and the Cowboys' secondary (adding Brandon Carr and drafting Morris Claiborne).
I barely have the time to follow the Cowboys moves, much less others, but I have a few opinions on the offseason moves.
Leading off: The secondary was the worst unit on the field for the Cowboys in 2011, and they obviously zeroed in on it from the beginning with Carr being the premium DB available in FA and then moving aggressively to take the highest rated CB on a Cowboys draft board since Deion Sanders. They also addressed safety by bringing in B Poole from the Jets and drafting a small school interception machine in Matt Johnson.
A lot of Cowoboys fans were saying Jerry had lost his wheeling and dealing touch after no notable secondary upgrades last year, and whiffing on Asomugha. I think this year proves that notion wrong, and I think in big picture terms, not signing the soon-to-be 31 year old Asomugha was a blessing in disguise, as the fallout was to acquire the 26 year old Brandon Carr. Carr's best days should still be ahead of him, while Asomugha should be losing a step soon, if not this year.
Moving on to Matt Johnson: Depending on who you listen to, this was either one of the steals of the draft or a wasted pick. Watching what little highlights are available of the guy, he looks like a player with tremendous upside. I'll trust that the scouting team did it's work.
The Cowboys also threw bodies at the front seven, and released the slow and ancient ILB duo of Brookings and James. Lee will be leading the defense, and will be joined inside by either the newly acquired Conner and/or last years injury red shirt draft acquisition Bruce Carter. The Cowboys spent 2 draft picks on outside linebacker projects and signed Conner in FA. Hopefully this either pushes Carter and Spencer to excel and achieve their potential or out the door.
There is also a youth movement on the defensive line. Lissemore is expected to replace the aging and barely servicable Kenyon Coleman, and pick Tyrone Crawford is going to get some playing time. There have been rumors of Lissemore moving to NT and switching Ratliff to end.
Rob Ryan has taken the blame for the defensive snafus in miscommunication last year (although the lockout certainly didnt help with the new scheme), and has vowed it will be cleared up this time.
Overall, the entire Dallas defense, as usual for Dallas teams in the last five years, has a lot of upside, but is a big question mark. Will it all gel (and of course, will the injury bug stay away)? If it does, I expect a top five defense.
The leader of this defense on the field is now Sean "The General" Lee. He is a tackling machine and has amazing hands and awareness.His ability to stay healthy and command the field/set the tone is going to be key.
On the other side of the ball, the biggest question mark going into 2011 was the offensive line, and that has not changed. Dallas has thrown a lot of draft picks at it in the last few years, and brought in two FAs this year. Free and Smith have been swapped at the ends.
Now one of the FA guards brought in is out for much of the offseason due to hip surgery. Smith was the best lineman of the bunch last year on the right side, while Free regressed having been moved to left tackle. Free should be back to 2010 form on the right side, and Smith is expected to improve even with the change to left tackle. With all the premier rushers on both sides in the NFC East, Romo's health will depend heavily on improved play from both. The competition between young guys and FAs in the middle of the line is the bigger unknown. Overall, lots of movement, but only time will tell on improvement.
