2015 Dallas Cowboys Roster
As we prepare for the 2015 regular season of the National Football League,..all teams have reduced their rosters to 53 players. The Dallas Cowboys released over a dozen this weekend to attain the 53 man limit. This is the way they will look heading into the Sunday night opener against the New York Giants.
In 2014 I was happily mistaken when I picked Dallas to be 9-7 for the season, but I was probably not the only one surprised when the Boys finished 12-4. They might have gone even farther if not for that call in the Green Bay game ( I promised I would not lose my temper over that call again.)
Dallas will open the season with only two quarterbacks on the roster. Tony Romo will start and Brandon Weeden will back up.
On Tuesday (September 22nd) the Cowboys made a trade with the Buffalo Bills for veteran quarterback Matt Cassell. He has been in the NFL for eleven years and played with Minnesota and Kansas City before Buffalo. With Romo out for the next seven games due to a broken collar bone, Cassell is listed as Weeden's back-up,..but may challenge for the position.
#30 is Christine Michael, who hardly touched the ball in his two years with the Seahawks. The former Texas A&M star is 5'10'' and tips the scales at 220 pounds. I foresee him as a front runner in the Cowboys 'group effort' at the tailback spot.
A couple of new faces will also join the receiving corp for Dallas in 2015. Dez Bryant, Terrance Williams, and Cole Beasley return, and rookies Devin Street and Lucky Whitehead made the team. Look for Whitehead to be used to receive kickoffs and punts.
On Tuesday (9-15-2015) Dallas traded for Oakland Raiders wide receiver Brice Butler. He will help fill the void created when Dez Bryant broke his foot in the season opening WIN over the NY Giants. Bryant is expected to be out for 6-8 weeks. If Butler plays in 5 games this season Dallas will give up a 5th round draft pick in 2016.
At tight end there is no one better than Jason Witten, and he returns for a 14th year. He will be joined by James Hanna, Gavin Escobar, and rookie Geoff Swaim from the University of Texas.
The offensive line has gotten a lot of publicity over the last year with just about all publications predicting them to walk on water in 2015. With all the number one draft picks among them, they might just be able to do that. Travis Frederick will anchor the line at center, while Zack Martin, Ron Leary, and Mackenzy Bernadeau will play guard. La'el Collins, Doug Free, Tyron Smith, and Darrion Weems fill out the tackles.
Okay,... Just making sure I still had your attention!! Let's move over to defense, which I thought was a real weak spot for Dallas in 2014...especially in the secondary.
The Cowboys used their top pick in the NFL college draft to fill that need when they picked Byron Jones out of the University of Connecticut. Jones can play safety or cornerback, but remember he is a rookie and will need some learning time. Corey White, Tyler Patmon, Morris Claiborne, and Brandon Carr will play on the corners, while Barry Church, Jeff Heath, Danny McCray, and J.J. Wilcox are the safeties.
Pressure on opposing quarterbacks was a top goal of defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli over the off-season but two of his top players will start the season on the suspension list of the NFL. Defensive end Greg Hardy and linebacker Rolando McClain both will sit out a few games to begin 2015.
The Cowboys will go with Randy Gregory, Jack Crawford, DeMarcus Lawrence, Jeremy Mincy, and Ryan Russell at defensive end to begin the season. The interior tackles will be Nick Hayden, Tyrone Crawford, Devon Coleman, Terrell McClain, and Ken Bishop. They will have to man the battle stations until Hardy and Rolando return on October 5th.
Linebacker has been a position filled with injuries for Dallas over the past couple of seasons, so they open the 2015 year with six of them. Andrew Gachkar, Anthony Hitchens, Keith Smith, Kyle Wilber, Damien Wilson, and Sean Lee, who has missed most of the past two years with knee operations. As of Monday (9-7-2015) the Cowboys released linebacker Jasper Brinkley to make room for offensive tackle Jordan Mills, who they claimed off the waiver wire of the Chicago Bears.
Familiar faces will man the specialty positions for Dallas as Dan Bailey will handle the kick-offs, Chris Jones the punting, and L.P. LaDouceur is again the long snapper.
That is the 53 man roster to begin the season, but Dallas is not counting guard Chaz Green, who tore up a knee in training camp and can't play yet. Linebacker Mark Nzeocha is being carried as a non-football related injury, and of course, veteran cornerback Orlando Scandrick is out for the season with a torn ACL muscle.
While history will show me to be a dedicated Dallas Cowboy fan dating back to 1960, I just can't see them anywhere close to the 12-4 record of 2014. Hopefully, I am wrong, but I see this years team as a 10-6 group and maybe that is good enough for the NFC Eastern Division Championship. Good Luck Dallas! Go 'Boys !
2015 N.F.L. Season
Sept 13th Dallas 27 New York Giants 20 (1-0)
Sept 20th Dallas 20 Philadelphia 10 (2-0)
Sept 27th Dallas 28 Atlanta 39 (2-1)
Oct 4th Dallas 20 New Orleans 26 OT (2-2)
Oct 11th Dallas 6 New England 30 (2-3)
Oct 18th Open Date== No Game
Oct 25th Dallas 20 NY Giants 27 (2-4)
Nov 1st Dallas 12 Seattle 13 (2-5)
Nov 8th Dallas 27 Philadelphia 33 OT (2-6)
Nov 15th Dallas 6 Tampa Bay 10 (2-7)
Nov 22nd Dallas 24 Miami 14 (3-7)
Nov 26th Dallas 14 Carolina 33 (3-8)
Dec 7th Dallas 19 Washington 16 (4-8)
Dec 13th Dallas 7 Green Bay 28 (4-9)
Dec 19th Dallas 16 NY Jets 19 (4-10)
Dec 27th Dallas 6 Buffalo 16 (4-11)
Jan 3rd Dallas 23 Washington 34 (4-12)
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