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          NFL Nation

          Twitter mailbag: How talented is Cowboys roster?

          • Todd Archer, ESPN Staff WriterSep 11, 2015, 01:00 PM ET
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              Todd Archer is an NFL reporter at ESPN and covers the Dallas Cowboys. Archer has covered the NFL since 1997 and Dallas since 2003. He joined ESPN in 2010. You can follow him on Twitter at @toddarcher.
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          IRVING, Texas -- The Dallas Cowboys’ Twitter mailbag is ready.

          In it we discuss:

          Away we go:

          @toddarcher: No, it's not. Do people forget 2007? That team was incredibly talented, which is why the loss to the New York Giants in the divisional round that year continues to sting. That could have been the best chance for Tony Romo & Co. to make it to a Super Bowl. I understand Pro Bowls can be overrated, but that team had 13 Pro Bowlers. Thirteen. Flozell Adams, Marion Barber, Leonard Davis, Greg Ellis, Nick Folk, Andre Gurode, Ken Hamlin, Terence Newman, Terrell Owens, Romo, DeMarcus Ware, Roy Williams, Jason Witten. That's a ton of talent. I realize you can quibble with some of the picks, but that team went 13-3. There are still questions about this year's team that need to be answered. Is the talent level better than it was three, four, five years ago? Unquestionably. Better than 2007? I need to see it before I make that kind of claim.

          @toddarcher: I'll go in reverse order. No, it won't be Tyler Clutts. He's not an option. Maybe he gets a run up the gut once or twice but he's not a goal-line threat. Dez Bryant is the Cowboys best tight red zone option but even throwing fades to him is not the highest percentage play all of the time. To be a great red zone offense, the Cowboys will have to run the ball into the end zone. I can't tell you they have a guy to be as good as DeMarco Murray last year. I can guess. I think Joseph Randle will be OK, like Julius Jones. But I don't see them with a Murray or a Barber, guys who can bring their own blocks, so to speak. They'll need the line and tight ends to block well.

          @toddarcher: Sorry, no, I don't. What has he done in his first two years in the NFL to make you believe he can join a new team with a new system, acclimate quickly and become "The Guy"? The Seahawks were about to cut a second-round pick after two seasons. Imagine the uproar if the Cowboys did that with Gavin Escobar around these parts. I'm not saying Michael can't help. He brings some size and speed to the Cowboys' backfield that they don't have in Joseph Randle, Darren McFadden and Lance Dunbar. It's always better to go in with low expectations with these sorts of things and then be surprised. For this year, I think you will see Michael be a role player.

          @toddarcher: Why? The Cowboys didn't think he was good enough for them to make their team, I doubt they will be worried about what Jasper Brinkley can do for the Giants. I think we make way too much about former players giving information to their new teams. I would venture to guess Brinkley really wouldn't have an idea about anything the Cowboys do offensively or what they have planned for the Giants. Can he help New York's offense with some ideas about the Cowboys' defense? Maybe a little but, like everything in the NFL, it comes down to execution.

          @toddarcher: I think we need to check the definition of great here. I don't know if it was great. It was better but that ankle injury has lingered a long time. I think Devin Street has some ability worth developing but I don't know that he will be active this week. He was the fifth receiver last year and caught two passes. I'm not sure how much bigger his role will be in the offense this year if the Cowboys avoid injuries to the receiver depth chart.