Recap: Will McClay Recap on 105.3 The Fan

Stash · Apr 28, 2020

Western said:
"Anae's instincts allow him to play faster".

At the end of the day, put on the tape and watch this guy.
Anae has play-making ability, & is a game-wrecker.

I've read that he gave the current Eagles left tackle Dillard all he could handle when they matched up. I'm going to see if I can find any tape of that.

Bluefin · Apr 28, 2020

Here's a link.

There's a short video talking about CeeDee Lamb and below that the 20 minute interview of Will McClay by Gavin Dawson.

JoeyBoy718 said:
In one part he said the previous regime also went with best player available. In another part he said the previous regime went with scheme over player. Which one is it?

Jason Garrett and Rod Marinelli wanted the best available players that fit their schemes.

They did not want to adapt their schemes to include standout players who were perceived as poor fits for what they wanted

unionjack8 · Apr 28, 2020

Bluefin said:
Here's a link.

There's a short video talking about CeeDee Lamb and below that the 20 minute interview of Will McClay by Gavin Dawson.

Jason Garrett and Rod Marinelli wanted the best available players that fit their schemes.

They did not want to adapt their schemes to include standout players who were perceived as poor fits for what they wanted

Amen. Good riddance

The Fonz · Apr 28, 2020

BHendri5 said:
Garrett was not the one who drove the finding players to fit scheme bus , that was Jerry!!! He admitted it and Stephan also said that as well. Stop placing blame on Garrett! When the GM/Owner was making all the decisions.
Be happy that Jerry came to his senses and saw that he needed to step away from the driver’s seat, and decided to let McCarthy coach

Exactly JG was not a free man he has his mistakes for sure but JJ and his son were the force. .

slick325 · Apr 28, 2020

I think his comments were a knock on Marinelli and Richard, not Garrett and the offensive staff. Garrett's offenses thrived with all types of different players running the same offense.

While Marinelli tried to get system guys to recreate something once great.

Glad both are gone but Marinelli most of all.

Point-of-the-Star · Apr 28, 2020

BHendri5 said:
Garrett was not the one who drove the finding players to fit scheme bus , that was Jerry!!! He admitted it and Stephan also said that as well. Stop placing blame on Garrett! When the GM/Owner was making all the decisions.
Be happy that Jerry came to his senses and saw that he needed to step away from the driver’s seat, and decided to let McCarthy coach

So, you are saying Jerry insisted on the 2 Marinelli pet cats of Trystan Hill and Taco Charlton? Just want to see your take on what I consider 2 wasted high picks.

Plankton · Apr 28, 2020

JoeyBoy718 said:
In one part he said the previous regime also went with best player available. In another part he said the previous regime went with scheme over player. Which one is it?

Both can be correct.

Under Garrett, and it was similar with Parcells, they drafted to positional prototypes in terms of height/weight/speed/scheme fit. This reduced the Cowboys overall draft board to around 120-150 prospects that would be considered to be drafted in any given cycle. For example, big NT prospects likely were not on the draft list under Garrett due to them playing a 4-3 under system that relied more on smaller, quicker tackles than a player who is a two gapper. Kris Richard didn't want cornerbacks who were shorter than 6 feet tall, and had less than 32" arms. This reduced the number of corners that were on their board. With this in mind, it's possible to take the best player available as the draft approach, with the qualifier being the BPA that is actually on the draft board.

McCarthy clearly is being driven less by positional/schematic prototypes, and more by pure talent. As a result, the draft pool becomes larger. BPA is still accurate, but it encompasses a wider array of players.

CowboyRoy · Apr 28, 2020

unionjack8 said:
Player over system/scheme is the biggest takeaway here.
. Said he jumped for joy when he heard this......

He obviously was hamstrung by the previous coaching regime who we knew were ignorant and rigid

Garrett is gone!!!!!

Its already paying huge huge dividends. Which many knew that it would.

Doomsday · Apr 28, 2020

Buzzbait · Apr 28, 2020

JBell said:
Your scouts were scouting for Jason Garrett's staff. Then MM was hired. Talk about that transition. Did you have your area scouts present their stuff in a different way?

McClay: The first thing is, this was a unique situation. We've been with that staff for 10 years and know their likes/dislikes. Then we get a new staff and entertain what they wanted and what they're looking for. One thing that had me jumping up and down was when McCarthy said "players over scheme." That was a unique thing to hear and opened the door for a lot of things.

You said Mike's approach was rare, the "players over scheme" comment?

McClay: When you have a coach that says let's get good football players, if they can't make the scheme work then it's not a very good scheme.

