Yuku free message boards

What They Have: The Cowboys certainly have bodies to fill positions at the safety spot, but the entire area is filled with question marks. Can Gerald Sensabaugh duplicate his fine season of 2009? Can he possibly slide over to free safety for the recently-waived Ken Hamlin? Will Sensabaugh be satisfied playing with a one-year contract or will he lobby for a long-term deal? Can Alan Ball, a converted cornerback, make the necessary adjustments to transform into a full-time safety? Is Mike Hamlin ready to take the next step as a full-time player? Will Pat Watkins finally turn the corner and prove to be more than just a special teams ace? Lots of questions at the safety spot and it's a little too early to answer them all, considering safety might be a position addressed early in the draft.

What They Need: Besides answering those questions . . . the Cowboys do need some playmakers at this position. Not since the first three years of Roy Williams' career have the Cowboys really had a top-notch safety. And before that, it was Darren Woodson. They've had some flashes here and there with guys like Ken Hamlin, but nothing too consistent. The team doesn't exactly need a bone-crushing safety reminiscent of Ronnie Lott or even Williams. What they need is another safety that the Cowboys can comfortably put deep in coverage and not worry about receivers getting behind them. In today's league, finding enough safeties that can cover seems to be the top priority. If they can hit as well, that just becomes a bonus. The Cowboys will tell you they don't exactly "need" to get a safety in the draft, but it wouldn't make a lot of sense if they don't spend at least one of their six picks on a safety.

Who's Out There: With three safeties expected to go in the first round, and two of them projected in the top 15 picks, this position is rather deep this year. The best of the bunch is likely Tennessee's Eric Berry, who has been drawing comparisons to Baltimore's Ed Reed. Berry has coverage skills that are cornerback-like, but has the build and tackling ability of a safety, not to mention his awareness. But charging up fast on the draft boards is Texas safety Earl Thomas, who left school early despite having two years of eligibility remaining. Thomas is a bit undersized at just 5-11, 185, but makes up for it with a nose for the ball. Thomas picked off eight passes last season. He also has the ability to cover the slot receiver. The third-best safety of this year's class figures to be USC's Taylor Mays. Built like a linebacker with cornerback speed, Mays definitely looks the part of the prototype safety. The knock on him has been his coverage and playmaking skills, and he's even drawn a few comparisons to Williams. The second wave of safeties could be headlined by South Florida's Nate Allen, who visited the Cowboys back in early April along with other draft prospects. Also on those visits were safeties Chad Jones (LSU) and Morgan Burnett (Georgia Tech).

Draft Nuggets: Tennessee's Eric Berry won the 2009 Jim Thorpe Award as the nation's top defensive back. Berry, a finalist for that award in 2008, also took home 2009 SEC Defensive Player of the Year honors . . . LSU's Chad Jones was a 13th round pick of the Houston Astros in 2007, but did not sign with the major league team. Jones was a relief pitcher for the College World Series champion Tigers last season . . . Morgan Burnett was recruited by former Cowboys head coach Chan Gailey to play quarterback for the Yellow Jackets. When Gailey left the school, Burnett switched to safety . . . Nate Allen played two seasons alongside current Cowboys cornerback Mike Jenkins in the secondary at South Florida. In 2007, Allen started 12 games at safety while Jenkins was an All-Big East cornerback . . . USC safety Taylor Mays had one of the most impressive combines, leading all defensive backs with a 4.43 time in the 40 and posting the second-highest vertical leap (43.0").

Look Back: Back in 1992, the Cowboys took a chance on this quick, yet hard-hitting hybrid linebacker from Arizona State, knowing they were going to move him to safety. Twelve years and five Pro Bowls later, one would assume things turned out just fine for Darren Woodson. A second-round pick in 1992, the first of two consecutive Super Bowl seasons, it didn't take Woodson long to become one of the defensive leaders.

Not only did Woodson prove he could become an all-around safety at the NFL level, he also was able to line up on the slot receiver in nickel situations - a rare occurrence in today's NFL, where most teams covet three corners to play in the nickel. What a luxury it was for the Cowboys to have a safety line up on a receiver in man coverage, yet remain close enough to the line of scrimmage to also lend ample run support.

