Jaylon Smith/Connor Williams

[Cowboyny]

When we talk about issues on the defensive side of the ball, Jaylon Smith's name comes up first, the same can be said about Connor Williams. Both are former 2nd rd picks that haven't lived up to their draft slots.

No team can have elite, all-pro players at every position, but Jaylon is being paid like one and Connor Williams contract is set to expire after next season. It is also my understanding that their is an out of Jaylon's contract around the same time. Are they apart of the team's future core?

How much better would the team improve if they upgraded both spots? I understand there are more immediate needs to address, but each unit is arguably being held back by these two starters.

 

[fivetwos]

When we talk about issues on the defensive side of the ball, Jaylon Smith's name comes up first, the same can be said about Connor Williams. Both are former 2nd rd picks that haven't lived up to their draft slots.

No team can have elite, all-pro players at every position, but Jaylon is being paid like one and Connor Williams contract is set to expire after next season. It is also my understanding that their is an out of Jaylon's contract around the same time. Are they apart of the team's future core?

How much better would the team improve if they upgraded both spots? I understand there are more immediate needs to address, but each unit is arguably being held back by these two starters.

The argument could be made for Williams being out there given the tackle situation, but when you hear Jerry praise Jaylon for his play.....you really have to think what the rest of the players think.

They all watch film. It doesnt lie.

It's a serious problem. Jerry doesnt need to go away as much as he need to get off the radio.

 

[DanA]

Honestly it's Zeke and Jaylon. These two playing hero ball consistently costs us more than any other players on the team.

Connor Williams is bad but easy to walk away from

 

[baltcowboy]

When we talk about issues on the defensive side of the ball, Jaylon Smith's name comes up first, the same can be said about Connor Williams. Both are former 2nd rd picks that haven't lived up to their draft slots.

No team can have elite, all-pro players at every position, but Jaylon is being paid like one and Connor Williams contract is set to expire after next season. It is also my understanding that their is an out of Jaylon's contract around the same time. Are they apart of the team's future core?

How much better would the team improve if they upgraded both spots? I understand there are more immediate needs to address, but each unit is arguably being held back by these two starters.

Jaylon Smith is the least of our problems on defense. The team needs another corner, a safety and two defensive tackles. Also you have to pray that Gregory stays out of trouble and LVE does not suffer another injury. If that happens then you can talk to me about Jaylon being the problem. You can argue with the exception of DLaw he is the most reliable player on the defense.

Conner Williams has been a solid 3rd year guard. He is a second round pick and is starting guard in the NFL. He will get a second contract somewhere. He is not a problem.

 

[DanA]

Zeke:
5 fumbles
3.8 yards per carry
73.5% catch rate
4.8 yards per target

Zeke's contract might be the worst contract in the entire NFL.

 

[quickccc]

When we talk about issues on the defensive side of the ball, Jaylon Smith's name comes up first, the same can be said about Connor Williams. Both are former 2nd rd picks that haven't lived up to their draft slots.

No team can have elite, all-pro players at every position, but Jaylon is being paid like one and Connor Williams contract is set to expire after next season. It is also my understanding that their is an out of Jaylon's contract around the same time. Are they apart of the team's future core?

How much better would the team improve if they upgraded both spots? I understand there are more immediate needs to address, but each unit is arguably being held back by these two starters.

i'm not sure we've exploited Conner's best traits ...best position at the NFL level. When ..and mostly IF we decide to do so before his contract runs out, then I would know. and that's basically
talking about moving him to OT and taking a hard long look if he can better excel at that.

And I'm not interested or believing in Connor's arm length as an excuse NOT to try him at OT- as he has virtually similar arm length as Lael Collins, whom they were reluctant to move to RT until
Doug Free's retirement forced them otherwise.,..

With Jaylon, they've moved him inside,..they moved him outside, ..they tried to have him blitz from the edge more. ..they've tried to maximize his best role, best position, but he has more
so declined since his 2018 season. and his flaws are being more and more exposed the last 2 years, such that they cannot even hide those flaws.

 

[Creeper]

i'm not sure we've exploited Conner's best traits ...best position at the NFL level. When ..and mostly IF we decide to do so before his contract runs out, then I would know. and that's basically
talking about moving him to OT and taking a hard long look if he can better excel at that.