That explains a lot about why we had lousy drafts under Garrett and why we had a lot better draft under McCarthy.
Coaching matters!
Goodbye Garrett! :clap:

TwoCentPlain · Apr 28, 2020

BHendri5 said:
Garrett was not the one who drove the finding players to fit scheme bus , that was Jerry!!! He admitted it and Stephan also said that as well. Stop placing blame on Garrett! When the GM/Owner was making all the decisions.
Be happy that Jerry came to his senses and saw that he needed to step away from the driver’s seat, and decided to let McCarthy coach

Where did you hear this? I follow the Cowboys a lot and did not see this. Just curious where you heard it.

tyke1doe · Apr 28, 2020

One thing that had me jumping up and down was when McCarthy said "players over scheme." That was a unique thing to hear

Hmm!

tyke1doe · Apr 28, 2020

JoeyBoy718 said:
In one part he said the previous regime also went with best player available. In another part he said the previous regime went with scheme over player. Which one is it?

Best player available that fits Garrett's scheme? :huh:

Alexander · Apr 28, 2020

ninja said:
Where did you hear this? I follow the Cowboys a lot and did not see this. Just curious where you heard it.

I can answer you. He did not hear it anywhere except inside his own ears.

There is a difference between listening to your coaches versus allowing them to drive the scheme bus.

If McClay's comments today don't educate people, well that is on them.

tyke1doe · Apr 28, 2020

Mike McCarthy must be pinching himself. I don't think he's had a loaded team like this one (well, maybe, his Super Bowl team. But outside of quarterback, I don't see a player on that offense better than this current Cowboys' offense). I think he's saying, "You're giving me THESE WEAPONS to work with? And then you add CeeDee Lamb?!?!" :omg:

Buzzbait · Apr 28, 2020

BHendri5 said:
Garrett was not the one who drove the finding players to fit scheme bus , that was Jerry!!! He admitted it and Stephan also said that as well. Stop placing blame on Garrett! When the GM/Owner was making all the decisions.
Be happy that Jerry came to his senses and saw that he needed to step away from the driver’s seat, and decided to let McCarthy coach

So you're saying McClay was lying about it being the difference between the previous staff vs McCarthy?

McClay said: this was a unique situation. We've been with that staff for 10 years and know their likes/dislikes. Then we get a new staff and entertain what they wanted and what they're looking for. One thing that had me jumping up and down was when McCarthy said "players over scheme." That was a unique thing to hear and opened the door for a lot of things.
McClay made it clear it was the difference between the Garrett staff and McCarthy. It never changed through 10 years with the previous staff, but suddenly now with McCarthy we get a totally different draft result.

Mere coincidence? I don't think so. McClay described Garrett's style to a T! That's why he was so surprised when McCarthy told them BPA People over scheme!

PJTHEDOORS · Apr 28, 2020

Audio download.
https://1053thefan.radio.com/media/audio-channel/will-mcclay-on-cowboys-drafting-ceedee-lamb-more

xwalker · Apr 28, 2020

JBell said:
Take us inside the virtual war room, when a guy no one is expecting to be available at 17 is there. When the 16th pick goes off, who talks first, who makes the case for what, and how do you settle it?

McClay: We talk about it leading up to it. The draft is two fold - need and best player available. We had a couple guys we liked on the defensive side of the ball, but at the end of the day, Lamb was the best player available on our board.

Scouting report on Lamb?

McClay: Ability to play all 3 WR positions. Can do some things in the backfield. Elusive after the catch. Another weapon you can add with Zeke, Dak, the WR's, the TE, our new offensive schemes.

You had a discussion on Diggs/Gallimore in the 2nd round. Can you walk us through it?

McClay: After free agency started, you lose Byron, and you have expiring contracts coming up, so when it's coming down and you have similar grades. When you look at the draft, you look at the depth of your evaluations and the depth of positions. We were looking for long athletic corners that could start right away. We felt there was more depth at DT. There was less of Diggs' type available at that point in the draft.

Was Lamb a total consensus?

McClay: It was unanimous. When you're in the first round, you're looking for a guy that can make an immediate impact and check all the boxes. If he's near the top of the draft board you'd be crazy not to take him.

Was this approach different than previous drafts with the Cowboys?

McClay: No there was no change in approach. We want value players the right way. We make sure we get them where we're comfortable with them, that stayed the same.

Lamb - what part of the draft did you know you had a chance?

McClay: When you start considering the needs of other teams, the best available player at a position of need for other teams, at about 9 or 10 we started to somewhat process it a little bit.

