got to keep the standard high for him, really for all our players.”

 

[L.T. Fan]

It all seems ass backwards. Most teams put there power guard at RG and the pulling guy at LG. This is because teams like to run to their right side where they usually have a bigger RT and a bigger RG. Instead we are putting our more athletic, less powerful guys at RG.

That is generally true if you have a center who can execute well to both sides and has a dominating push. I am hoping the new guy can meet this criteria.

 

[boozeman]

Broaddus: Minicamp Provides Competitive Dez-Mo Battle

Broaddus: Minicamp Provides Competitive Dez-Mo Battle

Broaddus: Minicamp Provides Competitive Dez-Mo Battle

Posted 52 minutes ago

Bryan Broaddus
Football Analyst/Scout


Today I wanted to put the Scout’s Eye on a few plays that caught my attention from the Cowboys mini-camp practice.

· There was a point during the two minute work where things got very competitive between Dez Bryant and Morris Claiborne which I didn’t view as a bad situation at all. It started with Bryant lined to Claiborne’s side on 4th down and needing a first down to keep the drive going. Kyle Orton did the smart thing and noticed that there was a single safety in the middle of the field and Claiborne was going to have to make the play to the outside by himself. At the snap, Claiborne jams Bryant with his right hand, then bails outside to run with him. Orton’s eyes are with Bryant the whole time. Orton tries to fit the ball over the top of Claiborne who is in the body of Bryant. Claiborne is able to knock the ball away but the referee calls pass interference.

Later in the drive, Claiborne again is matched up with Bryant, again with single high safety. Claiborne jams Bryant who fights up the field as Orton again throws the ball to the outside. Bryant turns his body in the air to adjust to the flight of the ball, Claiborne tries to lean on Bryant to force him out but Bryant manages to get both his toes down in bounds for the catch

The next play, Orton again sees Bryant across from Claiborne. As he takes the snap, Claiborne again gets his hands on Bryant’s body so there is a little separation there. Orton floats the ball to the near pylon as Bryant goes vertical for it with one hand as Claiborne underneath him. Bryant comes down again with the ball but Claiborne uses enough force to cause Bryant to land out of bounds, incomplete.

On the next play, Bryant lines up again wide left across from Claiborne. For two plays Callahan has tried to work Claiborne to the outside now he is going to try and beat him inside. Kiffin tries to counter by taking the Will linebacker Ernie Sims and buzzing him underneath the slant but Bryant’s route goes hard inside clearing Sims but Claiborne is right there as well playing with his right hand, he tries to knock the pass away which he manages to do but the official to the inside calls pass interference again on Claiborne which from field level appeared to be another close call but one that was made.

The drive was finished on the next play when Orton found Jason Witten in the flat on the right side for the touchdown. What I liked about the back and forth between Bryant and Claiborne was how neither player was willing to give an inch to the other. You saw the fire in Bryant and how much he wanted the ball in those situations but you also saw Claiborne battle every step of the way to keep the ball out of his hands. Those two young players really got something out of working against each other that will help them in the future just because of the match up of good versus good.

· From a scouting perspective, I have really liked with this coaching staff has done by getting plenty of these young players in the mix to see if they can hold up to the pressure of what they are going to feel in training camp. One player that stood out for me today was linebacker DeVonte Holloman. In this scheme Holloman was drafted to play as the Sam linebacker and that is where he has seen the majority of his action but he has also taken some reps as the Mike in the nickel. Holloman made a play today in 7-on-7 that caught my attention and I am sure it did the coaches as well.




On the play, the offense goes empty formation with three receivers and two tight ends. Nick Stephens is at quarterback and in the shot gun. Holloman is lined up as the Sam on the line to the defensive right side. At the snap, Holloman begins his drop to the outside working toward Beasley who is running a route on Wilcox as he works for width. Beasley is between Wilcox and Holloman who has also gained depth. Stephens tries to fit the ball between the two defenders in the end zone but Holloman gets his head around quickly as he sees Beasley react to the ball. Holloman now adjusts his body from the right side to the left and makes the catch of the ball while fully extended. If the ball gets over his head, it’s a touchdown to Beasley. It was a nice, athletic play for a young guy that showed some really good awareness as well.

 

[Cotton]

It's really good to see that competition. It's good for both players, and for the team.

