Jaylon Smith/Connor Williams

CowboysFaninHouston said:

lets add connor mcgovern to the list as wel.. you expect your second round picks to earn starting spots and be solid, reliable contributors....none of the above are...so you are right, we screwed up the second round and seemingly that's the round that Jerry the gambler takes over, seemingly we keep missing on the second round picks. Jaylon, Lee (always injured), Gregory (always high), Williams, Hill, McGovern. some that have paid a little include Lawrence (who now has a massive contract). Auwzie (hmmm, is he good? Average? Below Average),

we just haven't been good in the second round.

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Agreed. You can't miss on your 1st, 2nd and 3rd round picks in today's NFL.

baltcowboy said:

Yes, but as of now he is coming back.

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Tyron has one foot out the retirement door, whether he makes the call, or the Cowboys do. I would draft a tackle and flip him for a pick in the off season.

quickccc said:

Jerry is the face of the franchise- but he's not the backbone work of the player personnel group.
That starts and ends with the guys most responsible for collecting and delivering
the data reports and player suggestions to the Jones when they sit and have their meetings.
And that's McClay.
For example, The Taco vs TJ Watt was much more about McClay and Marinelli, Jerry is just informed and advised by the scouting and coaching staff sold in on picking a Taco ..over TJ Watt.

- Jerry don't ..won't anything about an Tony Pollard, Tyler Biasdiaz, Gallimore, a Diggs or even a Taco,.. until McClay's group delivers that
player profile information, data reports, draft board work and suggestions to the Jones.
They basically just trustfully agree and sign off from whatever McClay brings them. If you feel you want to give the credit ..or blame to

- Lee? there are/have been several player that had injury bug at the college level that had injury history in college but turned it around at the NFL level.
There were several players that were raw and green and needed proper time, reps and coaching direction to develop in better players at the NFL level.
Trysten Hill may be one of those players.

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Jerry is the face, since he owns the franchise. but Jerry is the GM, as the GM, he is responsible for the football team, who is on it, coaches, etc. If McClay, Marinelli, etc. failed and have failed for so long, then they should be fired. that's on Jerry. we can't excuse jerry from the mess he has created by pointing fingers at everybody else...

the problem is that Jerry can't/won't fire himself, thus he recycles people, with ultimately the same results....

and in case of Lee, I still go back to my original comment. 2nd round is where jerry likes to gamble. Lee was a gamble. it could have worked out. it could have not. yes, there are others that have had colelge injury history, but what rounds were they drafted, etc. ...

after 15 years, our history and results of defensive drafting speaks for itself. so something is wrong. where? and how can it change?

DanA said:

Zeke:
5 fumbles
3.8 yards per carry
73.5% catch rate
4.8 yards per target

Zeke's contract might be the worst contract in the entire NFL.

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It ranks right up there with the worst in the history of the NFL.

Verdict said:

Tyron has one foot out the retirement door, whether he makes the call, or the Cowboys do. I would draft a tackle and flip him for a pick in the off season.

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We all would flip players on this team if we could, starting with Dak for a 1 and two but the Joneses have made him the franchise. The only flipping that may happen is if we get the 3rd pick because we like our guys.

xwalker said:

Connor Williams is much better than fans opinions of him.

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He is. It's amazing to see fans run this guy down every week. I hope that if he does move on, he goes to a team that understands how to feature his skills and he becomes a Pro Bowler.

Verdict said:

You can often get a decent LB in the 3rd-5th rounds. Its a lot like the RB position.

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I agree, don't have to use the top of the draft to fill the need.

Verdict said:

You can "get by" with Connor Williams, but I would think that McGovern would be a better player. I'm not sure why the team stubbornly insists on playing him. Would I be upset if we resigned him? That depends. You can't have an All Pro at every position. If you sign him to a veteran minimum deal, that's tolerable. If you pay him like a Tyrone Crawford, then that would be insane, in my opinion.

As for Jaylon, he is an interesting case. I know everyone says he SUCKS, and he has played badly, but is that due to physical ability, or metal mistakes. If it is physical limitations causing it, then move on from him as soon as possible. If its not a physical issue, I am a lot more inclined to be patient and wait and see before I personally write him off.

I don't think people realize hot long it can take to get away from poor coaching. Last year was a train wreck with Marinelli/Richard. The linebackers were literally right in the middle of that dumpster fire of coaching.

Everyone was all ready to cut bait with Nolan, but the team SEEMS to be starting to respond to coaching and is playing better on the defensive side of the ball. I am sure it has taken Nolan a while to evaluate, teach and implement his system, and I am guessing that the players' heads are spinning.

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Either you have the instincts needed for the position or you don't. Doesn't matter how athletic you are, one false step the runner is by you on this level.

DallasDomination said:

They need to get rid of Jaylon Smith. That should be priority number one.

