Stephen Jones said Cowboys need to fix the front 7

[MikeT22]

Better late than never. DL has been a major issue for a few years now. Just like OL before that. We always seem to wait til it implodes to finally do something about it. If Lacewell is going to advise Jerry, I wish he'd watch our games.

 

[perrykemp]

If Baltimore wins the flip and Clowney is on the board, they'll draft him. He plays with the tenacity and aggression of a Baltimore defensive player.

For being supposedly the best DL prospect to come out in a long long time, color be thoroughly unimpressed by his 3 sack season this past year.

 

[RS12]

I'd rather have Stephen spend his time pushing Daddy out the door instead of pointing something obvious. That would be more productive.

 

[RJ_MacReady]

Now they're gonna have to build another room at VR so they can house these incoming DLs.

 

[perrykemp]

Before the season, you didn't think our front 7 would have been formidable with Ware, Hatcher, Ratliff, Spencer starting and Crawford & Bass as two reserves?

Nobody saw coming what Ratliff did, nobody could see coming that Spencer, Crawford, and Bass would get hurt...

Our front seven wasn't our main concern with those guys there, who were supposed to be there all year. Our O-Line was what everyone was concerned about..

Gimme a break...

Nobody saw coming issues with the DL? What about the following didn't set off red flags and weren't talked about extensively in the offseason:

• Average age of starters over age 30
• Ratliff coming off a injury marred season with 0 sacks, a DUI, and an altercation with the owner
• Position change for Spencer from being possibly the most well-rounded 3-4 OLB in the NFL to a hand on the ground 4-3
• Ware coming off a season in 2012 where he body started to give out along with a position change to a 4-3 DE where he was going to have to spend much more of his time grappling with offensive tackles
• Don't know what you saw in Crawford's 16 tackle, 0 sack 2012 season to be certain of anything going in 2013
• Don't know what you saw in Bass's 1 tackle, 0 sack 2012 season to be certain of anything going in 2013

 

[Nexx]

i swear are they just dumb or blind? how many of us have been clamoring for dline/oline for years?!!?

 

[jterrell]

What I read into that is Hatcher, and at least 1 of Ware or Spencer are gone. I think LB amazingly becomes a huge need in this 4-3.

We could draft DL every round and we won't be as good as we would have with the projected 2013DL.

Ware, Hatcher, Ratliff, Spencer would have been superb.
Backed up by Crawford, Bass, Hayden....

 

[jterrell]

Nobody saw coming issues with the DL? What about the following didn't set off red flags and weren't talked about extensively in the offseason:

• Average age of starters over age 30
• Ratliff coming off a injury marred season with 0 sacks, a DUI, and an altercation with the owner
• Position change for Spencer from being possibly the most well-rounded 3-4 OLB in the NFL to a hand on the ground 4-3
• Ware coming off a season in 2012 where he body started to give out along with a position change to a 4-3 DE where he was going to have to spend much more of his time grappling with offensive tackles
• Don't know what you saw in Crawford's 16 tackle, 0 sack 2012 season to be certain of anything going in 2013
• Don't know what you saw in Bass's 1 tackle, 0 sack 2012 season to be certain of anything going in 2013

The Cowboys took 5 starters and turned them into 4 with move to the 4-3. If Spencer/Ware couldn't play 4-3 ends the team was moronic to make the switch at all... Much less franchise Spencer again.
Since both guys had played 4-3 end in college it wasn't that scary.

Ratliff was on borrowed time to be sure but the ridiculous toll at that group wasn't foreseen by anybody.


The team liked Bass and Crawford quite a lot. You don't draft replacements for 2nd year guys who flash in practice. Not with holes all over.

Dallas is now in need but 2nd year DL have been as hard to trust and as big as unknown as Bass and Crawford.

Did this team not need a solid young WR? Did it not need a safety? A RB? A LB?
It isn't like they wasted the picks.

 

[big dog cowboy]

So it's not a strength?

Not when you have to run 19 players just thru the DL. No one saw that coming.

 

[sideon]

does he mean CBs?

because i have been told that great defenses are built on having great CBs

i was hoping we would draft another one in rd 1 or even better, trade up to draft one

No matter how great a CB you have he will look terrible if there's no pass rush, look at how good they looked Sunday when pressure was applied to Foles.

 

[Risen Star]

Translation: MORE CORNERS

Right, @Risen Star ?

