Stephen Jones said Cowboys need to fix the front 7

[visionary]

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.

i was being sarcastic (i hope that came through)

 

[Fredd]

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).

to me, it is a balance...the CB's look better if they don't have to cover perfect passes and routes as long, the DL looks better if the CBs can cover an extra second or two and give them time to get to the QB....having a stout DL that causes pressure is a bigger priority to me, but when they went after Mo/Carr, they had a choice to make, fix the DB situation or the OL (the DL still had Ware & company)...Carr was the best FA available at the time and they pulled the trigger and then added Mo, presumably to "fix" the CB issues that they were having...the team expected Ware, Ratliff, Spencer and Hatcher to apply the pressure....there was no way to know that two wouldn't play this year and one would play hurt all year.

 

[Risen Star]

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

It has to reach crisis mode before one looks at the other and goes "I think we have a problem here".

 

[Risen Star]

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

Oh ah ah ah ah!

 

[Risen Star]

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

Well then, if we take a couple of cornerbacks with our first two picks that would give these street free agent DL another 20 seconds to get to the QB.

That's pretty impactful. We should keep an open mind.

 

[Alexander]

It has to reach crisis mode before one looks at the other and goes "I think we have a problem here".

The OL has been in a state of crisis for the past several years and nothing was done. Safety has been a lingering sore on the defense for the past decade plus.

I am not certain the braintrust is capable of addressing any issue until it becomes so evident that a child would realize it. With a few rare exceptions, planning for the future is not an option, only reaction to plugging a hole from year to year, only to ignore or miss those that are developing.

The main problem is that there is never a true honest assessment of the roster.

Honest self-evaluation of the roster is this organization's biggest weakness. Second to that is the mindless philosophy of hope that comes directly from the owner.

 

[visionary]

Well then, if we take a couple of cornerbacks with our first two picks that would give these street free agent DL another 20 seconds to get to the QB.

That's pretty impactful. We should keep an open mind.

might be more impactful if we trade up in rd 1 (and give up our rd 2 pick) and pick "the best CB since Mo"

 

[Gaede]

It has to reach crisis mode before one looks at the other and goes "I think we have a problem here".

So funny but very true.

Reactive rather than proactive. In virtually every scenario. QB, DL, OL, S.

Only positions they plan ahead for are TE, WR and CB.

 

[visionary]

The OL has been in a state of crisis for the past several years and nothing was done. Safety has been a lingering sore on the defense for the past decade plus.

I am not certain the braintrust is capable of addressing any issue until it becomes so evident that a child would realize it. With a few rare exceptions, planning for the future is not an option, only reaction to plugging a hole from year to year, only to ignore or miss those that are developing.

The main problem is that there is never a true honest assessment of the roster.

Honest self-evaluation of the roster is this organization's biggest weakness. Second to that is the mindless philosophy of hope that comes directly from the owner.

self evaluation requires honesty, introspection, and knowledge

all things this FO is lacking severely

 

[Risen Star]

The OL has been in a state of crisis for the past several years and nothing was done. Safety has been a lingering sore on the defense for the past decade plus.

I am not certain the braintrust is capable of addressing any issue until it becomes so evident that a child would realize it. With a few rare exceptions, planning for the future is not an option, only reaction to plugging a hole from year to year, only to ignore or miss those that are developing.

The main problem is that there is never a true honest assessment of the roster.

Honest self-evaluation of the roster is this organization's biggest weakness. Second to that is the mindless philosophy of hope that comes directly from the owner.

I think an inability to evaluate talent is right up there. I can't say it's all just they're not being honest. Though I do think that's a factor.

I don't think Frick or Frack know what the heck they're doing. These are our top two personnel guys. They can't watch film and identify good college football players who project well to the NFL game. They can't break down our own players to get a true sense of the state of the team and it's needs.

You have Jerry calling the DL a team strength just 4 months ago. Anyone with a clue saw the writing on the wall. We need everything there now. Two new starting DTs, 2 new starting DEs and some backups. It's now in obvious crisis mode so Stephen's going "wait a second here.....hey, Dad!....".

 

[Alexander]

I think an inability to evaluate talent is right up there. I can't say it's all just they're not being honest. Though I do think that's a factor.

I don't think Frick or Frack know what the heck they're doing. These are our top two personnel guys. They can't watch film and identify good college football players who project well to the NFL game. They can't break down our own players to get a true sense of the state of the team and it's needs.

You have Jerry calling the DL a team strength just 4 months ago. Anyone with a clue saw the writing on the wall. We need everything there now. Two new starting DTs, 2 new starting DEs and some backups. It's now in obvious crisis mode so Stephen's going "wait a second here.....hey, Dad!....".

Neither of them are capable of evaluating talent. And that is fine.

The worst thing they do is create a culture where they "listen" but are incapable of truly making educated decisions to break the tie. It is basically like flipping a coin instead of true analysis of pros and cons.

The lack of a "middle man" with real authority, in other words, a dedicated GM who has a title and accountability and is capable of campaigning strongly for a player or prospect is the problem. There is no doubters in this organization. You have two optimistic unskilled decision makers and a bunch of employees who are not capable of standing up for their convictions because they are lifetime employees with little to no direct accountability.

