ValleyGMan:

Let me see if I understand you guys correctly.  So, Roy's strengths are not in playing deep in coverage but instead playing close to the line of scrimmage and assisting in run tackling and short to intermediate pass coverage with RBs, HBs, and TEs?  Hmmm?  Sounds like he's being placed in the right position now, having to play the Strong Side LB position in either the Dime or Nickle Defensive Packages.  Well, even at that he seems to struggle mightily most of the time.  Nowadays, he struggles to stop a ball-carrier for no gain or a loss, and even when he is able to lay a hit on them, he rarely wraps up like any good defensive tackler should do, thus enabling his opponent to be able to break the "hit" and gain some more positive yards.  Plus, and most importantly, he's terrible most of the time whenever he's asked to cover 1-on-1, whether it's a RB, HB, or a TE.  Hmmm?  Oh, I see, ya'll are probably going to say that he's too small (6'0" and 229 lbs.) to be a LB, even if he's being forced to play as one during the Nickle or Dime packages, right?  That he's not a LB but a Safety (last line of defense and a true tackler), and even at that, a Strong Safety (The strong safety tends to play closer to the line and assist in stopping the run. He may also be responsible for covering a player, such as a running back or fullback or h-back, who goes in motion in the backfield and then out for a pass.).  Well, I can name you 2 "true but smaller in height and pretty much equal in weight" LBs who played not-too-long-ago for our Cowboys who were way much better and way more consistent than Roy is in QB Blitzing, Tackling, and Pass Coverage (RBs, HBs, and TEs)...Dat Nguyen (5'11" and 238 lbs. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dat_Nguyen) and Dexter Coakley (5'10 and 230 lbs. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dexter_Coakley).  Plus, they were cheaper!  They were not 1 dimensional like Roy is nowadays (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Williams_(safety), but instead were far superior in all 3 facets required of them to perform on Defense (same as Roy).  This is the type of players which I miss nowadays in Dallas.  These 2 guys could do it all, remember?  Don't get me wrong, I support all of our Cowboys, but after seeing others from the not-too-far past play here, I've gotten to the point of desiring much more of a multi-dimensional defensive player over a one-dimensional one.  Why?  Because you get more bang for your buck.  Either way, Roy is a Cowboy and I'll support him for as long as he remains a Cowboy.  Good luck, Roy.  Hope things get better for you and that you may regain your form from your earlier years 3-4 years ago.  Go Cowboys!

Thanks for bringing up those 2 names. Dat and Dex were my 2 favorites when they played. Dex especially. He was from my home town and i watched him playing in high school and was thrilled when he made the Cowboys and contributed so much.

LOL at the "football knowledge lessons" being taught here.

Uh, no.  Today, teams play a preponderance of Cover 2, including the Cowboys.  There really isn't a pure strong safety position anymore; you've got to be able to cover first, play the run second, a la Ed Reed or Brian Dawkins.

If you think RW is so good, why do you think Wade has him on the sidelines in virtually all passing situations these days?

And since when did safeties start getting judged foremost by tackles?  LOL

Erod22:

LOL at the "football knowledge lessons" being taught here.

Uh, no.  Today, teams play a preponderance of Cover 2, including the Cowboys.  There really isn't a pure strong safety position anymore; you've got to be able to cover first, play the run second, a la Ed Reed or Brian Dawkins.

If you think RW is so good, why do you think Wade has him on the sidelines in virtually all passing situations these days?

And since when did safeties start getting judged foremost by tackles?  LOL

 

thanks for the "football knowledge lesson" LOL

 

attempting to belittles other's knowledge while trying spout your own does not actually make you better, just FYI. you're still just some guy on the internet simply guessing what a defensive players responsiblity is per play....just like everyone else.

I just shutter at the thought that anyone can defend RW with a straight face.  He is perhaps the worst cover safety on the Cowboys, let alone the NFL.

Erod22:

I just shutter at the thought that anyone can defend RW with a straight face.  He is perhaps the worst cover safety on the Cowboys, let alone the NFL.

 

and your opinion has been WELL documented in this, thank you.

Erod22:

I just shutter at the thought that anyone can defend RW with a straight face.  He is perhaps the worst cover safety on the Cowboys, let alone the NFL.

Lmao...Lol...the worst...Then, again I ask you: Who should we replace Williams with? And, why is he still starting? Amazing the coaches haven't caught on to your theory.

Erod22:

I just shutter at the thought that anyone can defend RW with a straight face.  He is perhaps the worst cover safety on the Cowboys, let alone the NFL.

Can you honestly name 3 NFC SS that you would take over Roy Williams.  

Cause while I can think of 2 I would trade him for straight up today that is a far cry from worst in the NFL and I did not even look at the AFC.

cboys4ever:

Erod22:

I just shutter at the thought that anyone can defend RW with a straight face.  He is perhaps the worst cover safety on the Cowboys, let alone the NFL.

Can you honestly name 3 NFC SS that you would take over Roy Williams.  

Cause while I can think of 2 I would trade him for straight up today that is a far cry from worst in the NFL and I did not even look at the AFC.

Exactly. There are fans who have admitted they dislike Williams, and that's fine. But if you look around, there are very few who do it better. And, there are probably zero SS who will take all the heat and blame.

ValleyGMan

Look, I liked Dex and Dat as much as the next fan....they were both great little undersized LBs.

Since the league leaders in tackles are ALWAYS LBs, it is no real surprise that they both generally had more tackles per game, and per season that Roy.....what IS surprising is that despite playing a position that usually lends itself to MANY more tackles than a DB would get, neither of those guy averaged THAT many more tackles per game than Roy does!

However, tackling is not the real issue here, you claim that "who were way much better and way more consistent than Roy is in QB Blitzing, Tackling, and Pass Coverage (RBs, HBs, and TEs)"

Come on dude!   Pass coverage?  Really?

