PFF scoring of offense and where to go from here

[jterrell]

Ok so we have all seen the scores of most players and there are so many that make you laugh to keep from crying. I wanted to talk about what Dallas has to work with going forward.

Zack Martin ranks 2nd at OG. He's an All Pro on this ranking and on the field. He also plays RT better than anyone on the team other than La'el Collins and would undoubtedly make the Pro Bowl from any OL position.

Dak Prescott ranks 8th in PFF. That's probably about right with regard to his league-wide evaluation. And when you remove guys over 35 that you don't want to sign to long term deals. Dak's value is more like 5th or 6th going forward. No need to rehash here but Dak is your guy going forward even if you are cheap as Stephen Jones.

Amari Cooper ranks 25th. This is probably a tad low and effected by lack of a QB many weeks. Amari is a keeper for the near term. He has plus route-running, strength, speed and hands. Just very well roundd witht he exception of being mediocre blocker.

Connor Williams is ranked 21st at OG. That's a legit starting grade. He's not going to make anyone forget Zack Martin or Larry Allen but you can have a solid starter here. Unless he gets paid like a Pro bowler he's worth locking in.

Connor McGovern is ranked 24th. That's a legit starting grade and he is a baby. This what you look for. Guys on the cheap, with lots of ceiling left already being solid starters you can develop and win with now.

**Notes. Tyron Smith was rated in the 40s at OT playing hurt. It's a legit starting grade but no longer a plus one. You can survive with that but if that's his new baseline half a year you may need to move guys around.
This makes more sense when you figure you have 3 legit starting OG and one of them graded as truly elite at OT in Zack Martin. I'd seriously consider Martin and Collins at OT next year with Tyron as my swing (6th OL as any issue and move Martin back inside and Tyron out to OT). Extend his career with the rest.

The OCs are not young Travis. Biadacz is all upside but his 33rd out of 36 ranking is not good. And Looney comes in only one slot higher. I might need a vet OC to compete in the off-season with these guys. I hope Biadasz wins the comp but I gotta have a plan B better than worst starting C in the league.

WR Corps: Only Amari ranted highly. Gallup has nosedived post Dak (92nd out of 122) as we no longer throw deep and Gallup isn't an underneath guy. He needs time to get open but when he does they go for big plays. no one wants Dak to et paid more than Gallup. CeeDee has been fine (62nd out of 122) but not the special grade he may have had with a better QB. Did we overrate this WR corps? Or does the WR corps just heavily rely on QB? I think that's easy to answer. But it may not be a slam dunk to say I wouldn't trade Gallup for an R2 next year now.

RB: Zeke has easily had the worst year of his career. He rates a very poor 49th out of 67 backs. Sheesh. BUT you can also see some hidden pluses here as weird as it sounds. Zeke still rates a couple points higher than Pollard as a receiver and he rates higher as a pass blocker than your young OTs(Steele/Knight). The fumblesd have butchered his grade and season. I'd rather like a young back brought in with more well-rounded game than Pollard and more legs left than Zeke. RB can often be found on the cheap in FA or low in drafts. I'd consider that a 2021 need. Tony Pollard rates slightly better than Zeke at 36th out of 67 but given his managed snaps that's really pretty poor. the biggest TP red flag is he was supposed to be our receiving option out of the backfield but he rates terribly there. At this point he comes into games to give the team a little more running juice but his receiving and blocking are below Zeke.

Final 4 games: Not sure there's much you can do here. You probably should start Gilbert another game or two then possibly extend him as your QB2 for next year.
You might give Tony Pollard a full game as starter with Rico Dowdle as his back up. Hold Zeke out as injury precaution or whatever you want to call it.
Maybe you sit Amari a game and let everyone step up one slot to check out your WR depth in a different light.
But realistically you probably aren't learning much as you already tested this offense in depth at every notable position.

 

[Rajveer]

If there was a score for owners, Jerry would rank 32nd.

 

[817Gill]

Ok so we have all seen the scores of most players and there are so many that make you laugh to keep from crying. I wanted to talk about what Dallas has to work with going forward.

Zack Martin ranks 2nd at OG. He's an All Pro on this ranking and on the field. He also plays RT better than anyone on the team other than La'el Collins and would undoubtedly make the Pro Bowl from any OL position.

