Nov 13, 2011; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Jets wide receiver Plaxico Burress before the game against the New England Patriots at Met Life Stadium. Mandatory Credit: William Perlman/THE STAR-LEDGER via US PRESSWIRE

It is no secret that one of the weaknesses of the Dallas Cowboys going into training camp was depth at the wide receiver position. There are also question marks over the two main wide receivers in Miles Austin and Dez Bryant.  Austin, who missed several games last year with hamstring injuries, had to sit out of training camp this week with the same hamstring issues. Dez Bryant, who can never stay out of the negative news spotlight, is probably one more arrest away from being kicked off of the team. With very young or unproven wide receivers behind them on the depth chart, Cowboys may feel they need to add one more impact veteran wide receiver. (more…)

Jan.1, 2012; Miami, FL, USA; New York Jets wide receiver Plaxico Burress (17) is pushed out of bounds by Miami Dolphins cornerback Sean Smith (24) during the first half at Sun Life Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-US PRESSWIRE

5. He’s Cheap

It was revealed in the last couple days that the former Super Bowl winning wideout would play for the veteran minimum.  This is great news for a team with limited cap space like the Cowboys have. This may be a sign of desperation, but that doesn’t diminish Burress’ talent level. In fact, it may have humbled him a bit and could actually be beneficial.

4. He’s not young anymore but he should be fresh

Burress will turn 35 in two days. (Any else surprised he’s that old?) But “Plax” was out of football for almost two years from late November of 2008 thru August of 2011 because of the shooting incident that landed him jail time. Therefore, his body doesn’t have the normal wear and tear a receiver of his age should have. Let’s not forget, in his first season back from his “forced layoff”, Burress had 45 receptions for 683 yards and eight touchdowns for the New York Jets. And that was with Mark Sanchez as his quarterback!

Read the top three reasons the Cowboys should sign Plaxico Burress, on the next page…

Let’s go back to the first game of the Cowboys season for a second, where we see a loss to the New York Jets twenty first ranked pass offense and twenty second ranked rushing offense. Which mattered more: Romo’s fumble and interception, or the fact that we couldn’t stop Mark Sanchez from connecting with Plaxico Burress? Take into account we had the Jets pinned at their own 15 yard line and didn’t hold them to a 3rd down play until they were at the Dallas 26 yard line. If we had a defense worth their salt we would have won that game, changed our entire season and the seasons of many other teams (including the New York Giants). But we didn’t and sadly our Cowboys were scheduling tee times instead of practice times.

I’ll skip the Detroit Lions game for obvious reasons, but how about our week six match up against the AFC Champion Patriots? The Cowboys were winning heading into the 4th quarter, but once again the Cowboys defense failed to hold Tom Brady to much more than a 3rd and 1. Three plays after that 3rd and 1, we were watching Aaron Hernandez throw imaginary dollar bills into the air from the end zone. Again, another situation where a good defense could come in handy, don’t you think? Keep looking at our loss column and you will see the same thing over and over again.

Cardinals game: Couldn’t stop the mighty Kevin Kolb from hooking up with Stephens-Howling for a 52 yard scamper to win the game.

Both Eagles games: Our defense couldn’t stop a nose bleed.

Both Giants games: Our defense looked like they made a wrong turn heading to the Texas Rangers game.

All 8 of our losses can be credited, in many ways, to the lack of play by our defense. When Romo messes up, we should be feeling confident in our defense making a stop, not holding our breath and betting on the over/under for how long it takes them to score.

Defense is just as important now as it was fifty years ago. Heck, even the best offense in the league can have a bad day. Look at Green Bay. I thought they were Super Bowl bound the very second Aaron Rogers put up 61 points in one of my fantasy leagues. But wouldn’t you know it, the Giant’s defense held the great Aaron Rogers to only two touchdowns. Meanwhile the Packer’s Defense that was so good last year, gave Eli the opportunity to throw for 330 yards and 3 touchdowns.

Putting defense on the back burner this draft could make for another painful season next year. Like I said in my last article, I like DeCastro, from Stanford not USC, but I would feel very disappointed if we were to draft him with our fourteenth pick. If we don’t address the needs of our twenty third ranked pass defense then the Cowboys are in trouble.

Now, if the Cowboys did draft DeCastro and then made some big free agent pick ups I would feel a little more comfortable. But the 2011 Cowboys were interested in getting younger so I don’t see them pulling a 180 and spending what little cap space we have left on a big name free agents. During the Jerry Jones era of the Dallas Cowboys we have seen two types of teams: the Troy Aikmen led winners and the interchangeable Quarterback black hole led by Ryan Leaf and Quincy Carter. I don’t want to be known through out the league as winning one playoff game in 15 years anymore. I want our doomsday defense back. I saw enough offense at Texas Tech during the Mike Leach era to know that however good your offense is you can still lose without a good defense. I know that drafting a DB could be boom or bust, and I know DeCastro could be Pro Bowl material, but we would be picking him just to pick him, or for the “safe play”. Research who our last ‘safe’ draft picks are and you’ll find Barbie…I mean Bobby Carpenter, the slow starting Anthony Spencer, the highly touted yet highly mediocre Felix Jones, and Mike Jenkins. Even if we go with Quinton Couples, like the mock draft 2.0 projects, I would be happy. And at this point, I don’t care who we draft as long as they play defense.

Defense still matters. Go Cows.

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