In 7 seasons in the league Dat had 18 Pass deflections, and 7 INTs

In 10 seasons in the league Dex had 23 Pass Deflections, and 13 INTs

In less than 6 seasons in the league Roy has 38 pass deflections and 19 INTs

I'll concede that those guys were both very good LBs, but to try to compare their pass coverage to that of Roy Williams is just revisionist history at BEST!

You also said that "Nowadays, he struggles to stop a ball-carrier for no gain or a loss, and even when he is able to lay a hit on them, he rarely wraps up like any good defensive tackler should do, thus enabling his opponent to be able to break the "hit" and gain some more positive yards"

Roy has 65 solo tackles in 14 games......he has NOT allowed very damn many guys to "break the hit", he has been wrapping up MUCH better than he had been the last couple of years.....and once again, he has nearly DOUBLED his number of tackles per game from last season!

As it is now, if it were not for his suspension hurting his numbers, he was on pace for his second best season EVER, in terms of total tackles, and solo tackles!  Even WITH the one game suspension, he will still have better numbers than he had in '03, '05, or '06!  (in fact he's already surpassed those seasons, in only 14 games!!!)

I just get sick of people claiming that he's "lost" his mojo, or that he is having a "bad" season, when the FACTS illustrate very well that he has actually been having a VERY good season!!!

Like I said before, if you just listened to the anti-Roy Williams guys, you'd SWEAR that he has been getting burned over and over, game after game, when the fact is that he has been burned a FEW times, in a FEW games!   Generally he has actually been quite consistant in all aspects of the SS position, especially when compared to the other SS around the league!!

Other than the penalties for the horse-collar tackles, Roy has done very little to hurt this team, and has done a LOT to help!!

Erod22

Uh, no.  Today, teams play a preponderance of Cover 2, including the Cowboys.  There really isn't a pure strong safety position anymore; you've got to be able to cover first, play the run second, a la Ed Reed or Brian Dawkins.

If you think RW is so good, why do you think Wade has him on the sidelines in virtually all passing situations these days

Maybe you should have a little chat with Wade and let him know that Roy is "on the sidelines" on virtually all passing situations....he would be surprised to hear that considering that when he was asked about the sub-packages he made a point of correcting this misnomer that R.W. is being held out on passing downs!   HE and Roy have both said that Roy is playing pretty much the same number of downs that he always has!

If you had actually been watching the games carefully, you'd have noticed that in our version of the "cover 2"....a.k.a. our various "sub" packages, Roy is often still in the game, simply plays up in the nickel LB position, while Watkins usually plays as the deep safety.

Of course the real irony is that Watkins has been burned at LEAST as many times as Roy has this year in coverage (not to mention that he only gets a fraction of the plays that Roy does), AND he is not as good of a tackler, so usually when HE gets burned in coverage, it goes for more yards than it probably would have had Roy been back there!

Wade even made sure to point that out a few games ago, as a matter of fact!

An intelligent person could simply watch the player interviews on the multi-media site regarding Roy's suspension and listen to all of the players talk about how important Roy is to this defense, and how we will be hard pressed to replace him for the one game he will miss and realize that the PLAYERS and COACHES realize just how much Roy does for this defense........I wonder why so many fans do not?  

Finally, as for the tackles issue, since Roy is the last line of defense, and since guys like Spears and Ayodele have so few tackles, if Roy wasn't making all of those tackles they'd be TDs, instead of stops (that in turn often become FGs, rather than TDs).

Once again, for all the complaining about our "weak" secondary we have only allowed 17 passing TDs in 14 games....doesn't sound all that "weak" to ME!!!

Roy Williams is the best thing since finger jousting

I love football.

QB 09 2 81:

Erod22

Uh, no.  Today, teams play a preponderance of Cover 2, including the Cowboys.  There really isn't a pure strong safety position anymore; you've got to be able to cover first, play the run second, a la Ed Reed or Brian Dawkins.

If you think RW is so good, why do you think Wade has him on the sidelines in virtually all passing situations these days

Maybe you should have a little chat with Wade and let him know that Roy is "on the sidelines" on virtually all passing situations....he would be surprised to hear that considering that when he was asked about the sub-packages he made a point of correcting this misnomer that R.W. is being held out on passing downs!   HE and Roy have both said that Roy is playing pretty much the same number of downs that he always has!

If you had actually been watching the games carefully, you'd have noticed that in our version of the "cover 2"....a.k.a. our various "sub" packages, Roy is often still in the game, simply plays up in the nickel LB position, while Watkins usually plays as the deep safety.

Of course the real irony is that Watkins has been burned at LEAST as many times as Roy has this year in coverage (not to mention that he only gets a fraction of the plays that Roy does), AND he is not as good of a tackler, so usually when HE gets burned in coverage, it goes for more yards than it probably would have had Roy been back there!

Wade even made sure to point that out a few games ago, as a matter of fact!

An intelligent person could simply watch the player interviews on the multi-media site regarding Roy's suspension and listen to all of the players talk about how important Roy is to this defense, and how we will be hard pressed to replace him for the one game he will miss and realize that the PLAYERS and COACHES realize just how much Roy does for this defense........I wonder why so many fans do not?  

Finally, as for the tackles issue, since Roy is the last line of defense, and since guys like Spears and Ayodele have so few tackles, if Roy wasn't making all of those tackles they'd be TDs, instead of stops (that in turn often become FGs, rather than TDs).

Once again, for all the complaining about our "weak" secondary we have only allowed 17 passing TDs in 14 games....doesn't sound all that "weak" to ME!!!

From how bad people make our defense sound, maybe I can retire from the flag football league and try out!

This is huge also, resetting this one