No real GM would have listened to an old geriatric like Kiffin and believe for a second that he can walk into the job and in the space of three months declare that the DL was a "strength" to the point where you literally add no talent, not even in the undrafted free agent market. Kiffin was able to do that because Jones listened to him, even when it was evident from the scouts that they believed there needed to be more added there. That is why Floyd was on the draft board that high. That is why Ciskowski made comments about not being able to get players "across the bridge".

 

[Wolfpack]

this GM and FO went into this season on the basis of a bunch of hopes and dreams and completely unrealistic expectations

This is what they do…this year it was the DL. Last year it was the OL. Before that it was CB…before that it was OT. This is the brain trust of football knowledge that thought it was ok to go into the start of a season with Allen Ball as your starting Free Safety, or Pete Hunter as your starting CB, or Costa as your starting Center, or J.Reeves as your starting CB or R. Petitte as your starting RT ….the list goes on and on. They really don't know what they are doing and just use hope as a strategy..all the while drafting TE's and special team drafts or trying to copy what ever team won the Super Bowl the year prior.

 

[visionary]

The lack of a "middle man" with real authority, in other words, a dedicated GM who has a title and accountability and is capable of campaigning strongly for a player or prospect is the problem. There is no doubters in this organization. You have two optimistic unskilled decision makers and a bunch of employees who are not capable of standing up for their convictions because they are lifetime employees with little to no direct accountability.
.

i said this yesterday, the best analogy for how this FO works is "the emperor has no clothes" but no one is willing to tell him because no one wants to face the wrath of the king and be taken off the dallas gravy train

and that is what it is for players and coaches... a gravy train

 

[chicago JK]

Honest self-evaluation of the roster is this organization's biggest weakness. Second to that is the mindless philosophy of hope that comes directly from the owner.

I think along with everything else, this is important. Good teams know when their player loses a half a step or drops a level before everyone else does. You get to see this player every day in practice. In the NFL, a player's peak level of production is usually a small amount of time. Some elite guys are obviously longer but they do see a drop of production over time. I don't know how anyone could have thought the DL was a strength with the lack of depth and age heading into the season. The Cowboys consistently give a guy a new contract when he is already starting the downward trend or have a guy making peak dollars when he is no longer and elite player. This is the big cause of the salary cap dance we do every year. While the Ravens and other good teams typically know when to let a player go or not extend a certain player.

Second, this is not a one year fix imo. That is not to say you can't be a decent to good team next year, but this team needs two good drafts in the next two years and smart FA signings. The thinking shouldn't be that this team is one or two moves away. I think both the Cowboys and Giants are in similar spots. Both teams are not one draft away from being a contender again. It will be interesting to see how both handle the offseason.

 

[Alexander]

I think both the Cowboys and Giants are in similar spots. Both teams are not one draft away from being a contender again. It will be interesting to see how both handle the offseason.

The Giants are an interesting case. Their OL needs practically a complete rebuild. Pugh might be okay, but even he is a little questionable. Their DL is going to also need some attention as Tuck might be gone. Their LBers are worse than ours. Their CBs are better as are their safeties, if Stevie Brown returns. They did make a mistake by letting Bennett go and replacing him with the Myers kid from Oakland. They may need to add another WR and absolutely get another running back. It should be very intriguing if they decide to dump Gilbride. That would mean Eli Manning has to learn a new system for the first time in his career.

 

[sideon]

i was being sarcastic (i hope that came through)

Gotcha

 

[Redball Express]

Mid to late rounds sure. 1st or 2nd round heck no.

Romo had a 3 to 1 touchdown to interception ratio and close to 4000 yards. Not his fault the defense was atrocious.

this is the sort of thinking that killed us before..

..I would ask you one question..

..at this point in Romo's career..

do you think he's going to get better..?

Or worst?

Do you really think the defense can be rebuilt in time to salvage Romo's Freshness Date ?

And then there is the offense which STILL needs rebuilding, too..?

I just tend to look at our past and look at the %'s and given the leadership in place and the Franchise-type players we are already depending on that have career-threatening injuries like Ware and Romo.and

and I say..'no'

..add to that injury-prone key players like Demarco Murray, Mo Claiborne and diminishing players like Jason Witten..

and it's 'no no'..

that would be luck beyond anything we deserve..

 

[GimmeTheBall!]

Talk is cheap. Fix it

Talk is not cheap! I half paid dearly for what I write here. Since then I half had to move 3 times and finding houses with plumbing is NOT that easy in Farmers Branch, let me tell you.

 

[big dog cowboy]

Do you really think the defense can be rebuilt in time to salvage Romo's Freshness Date ?

Great question. Really wish I knew the answer. Next summer should be interesting with all the new faces on defense.

 

[egn22]

this thread is 7 pages deep so this has probably been asked. but is there any realistic scenario where we bring back:
Spencer, Ware, AND Hatcher?
Maybe restructure Ware, hope Spencer isn't offered too much on the market, and get Hatch on a 4 year deal. I'm asking because those three along with Selvie, Crawford, and a draft pick or two would make for a talented line with some serious depth.