Blogging The Boys
Every so often, we gather to discuss the latest news about the Dallas Cowboys and seek our writer’s perspective on each headline. Welcome back to the roundtable. This week we have Jess Haynie, Sean Martin, Brian Martin, and for his first Roundtable appearance we have Jorge Guajardo.
Mike: Jaishawn Barham is the rookie I’m most excited to watch because linebacker was one of Dallas’ biggest weaknesses last season and desperately needed an upgrade. Barham is has the size to handle traffic between the tackles, but also the athleticism to chase plays outside and create pressure when sent after the quarterback. Training camp will show how quickly he diagnoses offenses and earns the coaches’ trust, but the opportunity is there for him.
Jess: If we’re all being honest, the answer is Caleb Downs. So I’ll go with my next guy, Jaishawn Barham. We’re desperate for stability at inside linebacker, let alone a playmaker. Even if DeMarvion Overshown explodes this year, and his knee doesn’t, we still need one more guy to help make this defense competitive again. Comparisons between Barham and the Eagles’ Zack Baun, given the Christian Parker connection, are also tantalizing.
Jorge: The answer is Caleb Downs, but I really want to see Michael Trigg. TE is one of the deepest position groups on this team, and if Brevyn Spann-Ford makes a leap, the path to the 53-man roster gets really tough for everybody behind Spann-Ford, setting up what could be a desperate attempt to make the roster, which, I think, always leads to entertaining and even good football. Trigg is a physical specimen, so seeing him fight and claw for a roster spot could be epic, and could light a fire under the other TEs on the roster as well.
Brian: As much as I’m looking forward to seeing what Caleb Downs can do in the ever important nickel/safety role in Christian Parker’s scheme, I’m going to go with the Cowboys other first-round pick, Malachi Lawrence. Dallas’ pass rush was pretty much nonexistent a season ago, but will hopefully be much improved this year with the new, versatile 3-4 scheme and the additions of Rashan Gary and Lawrence. The rookie could play a big role as a pass rush specialist or maybe even earn a starting role.
Sean: Kind of an “old man sitting on the porch” answer from me, which believe me doesn’t feel too great on a personal level, but I’ve covered enough Cowboys camps at this point to know that it is a yearly tradition like no other to absolutely lose our minds over a fringe wide receiver that makes some intriguing plays. It is the one position where a huge swarm of fans always have a “pet cat” they swear has to be a roster lock, very few ever are, but the fun and enthusiasm still goes on year after year.
For these reasons I’m going with seventh-round pick Anthony...
