Jason Garrett endorsed as Dallas Cowboys head coach

[Eskimo]

[quote=junk;4897070]Dallas seemed to go on quite a spending spree for Garrett this offseason.{/quote]

I wouldn't call Brandon Carr a spending spree. Livings and Bernardeau were spare parts. Connor was a spare part.

Garrett has also had two top 10 picks to work with as well.

No he had a 9 and a 14 the first two years. We traded up for the #6 using the #14. There is a big difference as we had to lose a second rounder which was a dumb move, BTW.

He changed the culture and got a horrible team competitive from the day he arrived. Like I said, he had more work to do.

BP did well against a cream puff schedule full of rookie QBs but got smoked down the stretch in 2003 by teams like Miami, Philly and Carolina. The next year his defense crumbled because there wasn't enough talent. His 2004 draft was horrific which was followed by a horrific 2006 draft later.

Unfortunately, the Dallas roster is always in a mode of "needing to be rebuilt" due to the shortcomings of the GM. That's why the team has struggled for the last 15 years.

However, I find it interesting how people waffle on personnel around here. I guess when trying to explain away coaching shortcomings the roster suddenly gets a lot worse than it was in the offseason.

Only the Jerry Kool-Aid drinkers believe this is a great roster. It is hard right now to decide how good the starting roster would have been. Having Costa in there for the 1.5 games he played made a huge difference in the offense. Having Ratliff available made a huge difference. It is easy to see what a huge difference Bruce Carter and Sean Lee made in the run defense. So maybe the roster is slightly better than I think at the level of the starters but the depth still is not there at all along the OL.

After last season, I figured it was a two year rebuilding job if done right. I don't think it was. Guard and CB should have been fixed last year as it was a strength of the draft and FA. CB should be fine......guard is not.

I don't know how bad the OG play truly is. At times Bern plays good and at times bad. Livings was pretty good early in the year but has fallen off lately apparently due to a bad knee. Cook is a horrific run blocker but mediocre against the pass. Right now they look bad as an interior but they actually looked really good for 1.5 games with Costa so maybe it is the Center position holding us back. I had hoped Costa would come back to see if he had truly gotten over the hump but it looks like that won't happen which isn't surprising given the severity of his ankle injury.

I do agree CB issue was settled. I actually think we went way overboard with overpayment for Carr and a stupid trade up but that is a Jerry issue, IMO. Garrett has to learn to stand up a bit more for the trenches.

Sturm summed it up best, this team is just running around sticking their fingers in holes in the dam as they pop up. Last year, it was CB. This year it will be OL. Next year it will be DL and pass rusher. The cycle continues because of poor personnel management.


Jerry is going to be an impediment to any coach trying to come in and succeed.

I'm still on the fence with Garrett. I've always said there will be a learning curve because he just hasn't had the seasoning you need to really be a good HC.

I agree with all of this.

I just find it incredibly odd that I spent most of the offseason getting beat up around here saying that the personnel acquisition process was a real weakness and now, suddenly, it is used as the main rationale for Garrett struggling. Quite a sudden change in course.

None of us know how much sway Garrett has on spending decisions of the FO. I think it is less than most assume since we signed Dockery over Holland and that was a season-turning move not to bring in proper depth and cheap out with all the kids injured (Nagy, Costa, Killer) or unable (Arkin). If Garrett can't get his roster set up by next year he doesn't have enough sway or doesn't understand how to build a roster and will need to go either way. I give him a bit of a pass because there were too many holes to plug in one offseason with our available resources.

One thing he has shown is a willingness to play young kids which is a difference from before and player development looks to be much improved (see Lee, Dez, Church, Carter, Costa, Murray, Tyron). The real problem that people don't understand about our roster is we have so little talent for players between year 4-7 on this roster - this should be your core. Players older than this will be in their descent except QB. Well that is exactly the situation we are in right now as most of our core came from the 2003 and 2005 drafts who are all now in their descents. That is the tide Garrett has been fighting during his entire tenure. He has to make huge progress in what is coming in just to stand still because of this phenomenon.

[Idgit]

Originally Posted by junk

...It isn't a victory lap. It's just odd that the pendulum on this board swings so much. It went from the mantra that this team is doing a great job of acquiring talent and everything is A-OK in the front office to suddenly Garrett inherited a "disaster of a roster"

I'll agree the rebuilding job isn't done (and who knows if it ever will be with the mess of a front office that Dallas has), but I do find it interesting that personnel has suddenly become the rationale du jour for Garrett.