And if it is tackles you like, no one has registered more for the Cowboys. The same day Emmitt Smith broke Walter Payton's NFL rushing record in 2002, Woodson quietly went into the record books as well, surpassing Lee Roy Jordan (1,236) as the Cowboys' all-time leading tackler. Woodson finished his 12-year career in 2003 with 1,350 career stops.

IRVING, Texas - The Cowboys have long known where they want the coming season to end - at home in Arlington, Texas, the site of Super Bowl XLV next Feb. 6. Now they know how to get there.

On Tuesday the NFL released the 2010 regular season schedule, which sends the Cowboys to Washington for the opener, an NBC Sunday Night Football matchup on Sept. 12. It's one of five nationally-televised primetime games for the Cowboys, who will also have two of their preseason games broadcast across the country.

On Jan. 2, 2011, the Cowboys will head to Philadelphia to end their third consecutive regular season against the Eagles. In 2008, Philadelphia advanced to the playoffs by eliminating the Cowboys in the finale, with Dallas returning the favor by defeating the Eagles in the last game of the regular season and in an NFC Wild Card matchup in back-to-back weekends last season.

All 16 games in Week 17 will feature divisional matchups, the league's attempt to increase the stakes and discourage playoff contenders from resting their starters. It's no change for the Cowboys, who have taken on NFC East rivals in each of the last three regular season finales.

"What we run into is to make sure the best team is on the field at the end," Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones said Tuesday. "That's the most logical way to do it that I know of. I think that's great for the fans."

Two road games sandwiched around the home-opener against Chicago will start the season for the Cowboys, who draw a Week 4 bye.

For the third straight year the Cowboys will play the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field. Though this season's Sunday night game (Nov. 7) in Wisconsin promises to be chilly, the Cowboys will again avoid the harshest part of the winter.

Among their seven games against playoff teams from 2009, the Cowboys will face three of the final four teams from last year's tournament. They'll host the defending Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints on Thanksgiving Day, and have road games at Minnesota (Oct. 17) and Indianapolis (Dec. 5).

On Christmas night the Cowboys will travel to Arizona for a Saturday NFL Network feature.

In addition to the tough schedule outside the division, the Cowboys' annual home and away series with the rest of the NFC East seems more imposing than it did at the end of last season. The Redskins, 4-12 in 2009, have a new regime headed by two-time Super Bowl-winning coach Mike Shanahan, and a new quarterback, six-time Pro Bowl selectee Donovan McNabb.

Elsewhere, the Eagles, 11-5 in 2009, have addressed several positions through free agency and trades, while the New York Giants, 8-8 last year, have added free agent help to their secondary.

"I do have concern that they've improved," Jones said of the East. "I don't know that that means we haven't done things, or won't have done things; that we've improved as well. But I certainly look with interest. I can't tell you whether they've improved or not, but they've sure been moving around. I'm talking about at least Philadelphia and the Redskins.

"And it's not just McNabb."

The Cowboys will host the New York Giants on ESPN's Monday Night Football on Oct. 25, then visit the rival's new Meadowlands Stadium on Nov. 14. The last two games at Cowboys Stadium are Dec. 12 against Washington and Dec. 19, an NBC Sunday-nighter against the Eagles.

The Cowboys will play the NFL's third-toughest schedule, based on the combined 2009 record of their opponents (139-117). Only Houston and Tennessee will face teams with better records from last season (140-116). Apart from the games between NFC East rivals, each team in the division will also play the entire NFC North and AFC South. By virtue of their division title in 2009, the Cowboys also earned matchups against first-place finishers Arizona and Minnesota, who won the NFC West and NFC North, respectively.

"We knew before today that this was a very challenging schedule with seven games against playoff teams and two of those with the Super Bowl participants," Jones said. "Seeing it on paper doesn't make it any easier, but our team will be ready. We're looking forward to it."