Tanking would have been the right strategy

[Big_D]

You are just talking out your backside. You sit Dalton and DLaw for DiNucci and Anae then your story isn't going to sell and you are going to piss people off in house and across the league.

You don't sit DLaw, you do sit Dalton. He won't be back and what's in the teams' best interest moving forward. Who will be gone and who remains? DLaw will be back, other players will not. You're not benching full time starters who are here for 21 and beyond or even the high contract players, but you are benching players who will more than likely be gone so you can rotate in the younger guys, dress them for the last few games. Get those guys some playing time like Anae etc.? Nope Cowboys go full throttle like they're in the Super Bowl. It's working really great! They could've been sitting at 2 or 3 right now. But there's no difference between that and 10. lol You really gotta laugh at the stupidity of this team. They play to win, but not really!

 

[Big_D]

You would like to have the highest draft spot possible, regardless of any other factor. No question. If for no other reason than there's more players available to pick from, pick of the litter so to speak.

But how have the Cowboys done in recent years, drafting other than very high? Did they get a bunch of NFL failures? Well let's look at some mid to late first rounders (as in 1-10 would be early, 11-21 mid and 22-32 late):

2009 Dez Bryant - 24th. All time Dallas touchdown leader, multiple Pro Bowler.
2013 Travis Frederick - 31st. Multiple Pro Bowler.
2014 Zack Martin - 16th. Multiple Pro Bowler.
2015 Byron Jones - 27th. Not so great at Dallas, but one Pro Bowl, and Dolphins paid big bucks for him.
2020 Cee Dee Lamb - 17th. Too early to really tell, but has shown great promise.

Point is if you don't try for the higher pick, it's not the kiss of death for your team, there are, and you can get, great players even late in the draft, and Dallas has done so.

Not drafting early hasn't been the issue with Dallas, they have gotten plenty of good players later, it's poor free agent signings, the giving of big contracts to players after only a year of good play, drafting "project" players, poor coaching hires and other things that have contributed more to the poor records than not drafting high.

And this year, with so many needs and so few top-notch players in key spots like defensive tackle available, trading down imho is the way to go, assuming willing partners...

I

It's not the kiss of death and you could still get a good player, but you are drafting one position because another might be gone (like WR) Sure I like Lamb and Dez, but defense always takes a backseat. And you're not taking into account the rest of the draft. Your position in every round. This team just doesn't play it smart. It's not intentionally throwing games, it's a yearly improvement that is extremely necessary. The draft plays a huge part in a teams success and this team has none. Sure they have talented players in certain areas, they don't have a talented 53, there is a difference. They do this yearly and aren't very good in free agency to top it off. Those crap wins just continue to waste the good players we actually do have.

 

[Big_D]

You and I my brother see things the same. And I don't care if you want to call it intentionally "tanking" or flip the script and just say they lost by actually trying, the point is 2 to 3 "bad" seasons in a row need to occur with a huge infusion of fresh first contract talent.

I'll say it again. This team can not overcome poor GM'ing, HC'ing and QB'ing and expect to win.

So....
"At least" if the team rebuilt with a whole new influx of first contract talent they would stand a fighter's chance. I mean highly unlikely still but Cowboys fans still cling to that 95 team being so talented it still won in spite of Switzers coaching. It was Jimmy's team.

Maybe some crazy assemblage of talent could do it one more time.

I doubt it but I know this current status quo and it's leaders of said performance need a serious re boot of some sort.

My .02.

If the front office was smart and actually operated with some common sense, tanking wouldn't even be a question. But the long term gameplan is never there. They don't look beyond this season until the last one is over and it's a real problem. Improving your team is year round. Jerry's "win now" mentality is really just a joke at this point.

 

[75boyz]

If the front office was smart and actually operated with some common sense, tanking wouldn't even be a question. But the long term gameplan is never there. They don't look beyond this season until the last one is over and it's a real problem. Improving your team is year round. Jerry's "win now" mentality is really just a joke at this point.

So true. I remember as ex active military receiving evaluations for my performance and a corny catch phrase my superiors always used in describing how I did my job.

"Sustained Superior Performance." It was a funny catch phrase that I used in joking around with close friends when reminiscing about past military life.

I sure do wish the Dallas Cowboys GM could sustain some superior performance.