Dak Prescott ranks 8th in PFF. That's probably about right with regard to his league-wide evaluation. And when you remove guys over 35 that you don't want to sign to long term deals. Dak's value is more like 5th or 6th going forward. No need to rehash here but Dak is your guy going forward even if you are cheap as Stephen Jones.

Amari Cooper ranks 25th. This is probably a tad low and effected by lack of a QB many weeks. Amari is a keeper for the near term. He has plus route-running, strength, speed and hands. Just very well roundd witht he exception of being mediocre blocker.

Connor Williams is ranked 21st at OG. That's a legit starting grade. He's not going to make anyone forget Zack Martin or Larry Allen but you can have a solid starter here. Unless he gets paid like a Pro bowler he's worth locking in.

Connor McGovern is ranked 24th. That's a legit starting grade and he is a baby. This what you look for. Guys on the cheap, with lots of ceiling left already being solid starters you can develop and win with now.

**Notes. Tyron Smith was rated in the 40s at OT playing hurt. It's a legit starting grade but no longer a plus one. You can survive with that but if that's his new baseline half a year you may need to move guys around.
This makes more sense when you figure you have 3 legit starting OG and one of them graded as truly elite at OT in Zack Martin. I'd seriously consider Martin and Collins at OT next year with Tyron as my swing (6th OL as any issue and move Martin back inside and Tyron out to OT). Extend his career with the rest.

The OCs are not young Travis. Biadacz is all upside but his 33rd out of 36 ranking is not good. And Looney comes in only one slot higher. I might need a vet OC to compete in the off-season with these guys. I hope Biadasz wins the comp but I gotta have a plan B better than worst starting C in the league.

WR Corps: Only Amari ranted highly. Gallup has nosedived post Dak (92nd out of 122) as we no longer throw deep and Gallup isn't an underneath guy. He needs time to get open but when he does they go for big plays. no one wants Dak to et paid more than Gallup. CeeDee has been fine (62nd out of 122) but not the special grade he may have had with a better QB. Did we overrate this WR corps? Or does the WR corps just heavily rely on QB? I think that's easy to answer. But it may not be a slam dunk to say I wouldn't trade Gallup for an R2 next year now.

RB: Zeke has easily had the worst year of his career. He rates a very poor 49th out of 67 backs. Sheesh. BUT you can also see some hidden pluses here as weird as it sounds. Zeke still rates a couple points higher than Pollard as a receiver and he rates higher as a pass blocker than your young OTs(Steele/Knight). The fumblesd have butchered his grade and season. I'd rather like a young back brought in with more well-rounded game than Pollard and more legs left than Zeke. RB can often be found on the cheap in FA or low in drafts. I'd consider that a 2021 need. Tony Pollard rates slightly better than Zeke at 36th out of 67 but given his managed snaps that's really pretty poor. the biggest TP red flag is he was supposed to be our receiving option out of the backfield but he rates terribly there. At this point he comes into games to give the team a little more running juice but his receiving and blocking are below Zeke.

Final 4 games: Not sure there's much you can do here. You probably should start Gilbert another game or two then possibly extend him as your QB2 for next year.
You might give Tony Pollard a full game as starter with Rico Dowdle as his back up. Hold Zeke out as injury precaution or whatever you want to call it.
Maybe you sit Amari a game and let everyone step up one slot to check out your WR depth in a different light.
But realistically you probably aren't learning much as you already tested this offense in depth at every notable position.

Great freakin post man seriously. Very measured and overall accurate roster points. Wouldn’t mind sitting vets week 16&17 and letting Gilbert and some young guys get some extended burn.

 

[CowboyRoy]

Ok so we have all seen the scores of most players and there are so many that make you laugh to keep from crying. I wanted to talk about what Dallas has to work with going forward.

Zack Martin ranks 2nd at OG. He's an All Pro on this ranking and on the field. He also plays RT better than anyone on the team other than La'el Collins and would undoubtedly make the Pro Bowl from any OL position.

Dak Prescott ranks 8th in PFF. That's probably about right with regard to his league-wide evaluation. And when you remove guys over 35 that you don't want to sign to long term deals. Dak's value is more like 5th or 6th going forward. No need to rehash here but Dak is your guy going forward even if you are cheap as Stephen Jones.

Amari Cooper ranks 25th. This is probably a tad low and effected by lack of a QB many weeks. Amari is a keeper for the near term. He has plus route-running, strength, speed and hands. Just very well roundd witht he exception of being mediocre blocker.

