Offense still priority

[Galian Beast]

In my mind the offense is still by far the priority this off season, which makes we wonder why Garrett is still getting such a huge pass.

Fact is we were pretty healthy on offense, there is no real excuse. The defense at least has the excuse of missing nearly half the starters, and still was pretty decent in terms of how they executed.

This team needs to focus on fixing the offensive line, first and foremost. When given even a semblance of a running game, Romo has flourished, and so has this team.

Draft two linemen within the first three rounds, and sign another in free agency.

The question is what about defense right?

Worse case scenario, I think we can start Victor Butler at defensive end opposite of Ware. It shouldn't cost too much to resign him, certainly less expensive than Anthony Spencer. Then have a rotation of Hatcher, Lissemore, Crawford, and Ratliff in between.

Resign Ernie Sims and he can man the sam spot until we can find a replacement.

The real pressure is the safety position. Safety and offensive line are our biggest needs right now. We can see what we have in Matt Johnson. But I would certainly say drafting a safety and signing a safety should be paramount.

I think we would all agree that we are all set when it comes to our skill position players on offense. We simply don't need to do anything with them right now. Although Austin should certainly restructure his deal.

I think Harris, Beasley, and Coale will work nicely with Bryant and Austin. Tanner and Dunbar are fine, and Phillips and Hannah are also fine with their corresponding veteran leadership.

Fix the offensive line, and make the absolutely necessary adjustments needed on defense.

[Galian Beast]

I think it's important not to forget the players we drafted already.

Kyle Wilber - Defensive end

It'll be very interesting to see what we do with Crawford. Do we ask him to bulk up more and play defensive tackle, or do we slim him down and play him at end.

[IrishAnto]

Originally Posted by Galian Beast

In my mind the offense is still by far the priority this off season, which makes we wonder why Garrett is still getting such a huge pass.

Fact is we were pretty healthy on offense, there is no real excuse. The defense at least has the excuse of missing nearly half the starters, and still was pretty decent in terms of how they executed.

This team needs to focus on fixing the offensive line, first and foremost. When given even a semblance of a running game, Romo has flourished, and so has this team.

Draft two linemen within the first three rounds, and sign another in free agency.

The question is what about defense right?

Worse case scenario, I think we can start Victor Butler at defensive end opposite of Ware. It shouldn't cost too much to resign him, certainly less expensive than Anthony Spencer. Then have a rotation of Hatcher, Lissemore, Crawford, and Ratliff in between.

[View Full Quote]Resign Ernie Sims and he can man the sam spot until we can find a replacement.

The real pressure is the safety position. Safety and offensive line are our biggest needs right now. We can see what we have in Matt Johnson. But I would certainly say drafting a safety and signing a safety should be paramount.

I think we would all agree that we are all set when it comes to our skill position players on offense. We simply don't need to do anything with them right now. Although Austin should certainly restructure his deal.

I think Harris, Beasley, and Coale will work nicely with Bryant and Austin. Tanner and Dunbar are fine, and Phillips and Hannah are also fine with their corresponding veteran leadership.

Fix the offensive line, and make the absolutely necessary adjustments needed on defense.

I agree for the most part, although I'm not sold on Tanner at rb.

Improving the offense will take pressure off the defense, thus helping that side of the ball.

[Disturbed]

The offensive line has been bad for years, and it seems like every year we hope that the Cowboys draft OL high in the draft. Perhaps the "uncomfortable change in the off-season" this year will include a change in draft strategy.

And the FA market has been a killer for the Cowboys. They just suck when it comes to FA...they overpay almost every time and get below average performance in return. Please no more FA. Stick to the draft.

[Galian Beast]

Originally Posted by Disturbed

The offensive line has been bad for years, and it seems like every year we hope that the Cowboys draft OL high in the draft. Perhaps the "uncomfortable change in the off-season" this year will include a change in draft strategy.

And the FA market has been a killer for the Cowboys. They just suck when it comes to FA...they overpay almost every time and get below average performance in return. Please no more FA. Stick to the draft.

That's because we too often look to pay big money for players who are aged.

It's okay to get free agents who are young and pay them, or free agents who are old, as long as we are not paying them for long periods of time.

Nothing wrong with a veteran stop gap.

We also tend to get veterans who don't fit our system... huge head scratcher.

[Disturbed]

Originally Posted by Galian Beast

That's because we too often look to pay big money for players who are aged.

It's okay to get free agents who are young and pay them, or free agents who are old, as long as we are not paying them for long periods of time.

Nothing wrong with a veteran stop gap.

We also tend to get veterans who don't fit our system... huge head scratcher.

I would rather see them trade older players for draft picks, then use the picks to pick up extra lineman. Maybe even bundle picks and move up to get impact players.

I think FA is a losing proposition. I hope we stay out of FA because it hurts the team every time Jerry does one of these deals.

[Galian Beast]

Originally Posted by Disturbed

I would rather see them trade older players for draft picks, then use the picks to pick up extra lineman. Maybe even bundle picks and move up to get impact players.

