Just because some doubt Garrett's game-day decisions, doesn't mean they should doubt his talent evaluation skills. Since Garrett took over the head coaching job, the entire front office philosophy on player acquisition changed. And the drafts have been among the best in the NFL. You can convince me that Garrett fails when it comes to managing games during the week. You CANNOT convince me that he doesn't know what he's talking about when it come to players talent and development.
That some cannot separate the two issues is indicative of their inability to think critically, not Garrett's inability to draft and develop players. Garrett developed the Oline, and the offense into one of the top offenses in the NFL. People claim Jerry "took away his playcalling authority" in 2013, but in actuality, what Jerry said was he wanted Garrett to focus his talents on player selection on the defense. Within a year, Garrett had dumped Ware, Hatcher and Ratliff, and began rebuilding the defense. He was stuck with Claiborne and Carr from the Rob Ryan Fiasco, but in 2014, he changed the team back to the 4-3 defense, and began overhauling the Dline. Since that time, he's drafted 6 defensive ends and a defensive tackle, and brought in several other Defensive tackles. He's focused on bringing in the right personnel to rebuild the defense from 2014-2017, the same way he focused on overhauling the offense from 2011-2014. From all appearances in preseason, that focus may result in a top 5 defense in 2018, the same way his focus on offense resulted in a top 5 offense in 2014.
Now, he's having to shift back to offense because some of the key pieces (Bryant, Witten, Free, Leary) went past their sell-by date. Bryant was planned for. Witten was a draft-day surprise.
But claiming Garrett doesn't know what to do with Rico as a player just fails to convince me. His track record of player selection and development, in coordination with Will McClay has been near the very top of the NFL in terms of results. I blame Jerry for not giving Garrett full control of the team until 2014. Garrett has his flaws managing tactics on game day. But his overall strategy for the team has been sound, and he's had a far higher success rate in the draft than most other NFL coaches. And that's why, in my opinion, Jerry trusts him. Despite the hiccups of the 2015 season, and the 4-game stretch last year, the Cowboys have been much more consistently good under Garrett than not.
The Cowboys now have one of the youngest teams in the NFL. That didn't happen by accident. They aren't perfect, but they're going to be good this season, on both sides of the ball. Injuries and bad luck can happen to any team, and only one of 32 teams will raise the trophy next February. The Cowboys are one of the teams in the hunt. Because of, not in spite of, Jason Garrett. The reality is that while I believe Garrett is a great architect of team building, he may not be the game day strategist that can take the Cowboys all the way. If that proves to be true, and Jerry ultimately fires him, whomever replaces Garrett will inherit a very talented team - much like Wade Phillips inherited the work of Bill Parcells in 2007.
