[e16bball]

I think the Cowboys are being overrated based on these offseason acquisitions.

As has been previously mentioned, the majority of their additions have age and injury issues. Bledsoe, Glenn, Rivera, and Ferguson are all perfect examples of this; Parcells is playing for the "now" as opposed to building for the future, which is fine by me. Now, the fact that he is mortgaging the future doesn't mean they won't be good this year, and I understand that. The fact that these players are well past their prime does, on the other hand. Bledsoe no longer has any passion to play football, and his renowned arm strength has waned a bit. He has never been a good decision-maker, and has the Ramsey-like tendency to take sacks, now more than ever as at this point he very well may be less mobile than Vinny was last year. He doesn't have the necessary deep threats to take advantage of his preferred style of passing, which is to air the ball out. He may very well struggle in their run-oriented offense as well, just as he has in Buffalo. Rivera, as has been mentioned several times, has the back issue, and, while it doesn't seem to be too serious, that can lead to tentative play. He hasn't been a dominator in the running game of late anyway. He will be solid, just not a game-changer there at RG. Aaron Glenn, well, he is spent. That's about all there is to say about the guy, except that he was definitely a good player in his prime. Last year, though, he was one of the biggest offenders in the porous Texans defense. He will be a nickel player, and not a factor. Ferguson is tough, but I'm not sure how I like him at NT in the 3-4. I like him as a run-stuffing NT in the 4-3, where he's not necessarily the lynchpin of the defense, but I just don't see him having the workman-like attitude or the conditioning necessary to take on multiple blocks each play. He will be fine, too, but again just a role player, not a game-changer. Anthony Henry is about the same. He's a decent CB, but I remember a statistic that he was the 2nd most burned corner in the league last year. His speed isn't impressive, and I have heard rumblings that they may move him to FS. I'm really not worried about him, although he's definitely an upgrade over Lance Frazier and the other poor kids they put over there last year.

My other comment focuses on the rumored shift to the 3-4, or the installation, at least, of a sort of hybrid. Their defensive personnel is all over the board, and I'm really not sure what their plan is. It almost seems like they could go with two separate units, one being the 4-3 group and and the other being the 3-4 group. Players like La'roi Glover, Greg Ellis, Dat Nguyen, Kevin Burnett, Leonardo Carson, and Bradie James, to an extent, are all well-suited for the 4-3. Most of them are holdovers from earlier years, and are really just undersized for their respective positions in the 3-4. On the other hand, some of their new acquisitions like Marcus Spears, Demarcus Ware, and Chris Canty are really tailored toward the 3-4 specifically. Spears and Canty lack the explosion to be pass-rushers at DE in the 4-3, and Ware is not big enough to effectively play every down in the 4-3 at DE, but doesn't have the coverage skills, either. It just seems like a strange group of players, and, while they are all good players, I don't see how they fit together. But, I'm not the future Hall of Fame coach, so far be it from me to tell Bill Parcells he doesn't know how to assemble a team. I just don't see it at the moment.