Connor Williams is ranked 21st at OG. That's a legit starting grade. He's not going to make anyone forget Zack Martin or Larry Allen but you can have a solid starter here. Unless he gets paid like a Pro bowler he's worth locking in.

Connor McGovern is ranked 24th. That's a legit starting grade and he is a baby. This what you look for. Guys on the cheap, with lots of ceiling left already being solid starters you can develop and win with now.

**Notes. Tyron Smith was rated in the 40s at OT playing hurt. It's a legit starting grade but no longer a plus one. You can survive with that but if that's his new baseline half a year you may need to move guys around.
This makes more sense when you figure you have 3 legit starting OG and one of them graded as truly elite at OT in Zack Martin. I'd seriously consider Martin and Collins at OT next year with Tyron as my swing (6th OL as any issue and move Martin back inside and Tyron out to OT). Extend his career with the rest.

The OCs are not young Travis. Biadacz is all upside but his 33rd out of 36 ranking is not good. And Looney comes in only one slot higher. I might need a vet OC to compete in the off-season with these guys. I hope Biadasz wins the comp but I gotta have a plan B better than worst starting C in the league.

WR Corps: Only Amari ranted highly. Gallup has nosedived post Dak (92nd out of 122) as we no longer throw deep and Gallup isn't an underneath guy. He needs time to get open but when he does they go for big plays. no one wants Dak to et paid more than Gallup. CeeDee has been fine (62nd out of 122) but not the special grade he may have had with a better QB. Did we overrate this WR corps? Or does the WR corps just heavily rely on QB? I think that's easy to answer. But it may not be a slam dunk to say I wouldn't trade Gallup for an R2 next year now.

RB: Zeke has easily had the worst year of his career. He rates a very poor 49th out of 67 backs. Sheesh. BUT you can also see some hidden pluses here as weird as it sounds. Zeke still rates a couple points higher than Pollard as a receiver and he rates higher as a pass blocker than your young OTs(Steele/Knight). The fumblesd have butchered his grade and season. I'd rather like a young back brought in with more well-rounded game than Pollard and more legs left than Zeke. RB can often be found on the cheap in FA or low in drafts. I'd consider that a 2021 need. Tony Pollard rates slightly better than Zeke at 36th out of 67 but given his managed snaps that's really pretty poor. the biggest TP red flag is he was supposed to be our receiving option out of the backfield but he rates terribly there. At this point he comes into games to give the team a little more running juice but his receiving and blocking are below Zeke.

Final 4 games: Not sure there's much you can do here. You probably should start Gilbert another game or two then possibly extend him as your QB2 for next year.
You might give Tony Pollard a full game as starter with Rico Dowdle as his back up. Hold Zeke out as injury precaution or whatever you want to call it.
Maybe you sit Amari a game and let everyone step up one slot to check out your WR depth in a different light.
But realistically you probably aren't learning much as you already tested this offense in depth at every notable position.

Nice work, but you gotta use your eyes a little here in some of these evaluations. And you cant always take PFF as gospil with small sample sizes.

Couple of big ones here..................Biadasz I think started one or two games? The kid looked good in there. Was amazing in his run blocking, that kid is a keeper. And of course Pollard with pass catching. Cmon........they barely use him in the passing game. Anyone can plainly see that Pollard is the big play, versatile, pass catching type back. Zeke definitely is NOT good out of the backfield.

Need to dump Zeke as soon as its possible and use a 3rd or 4th rounder on a talented rookie to team with Pollard.

Offense is pretty much stacked. And ironically, we have gone through a little Oline mini rebuild and as long as McGovern and Biadasz can be good starters, we should be fine.

Tyron has a few years left and the backup tackles are getting good experience. When Smith is done, Martin moves to LT.

Its the defense that needs all the attention.

 

[jterrell]

Great freakin post man seriously. Very measured and overall accurate roster points. Wouldn’t mind sitting vets week 16&17 and letting Gilbert and some young guys get some extended burn.

TY!! I post a lot of stuff that gets 35-40 replies quickly and this had been dead in water but I thought it provided some useful context without outside non-biased grading.

 

[Bigdog]

If there was a score for owners, Jerry would rank 32nd.