 

[Big_D]

So true. I remember as ex active military receiving evaluations for my performance and a corny catch phrase my superiors always used in describing how I did my job.

"Sustained Superior Performance." It was a funny catch phrase that I used in joking around with close friends when reminiscing about past military life.

I sure do wish the Dallas Cowboys GM could sustain some superior performance.

I'm sure that's very important in the military as corny as it may sound, but I think superior is out the window with Jerry! lol Sustained common sense, that would be nice! Sustained Superior Performance, that's a lot to ask!

 

[HappyOnions]

People talk about it never being helpful to lose on purpose, but we've been struggling to get to 8-8 every year for 15 years. If overcoming adversity to get to middling were actually such a character builder, we would have won many Super Bowls by now.

We're picking 10th. Which is OK. But we could have been picking 3rd or 4th or something in every round. So that's 40-50 spots of surrendered draft capital. And we didn't make the playoffs, so that flurry of wins at the end of the year did nothing but set us back long-term.

Also, signing a veteran backup quarterback - unless you're a serious contender, not a Jerry Jones magical-thinking contender - is a waste of resources. We got Andy Dalton. At the end of the year, our backup quarterback was better than the backup quarterbacks for other teams with injured starters. So we won a few games. It didn't help us. It hurt us. See paragraph 2.

From a fan's perspective, maybe...

For the coaches and playes? Absolutely not. Do you think they're more concerned about who the team drafts or keeping their job (global pandemic not even included)

They are and should prioritize their ability to take care of their families over a hypothetical player not even on the team.

 

[HappyOnions]

From a front office perspective, trading away talent for future draft capital making your team worse in the short term. From a coaching perspective, ill-advised playcalling or personnel decisions. The players on the field don't intentionally play poorly because it would hurt their earning potential.

Using that same logic, why would coaches intentionally make themselves seem less competent and hireable?

 

[CouchCoach]

This entire tanking idea is based on one idea. They will do the right thing with that pick.

Anyone see the humor in wanting to lose so they draft higher because you don't trust them to make the picks?

Why do the contenders remain contenders when they're picking at the bottom most of the time? GB, SEA, NO

Do you really think losing and getting higher picks is going to make them better talent evaluators?

The Cowboys FO will only make decisions to improve when forced to do so. That entire Cooper deal shows exactly why they're what they are. They wait until the problem raises it's head like not having a good enough receiving corps to act on it. The good teams anticipate problems and get out in front of them.

Belichick is admired by them but they don't learn from him. He got Moss and Cooks ahead of the problem and he moved Jones and Collins before he had to face the problem. He went to 13 AFCCG with Brady, where was he picking each of those 13 seasons? And he's not a great picker and I think he knows it.

The MO of this team is always the same. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it". I am not even sure they can recognize a washed out bridge.

 

[HappyOnions]

This entire tanking idea is based on one idea. They will do the right thing with that pick.

Anyone see the humor in wanting to lose so they draft higher because you don't trust them to make the picks?

Why do the contenders remain contenders when they're picking at the bottom most of the time? GB, SEA, NO

Do you really think losing and getting higher picks is going to make them better talent evaluators?

The Cowboys FO will only make decisions to improve when forced to do so. That entire Cooper deal shows exactly why they're what they are. They wait until the problem raises it's head like not having a good enough receiving corps to act on it. The good teams anticipate problems and get out in front of them.

Belichick is admired by them but they don't learn from him. He got Moss and Cooks ahead of the problem and he moved Jones and Collins before he had to face the problem. He went to 13 AFCCG with Brady, where was he picking each of those 13 seasons? And he's not a great picker and I think he knows it.

The MO of this team is always the same. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it". I am not even sure they can recognize a washed out bridge.

People are still ignoring the human aspect of the team tanking... like there are no other factors other than the draft pick position for them to consider...

 

[75boyz]

This entire tanking idea is based on one idea. They will do the right thing with that pick.

Anyone see the humor in wanting to lose so they draft higher because you don't trust them to make the picks?

Why do the contenders remain contenders when they're picking at the bottom most of the time? GB, SEA, NO

Do you really think losing and getting higher picks is going to make them better talent evaluators?

The Cowboys FO will only make decisions to improve when forced to do so. That entire Cooper deal shows exactly why they're what they are. They wait until the problem raises it's head like not having a good enough receiving corps to act on it. The good teams anticipate problems and get out in front of them.

