Jason Garrett finalized his Dallas Cowboys' coaching staff for 2012 with the addition of Joe Baker as the assistant secondary coach. Baker joins new secondary coach Jerome Henderson to try to turn around a defensive backfield that caused the collapse of the Cowboys on more than one occasion in 2011.
The first order of business for Baker and Henderson is to patch up a cornerback rotation that was the most disappointing part of the entire Cowboys' team in 2011. There are signs that Terence Newman will be heading out of Dallas soon and only Mike Jenkins and Orlando Scandrick remain in the starting rotation.
There is also a chance that Dallas goes after someone new in the free agent market, such as Oakland Raiders' castoff Stanford Routt but I don't see them really needing to do that. I think, if he stays healthy, that Mike Jenkins can be a great cornerback, as he improved in 2011 by leaps and bounds. For someone who at one time led the team in penalties, he worked on that part of his game and fixed it in 2011. I can't wait to see him play a full, healthy season.
Scandrick is a case of a player that has not really had a chance to prove what he is really capable of. If Newman leaves, that might give Scandrick a chance to finally prove himself. Dallas gave him a big extension last August, paying him $27 million over five years, with $10 million guaranteed. That tells me that Jerry Jones wants him to be a starter and he should get that chance in 2012.
In 2011, Scandrick started in seven games, while playing in 13. He finished with one interception, two sacks, 42 tackles and five pass defenses on the season. I see him getting a chance to win the starting job, even if Dallas signs someone like Routt.
I think the more interesting choice would be to draft cornerbacks and let them learn the system behind Scandrick and Jenkins, as well as prepare them to step in if those two returning players fail to stop receivers like the entire secondary did in 2011.
Author Shawn S. Lealos has a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma (2000) and has been a Dallas Cowboys' fan since he was a child. His favorite players range from Roger Staubach and Tony Dorsett to the Triplets of the 90s and he enjoys talking about all Cowboys' related news, good or bad
