2020 Random Cowboys Stuff Thread...
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Texas Ace
I'll Never Dream Again
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Plan9Misfit
Appreciate The Hate
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p1_
DCC 4Life
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Anyone know, is Leary spent? Denver must think so..
p1_
DCC 4Life
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Next up, veteran offensive lineman Ron Leary. Should the Broncos keep or cut? Let’s take a look.
***
Eight is More Than Enough
The Broncos are looking to make a splash in free agency, and they have plenty of salary cap space to do just that this offseason. However, by getting rid of Leary, they could get even more room to maneuver.
Leary has a cap number of $9.3 million in 2020, but there is less than $1 million remaining in dead money. That means the Broncos could free up more than $8 million in cap space if they were to release the veteran.
There is an argument for keeping Leary, which I will make in the rest of this article, but freeing up that much money could help the Broncos perhaps keep their own free agents that many think are getting away. Keeping Leary might be worth it, but is it better to let him go to free up $8 million and then take that money to potentially keep guys like Derek Wolfe or Chris Harris Jr.?
The answer is easy for me, but it’s one the Broncos must consider all sides before making a final decision. When the Broncos signed Leary to a four-year contract as a free agent back in 2017, this final year was seen as one where he would not be with the team. We’ll see if that’s actually going to be the case.
Right guard is where Leary has been starting since he’s been with the Broncos. He is a fine starter, but he has not played a full 16-game season during his time with the Broncos. In fact, Leary has only played a full season (2013) once in his career and it was the first year he was active in the pros. If the team does keep Leary around, they need to have a quality plan in place if (when?) Leary misses more time due to injury.
Undrafted out of Memphis in 2012 due to a degenerative left knee condition, Leary was graded by most in the scouting community as a third-round pick. The talent was always there with Leary and that’s why the Cowboys picked him up. It was just a matter of how long he would be able to play due to the knee issue. He was a rare player from the standpoint that he could fit in multiple schemes. With the Cowboys, Leary was all about power, but you could see the athleticism was there for him to do more.
Leary is huge at 320 pounds and he used to be athletic enough to work in a zone system, and that’s what made him an effective starter when he was healthy. However, at this advanced age Leary is merely a power player – and that works in his favor if the Broncos decide to keep him.
***
Eight is More Than Enough
The Broncos are looking to make a splash in free agency, and they have plenty of salary cap space to do just that this offseason. However, by getting rid of Leary, they could get even more room to maneuver.
Leary has a cap number of $9.3 million in 2020, but there is less than $1 million remaining in dead money. That means the Broncos could free up more than $8 million in cap space if they were to release the veteran.
There is an argument for keeping Leary, which I will make in the rest of this article, but freeing up that much money could help the Broncos perhaps keep their own free agents that many think are getting away. Keeping Leary might be worth it, but is it better to let him go to free up $8 million and then take that money to potentially keep guys like Derek Wolfe or Chris Harris Jr.?
The answer is easy for me, but it’s one the Broncos must consider all sides before making a final decision. When the Broncos signed Leary to a four-year contract as a free agent back in 2017, this final year was seen as one where he would not be with the team. We’ll see if that’s actually going to be the case.
Right guard is where Leary has been starting since he’s been with the Broncos. He is a fine starter, but he has not played a full 16-game season during his time with the Broncos. In fact, Leary has only played a full season (2013) once in his career and it was the first year he was active in the pros. If the team does keep Leary around, they need to have a quality plan in place if (when?) Leary misses more time due to injury.
Undrafted out of Memphis in 2012 due to a degenerative left knee condition, Leary was graded by most in the scouting community as a third-round pick. The talent was always there with Leary and that’s why the Cowboys picked him up. It was just a matter of how long he would be able to play due to the knee issue. He was a rare player from the standpoint that he could fit in multiple schemes. With the Cowboys, Leary was all about power, but you could see the athleticism was there for him to do more.
Leary is huge at 320 pounds and he used to be athletic enough to work in a zone system, and that’s what made him an effective starter when he was healthy. However, at this advanced age Leary is merely a power player – and that works in his favor if the Broncos decide to keep him.
dpf1123
DCC 4Life
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MAQB - SI - Whose offense is it in Dallas?