Belichick is admired by them but they don't learn from him. He got Moss and Cooks ahead of the problem and he moved Jones and Collins before he had to face the problem. He went to 13 AFCCG with Brady, where was he picking each of those 13 seasons? And he's not a great picker and I think he knows it.

The MO of this team is always the same. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it". I am not even sure they can recognize a washed out bridge.

While agreeing with you in principle that there's irony still in believing the ones doing the picking will get it right I'd still rather take my chances on just maybe they get it right again. The more and higher picks this franchise had in the distant past and not so distant led to different levels of success.

I know Jimmy was the architect and Master of the first nexxus leading to team Super Bowl success based off the Herschel trade and 89/90/91 drafts.

I guess the 2016 haul was a decent haul as well but not near Jimmy's trading and wheeling and dealing that resulted in 3 rings. But 2016's haul ultimately benefited team success greatly by the picks taken.

My point is the mere availability of higher picks at the bare minimum offers up an opportunity to better the team. If that choice is incorrectly made I'd still rather live with those results than to have never had the opportunity because of a lower pick/non availability.

Just my opinion.

 

[jterrell]

You don't sit DLaw, you do sit Dalton. He won't be back and what's in the teams' best interest moving forward. Who will be gone and who remains? DLaw will be back, other players will not. You're not benching full time starters who are here for 21 and beyond or even the high contract players, but you are benching players who will more than likely be gone so you can rotate in the younger guys, dress them for the last few games. Get those guys some playing time like Anae etc.? Nope Cowboys go full throttle like they're in the Super Bowl. It's working really great! They could've been sitting at 2 or 3 right now. But there's no difference between that and 10. lol You really gotta laugh at the stupidity of this team. They play to win, but not really!

You couldn't sit Dalton.
You signed him with an agreement to back up Dak.
He deserved his shot to go put up tape and earn a decent contract.

You crap on guys in that scenario and can kiss dealing with free agents goodbye.

EVERYTHING in the NFL is about playing your very best and playing to win.

They tried DiNucci one game and was clearly not an NFL QB. They couldn't go back to him again last season.
He in no way resembled an NFL QB and you couldn't sell that nonsense to anyone.
DiNucci will be lucky to make the practice squad this year.

Like a lot of folks you are "1 themed". You care about nothing but the draft pick.
That's how you miss the trees with every take you post here.
The game is a lot bigger than a few slots in the draft.
You don't burn down your team culture to draft higher unless you are planning a start from scratch rebuild.

 

[LACowboysFan1]

I guess the 2016 haul was a decent haul as well but not near Jimmy's trading and wheeling and dealing that resulted in 3 rings.

Jimmy's "wheeling and dealing" was all based off the Walker trade. Of course the 2016 haul wasn't up to Jimmy's haul, he got more draft picks in that one trade than most teams have in 3 years..

 

[jterrell]

While agreeing with you in principle that there's irony still in believing the ones doing the picking will get it right I'd still rather take my chances on just maybe they get it right again. The more and higher picks this franchise had in the distant past and not so distant led to different levels of success.

I know Jimmy was the architect and Master of the first nexxus leading to team Super Bowl success based off the Herschel trade and 89/90/91 drafts.

I guess the 2016 haul was a decent haul as well but not near Jimmy's trading and wheeling and dealing that resulted in 3 rings. But 2016's haul ultimately benefited team success greatly by the picks taken.

My point is the mere availability of higher picks at the bare minimum offers up an opportunity to better the team. If that choice is incorrectly made I'd still rather live with those results than to have never had the opportunity because of a lower pick/non availability.

Just my opinion.

A lot to unpack there including that Jimmy's draft acumen was based largely on having his asst coaches recruit those guys coming out of college.
They got Emmitt 100% because Brodsky recruited him out of HS only to see him go to Florida.
They wanted a LB but traded down when the LBs they wanted went off the board before them.

Jimmy was poor to awful with very high draft picks.
He didn't choose Troy but did choose Walsh at cost of the next season's 1 overall.
He chose Russell Maryland who was solid but not nearly worth a 1 overall.

Jimmy won out because of draft pick numbers. It wasn't high picks but the insane number of them.