Connor Williams is decently athletic, but I don’t think he has the core strength to compete consistently. He got bigger and stronger but he’s still too damn weak, gets pushed around way too many times. With that said I don’t see a future for him here long term.

They should rest Zeke at this point. He needs another off season and fresh legs. His conditioning seems to be an issue, he takes himself out more than any rb we’ve had in a while. I don’t remember Demarco Murray waiving his hand after every other run wanting to come out.

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Agreed. We can’t get rid of these players because Jerry is the GM. Jerry recently stated Smith was a “cornerstone.” This is what we are until Jerry is no longer the GM.

Cowboyny said:

Either you have the instincts needed for the position or you don't. Doesn't matter how athletic you are, one false step the runner is by you on this level.

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True, but what we don't know is what the player is being asked to do.

Cowboyny said:

I agree, don't have to use the top of the draft to fill the need.

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Seldom will needs line up with BPA. THe year we drafted Tyron, we could also have drafted JJ Watt, IIRC. That was a fortuitous situation, as we needed both.

But I think we made the right call.

Verdict said:

True, but what we don't know is what the player is being asked to do.

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What we do know is there was a heated discussion how to use Jaylon last season between Richard and Bloom.

ABQCOWBOY said:

He is. It's amazing to see fans run this guy down every week. I hope that if he does move on, he goes to a team that understands how to feature his skills and he becomes a Pro Bowler.

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I want to hear more on your evaluation in him. I try to be pretty fair. I realize he is not Chaz Green, but he's for sure not Zack Martin either.

I want to hear what you have to say on this subject and @xwalker too. I am seeing him get blown into the backfield or manhandled far too often. What are you guys seeing that I am missing.

MyFairLady said:

Draft DT, DE, OT, G basically get some big strong men in here to win some football games.

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Unfortunately, only 1 of those positions are in the top 10 of the draft (OT)... it would figure the year we stink and have a top 3 pick that offense would be the side of the top players coming out.

Cowboyny said:

What we do know is there was a heated discussion how to use Jaylon last season between Richard and Bloom.

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Yes. I think Jaylon is likely a really good player that is being mis-used.

Verdict said:

Yes. I think Jaylon is likely a really good player that is being mis-used.

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I disagree, He has been used to many different spots and hasn't had much success.

Verdict said:

I want to hear more on your evaluation in him. I try to be pretty fair. I realize he is not Chaz Green, but he's for sure not Zack Martin either.

I want to hear what you have to say on this subject and @xwalker too. I am seeing him get blown into the backfield or manhandled far too often. What are you guys seeing that I am missing.

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He's actually just the opposite of what Martin does on the right side. The real problem with Williams is not that he's terrible, it's that Martin is so good and that everybody compares the two and how is Williams going to come out on the right side of that comparison? Technically, Williams is getting better and better. He's always going to have trouble with really physical players because they are simply too strong for him but, he is getting his footwork, his hand placement, his ability to sink down. If you played him as a traditional LG, which is a guy who really pulls and traps a lot, he would be about as good as you could ask for. He is easily the best target blocking OL or really player, we have on the team. He moves really well and he usually gets a block when he's moving. I never wanted him to play Guard. I watched him throughout his career at Texas and I always thought he was a LT, not a RT, not a Guard or Center. But he's done a nice job of transitioning IMO. Ask him to stone wall powerful 1 Techs and he's going to have problems there. Ask him to get out in front and lead the corner and he's going to get you a lane for the back to run through. Williams is a smart player, he understands his strengths and weakness but if what you are being asked to do is not a strength, not much you can do there except try and execute the play.

That's kind of how I see him.

I read an interesting article a while back that postulated that Jaylon Smith has simply been woefully badly evaluated to be a linebacker when instead he would be better off converted to defensive end. He himself has said he's a "pass rusher at heart".

I'd interested to see them try it. Lets see how Smith plays when the play is always right there in front of him. He's clearly got the skills to pass rush, it was what he used to be known for before his injury.

Heck, it worked for Randy White. He was a disappointment at LB until they put him on the line and became a HOFer.

CowboysDrew said:

I read an interesting article a while back that postulated that Jaylon Smith has simply been woefully badly evaluated to be a linebacker when instead he would be better off converted to defensive end. He himself has said he's a "pass rusher at heart".

I'd interested to see them try it. Lets see how Smith plays when the play is always right there in front of him. He's clearly got the skills to pass rush, it was what he used to be known for before his injury.

Heck, it worked for Randy White. He was a disappointment at LB until they put him on the line and became a HOFer.

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I think he is better suited to go in one direction with very little decision making. Give him a straight line and a task with not a lot of thinking involved and I think you MIGHT see him shine. Maybe he should be a situational pass rusher or outside rushing backer in a 3/4.