worthy, that certainly would save the Cowboys from dipping into the free-agent castoff pile the first of September or possibly even having to make a trade.
Deon Anderson:OK, his path here is somewhat beaten, being a sixth-round draft choice. But even though he has been working behind Oliver Hoyte and Lousaka Polite at fullback, the Cowboys are very high on his motor, his lead-blocking ability and his capability of playing special teams. Plus, he does a nice job of catching the ball out of the backfield.
Anderson appears to be battling Polite for a roster spot, and even though Phillips says he will either keep two fullbacks and three tight ends or three fullbacks and two tight ends, the former scenario would seem more practical. At this point, the laser beam seems to be on Deon.
Tony Curtis: No, not the father of Jamie Lee - the tight end who spent the 2005 season on the Cowboys practice squad and then split time between the practice squad and the 53-man roster last year that the Cowboys sent to NFL Europa this spring. He couldn't start for Cologne, but he showed up in that first preseason game with three catches.
The performance seems to have turned on a light for the former Portland State tight end who has been more noticeable in practice the past two days. Now he's competing for that third tight end spot with third-year tight end Adam Bergen, and remember, it's tight end, so blocking is required. If Curtis shows he's a capable blocker, he might squeeze on to the end of this roster.
Matt Moore: OK, so you know who the guy is now after Thursday night's performance. Prior to that, all you knew was that he was the rookie free-agent quarterback from Oregon State who missed all off-season workouts but the first mini-camp because of school still being in session.
Well, here's a little you might not have known. The guy was the one-time starter at UCLA, actually starting - and winning - his first start as a freshman for the Bruins. He would start four more games as a sophomore in 2003, but ended up suffering a leg injury and lost the starting job to Drew Olson. Moore would then transfer from UCLA, attending College of the Canyons in the spring of '04 and the fall of '04 and then transferred to Oregon State in the spring of '05, where he became a two-year starter.
So the guy does have a little pedigree to him. All I know is the kid won eight of his last nine starts at Oregon State, including helping to deliver the first loss of the 2006 season to USC and then leading the Beavers, down 38-24 with seven minutes remaining in the Sun Bowl, to a 39-38 victory over Missouri.
So while many might want to compare him to Tony Romo's arrival in the NFL as the Cowboys' third quarterback in 2003, Moore has played in some big-time college football games. Not only did he throw for 356 yards and four touchdowns against Missouri, he completed 21 of 32 passes for 262 yards and a touchdown in the 33-31 victory over USC.
Moore might be a tad thin, but his résumé is pretty stout.