 

[boozeman]

Broaddus: Rookie TE Keeps Shining; Leary Eyes Starting RG Job

Posted 6 minutes ago

Bryan Broaddus
Football Analyst/Scout



Some thoughts and observations from the final the Cowboys mini-camp practice.

•The more I watch Ronald Leary play, the more I believe there is going to be a battle at that left guard spot for the position. There is no question of the ability of Leary to play with power and that is something you can tell without pads when he pass a twist stunt and knocks Kyle Wilber to the ground with a punch or he takes Jason Hatcher and stones him in his tracks on the rush. Leary looks like a completely different player than the one we saw last season. He looks more confident in what he has to accomplish assignment wise and to be quite honest if you talk to scouts around the league like I do the biggest questions about his play were the issues with the knee which appears to be giving him no problems because I have not seen him a day to rest it like with what we have seen with Nate Livings and how sharp he was mentally to pick up the offense. In my study of his work this Spring, I was seeing less and less of the adjustment problems to his assignments and carrying them out which really was his downfall during camp in 2012. The zone scheme appears to be a nice fit for a player that was a left tackle at Memphis. He is making quality reach and cut off blocks while also getting to the second level. In some of the short yardage plays, Bill Callahan has called his number on pulling plays to the right and Leary appears to have a feel for how to search his man and make contact. Not all of Leary’s work has been perfect and along with Kevin Kowalski has given some nice reps at the guard spots while Livings and Bernadeau rest injuries before training camp. If Livings continues to have problems with that knee, Ronald Leary has put some good practices together working with Travis Frederick and Tyron Smith that makes me believe that he will get even more opportunities in Oxnard to try and win this job. It’s not physical with him but the mental side that we need to pay attention to.

•Over the last several weeks, there was something that I always heard from the field when the tight ends were working with the quarterbacks and receivers and that was Jason Garrett urging Gavin Escobar to play faster. In this offense is about getting to your spot as quickly as possible or running your route to clear so that receivers might have the opportunity to operate in clean space. If you watch Escobar on tape from San Diego State, he wasn’t always the most fleet afoot but on this final day, Escobar had one of his best practices because he was playing much quicker. His routes up the field or over the middle were run with some pace to them. It was like Escobar wasn’t having to think what he was trying to do but just being what us scouts like to call a “Football Player”. Escobar was a much smoother player today and not the one that I had seen have some lumbering qualities to his game. He was mentally sharp in the blitz period where he quickly recognized that Justin Durant was coming off the corner and adjusted his route to receive the ball “Hot” from Orton. In the “Play It Out” period, he ran a beautiful route up the field releasing to the outside, then broke inside to take the ball sliding along the end line from Nick Stephens for a touchdown. Later he was able to secure another touchdown by making a contested catch with Justin Durant on his back trying to keep him out of the end zone. For Escobar the question will never be about his hands and his ability to catch in them but learning how to play the game quicker both in his routes and in his blocking. Today was a step in the right direction by all accounts.

•I really do like the fit on the defensive with Justin Durant playing as the Sam linebacker in the mix with Sean Lee and Bruce Carter. With Durant I feel like you get a smart player that has some of the similar traits of Lee and Carter in his ability to read quickly, then react. In just watching him moving around the field and how he manages to be in position, I feel like it shows a great deal about his football awareness to go along with his ability to be a physical player at the point of attack. There is a reason why he had over a 100 tackles last season for the Lions but what is surprising to me now is that they took him off the field in pass coverage situations because when he has been asked to play in coverage, he has done a dependable job whether he has dropped in zone or having to carry a tight end in man. I made mention earlier about his coverage against Gavin Escobar which was just an outstanding play to get the ball away from Durant but when the ball has gone to the flat like yesterday on the tight end screen to Jason Witten, he was right there to make the hit before the play had a chance to get going. With Durant, Alex Albright and DeVonte Holloman, you have three linebackers that can hold up against the run but are not a liability in coverage.