That is ranking him too high. Needs to be much lower than that. I am sure that there are some owners in the AFL, CFL and semi pro leagues that are better.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

In regards to Biadicz.......the interesting thing about him.....this is from ESPN:

There's potential here to where I don't address center in the draft or free agency.

 

[jterrell]

In regards to Biadicz.......the interesting thing about him.....this is from ESPN:

There's potential here to where I don't address center in the draft or free agency.

That is an awesome stat.
I am both ESPN + and PFF subscribed so I'll check ESPN... the stats stuff isn't easy to find like that PFF but it definitely bares checking in on. .

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

That is an awesome stat.
I am both ESPN + and PFF subscribed so I'll check ESPN... the stats stuff isn't easy to find like that PFF but it definitely bares checking in on. .

Naw its not....I'm not even sure when that stat even stopped. Tyler hasn't played in weeks....but that was posted relatively recently so who knows.

 

[jterrell]

That is an awesome stat.
I am both ESPN + and PFF subscribed so I'll check ESPN... the stats stuff isn't easy to find like that PFF but it definitely bares checking in on. .

PFF did have him on the all-rookie mid-season team but with a very poor run block grade.
Wish I had ESPN's data but it's tough to find anything.

 

[beware_d-ware]

Some called all the investment on the OL overkill, but we have seen the OL depth pushed to the limit this year and they've held, other than Steele.

Really going to be interesting to see who your starting five are next year... my guess is the line goes Tyron--Williams--McGovern--Martin--Collins, with Knight on deck at tackle and Bidasz coming in for any interior OL injuries.

 

[Jake]

So many delusional fans, still thinking Booger & Son can put it together.

This team is going nowhere as long as the Jones boys are playing fantasy football.

 

[DasSchnitzel]

I like your evaluation of the offensive line and strongly agree with your assessment. I think the idea to move Martin out to get your best 5 on field is pretty interesting, but I might look to trade Tyron Smith in that situation. I don't believe I can count on him to stay on field for 4 straight games, and honestly I won't be surprised if he retires anyway.

I agree and disagree on the WRs. I think they're doing really well as a group, all things considered, plus Amari and CeeDee are on pace for some franchise records. CeeDee is doing great as a rookie WR all things considered in Dallas. Wilson and Gallup both looked good at times.

I would love to trade Gallup at this stage for as much as I could get. Based on trades like Hopkins, Cooper, Cooks, I believe you could trade him for a 3rd round pick or so and I'd gladly clear up the WR logjam for a top 100 prospect on defense. There are several teams that could use Gallup more than we need to.

For Dak I can make an argument for signing and for moving on. Idk yet what I would do but im currently on the side of signing him.

I agree that adding a RB might be worth while, as it could improve the run game and get ahead of a resource problem in 2 years. Our run offense this year is in the bottom 10. We're probably stuck with Zeke and might as well keep Pollard for next 2 years. Then you can cut Zeke and move on from Pollard if you wish. That gives us 2 drafts to upgrade. Midround pick or two in that time frame should be fine.

One group you didn't talk about is TE. Jarwin is locked up 3 years, Schultz 1 year. I'd be happy to keep those 2. I don’t really want to add anything here, I think these 2 are good enough and the cost of a free agent or draft upgrade would be better spent elsewhere. Depth acquisition only. That being said I think people are underestimating the possibility that JJ picks the TE Pitts in the top 10, and if that happens then I'm adding Jarwin to the "trade for picks" list. Let's hope we don't end up here.

Interesting to consider that trading Tyron Smith and Michael Gallup both could save 6M on cap and likely land another 2 top 100 or so picks, making for 6 total. That's a lot of likely starters and contributors. Imagine if we got 6 defenders or Sewell and 5 defenders. It would be nice to spend one of the latter 6 top 100ish picks on a swing tackle though.

All told right now I'd probably sign Dak, trade Tyron and Gallup, take 5 defenders + either Sewell or a 3rd/4th round offensive tackle in the top 100ish picks, and then draft a RB early day 3 and a TE mid to late day 3.

 

[America's Cowboy]

Ok so we have all seen the scores of most players and there are so many that make you laugh to keep from crying. I wanted to talk about what Dallas has to work with going forward.

Zack Martin ranks 2nd at OG. He's an All Pro on this ranking and on the field. He also plays RT better than anyone on the team other than La'el Collins and would undoubtedly make the Pro Bowl from any OL position.