I think FA is a losing proposition. I hope we stay out of FA because it hurts the team every time Jerry does one of these deals.

We've had some FA successes actually. The problem with trades is that you need someone who wants your player...

I see no problem with getting a stop gap player for a 3 year contract, or a young free agent like carr to a longer contract.

[CowboysFaninDC]

healthy and good are two different things. the OL was awful and source of all the problems. we have one first round pick dedicated to it. most of the draft picks, or hte top draft picks were spent on the defense. a lot of money put to that side of the ball and yet it failed, yes, I know about injuries but the unit never seemed prepared and even when healthy, they were never dominant.

Originally Posted by Galian Beast

In my mind the offense is still by far the priority this off season, which makes we wonder why Garrett is still getting such a huge pass.

Fact is we were pretty healthy on offense, there is no real excuse. The defense at least has the excuse of missing nearly half the starters, and still was pretty decent in terms of how they executed.

This team needs to focus on fixing the offensive line, first and foremost. When given even a semblance of a running game, Romo has flourished, and so has this team.

Draft two linemen within the first three rounds, and sign another in free agency.

The question is what about defense right?

Worse case scenario, I think we can start Victor Butler at defensive end opposite of Ware. It shouldn't cost too much to resign him, certainly less expensive than Anthony Spencer. Then have a rotation of Hatcher, Lissemore, Crawford, and Ratliff in between.

[View Full Quote]Resign Ernie Sims and he can man the sam spot until we can find a replacement.

The real pressure is the safety position. Safety and offensive line are our biggest needs right now. We can see what we have in Matt Johnson. But I would certainly say drafting a safety and signing a safety should be paramount.

I think we would all agree that we are all set when it comes to our skill position players on offense. We simply don't need to do anything with them right now. Although Austin should certainly restructure his deal.

I think Harris, Beasley, and Coale will work nicely with Bryant and Austin. Tanner and Dunbar are fine, and Phillips and Hannah are also fine with their corresponding veteran leadership.

Fix the offensive line, and make the absolutely necessary adjustments needed on defense.

[JPostSam]

the offense threw the hell out of the ball, but it couldn't convert that into enough points to win. why?

it couldn't run the ball consistently
it turned the ball over too much

why?

the offensive line was porous
playcalling was mediocre

so, fix the o-line, and you fix most of that.

however, that's only half the story. the defense couldn't stop the pass or the run consistently, and it couldn't take the ball away. that, in turn, forced the offense to throw while playing from behind far too often. defenses knew they didn't have to worry about our running game, which made matters worse.

improving 2 positions on the o-line (and promoting harris over ogletree) makes this a top 10 offense. but the defense probably needs to replace or upgrade 4 positions (de, dt, cb, s).

[big dog cowboy]

Originally Posted by Galian Beast

Fact is we were pretty healthy on offense, there is no real excuse.

Austin, Dez, Witten, Murray, Jones, almost everyone on the OL and even Romo. We were far from healthy on offense.

[Vanilla2]

Originally Posted by big dog cowboy

Austin, Dez, Witten, Murray, Jones, almost everyone on the OL and even Romo. We were far from healthy on offense.

Come on man.

Only injuries to defensive players are acknowledged round these parts.

[viman96]

The only priority regarding the offense should be the line.

[Galian Beast]

Originally Posted by viman96

The only priority regarding the offense should be the line.

thanks for reading before you replied...


as for the person who said we were injured on offense too, not nearly as much as on defense...

[fortdick]

Originally Posted by JPostSam

the offense threw the hell out of the ball, but it couldn't convert that into enough points to win. why?

it couldn't run the ball consistently
it turned the ball over too much

why?

the offensive line was porous
playcalling was mediocre

so, fix the o-line, and you fix most of that.

however, that's only half the story. the defense couldn't stop the pass or the run consistently, and it couldn't take the ball away. that, in turn, forced the offense to throw while playing from behind far too often. defenses knew they didn't have to worry about our running game, which made matters worse.

improving 2 positions on the o-line (and promoting harris over ogletree) makes this a top 10 offense. but the defense probably needs to replace or upgrade 4 positions (de, dt, cb, s).

You do realize that your statement that:

"the offensive line was porous"
"playcalling was mediocre"

kinda cancel themselves out. If the line was porous, do you expect wide open play calling? Having a bad offensive line severly limits what you can do.

[CATCH17]

Originally Posted by fortdick

You do realize that your statement that:

"the offensive line was porous"
"playcalling was mediocre"

kinda cancel themselves out. If the line was porous, do you expect wide open play calling? Having a bad offensive line severly limits what you can do.

The thing is.. That was our wide open. We called plays like our Oline was good.

We teams blitzed us or their pass rush was getting to us we didn't do things to keep them honest.

When we run the ball we congest defenses with our formations and try to overpower them with these group of guys.

Our line was bad. But teams in this league deal with bad offensive line play all the time.

We just need to be better coached on that side of the ball. Having less penalties and someone besides Witten being on the same page as Romo would be nice for a change.