Also worth noting.
2020 ROY was pick 22.
Dak was the 2016 ROY as a 4th rounder.

You can't tie actual drafting success to picking earlier by more than the slightest of factors.
Now rounds? Yes. 20 picks? Yes. but 4-5 picks? No.
And again this ignores all the negatives of losing games and just being bad enough at life to tank.

 

[jaythecowboy]

Using that same logic, why would coaches intentionally make themselves seem less competent and hireable?

If the coach has the backing of the owner and knows there job is safe

 

[75boyz]

A lot to unpack there including that Jimmy's draft acumen was based largely on having his asst coaches recruit those guys coming out of college.
They got Emmitt 100% because Brodsky recruited him out of HS only to see him go to Florida.
They wanted a LB but traded down when the LBs they wanted went off the board before them.

Jimmy was poor to awful with very high draft picks.
He didn't choose Troy but did choose Walsh at cost of the next season's 1 overall.
He chose Russell Maryland who was solid but not nearly worth a 1 overall.

Jimmy won out because of draft pick numbers. It wasn't high picks but the insane number of them.

Also worth noting.
2020 ROY was pick 22.
Dak was the 2016 ROY as a 4th rounder.

You can't tie actual drafting success to picking earlier by more than the slightest of factors.
Now rounds? Yes. 20 picks? Yes. but 4-5 picks? No.
And again this ignores all the negatives of losing games and just being bad enough at life to tank.

Yep, to both yours and LACowboysFan1 statements regarding total number of picks and the likelihood of doing well with more chances.

So yes, I realize the lone 2016 draft may have been an unfair comparison to those of 89/90/91 just based off 2016 being one year and the sheer numbers available in those other draft years.

My primary opinion is picking sooner rather than later benefits a team better than picking lower. Tanking, not tanking, picking high one year or multiple years based off whatever circumstantial losing offered the opportunities to draft high.

I answered the myriad of previous to tank or not posts in the same way.

And that is I prefer picking sooner.

No matter who is picking and them messing up the choice. Or how the team got to being where their draft slot is ie tanking, just losing or whatever.

Apologies if my explanation lacked that clarity in my previous post.

Just my opinion.

 

[Mr_Slicky]

I don't have a problem with the team trying to win, I take more of an issue with the franchise when they blow early draft picks "Taco Charlton" or when they allow themselves to be taken hostage by a player "Ezekiel Elliott" or when they can't tell the difference between pyrite and gold "Jaylon Smith" there are many worse things that a franchise can do to derail their future chances, trying to win ball games isn't one of them.

I agree 100% that giving in to Zeke was idiotic. Jerry never learns. In his defense he has made money on the retail side of things by signing him. How much though?

 

[Rockport]

If the front office was smart and actually operated with some common sense, tanking wouldn't even be a question. But the long term gameplan is never there. They don't look beyond this season until the last one is over and it's a real problem. Improving your team is year round. Jerry's "win now" mentality is really just a joke at this point.

Right they’re not quitters. Shoot em

 

[Motorola]

However the way, method, or form --Cowboys "tank" in 2020 didn't happen.
Dallas is picking 10th in the first round--- and the corresponding spot for the remaining six selections, along with comp picks. Let's move forward.

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

What do you think Jimmy Johnson would have done? Keep playing those bum starters who already threw away the season, or would Jimmy have played backups to further evaluate them those last few games in order to determine who stay or goes? I believe Jimmy would have been in rebuilding mode come December.

I don't know what Jimmy would do and neither do you. You trying to assert his authority through your wishful thinking is not a real argument.

I have read about how he was desperate for a win in that first season and i have never heard him support tanking but when you wish upon a star. . . .

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

You don't sit DLaw, you do sit Dalton. He won't be back and what's in the teams' best interest moving forward. Who will be gone and who remains? DLaw will be back, other players will not. You're not benching full time starters who are here for 21 and beyond or even the high contract players, but you are benching players who will more than likely be gone so you can rotate in the younger guys, dress them for the last few games. Get those guys some playing time like Anae etc.? Nope Cowboys go full throttle like they're in the Super Bowl. It's working really great! They could've been sitting at 2 or 3 right now. But there's no difference between that and 10. lol You really gotta laugh at the stupidity of this team. They play to win, but not really!

So you make Dalton a healthy scratch for four games and you think the locker room won't care? Okay.