It's never easy to have to make decisions on players but in this case for the Cowboys, I didn't get the sense that the stress level was all that high in that draft room on this first cut to 75 players. Where it becomes more difficult for the club is when they will try and work this roster to 53. There will be players that they will struggle with just for the fact that they might not feel like they got the best evaluation of that player. A player that comes to mind is Danny Coale.
There is a reason they drafted Coale in the 5th round but did you see enough to believe that he deserved a roster spot over Andre Holmes? How about Adrian Hamilton, Orie Lemon, or Mana Silva? All these guys showed something during camp to give the coaches and front office reason to keep them on the roster. The problem is in their minds they have an idea of how many they are going to need to keep at each position but with the uncertainty with some injured starters they might be forced to have to go long at a position just to get through the first week.
You also have to factor in players from other teams that might be better than what you are playing with. Here is where the coaches really have to trust the scouts who are studying the tapes on a weekly basis while they were getting their own team ready. The coaches know their roster because they have worked with these players all summer, the trick and sometimes problem is to convince them that the player on that waiver wire is better than what they are playing with.
Here is where Jason Garrett is going to have to step in and show leadership for the group. When I worked in the front office with this team, the head coach had a great responsibility to set the roster. Garrett has got to trust that these scouts know their own roster but more importantly can a player be an outstanding fit. Jerry and Stephen Jones will trust that Jason will make the right call if they need to add a player that can upgrade this roster.
Jason Garrett will also be a major factor, in whether this team carries two or three quarterbacks. Garrett tells us every day how much the club values the quarterback position but there is going to have to be a decision made there. If they do carry a third quarterback, then you are probably not going to be able to carry that extra receiver, defensive linemen or linebacker. They might not be able to carry an extra special teams guy as well.
The one area that helps them on the 53 is not carrying the extra kicker as they have in the past. The scouts will have to convince Garrett that carrying the third quarterback might not be the best situation for the 53 but the one thing I believe is that Garrett does respect scouting so if you have a coach with an open mind, it makes a scout's job much easier and that is all you can ask for this time of year.
