No player will be more highly scrutinized during mini-camps and training camp than the Dallas Cowboys' first round pick Bobby Carpenter. The expectations of Carpenter are insanely high given his history with Bill Parcells and his draft status. Most fans including my self, expect Carpenter to be a day one starter who contributes immediately.

For those of you who don't know a lot about Carpenter's skill set, I will give you a quick summary. He was a traditional linebacker at Ohio State in a 4-3 defense. He excelled playing the run and I heard reports that he could possibly be the best coverage linebacker on our team. When the Buckeyes went into their nickel; Bobby put his hand down and played defensive end.  He finished the season with eight sacks. This balance in addition to his character are the reasons we drafted him over the pass rushing specialist Manny Lawson. Lawson might be the better rusher, but Carpenter is on another planet in terms of coverage and run stuffing ability.

I have the utmost confidence in Bobby, but don't be surprised if he doesn't make a huge impact in his first year. The main question mark with him in my opinion will be whether or not his pass rushing skills transfer well into the NFL. Is he going to be a role player who is solid in coverage and against the run, or is he going to be an impact player like Mike Vrabel who you can count on to give you 7 or 8 sacks a year while being proficient in coverage and against the run?

I believe that he will develop into the later; however, don't be surprised if he is just a solid role player for a few years. The most important thing for Carpenter is to be good against the run. Stopping opposing backs is priority one for a Super Bowl caliber defense. In addition to this, we really need him to contribute something as a pass rusher being that Ware was our only pass rushing threat in our 3-4 base defense last year.

Overall, expect Carpenter to come in and play a big role on our defense very early on this fall.  He may never be a star in this league, but I can't see him being any worse than a good, solid strong side outside linebacker in our 3-4 for years to come.

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