•A player that didn’t start off the camp practices well but really picked it up the last couple of weeks was cornerback Sterling Moore. I found myself focusing more in guys like Carr, Claiborne, Scandrick and Webb but Moore has done a much better job of being in position to make plays where earlier, he was even in the same area code on these routes. There were too many times where he was turned and you could clearly see separation but in some practices last week and the three day camp this week, his technique was much tighter and his positioning on routes made it difficult for the quarterbacks to fit the ball inside on him. Earlier he was playing with poor foot quickness and he appeared to be slow reacting but this week he was on more balls and his game was overall better. Where Moore can help this team is when he has to play on the edge making sure that the ball goes inside to the linebackers and safeties. He understands how to play off blocks with his hand use and he does tackle well enough to keep plays from turning into large gains. Moore has been working opposite of Orlando Scandrick with the second defense on the left side and in the way the defensive coaches are playing him, he is the fourth corner ahead of B.W. Webb, who also had a nice three days. Earlier in the camp, I had big concerns in the way that Moore was playing but he now appears to have found himself again and will be ready for any role required of him.

 

[boozeman]

Bryan Broaddus‏@BryanBroaddus1m“@dontmisskelly: Why are some of the Cowboys wearing this t-shirt and what does it stand for?! pic.twitter.com/JNiMgZB3hS” get after their ass.

 

[Smitty]

I thought Sterling Moore looked fine for what he is in limited time last season. If he's the 5th CB I've got no issues with that at all.

As far as Leary goes.... if he wins the LG job, can Livings play right? Because I thought Livings was better than Bernadeau. Not that either of them was good.

 

[Bob Roberts]

Garrett's Ass Tastes Awesome

 

[Bluestar71]

As far as Leary goes.... if he wins the LG job, can Livings play right? Because I thought Livings was better than Bernadeau. Not that either of them was good.

Can't break up that earth-shattering Bernadeau/Free wrecking machine on the right side.

 

[dallen]

Garrett's Ass Tastes Awesome

Garretts, Ass to Ass

 

[Bluestar71]

Archer: Handing out Cowboys offseason awards

Archer: Handing out Cowboys offseason awards

Handing out Cowboys offseason awards
By Todd Archer | ESPNDallas.com

Best player, offense (not named Dez): Jason Witten

It would have been easier to give the award to Dez Bryant, who was excellent throughout the offseason, but his effort was chronicled throughout. From the opening practice to the end, Witten was the best player. He was more of a factor in the red zone. He was able to get down the middle of the field for longer catches. He was as reliable as ever.

Best player, defense: Sean Lee

If Anthony Spencer did not hurt his knee, then he was getting this award because of how dominant he was. Lee showed no rust from a long layoff or worry from a toe injury that required surgery. He filled quickly in the run game and did a nice job in the passing game.

Best rookie, offense: Terrance Williams

He started slowly with too many drops in the rookie camp but the arrow kept going up for him the more he practiced. He has a chance to be really good after the catch. He can get up the field quickly. He will benefit from having Bryant and Miles Austin ahead of him so he can take his time to a degree in learning.

Best rookie, defense: J.J. Wilcox

He has a lot of room to grow before he gets in the mix for a starting job but from the first day of rookie minicamp to the final day of the veteran minicamp, he was around the ball. You knew where he was. What has to make the Cowboys giddy, however, was the work they got from guys like B.W. Webb, DeVonte Holloman and Brandon Magee. Those guys could contribute this year.

Most improved, offense: Phillip Tanner

He’s not a lock to make the roster, but he ran much more decisively this spring than he did last season when he just lacked vision to make plays. He also did a nice job catching passes out of the backfield. He has the desire to play special teams, which is a must for a backup.

Most improved, defense: Tyrone Crawford

A number of candidates here too with guys like Ben Bass, Kyle Wilber and Matt Johnson, but Crawford took advantage of the extra work due to Spencer’s absence. He has dropped some weight down to 285 after getting up close to 300 pounds as a rookie. He showed some burst off the edge and plays with good leverage.

Best guy I didn’t know about, offense: Eric Rogers

Forgive me for not knowing my Cal Luthern receivers, but Rogers has terrific hands. I can’t recall a drop. He also made some nice catches. He does not have great speed, which will hurt him, but there might be a spot on the practice squad for him.

Best guy I didn’t know about, defense: Nick Hayden

He has experience from his days in Carolina and Cincinnati and showed he is pretty tough to move on the inside. He got added work because of injuries (Rob Callaway) or rest days (Jason Hatcher) but he could find his way into the 53-man mix.

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Really glad to hear about Crawford slimming down. The extra weight last year seemed to slow him down from what he showed at Boise.

 

[Carp]

Garrett's Ass Tastes Awesome

 

[Carp]

I like what I've heard about Hayden...he really is the only one of our DTs who has experience in a 4-3 right now.