Post by ccboy on Dec 23, 2009 20:35:17 GMT -7
Make Way - First Year Starters starting to come into their own
by Josh Ellis
IRVING, Texas - The phrase used so often is "progress-stopper," a veteran who, while still a good player, may not be able to take the team any further, and stands in the way of high-potential young talent.
Identifying them can be difficult, and letting go of them even more so. It was a controversial move to release Terrell Owens. A lot of people second-guessed the Cowboys' decision to trade Anthony Henry and release Greg Ellis.
In a lot of ways, it's a leap of faith. The team had to project how certain players would react with a path cleared for them to rise up the depth chart.
Fourteen games now done, it's awfully hard to disagree with any of those addition-by-subtraction moves which came to define the Cowboys' off-season of 2009. Where once there was Owens, now there is Miles Austin - equal production and 11 years younger. Ellis preceded Anthony Spencer, who is nine years younger and a better run defender with a quickly-developing pass-rush game. Goodbye Henry, 33, step right up Mike Jenkins, 24.
In other positions, the Cowboys moved out veterans and swapped them with free agents, but in the case of three of the off-season's biggest departures, the replacements came from within. Austin, Jenkins and Spencer have been three of the Cowboys' real bright spots this year.
"The confidence they showed in me gave me more confidence," Spencer said. "For the simple fact that Greg was and is a great player still, and for him to be in the position he was and then leaving, and for me to be where I was, it was a lot of confidence they showed."
After the Cowboys picked two rush linebackers in the fourth round of the April draft, Ellis was deemed expendable and he wanted out anyway. The Cowboys felt they had a better option in Spencer, who had already surpassed Ellis for first and second down duties in the back half of the '08 season. Spencer has 88 tackles and 4.0 sacks this year, with an interception and a forced fumble.
Spencer has shown improvement throughout the year. While the jury was out for a while on how shrewd the Ellis move was, Spencer's play over the last month, especially, has erased much of the doubt. He had two sacks in the win over New Orleans on Saturday, and a third was taken away by penalty.
A first-round pick in 2007, Spencer said the Cowboys' attempts to embrace the future in certain spots came with good reasoning.
"It makes the team younger, that's the biggest thing," he said. "It also helps with the experience. We've got a lot of young guys and we've got a lot of not really older guys, but guys that have got experience. When you get that combination and everyone's playing well, it's really good.
"I see plays better than I was seeing them before. Just the experience of being out there and having that, it helps out a lot."
In Jenkins, who competed with fellow second-year corner Orlando Scandrick in training camp, the Cowboys have a bona fide Pro Bowl candidate. While Henry was a good player, the team felt the two younger guys would be better options, and he was traded to Detroit for backup quarterback Jon Kitna.
Last season Jenkins started three games, but for parts of the year he was no more than the fourth cornerback behind Terence Newman, Henry and Pacman Jones. A starter in all but one game this season, Jenkins has a team-high five interceptions.
"I just thought about it as, OK, they got those guys out of here for a reason," Jenkins said. "And I just felt like it was going to be either me or Orlando to carry this team as a starting cornerback. I felt like a lot of responsibility was coming on us real fast, so I didn't want to come in slacking."
One emerging young player who didn't have anything given to him is Austin, but he might be the most impactful of this season's three new young starters. When Owens was released in March, Jerry Jones cited the need to give a chance to Austin and Sam Hurd, as well as maximize the Roy Williams trade.
Austin made only his first career start with Williams out of the lineup against Kansas City on Oct. 11, and hasn't looked back since. He had 250 yards and two touchdowns that day, and now leads the team in both yards from scrimmage (1,138) and touchdowns (11). Austin said he believed releasing Owens would give him more of an opportunity, even though the move wasn't made with the exact intention of elevating the former undrafted free agent to the first team.
"I didn't think they cleared a path for me," Austin said. "Going into training camp, Roy was starting, Pat (Crayton) was starting. Me and Sam were fighting for third receiver. . . . But there was definitely an opportunity and an opening to fight for a spot. Sometimes, you know how the league is, when people are getting paid or whatever the situation is you have to play those people."
With the playoffs hanging in the balance now, the Cowboys can feel good about finding and using some of the young talent they've developed on the bench. Maybe there's something to the idea of young legs being fresher late in the season.