Dak Prescott ranks 8th in PFF. That's probably about right with regard to his league-wide evaluation. And when you remove guys over 35 that you don't want to sign to long term deals. Dak's value is more like 5th or 6th going forward. No need to rehash here but Dak is your guy going forward even if you are cheap as Stephen Jones.

Amari Cooper ranks 25th. This is probably a tad low and effected by lack of a QB many weeks. Amari is a keeper for the near term. He has plus route-running, strength, speed and hands. Just very well roundd witht he exception of being mediocre blocker.

Connor Williams is ranked 21st at OG. That's a legit starting grade. He's not going to make anyone forget Zack Martin or Larry Allen but you can have a solid starter here. Unless he gets paid like a Pro bowler he's worth locking in.

Connor McGovern is ranked 24th. That's a legit starting grade and he is a baby. This what you look for. Guys on the cheap, with lots of ceiling left already being solid starters you can develop and win with now.

**Notes. Tyron Smith was rated in the 40s at OT playing hurt. It's a legit starting grade but no longer a plus one. You can survive with that but if that's his new baseline half a year you may need to move guys around.
This makes more sense when you figure you have 3 legit starting OG and one of them graded as truly elite at OT in Zack Martin. I'd seriously consider Martin and Collins at OT next year with Tyron as my swing (6th OL as any issue and move Martin back inside and Tyron out to OT). Extend his career with the rest.

The OCs are not young Travis. Biadacz is all upside but his 33rd out of 36 ranking is not good. And Looney comes in only one slot higher. I might need a vet OC to compete in the off-season with these guys. I hope Biadasz wins the comp but I gotta have a plan B better than worst starting C in the league.

WR Corps: Only Amari ranted highly. Gallup has nosedived post Dak (92nd out of 122) as we no longer throw deep and Gallup isn't an underneath guy. He needs time to get open but when he does they go for big plays. no one wants Dak to et paid more than Gallup. CeeDee has been fine (62nd out of 122) but not the special grade he may have had with a better QB. Did we overrate this WR corps? Or does the WR corps just heavily rely on QB? I think that's easy to answer. But it may not be a slam dunk to say I wouldn't trade Gallup for an R2 next year now.

RB: Zeke has easily had the worst year of his career. He rates a very poor 49th out of 67 backs. Sheesh. BUT you can also see some hidden pluses here as weird as it sounds. Zeke still rates a couple points higher than Pollard as a receiver and he rates higher as a pass blocker than your young OTs(Steele/Knight). The fumblesd have butchered his grade and season. I'd rather like a young back brought in with more well-rounded game than Pollard and more legs left than Zeke. RB can often be found on the cheap in FA or low in drafts. I'd consider that a 2021 need. Tony Pollard rates slightly better than Zeke at 36th out of 67 but given his managed snaps that's really pretty poor. the biggest TP red flag is he was supposed to be our receiving option out of the backfield but he rates terribly there. At this point he comes into games to give the team a little more running juice but his receiving and blocking are below Zeke.

Final 4 games: Not sure there's much you can do here. You probably should start Gilbert another game or two then possibly extend him as your QB2 for next year.
You might give Tony Pollard a full game as starter with Rico Dowdle as his back up. Hold Zeke out as injury precaution or whatever you want to call it.
Maybe you sit Amari a game and let everyone step up one slot to check out your WR depth in a different light.
But realistically you probably aren't learning much as you already tested this offense in depth at every notable position.

I about 90% agree with everything you said. I still feel Pollard is better than you gave him credit for. Wish the Cowboys would use him more in the passing game. I feel Looney is much better than where PFF has him rated. He should be resigned for another 2-3 years on a cheap deal. Biadasz will be better next year. He needs a little more time, get stronger and to alternate with Looney next season. I would love to see more of Dowdle as you mentioned, but I also would love to see what we could possibly have at FB with Sewo Olonilua. Bring Sewo up from the practice squad and play him some at FB these last few games left in the season. The kid has the size (6'3", 235) and talent to possibly become a good FB. Wish we would use a FB next year and run some power runs between the Tackles while using Sewo as a lead blocker for our TBs the way the Cowboys of the 90s used to.

 

[PJTHEDOORS]

If there was a score for owners, Jerry would rank 32nd.

For team worth?

 

[PJTHEDOORS]

Need to dump Zeke as soon as its possible and use a 3rd or 4th rounder on a talented rookie to team with Pollard.

