Cowboys' Cornerback Depth Makes for Interesting Camp Battles

     According to Kevin Burnett's blog, a lot of the Cowboys blitz packages are easy to read because they disguise what's going on in coverage.  If that's true (which would explain a lot), then cornerback is an important position for the Cowboys in a way that it is not for teams like the Giants and Eagles, who rely on diverse and disguised pressure packages to create problems for an offense.  Lucky for Jerry Jones and Wade Phillips, the Cowboys are stacked at the position.  Not only do the 'Boys have Terrence Newman, Anthony Henry and Adam "the-artist-formerly-known-as-Pacman" Jones, they also have a slew of young talent, both from draft picks and practice squad players.

Assuming Jones is reinstated, most people expect him to start, but I see him as the number three cornerback, at least until the midway point.  But the fact remains that a loaded roster of cornerbacks will be competing for what amounts to two spots on the roster (unless the cowboys do something crazy like carrying six CBs).  The talent level at the competition for those spots is high.

Mike Jenkins, the Cowboys second first-round pick, seems to be the leader of the pack for the number four spot, but Orlando Scandrick, a steal in the fifth round, could make a push in training camp.  Barring that, Scandrick will be competing with Evan Oglesby, Alan Ball, and Quincy Butler for that fifth spot.  While Scandrick has loads of upside, each player brings something to the table.  During mini-camps, Deion Sanders stopped by and told gathered media to keep an eye out for Oglesby.  I think it's fair to say that Prime Time knows his way around the cornerback position.

Whoever ends up filling out the Cowboys roster will have to be smart, as much as anything else.  The Cowboys rely heavily on disguised coverages, so the cornerback needs to know where to be and whom to cover.  With such deep talent, the Cowboys seem to have the kind of defensive personnel for their system that the Giants had for their pass rush in 2007.  We all saw how that worked out for them.