Oct 2, 2011; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Browns running back Peyton Hillis (40) looks to get around Tennessee Titans cornerback Cortland Finnegan (31) during the third quarter at Cleveland Browns Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-US PRESSWIRE

Speaking of the Houston Texans, Mario Williams is a free agent this year. The top pick in the 2006 NFL draft, (The Cowboys took Bobby Carpenter 18th, nice move) Mario Williams is the only player taken top 3 in said draft that wasn’t a bust. Williams could make the Dallas Cowboys Defense awe inspiring. Mike Vick, (insert Redskins quarterback here), and Eli Manning would be on the ground with their thumbs in their mouths wanting to go home, which would then take our defensive backs out of the pressure cooker. It’s an awesome thought, but even if the Texans can’t manage to resign him long term, it would be near impossible for the Cowboys to match the asking price and still make a splash in the rest of free agency. So that is why he is on my wish list.

Jim Leonard anyone? Don’t recognize the name? Okay, well Jim has 185 tackles and 15 defended passes in 2 years, and is only 5’8. I’ll give you a hint: He plays next to an Island and a proud father of 9! If you guessed Darrell Revis and Antonio Cromartie, then nice job. Yes, Jim Leonard is that crazy white guy running around the New York Jets backfield. He is pretty tough and I think he would like our Ryan brother (Rob) as much as the Jets’ Ryan brother (Rex). Although he is too important to Rex Ryan’s defense to let him walk, if they do we need to pounce.

Brent Grimes is another stand out for the Dallas Cowboys to sign this free agency. He is a great cover corner and only lets 44.6% of opposing quarterbacks passes be caught (Darrell Revis allows 41.2). A great cover corner could give the Cowboys pass rush a little more time to get to the quarterback. I truly believe that if we had better corner back play last year, we would have at least been NFC East Champions.

Before the Cleveland Browns announced they would put the franchise tag on D’Qwell Jackson unless a long term contract agreement was reached, he was going to be on this list too. (Mon. Feb. 27th, Cleveland Browns resigned D’Qwell Jackson to a 5 year 42.5 Million dollar contract without using the franchise tag.)

Another Cleveland Brown of note is safety Mike Adams. Undrafted in 2004 out of Delaware, Adams was picked up by the San Francisco 49ers. After a few years with the Browns, Adams finally got his shot to start when Abe Elam was signed by our Dallas Cowboys for 2.5 million dollar one year contract. If we were to sign Adams and resign Abe Elam it would greatly elevate our safety play simply because Elam has 3 years of Rob’s defense and Mike Adams has 2. Even though the statistics are not a true insight into the Browns defensive performance under first year Defensive Coordinator Dick Jauron, (teams didn’t have to throw on the Browns because the running game was so effective) with T.J. Ward and Mike Adams at the safety positions the Cleveland Browns had the second best pass yards allowed with 184.9 average. Knowing that the Browns couldn’t stop the run I still wouldn’t want to pass up a shot to at least talk to Adams about becoming a part of the Legend that is America’s Team.

Aaron Ross, cornerback for the World Champion New York Giants, could be a pretty good signing as a 2nd corner. He now has two Super Bowl rings with the G-men, but they might not have him back next year. If the Giants pass on Ross, the Cowboys could not only add a little depth at the cornerback position, but he could have some pretty helpful tips for our offense.

Writers note: Reading some of the comments, a few people don’t agree with me wanting to add a running back to the Dallas Cowboys roster/preseason roster, like I wrote about in the last blog. Think about our running back core. Not a single one of them have stayed healthy for an entire season. We might not have personnel issues in our running back core (they are all talented) but no one can tell me we don’t have injury issues. It’s also my belief that every team should add a few running back prospects each year, if only to training camp. Running backs get old fast so we need a continuous shot in the arm of talent each year. With any luck, we might even discover the next Arian Foster.

Thanks for reading and Go Cows.

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Oct 23, 2010; Knoxville, TN, USA; Tennessee Volunteers wide receiver Gerald Jones (4) is defended on a pass play by Alabama Crimson Tide defensive back Dre Kirkpatrick (21) during the second half at Neyland Stadium. The Crimson Tide beat the Volunteers 41-10. Mandatory credit: Don McPeak-US PRESSWIRE

On February 8th, I wrote an article explaining why I thought the Cowboys should not draft DeCastro. Not surprisingly, many of the amended mock drafts now have the Cowboys drafting a defensive player instead of DeCastro.  It is well known that the Cowboys need to make significant improvements to their secondary, and that they will probably be looking for DB’s in free agency and the Draft.

Our Landry Hat Reader Question of the Week queried us about DB’s not named Morris Claiborne.

If you have questions for the Landry Hat Writers, please email us at cjlandryhat@hotmail.com

Andrew Campbell, New Orleans, : If LSU’s Morris Claiborne was the only CB who had been selected before you picked at 14 and you had to pick a DB, which one would you take, and why?

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(photo by dallascowboys.com)

As predicted, Tony Romo is being bashed and berated for his fourth quarter efforts against the NY Jets on Sunday night.  Without question, the consensus is the fumble at the goal line was the pivot point in a closely contested game.  We have all seen the play, but no one has taken the time to truly break down the play.

The play which set up the 1st and goal from the 3 yard line was a spectacular 30 yard pinpoint throw by Romo to Jason Witten who was in man coverage against Eric Smith.  Without Romo, the Cowboys are still around their 33 yard line.  Jon Kitna, as good of a backup QB as he is, cannot make that throw as evidenced by his pass selections in 2010.  Witten, who has received a fair share of blame, runs toward the left pylon only to be knocked out of bounds by a player who is substantially smaller.  Witten does step out of bounds at the 3.5 yard line.  His foot grazes the sideline by less than one inch.  If not for the inch, he does take the ball over the pylon for a touchdown.  Shall we insert a cliche’ about football being a game of inches?

The next play, 1st and goal from the 3 yard line is a run to the right with Felix Jones.  The Cowboys had an unbalanced line to the right (Doug Free playing TE) and motioned John Phillips to the right.  Against a seemingly base defense by the Jets, Jones gets just past the 2 yard line.  On 2nd and goal, the Cowboys throw a pass to Miles Austin who did not seem aware the ball would be coming his way.  On the play, Austin is the first read.  If Austin has position on Antonio Cromartie, the pass is coming his way.  However, as the ball is in the air, Austin is looking back at Cromartie and never turns his head to look for the ball until the ball whips past him.  The ball skirts passed Cromartie’s outstretched hands and the Cowboys narrowly avoid a 103 yard interception return. (more…)