A Closer Look At The Cowboys Linebacker And Wide Receiver Position Battles
With our Dallas Cowboys in the middle of a three day organized team activities (OTA’s), there are two sizable position groups. The Cowboys currently have 11 linebackers and wide receivers.
Dallas Cowboys 2015 Roster at LB & WR on 5/27/2015 | |||
Linebackers | Wide Receivers | ||
Donnie Baggs | R | 4 | |
6 | 6 | ||
4 | 1 | ||
2 | George Farmer | R | |
3 | Antwan Goodley | R | |
6 | Deontay Greenberry | R | |
4 | Nick Harwell | R | |
Mark Nzeocha | R | 4 | |
7 | 2 | ||
4 | Lucky Whitehead | R | |
Damien Wilson | R | 3 |
In 2014, the Cowboys used 5 receivers and 10 linebackers. During Week One against the San Francisco 49’ers, the Cowboys had 7 linebackers and 5 receivers.
| Position | First | Second | Third |
| Strongside | Kyle Wilber | Cameron Lawrence | |
| Middle | Rolando McClain | Anthony Hitchens | |
| Weakside |
Carter, Durant and Toomer and no longer on the roster. Last year, Lee was injured. This year, he’s projected to be the starting weakside linebacker. Hitchens, last year’s 4th round draft pick is expected to be the starting strongside linebacker.
That gives us nine players fighting for possibly four roster spots. There are three rookies that I might discount, but like Hitchens, Wilson is also a 4th round draft pick. If he’s in the mix for a roster spot, one of the veterans is on the bubble.
More from The Landry Hat
- 3 ways Cowboys’ Dak Prescott can have a bounce-back season in 2023
- Cowboys News: Dallas sets pre-draft visit with potential Dalton Schultz upgrade
- NFL executives heaping praise on offseason is uncharted territory for Cowboys
- 3 free agent signings from NFC East rivals that left Cowboys fans laughing
- Cowboys News: Brandin Cooks sends flattering message to CeeDee Lamb, Stephon Gilmore
The wide receiver battle is more intense. I’d like to think the only guaranteed spot belongs to Dez Bryant. In the NFL, money talks. The top four players by salary are Bryant, Beasley, Williams and Street. That leaves seven players fighting for one or two roster spots. Forget running back, the real battle is at the wide receiver positions!
I haven’t been a fan of Williams and it’s nothing personal. Watching on film, he continually shows to be an average receiver. There’s a reason Bryant is the go to guy – his hands. Like New York Giants receiver Odell Beckham Jr., Bryant is excellent at tracking the ball with his eyes and snatching it out of the air. I could easily see him grabbing flying insects with a pair of chopsticks.
Williams fails to impress in this area. To often, he catches the football by trapping it against his shoulder pads. Check out the 43 yard touchdown from quarterback Tony Romo to Williams against the Texans in 2014. He catches a lot of passes in that manner and unfortunately it also results in drops too.
Williams is currently our number two guy and as long as he wears The Star, we all stand behind him and hope he does his absolute best. Until Williams causes defenses to focus on him as well as Bryant, I believe the Cowboys will continue to bring in competition for his roster spot.
That’s why players love the Dallas Cowboys. The front office takes chances with a lot of undrafted free agents. It’s truly a best man win competition and sometimes that’s all you can ask for – a fair shot. That’s what makes the off season so exciting. The linebacker and receiver groups are deep – May the best men win.
#GoCowboys
Find me at Facebook.com/CowboysRob
Next: Dallas Cowboys: How Roger Staubach Is Wrong About Greg Hardy