If personnel has become an issue--and I don't agree that it has, but you're right that other supportive posters have cited it as an issue--it's the steady *accumulation* of injuries. Pendulums tend to swing when there's a force behind them, pushing, and the injury bug has been pretty forceful in Dallas this year.

The non-injury personnel issues in my book have been the disappointing play of the OTs and of WR3, both of those are on the team and the coaches.

All that said, I think the way the team has responded to the injury challenges is actually a significant feather in this staff's collective cap. Or a star on their helmet, whatever. They've done a really good job both finding players on the street and getting them capable of playing on short notice while keeping the team in contention.

[Fletch]

Originally Posted by erod

7-9 might change Jerry's mind, but I don't expect a change. Jerry doesn't like to write big checks for head coaches.

But the heat is intense on Jerry, and this thing is getting stale if it doesn't start winning soon.

Truth be told, Garrett deserves three full years to fix this disaster of a roster he inherited.

Agreed!

[AMERICAS_FAN]

Originally Posted by a_minimalist

There are a lot of broken hearts right now.

Not among the players who play hard for him, just among ignorant fans who have no impact on winning and losing, regardless of how many beers they drikn and briskets they eat on game day.

[stasheroo]

Originally Posted by AMERICAS_FAN

Not among the players who play hard for him, just among ignorant fans who have no impact on winning and losing, regardless of how many beers they drikn and briskets they eat on game day.

Yep.

It's the 'ignorant fans' fault this team isn't winning, not Garrett's.



How dare they be anything less than thrilled with another season of not winning!

[Idgit]

Originally Posted by stasheroo

Yep.

It's the 'ignorant fans' fault this team isn't winning, not Garrett's.



How dare they be anything less than thrilled with another season of not winning!

We've won more than we've lost, to-date. And we've still got a shot to win the division. Not to belabor your 'ignorant fans' point....

[junk]

Originally Posted by Idgit

If personnel has become an issue--and I don't agree that it has, but you're right that other supportive posters have cited it as an issue--it's the steady *accumulation* of injuries. Pendulums tend to swing when there's a force behind them, pushing, and the injury bug has been pretty forceful in Dallas this year.

The non-injury personnel issues in my book have been the disappointing play of the OTs and of WR3, both of those are on the team and the coaches.

All that said, I think the way the team has responded to the injury challenges is actually a significant feather in this staff's collective cap. Or a star on their helmet, whatever. They've done a really good job both finding players on the street and getting them capable of playing on short notice while keeping the team in contention.

Why didn't you answer my first question?

To clarify the rest, you think personnel is sufficient with the exception of OTs and WR3?

As far as response to the injury challenges, I agree. Which is why I don't know what to think of Garrett or the team in general. They're 7-6 and have responded well to a challenging season. They're 2-0 in December which is a change from past teams. So, kudos are deserved for that.

[stasheroo]

Originally Posted by Idgit

We've won more than we've lost, to-date. And we've still got a shot to win the division. Not to belabor your 'ignorant fans' point....

No problem.

You're right about the record and I won't rain on your optimism even if I do not share it.

[Idgit]

Originally Posted by junk

Why didn't you answer my first question?

To clarify the rest, you think personnel is sufficient with the exception of OTs and WR3?

As far as response to the injury challenges, I agree. Which is why I don't know what to think of Garrett or the team in general. They're 7-6 and have responded well to a challenging season. They're 2-0 in December which is a change from past teams. So, kudos are deserved for that.

I didn't answer your first question because it took more work than I was willing to put in at the time to support my contention, and I thought your other point was more interesting to debate.

On offense, yeah, I'd actually focus on RT, WR3 (someone legitimate who can stretch the field) and finding a replacement for Dockery on the interior OL who, along with Mack can fill for or push Costa but who can also legitimately start NFL games. We're also going to need a replacement for Felix, but that's just supplementing for attrition.

On defense, I'd be looking for a safety with ball skills and a pass rusher to develop along with a CB to replace Jenkins. I'd've signed Spencer long ago and I'd try to get him done again, too, b/c he'd be a huge loss otherwise.

I'm pretty happy with the personnel on the team. We've been hurt offensively by the OL juggling and OTs have been a liability. And by having Demarco out and not having a threat that can stretch the intermediate coverage. Our defense I thought was playing really competitive football before our ILBs got gutted.

But then, I also like the coaching direction and think this team is on a gradual upswing. I'm kind of shocked that we're still winning games and in contention given just how banged up we are defensively and our virtual inability to make plays in coverage.