Offense is pretty much stacked. And ironically, we have gone through a little Oline mini rebuild and as long as McGovern and Biadasz can be good starters, we should be fine.

Tyron has a few years left and the backup tackles are getting good experience. When Smith is done, Martin moves to LT.

Its the defense that needs all the attention.

Dump Zeke? Use all pics for the D.

 

[jterrell]

I like your evaluation of the offensive line and strongly agree with your assessment. I think the idea to move Martin out to get your best 5 on field is pretty interesting, but I might look to trade Tyron Smith in that situation. I don't believe I can count on him to stay on field for 4 straight games, and honestly I won't be surprised if he retires anyway.

I agree and disagree on the WRs. I think they're doing really well as a group, all things considered, plus Amari and CeeDee are on pace for some franchise records. CeeDee is doing great as a rookie WR all things considered in Dallas. Wilson and Gallup both looked good at times.

I would love to trade Gallup at this stage for as much as I could get. Based on trades like Hopkins, Cooper, Cooks, I believe you could trade him for a 3rd round pick or so and I'd gladly clear up the WR logjam for a top 100 prospect on defense. There are several teams that could use Gallup more than we need to.

For Dak I can make an argument for signing and for moving on. Idk yet what I would do but im currently on the side of signing him.

I agree that adding a RB might be worth while, as it could improve the run game and get ahead of a resource problem in 2 years. Our run offense this year is in the bottom 10. We're probably stuck with Zeke and might as well keep Pollard for next 2 years. Then you can cut Zeke and move on from Pollard if you wish. That gives us 2 drafts to upgrade. Midround pick or two in that time frame should be fine.

One group you didn't talk about is TE. Jarwin is locked up 3 years, Schultz 1 year. I'd be happy to keep those 2. I don’t really want to add anything here, I think these 2 are good enough and the cost of a free agent or draft upgrade would be better spent elsewhere. Depth acquisition only. That being said I think people are underestimating the possibility that JJ picks the TE Pitts in the top 10, and if that happens then I'm adding Jarwin to the "trade for picks" list. Let's hope we don't end up here.

Interesting to consider that trading Tyron Smith and Michael Gallup both could save 6M on cap and likely land another 2 top 100 or so picks, making for 6 total. That's a lot of likely starters and contributors. Imagine if we got 6 defenders or Sewell and 5 defenders. It would be nice to spend one of the latter 6 top 100ish picks on a swing tackle though.

All told right now I'd probably sign Dak, trade Tyron and Gallup, take 5 defenders + either Sewell or a 3rd/4th round offensive tackle in the top 100ish picks, and then draft a RB early day 3 and a TE mid to late day 3.

Thanks for the takes here.
Some notes though for context.

These are PFF evaluations and I don't have nay others so taking them at face value because it's what I have. DAL isn't releasing their internal grades so I'm merely using PFF as the evaluator. BUT they do seem to match my eyes in many cases. Tho I concentrate about 0 on what the RG is doing on most plays.

Tyron: I don't know what all value Tyron has around the league as his injury concerns aren't just internal. He's only 30 but has played a whole lot of football. And he's the Italian sports car of LT, built for perfection. Not just some massive fatty. Those Italian sports cars are built for a good time not a long time. I wouldn't mind testing his value on the market mind you, just not sure I get enough to move on when I know he can fill a key role on the team.

WR: I agree with a desperate need for defense WR might be your only depth position that brings back real juice. All that said, we have a lot of picks, can trade down and stock up more and is WR really that much of a glut? I play the 3 starters heavy and Gallup with Dak is not Gallup without. He's an elite deep play threat and Dak is a great deep threat QB. I can also keep Gallup then extend him or let him walk in FA and probably get a R4 comp pick. If I can't trade Gallup for an actual proven day 1 starter I don't wanna do it. I'd trade him for a starting top 15 FS or top 20 DT. Otherwise I might hold onto cards I've been dealt and let Dak chase 6000 yards.

This is considered a very weak draft. Dallas can and likely will find some players here but generally only top 50 guys can be counted on day 1. For instance Biadasz might have been the best pick of the entire 4th round last year and he wasn't a day 1 starter over a career back up. I'm not sure I wanna assume I can get 5+ starters out of a draft.
But again I'm also not looking at this as a team who is really a 3 win team in talent. I think this is a 7 win team with Dak and 9 with Dak and his OTs. That's with awful defense.