And I'm not interested or believing in Connor's arm length as an excuse NOT to try him at OT- as he has virtually similar arm length as Lael Collins, whom they were reluctant to move to RT until
Doug Free's retirement forced them otherwise.,..

With Jaylon, they've moved him inside,..they moved him outside, ..they tried to have him blitz from the edge more. ..they've tried to maximize his best role, best position, but he has more
so declined since his 2018 season. and his flaws are being more and more exposed the last 2 years, such that they cannot even hide those flaws.

I agree with you about Connor Williams. I think they should try him at RT. But if his contract is up after next year then maybe he is not a long term solution for anything.

 

[BlueStar22]

We know Jaylon is not playing well. All the threads talking about him just seemin like piling on at this point. Same for Connor. He does some stuff well. He's probably not a starter at his guard. It would be nice if they tried him at one of the Tackle positions.

 

[buybuydandavis]

When we talk about issues on the defensive side of the ball, Jaylon Smith's name comes up first, the same can be said about Connor Williams. Both are former 2nd rd picks that haven't lived up to their draft slots.

No team can have elite, all-pro players at every position, but Jaylon is being paid like one and Connor Williams contract is set to expire after next season. It is also my understanding that their is an out of Jaylon's contract around the same time. Are they apart of the team's future core?

How much better would the team improve if they upgraded both spots? I understand there are more immediate needs to address, but each unit is arguably being held back by these two starters.

Connor Williams is currently our 2nd best olineman. Still has problems with power at times, but he's generally playing well.

Williams probably moves on with McGovern backfilling him. If we want to improve at G, Mcgovern or Knight need to beat him out. We have good oline depth for next year. We shouldn't be spending a pick at G with so many other needs.

 

[xwalker]

When we talk about issues on the defensive side of the ball, Jaylon Smith's name comes up first, the same can be said about Connor Williams. Both are former 2nd rd picks that haven't lived up to their draft slots.

No team can have elite, all-pro players at every position, but Jaylon is being paid like one and Connor Williams contract is set to expire after next season. It is also my understanding that their is an out of Jaylon's contract around the same time. Are they apart of the team's future core?

How much better would the team improve if they upgraded both spots? I understand there are more immediate needs to address, but each unit is arguably being held back by these two starters.

Connor Williams is much better than fans opinions of him.

 

[Aven8]

Williams doesn’t need to be extended at all as you can find a guard. And Jaylon needs to hit the road in the offseason

 

[buybuydandavis]

We know Jaylon is not playing well. All the threads talking about him just seemin like piling on at this point. Same for Connor. He does some stuff well. He's probably not a starter at his guard. It would be nice if they tried him at one of the Tackle positions.

Connor is the new Jeff Heath. People are still holding his rookie year against him. He's improved a lot since, and occasionally fails. It's always nice to improve, but he's not the low hanging fruit for that. Let McGovern or Knight try, but don't spend resources at G.

Jaylon, OTOH, is an anchor on a defense designed to let the LBs make the plays. Should be easy to upgrade him, and doing so upgrades the defense at a critical position.

Maybe playing him is part of the Tank Strategy. I'd feel a lot better about the prospects going forward if that were the case.

 

[DallasDomination]

They need to get rid of Jaylon Smith. That should be priority number one.

Connor Williams is decently athletic, but I don’t think he has the core strength to compete consistently. He got bigger and stronger but he’s still too damn weak, gets pushed around way too many times. With that said I don’t see a future for him here long term.

They should rest Zeke at this point. He needs another off season and fresh legs. His conditioning seems to be an issue, he takes himself out more than any rb we’ve had in a while. I don’t remember Demarco Murray waiving his hand after every other run wanting to come out.

 

[Cowboyny]

Connor Williams is much better than fans opinions of him.

I don't disagree. He is a solid starter that gets dinged by fans seeing 1 bad play a game.

 

[Cowboyny]

i'm not sure we've exploited Conner's best traits ...best position at the NFL level. When ..and mostly IF we decide to do so before his contract runs out, then I would know. and that's basically
talking about moving him to OT and taking a hard long look if he can better excel at that.