Albert Breer
Lost in the chaos of Dallas’s game against Atlanta on Sunday was this: The Cowboys’ offense exploded. Dak Prescott threw for 450 yards, CeeDee Lamb and Amari Cooper both hit triple-digits in receiving yards and Ezekiel Elliott went above 100 scrimmage yards, while the line withstood the loss of left tackle Tyron Smith. All the way around, you saw Mike McCarthy flex some muscle in deploying the wealth of weapons he’s got.
And so there’s been a lingering question in my head: Whose offense is it, really? McCarthy has repeatedly said that the offense would remain Kellen Moore’s, and Moore would call plays and design it as he did in 2019. But then, I’d heard rumblings during camp that the head coach’s fingerprints were on the unit more than had been advertised, so I figured I’d ask guys who coached against Dallas the last two weeks.
What I’ve found: McCarthy wasn’t lying. It’s still Moore’s offense and the scheme that Scott Linehan ran before Moore took the reins from him. But … McCarthy’s markings are there, without question. One defensive coach told me, “There are [McCarthy] subtleties that show up all over the place.” I was given a fantastic example of that.
If you have GamePass, check out the final play of the Rams-Cowboys Week 1 game. It’s identical to the call McCarthy made on third-and-20 in the 2016 playoffs—the one on which Aaron Rodgers hit Jared Cook for 36 yards down the left side to set up a game-winning field goal that took Green Bay to the NFC title game. In the Week 1 2020 version, Prescott played Rodgers, Lamb played Cook, the ball fell incomplete and McCarthy’s team lost 20–17.
Albert Breer
Lost in the chaos of Dallas’s game against Atlanta on Sunday was this: The Cowboys’ offense exploded. Dak Prescott threw for 450 yards, CeeDee Lamb and Amari Cooper both hit triple-digits in receiving yards and Ezekiel Elliott went above 100 scrimmage yards, while the line withstood the loss of left tackle Tyron Smith. All the way around, you saw Mike McCarthy flex some muscle in deploying the wealth of weapons he’s got.
And so there’s been a lingering question in my head: Whose offense is it, really? McCarthy has repeatedly said that the offense would remain Kellen Moore’s, and Moore would call plays and design it as he did in 2019. But then, I’d heard rumblings during camp that the head coach’s fingerprints were on the unit more than had been advertised, so I figured I’d ask guys who coached against Dallas the last two weeks.
What I’ve found: McCarthy wasn’t lying. It’s still Moore’s offense and the scheme that Scott Linehan ran before Moore took the reins from him. But … McCarthy’s markings are there, without question. One defensive coach told me, “There are [McCarthy] subtleties that show up all over the place.” I was given a fantastic example of that.
If you have GamePass, check out the final play of the Rams-Cowboys Week 1 game. It’s identical to the call McCarthy made on third-and-20 in the 2016 playoffs—the one on which Aaron Rodgers hit Jared Cook for 36 yards down the left side to set up a game-winning field goal that took Green Bay to the NFC title game. In the Week 1 2020 version, Prescott played Rodgers, Lamb played Cook, the ball fell incomplete and McCarthy’s team lost 20–17.
Texas Ace
I'll Never Dream Again
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Just as I feared, it sounds like there's way too much from the previous offense making its way into this one.
Please no.
McCarthy is supposed to be the guru, right? So it would be nice if he implemented his own offense and taught it to KM as opposed to letting him run the one we were all sick of.
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I think until proven otherwise, I will wait until we see what happens. Before yesterday, I might have agreed with you, but not now. I want to see what Kellen can do. He absolutely killed it yesterday with his use of Lamb.
Texas Ace
I'll Never Dream Again
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There were definitely some good things there once they got aggressive, but that's what worries me -- we appeared to start with a safe approach again.
I'm worried that Garrett's conservative style of coaching rubbed off on him.
I guess we'll see next week if that's just a coincidence or if the guy plays it safe like his mentor did.
ravidubey
DCC 4Life
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I don’t even know if we have a choice but to be mostly the same given the personnel on both sides.
Going to take two-three years to rebuild this defense.
Smith, Poe, and Griffen are mercs. Hill is a non factor, Crawford is a waste of space and now DLaw has joined him. Has Gallimore even played? We have no idea what Gregory is.
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I wouldnt write off Hill just yet. He is showing signs of developing. Gallimore has played.
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