Continued improvement in Spencer and Canty, drafting a wide bodied NT to free up Zach Thomas, and dangling Ayodele as trade bait on draft day to get in position to get the players the scouts like. Moving Ratliff back to DE.

Replacing Davis with another SS. I read up on Barrett who looked great initially, and he's had a lot of injury problems, so maybe Tyrell Johnson or MB3's younger brother Dominique Barber would be better picks.

Whether Pacman comes to Dallas or not, still pick up 2 highly rated CB's.

Might need to pick up an OLB. I don't know anything about the guys behind Ware, Ellis, and Spencer, but if the coaches don't see much there, we'd need another backup.

I was over at dallascowboys.com taking a look at the depth chart - yeah, I’m that football-starved during the off-season.  The Cowboys management must agree with Ware since Jay Ratliff is listed as a defensive end, not a defensive tackle.   Unfortunately, the players currently on the roster manning the nose tackle position do not exactly instill confidence:  Remi Ayodele, Tank Johnson and Junior Siavii.

This got me thinking about the nose tackle spot.  Both Ayodele and Siavii are marginal journeymen players who probably should be out of the league.  But Grady Jackson is out there, available as a free agent.  He did a nice job in Jax last season after having some sort of fallout with Atlanta.  Before that, he was a very effective player in Green Bay.  

Yep, he’s 35 and likely overweight.  But under the right circumstances, the guy can clog up the middle as well as anyone. I think the right circumstances would be playing him about 25-35% of the plays.  A nose tackle rotation of Tank Johnson and Grady Johnson might be quite effective.  Maybe even move Spears over to nose tackle and have him battle it out for playing time.  In that situation, both Rat and Spears would be quite valuable because they could play multiple defensive line positions if injuries hit.

If we could get Grady Jackson for a reasonable signing bonus and base salary under a contract that can be easily voided after one year, I’d be all for bringing him in.  He wouldn’t be taking the roster spot or playing time of anyone we aren’t already trying to replace.  Thoughts anyone?

out of all the top rated CBs in the draft, I think he has the biggest bust potential, even more than Talib.

Spags has this, which got me thinking:

Doug McBroom, Fayetteville, N. C.: Let's say Dallas picks up a speedy/elusive running back like Felix Jones in the draft. Chances are he will back up Barber and play mostly in the fourth quarter. If the offense is in control and the opposing defense is tired, the backup will probably knock out some great runs. I love Barber, but will everyone be saying, "Hey the new guy has better runs than Barber, so make him starter." Same stuff, different starter.

Mickey: Good one, at least you made me smile. Now don't simply assume the new running back would take over Barber's previous role. The guy could take over Julius Jones' former role, and the Cowboys keep Barber as their fourth-quarter closer and continue to use him inside the 20. Now he might get more carries earlier in a game, but I'm guessing the position still would be a timeshare.

Last year, J Jones was technically the starter, but that was really more because he got the first series, and as I recall they basically alternated series, and MB3 got as much playing time as Jones. They did use Barber more for short yardage situations, and in the fourth quarter when the D was worn down, but they really shared the position, and despite not starting in the first series
Barber wasn't really a backup running back.

So if they do draft someone like Felix Jones, just because Barber is the starter doesn't mean their respective roles would necessarily change much. Barber will start the first series, and will probably get a larger proportion of the carries, but the styles of the runners will still dictate when they are used in terms of downs, yardage situations, and quarters, probably more than who is technically the starter and who the backup.

does that make sense?