2013 NFL Draft Preliminary Thoughts

[Romo 2 Austin]

If we lose Spencer and with Wares age OLB becomes our #1 need. Not good.

I think we are best off keeping Spencer.

[Romo 2 Austin]

Originally Posted by CATCH17

If Spencer has another "meh" year then going cheap on Butler and using our top pick on a OLB seems like the smarter move.


Interior OL is high. I'm liking our Safety situation but we still need to see it play out.

Will Miles be cut? He's owed a lot of money?

Offensive tackle could easily become a priority.

I doubt Felix gets resigned.

Will Doug Free stay on the decline?



It's too early to tell right now but if I had to guess what position we target in Round 1 it will be OLB.

It' about 7m next year isn't it? Miles is more than worth 7m as a WR. We loaded his contract in the front during the "capless" year, he will stay for his entire contract.

[cowboyzz11]

I would really like to get B Jones but just see Jerry going that high after another O line

but would like a real C

Khaled Holmes, C, USC
Height: 6-4. Weight: 305.
1 or 2

I think we go OLB in round one

Jackson Jeffcoat*, DE, Texas
Height: 6-5. Weight: 245.

Brandon Jenkins, DE/OLB, Florida State
Height: 6-3. Weight: 260.


at QB pick

Alex Carder, QB, Western Michigan
Height: 6-2. Weight: 224.
Projected 40 Time: 4.61.
Projected Round (2013): 4-6.

8/16/12: Carder has been a prolific passer for Western Michigan and was a 2011 Second-Team All-MAC performer as a junior. He lit up Purdue in his bowl game, completing 31-of-57 passes for 439 yards and three touchdowns.

Carder played well against Illinois and Michigan as well. Against Connecticut, he completed 37-of-51 passes for 479 yards with five touchdowns and zero interceptions, carrying the Broncos to a road win over the Huskies.

Carder completed 66 percent of his passes for 3,873 yards with 31 touchdowns and 14 interceptions in 2011. He has a nice arm and is a good decision-maker. His senior season will be more difficult without star wide receiver Jordan White.

Carder completed 63 percent of his throws in 2010 for 3,334 yards with 30 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. He has been extremely efficient for Western Michigan.

[RS12]

Originally Posted by cowboyzz11

Brandon Jenkins, DE/OLB, Florida State
Height: 6-3. Weight: 260.

Lis franc foot injury done for the year.

[Eskimo]

Originally Posted by Romo 2 Austin

If we lose Spencer and with Wares age OLB becomes our #1 need. Not good.

I think we are best off keeping Spencer.

He costs too much and produces too little. Ratliff is entering the same boat.

In the end you have 3 resources to build your roster: draft, free agency and salary cap. You also have to be constantly revitalizing your roster with young players and you have to avoid paying too much salary to older players whose skill and ability tends to rapidly decline once they hit around 30. If you put too much salary investments in such players you will usually have to pay a price somewhere down the line. The only ones who won't are those who can convert older players into high draft picks before they decline - the Patriots and the Eagles. Can you think of an example where the Cowboys did this? The only one that comes to mind is Herschel Walker and we know how that one turned out.

Unless he starts producing 10 sack seasons we can't pay him $9M/yr. He is also getting close to 30 and will soon start to decline. So you may get 2-3 good years out of him before he declines. The problem is Ware will be declining along a similar time curve as they were acquired only two drafts apart from one another. When Ware starts producing only 6-9 sacks per year Spencer's 4-6 sacks per year isn't going to cut it. At that point you'll have wished a higher pick was spent on a high sack player who could be entering his prime as Ware begins to fade. We need to see this path coming to plan for it now by going for Ware's heir apparent now. Ware is entering his 8th season, he has a neck problem that seems to act up every year during the season but this year it started in TC.

Look I wish I could also stick my head in the sand and pretend Ware will get us 15-20 sacks per year for the next 7 years but that is very unlikely to happen based on past history. When he loses just a little burst he could be done as an elite pass rusher. We have to expect this to happen fairly soon and we want his replacement to be on the roster already so that the defense doesn't tank and we don't have to reach in the draft (see Shante Carver, Kavika Pitman, Ebenezer Ekuban).

I agree with Hos 100%. It is time to find Ware a new complementary pass rusher. Giving Spencer a $10M/yr contract is going to come back to bite us in 2 years when he is a JAG, Ware is in decline and there is no one to pick up the pass rush slack.

Now it's just a matter of finding that player who has the requisite size, strength, burst, quickness and pass rushing skill. I would be okay with trading up for this player if need be.

[a_minimalist]

I'd like to see a free safety drafted in the first. after that 2nd and 3rd should be dedicated to OL. C and G or T. I'd also like to see DL addressed after that. As the season progresses I'll have a stronger opinion. Right now this is a pretty lazy response but I love draft talk.

Right now all I can think about is the first 3 since IMO after that is BPA.

1. Free Safety
2. Center
3. Tackle or Guard

I like how deep the Safety class will be this year. I'm really hoping we pull the trigger on one of them.

[cowboyzz11]

Originally Posted by RS12

Lis franc foot injury done for the year.

what shame