The Cowboys hope their youngsters can continue to progress into the postseason.
by Josh Ellis
IRVING, Texas - The phrase used so often is "progress-stopper," a veteran who, while still a good player, may not be able to take the team any further, and stands in the way of high-potential young talent.
Identifying them can be difficult, and letting go of them even more so. It was a controversial move to release Terrell Owens. A lot of people second-guessed the Cowboys' decision to trade Anthony Henry and release Greg Ellis.
In a lot of ways, it's a leap of faith. The team had to project how certain players would react with a path cleared for them to rise up the depth chart.
Fourteen games now done, it's awfully hard to disagree with any of those addition-by-subtraction moves which came to define the Cowboys' off-season of 2009. Where once there was Owens, now there is Miles Austin - equal production and 11 years younger. Ellis preceded Anthony Spencer, who is nine years younger and a better run defender with a quickly-developing pass-rush game. Goodbye Henry, 33, step right up Mike Jenkins, 24.
In other positions, the Cowboys moved out veterans and swapped them with free agents, but in the case of three of the off-season's biggest departures, the replacements came from within. Austin, Jenkins and Spencer have been three of the Cowboys' real bright spots this year.
"The confidence they showed in me gave me more confidence," Spencer said. "For the simple fact that Greg was and is a great player still, and for him to be in the position he was and then leaving, and for me to be where I was, it was a lot of confidence they showed."
After the Cowboys picked two rush linebackers in the fourth round of the April draft, Ellis was deemed expendable and he wanted out anyway. The Cowboys felt they had a better option in Spencer, who had already surpassed Ellis for first and second down duties in the back half of the '08 season. Spencer has 88 tackles and 4.0 sacks this year, with an interception and a forced fumble.
Spencer has shown improvement throughout the year. While the jury was out for a while on how shrewd the Ellis move was, Spencer's play over the last month, especially, has erased much of the doubt. He had two sacks in the win over New Orleans on Saturday, and a third was taken away by penalty.
A first-round pick in 2007, Spencer said the Cowboys' attempts to embrace the future in certain spots came with good reasoning.
"It makes the team younger, that's the biggest thing," he said. "It also helps with the experience. We've got a lot of young guys and we've got a lot of not really older guys, but guys that have got experience. When you get that combination and everyone's playing well, it's really good.
"I see plays better than I was seeing them before. Just the experience of being out there and having that, it helps out a lot."
In Jenkins, who competed with fellow second-year corner Orlando Scandrick in training camp, the Cowboys have a bona fide Pro Bowl candidate. While Henry was a good player, the team felt the two younger guys would be better options, and he was traded to Detroit for backup quarterback Jon Kitna.
Last season Jenkins started three games, but for parts of the year he was no more than the fourth cornerback behind Terence Newman, Henry and Pacman Jones. A starter in all but one game this season, Jenkins has a team-high five interceptions.
"I just thought about it as, OK, they got those guys out of here for a reason," Jenkins said. "And I just felt like it was going to be either me or Orlando to carry this team as a starting cornerback. I felt like a lot of responsibility was coming on us real fast, so I didn't want to come in slacking."
One emerging young player who didn't have anything given to him is Austin, but he might be the most impactful of this season's three new young starters. When Owens was released in March, Jerry Jones cited the need to give a chance to Austin and Sam Hurd, as well as maximize the Roy Williams trade.
Austin made only his first career start with Williams out of the lineup against Kansas City on Oct. 11, and hasn't looked back since. He had 250 yards and two touchdowns that day, and now leads the team in both yards from scrimmage (1,138) and touchdowns (11). Austin said he believed releasing Owens would give him more of an opportunity, even though the move wasn't made with the exact intention of elevating the former undrafted free agent to the first team.
"I didn't think they cleared a path for me," Austin said. "Going into training camp, Roy was starting, Pat (Crayton) was starting. Me and Sam were fighting for third receiver. . . . But there was definitely an opportunity and an opening to fight for a spot. Sometimes, you know how the league is, when people are getting paid or whatever the situation is you have to play those people."
With the playoffs hanging in the balance now, the Cowboys can feel good about finding and using some of the young talent they've developed on the bench. Maybe there's something to the idea of young legs being fresher late in the season.
The Cowboys hope their youngsters can continue to progress into the postseason.