For every cornerback you add, you give the DL an extra couple of seconds.

 

[Risen Star]

No matter how great a CB you have he will look terrible if there's no pass rush, look at how good they looked Sunday when pressure was applied to Foles.

Ah, common sense. Allow me to bathe in it for a second.

So...what does that mean in this salary cap, limited funds era of football?

You do not, ever, spend top resources on cornerbacks. They are not impact players. You spend those resources on guys who make the players around them better. Travis Frederick walked into Dallas this year and provided an immediate impact. You will never see Morris Claiborne do the same.

 

[Zekeats]

fix the front 7......what about the back 4 too?

 

[JohnnyHopkins]

Stephen Jones likes the ladies, I like the ladies. Now that he wants to fix the front seven we have two things in common!

For being supposedly the best DL prospect to come out in a long long time, color be thoroughly unimpressed by his 3 sack season this past year.

Living here in Gamecock Country (and being forced to watch ridiculous amounts of Gamecock football), I 100% believe Clowney tanked it in 2013. Bad, bad vibes coming from Columbia on his attitude and work ethic this past season.

 

[Fredd]

been saying all year that this defense failed because of lack of pressure on the QB...they applied pressure to foles and thus, there wasn't a 500+ yard passing day...pressure takes the QB off of their game, pressure means that the DB's have that extra second to catch-up on a route (and all DB's need that as the WR's have the advantage off of the line), pressure makes the back 7 significantly better especially that when the QB is rushed, their throws are not spot on and gives the LBs and DBs more opportunities to make plays

Must get better at DL...I also believe that the DBs have to be good to very good if you want a dynamic defense...the DB's can erase mistakes made by the lack of a pass rush on some plays....

 

[SportsGuru80]

i swear are they just dumb or blind? how many of us have been clamoring for dline/oline for years?!!?

I think a little of both... LOL!

 

[Cumart21]

This debate hits on most of the Cowboys major front office problems. My 2 cents:

1. You can't fix the front office. That would require them admitting there's something wrong with it, and this will never be the case.
2. I saw the point that a good pass rush makes the secondary/linebackers look better in coverage. A poor (non-existent) pass rush has the opposite effect. I think this team is ok at corner but needs a safety, but should only spend minimal resources to fix the safety position.
3. The D Line we had going into this season was weak at best, as pointed out by others in this thread. Hindsight at this point, I know.
4. My problem with this front office is that they're like a dog chasing it's tail. They're always trying to play catch up in the draft because poor drafting in years past has left too many holes on this team. D-Line was an issue last year and was ignored for skill position players. I like last year's draft, but they were naive to think that d-line was going to hold up this year. If you look at the good defenses in the NFL, ALL of them have DEEP, YOUNG defensive lines. This comes from good drafting. Defensive line is a young man's position and we've seen the Patriots constantly invest in this position. Unfortunately our front office treats this team like a fantasy football team and doesn't use far enough resources in the nuts and bolts postions like D Line. This off season doesn't look too promising in my book because we have far too many holes and limited cap space and not enough draft picks to properly address them. They will try to patch work this team together until we face a total rebuild of the roster. Not feeling very optimistic.

 

[snapper]

i swear are they just dumb or blind? how many of us have been clamoring for dline/oline for years?!!?

A lot if us. It's called being proactive and having a better plan than hope and prayer.

 

[visionary]

been saying all year that this defense failed because of lack of pressure on the QB...they applied pressure to foles and thus, there wasn't a 500+ yard passing day...pressure takes the QB off of their game, pressure means that the DB's have that extra second to catch-up on a route (and all DB's need that as the WR's have the advantage off of the line), pressure makes the back 7 significantly better especially that when the QB is rushed, their throws are not spot on and gives the LBs and DBs more opportunities to make plays

Must get better at DL...I also believe that the DBs have to be good to very good if you want a dynamic defense...the DB's can erase mistakes made by the lack of a pass rush on some plays....

exactly

most of us were begging the FO to address the DL 2 years back when they traded up to get Mo (you know the best CB since Deion ) and gave Carr 50 million

and the same people who are now telling us how great htis FO is to finally admit that we need DL, were telling us that we are idiots and great defences are built with great CBs (I kid you not, we had many many pages of debates on this topic).

 

[visionary]

For every cornerback you add, you give the DL an extra couple of seconds.

i was always led to believe it was more like 10 seconds