Tony Romo being out could be blessing in disguise for the Dallas Cowboys
By Jeff Magnia
It was reported on Tuesday, May 21st that QB Tony Romo will be sitting out the OTA’s (Organized Team Activities) and not expected ready to participate until a June mini-camp or training camp. Already thinking about how this will affect the team; this could be a blessing in disguise for not only Romo but the organization.
Romo will have the extra time to sit down and evaluate film a lot more closely and also do any type of studying he will need to do to prepare the upcoming 2013-14 National Football League season. It’s been reported that team owner/general manager Jerry Jones wants his quarterback to put in Peyton Manning type of time into preparing. This is one way to accomplish that.
During the time that Romo is sitting out, the Cowboys will get a better picture of their backup quarterback situation. At the moment, the Dallas Cowboys have three other signal callers’ on the roster: Kyle Orton, Nick Stephens, and Dalton Williams.
Kyle Orton is a nine year veteran who has been with the Cowboys since 2012. He played one game and went for 9-10 for 89 yards with one touchdown. His previous experience included stints at Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs, and Chicago Bears. He made his mark with the Bears, playing for them for four seasons and then made his move to the Denver in 2009. From there he played two seasons then went to the Chiefs for a brief time before signing a 3-year contract, $10.5 million contract with the Cowboys.
Nick Stephens is signed a 2-year, $900,000 contract in 2013. Stephens previously played with the Tennessee Titans but he didn’t make it past training camp so his rookie status is still intact. He played collegiately at Tarleton State. He originally attended Tennessee before transferring in 2009, after losing his starting job. His scouting report from 2012 states that he has good arm strength but needs to work on his accuracy and decision making. From what it says, he seems to be injury prone as well, having broken his right wrist in 2010 while at Tennessee, then had a separated shoulder in 2011 while at Tarleton State.
May 10, 2013; Irving, TX, USA; Dallas Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett watches quarterback Dalton Williams (7) perform a drill during the rookie minicamp at Dallas Cowboys Headquarters in Irving, TX. Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports
Dalton Williams is a rookie free agent from Akron State where started one season. He previously attended Stephen F. Austin and attended Coppell High School, where he was hoping to keep his football dreams in the state of Texas. Those dreams stayed alive but he had to travel to Ohio to complete his collegiate football career. Now that he is back in Texas, it appears he is hoping to start a pro career in his home state. Williams will have to overcome his accuracy issues, learn his footwork from taking a snap from the center, and find some consistency with his throwing motion.
Kyle Orton will dust the rust off with getting a majority of the snaps during the OTA’s while the other two quarterbacks, Stephens and Williams, will not only fight for the third quarterback spot but a roster spot as well. From the judging of things, it probably wouldn’t hurt to bring in another veteran quarterback just in case either of the rookies doesn’t meet expectations. After reviewing their scouting reports, they have a lot of work to do and at the professional level, there isn’t much time to get them where they should be before they get released. Bringing in an experienced veteran to fill that third quarterback spot is probably the best thing the Cowboys could do at this point.
So to say having Romo out for such a long period of time isn’t going to be that bad, he will have time to study up and put in the time Jones wants him to plus we can evaluate the talent or lack of talent we have at the quarterback positions. If neither of the rookies pans out, let’s hope Jones wises up and gets a quality third stringer. Orton is the undisputed number 2 and that will not change.