And I'm not interested or believing in Connor's arm length as an excuse NOT to try him at OT- as he has virtually similar arm length as Lael Collins, whom they were reluctant to move to RT until
Doug Free's retirement forced them otherwise.,..

With Jaylon, they've moved him inside,..they moved him outside, ..they tried to have him blitz from the edge more. ..they've tried to maximize his best role, best position, but he has more
so declined since his 2018 season. and his flaws are being more and more exposed the last 2 years, such that they cannot even hide those flaws.

Connor is a serviceable starter, where Jaylon in my opinion needs to be replaced. More of a 2022 season discussion as I don't see the team eating close to 10 million of dead money to release him, especially in a lower cap year.

 

[Cowboyny]

Jaylon Smith is the least of our problems on defense. The team needs another corner, a safety and two defensive tackles. Also you have to pray that Gregory stays out of trouble and LVE does not suffer another injury. If that happens then you can talk to me about Jaylon being the problem. You can argue with the exception of DLaw he is the most reliable player on the defense.

Conner Williams has been a solid 3rd year guard. He is a second round pick and is starting guard in the NFL. He will get a second contract somewhere. He is not a problem.

I don't disagree. There is a reason why I created this discussion:

-Right now the team holds the #3 overall pick, probably unrealistic to stay there, but for now they hold that pick.
-Two best players available after the QB's are a Tackle (Sewell), & a MLB (Parsons).
-After reading many of the responses, most feel Jaylon is the player needed to be replaced.

Personally, I would like to see the team target a CB, S and DT with their first 3 selections in any order. Certainly need a developmental G/T and more depth at the LB position considering the health of Lve and Thomas being a fa.

 

[CowboysFaninHouston]

When we talk about issues on the defensive side of the ball, Jaylon Smith's name comes up first, the same can be said about Connor Williams. Both are former 2nd rd picks that haven't lived up to their draft slots.

No team can have elite, all-pro players at every position, but Jaylon is being paid like one and Connor Williams contract is set to expire after next season. It is also my understanding that their is an out of Jaylon's contract around the same time. Are they apart of the team's future core?

How much better would the team improve if they upgraded both spots? I understand there are more immediate needs to address, but each unit is arguably being held back by these two starters.

lets add connor mcgovern to the list as wel.. you expect your second round picks to earn starting spots and be solid, reliable contributors....none of the above are...so you are right, we screwed up the second round and seemingly that's the round that Jerry the gambler takes over, seemingly we keep missing on the second round picks. Jaylon, Lee (always injured), Gregory (always high), Williams, Hill, McGovern. some that have paid a little include Lawrence (who now has a massive contract). Auwzie (hmmm, is he good? Average? Below Average),

we just haven't been good in the second round.

 

[atlantacowboy]

The worst contracts on the team are Amari Cooper and Zeke. Those were pure fantasy football moves.

 

[xwalker]

lets add connor mcgovern to the list as wel.. you expect your second round picks to earn starting spots and be solid, reliable contributors....none of the above are...so you are right, we screwed up the second round and seemingly that's the round that Jerry the gambler takes over, seemingly we keep missing on the second round picks. Jaylon, Lee (always injured), Gregory (always high), Williams, Hill, McGovern. some that have paid a little include Lawrence (who now has a massive contract). Auwzie (hmmm, is he good? Average? Below Average),

we just haven't been good in the second round.

He was a 3rd round pick...

 

[baltcowboy]

I don't disagree. There is a reason why I created this discussion:

-Right now the team holds the #3 overall pick, probably unrealistic to stay there, but for now they hold that pick.
-Two best players available after the QB's are a Tackle (Sewell), & a MLB (Parsons).
-After reading many of the responses, most feel Jaylon is the player needed to be replaced.

Personally, I would like to see the team target a CB, S and DT with their first 3 selections in any order. Certainly need a developmental G/T and more depth at the LB position considering the health of Lve and Thomas being a fa.

You are right on with the teams thinking. Follow the money and position openings. We need a cornerback, safety, and defensive tackle. A quarterback, linebacker, and offensive tackle are considered luxuries at this point.