Was there any sort of celebration for the Lamb pick?

McClay: Oh yeah, there was fist bumps and virtual high fives for sure.

Scouts' impact during this process?

McClay: Our process stayed the same [even with COVID 19]. We do a continuous study. Our area scouts are the GM of their areas. They know their players better than anyone else. We continued that, we just didn't have the pro days. We had the virtual interviews.

Your scouts were scouting for Jason Garrett's staff. Then MM was hired. Talk about that transition. Did you have your area scouts present their stuff in a different way?

McClay: The first thing is, this was a unique situation. We've been with that staff for 10 years and know their likes/dislikes. Then we get a new staff and entertain what they wanted and what they're looking for. One thing that had me jumping up and down was when McCarthy said "players over scheme." That was a unique thing to hear and opened the door for a lot of things. We did a good job of addressing some needs during free agency. We went over the area stuff first and set a board, then did a big meeting with the decision makers and represented the scouts' inputs, the medical, the character issues.

McClay: One of the greatest things about our process is that we all get to communicate.

Talk about day 3. Were you surprised about the players that were still available?

McClay: Yeah you want to get a return on your investments. When you put together your board, you value guys a certain way. We have guys we project as starters, quality backups. The unique part about this draft is that we may not have had as much info for the media, like "who did the Cowboys bring in for visits?" and trying to deconstruct who the team likes. But we got some great assets at lower investments.

Did you have a guy that the Cowboys took on Day 3 that was a pet cat for you?

McClay: They're all my pet cats, but I got one guy that is bigger. Anae was huge for us in the 5th. But I had one guy who I felt if we got him by the 4th round I thought it'd be huge. Robinson. His traits.

Reggie Robinson seems like a traits guy, and Anae didn't test well but had great tape. How do you balance that?

McClay: We want to see if the tape matches the traits. But something we're big on, is the reactive athleticism. Are you able to do all those things in situations where you have to use that athleticism. Anae's instincts allow him to play faster. His poor testing wasn't a deterrent for us. Terrell Suggs didn't run well at his pro day either.

Can you run through 1 or 2 guys that you'd say keep an eye on those UDFA's.

McClay: Guys left on our draft board are the priority guys we go after in free agency. They're on the draft board for a reason. After the draft we take every step we can to get them because we valued them in that way. We look at those guys as extra 7th round draft picks.

You said Mike's approach was rare, the "players over scheme" comment?

McClay: When you have a coach that says let's get good football players, if they can't make the scheme work then it's not a very good scheme. He realizes it's not the X's and O's, it's the Jimmie's and Joe's. We can give the coach's a better idea of what we're drafting with that mindset. It's not a highlight tape, it's the good and bad of what they can do.

Who makes the pick?

McClay: The GM, Jerry Jones. Our job in scouting is to be the lawyers and present the information. The good the bad, we give them a grade. Jerry looks at all that input, and goes are we good with that?

Great recap.

big dog cowboy · Apr 28, 2020

stasheroo said:
They screwed this team. Marinelli and Garrett flat out screwed this team.

As good as this roster is today, how much better could it look with TJ Watt as our starting RDE and Juan Thornhill at safety?

Here's the key quote, and a clear indictment over the rigid, close-mindedness of the past regime.

"McClay: When you have a coach that says let's get good football players, if they can't make the scheme work then it's not a very good scheme."

xwalker · Apr 28, 2020

BHendri5 said:
Garrett was not the one who drove the finding players to fit scheme bus , that was Jerry!!! He admitted it and Stephan also said that as well. Stop placing blame on Garrett! When the GM/Owner was making all the decisions.
Be happy that Jerry came to his senses and saw that he needed to step away from the driver’s seat, and decided to let McCarthy coach

As if Jerry cared about Taco vs T.J.Watt or Hill vs Thornhill.

Marinelli convinced them to draft Taco and Hill. Watt and Thornhill would have been more marketable which means if Jerry was really making the decision all by himself, then the marketable players get picked.

Recap: Will McClay Recap on 105.3 The Fan

Stash

Bluefin

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unionjack8

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The Fonz

Correctamundo

slick325

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Point-of-the-Star

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Plankton

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CowboyRoy

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Doomsday

Rising Star

Buzzbait

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TwoCentPlain

Numbnuts

tyke1doe

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tyke1doe

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Alexander

What's it going to be then, eh?

tyke1doe

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Buzzbait

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PJTHEDOORS

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xwalker

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big dog cowboy

THE BIG DOG

xwalker

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