 

[jterrell]

I about 90% agree with everything you said. I still feel Pollard is better than you gave him credit for. Wish the Cowboys would use him more in the passing game. I feel Looney is much better than where PFF has him rated. He should be resigned for another 2-3 years on a cheap deal. Biadasz will be better next year. He needs a little more time, get stronger and to alternate with Looney next season. I would love to see more of Dowdle as you mentioned, but I also would love to see what we could possibly have at FB with Sewo Olonilua. Bring Sewo up from the practice squad and play him some at FB these last few games left in the season. The kid has the size (6'3", 235) and talent to possibly become a good FB. Wish we would use a FB next year and run some power runs between the Tackles while using Sewo as a lead blocker for our TBs the way the Cowboys of the 90s used to.

I think that's fair on Pollard.
I don't mean he is trash. But we have people suggesting Zeke is and that's just hilariously wrong. --Zeke's contract is trash but his play is still very solid and through day 1 of his career til now he's been the best RB overall. That may not last much longer and this is a look forward league but it's still the case today.
Pollard is used in the passing game but doesn't do that much. He's not really a plus hands guy nor a great route runner. He is obviously really good if you get him the ball in space because he has speed.
To me TP is not a legit Zeke replacement by any means. But I agree they should leverage his speed even more. And on two very cleanly blocked plays he probably nets more yardage than Zeke.

 

[jterrell]

Dump Zeke? Use all pics for the D.

Dallas can't dump Zeke without eating massive salary dumps. It's far cheaper on 2021 cap to restructure his base this year then to cut him.
I can get his cap cost down to 6M by keeping him or I can eat 13M to cut him with a larger dead cap hit coming next year.

If I am paying 20 more a month than I should for cable but have 6 months left on the contract I am not going to break the contract and pay a 250 penalty to save 6x20=120.
I'll just suck it up for 6 months because it is best value for me under the circumstances.

 

[goshan]

Thanks for the takes here.
Some notes though for context.

These are PFF evaluations and I don't have nay others so taking them at face value because it's what I have. DAL isn't releasing their internal grades so I'm merely using PFF as the evaluator. BUT they do seem to match my eyes in many cases. Tho I concentrate about 0 on what the RG is doing on most plays.

Tyron: I don't know what all value Tyron has around the league as his injury concerns aren't just internal. He's only 30 but has played a whole lot of football. And he's the Italian sports car of LT, built for perfection. Not just some massive fatty. Those Italian sports cars are built for a good time not a long time. I wouldn't mind testing his value on the market mind you, just not sure I get enough to move on when I know he can fill a key role on the team.

WR: I agree with a desperate need for defense WR might be your only depth position that brings back real juice. All that said, we have a lot of picks, can trade down and stock up more and is WR really that much of a glut? I play the 3 starters heavy and Gallup with Dak is not Gallup without. He's an elite deep play threat and Dak is a great deep threat QB. I can also keep Gallup then extend him or let him walk in FA and probably get a R4 comp pick. If I can't trade Gallup for an actual proven day 1 starter I don't wanna do it. I'd trade him for a starting top 15 FS or top 20 DT. Otherwise I might hold onto cards I've been dealt and let Dak chase 6000 yards.

This is considered a very weak draft. Dallas can and likely will find some players here but generally only top 50 guys can be counted on day 1. For instance Biadasz might have been the best pick of the entire 4th round last year and he wasn't a day 1 starter over a career back up. I'm not sure I wanna assume I can get 5+ starters out of a draft.
But again I'm also not looking at this as a team who is really a 3 win team in talent. I think this is a 7 win team with Dak and 9 with Dak and his OTs. That's with awful defense.

Some seem to imply that Pollard is all about 'speed'. He is also far more elusive than Zeke and I believe has demonstrated better vision. He has also demonstrated decent power for his size, often breaking arm tackles. I am surprised/disappointed he hasn't gotten in any sort of rhythm on the passing game. Ur point is taken there. He should be better.

That being said, on O I would try to add another RB late in the draft in case we decide to move on from Zeke after 2021. I actually feel very good about the O-line. We have developed a very solid 2nd string. I would draft all D unless there is an attractive RB or Returner out there. CDee isn't fast or elusive enough to be a better-than-average returner IMO and Pollard seems to lack something.