They cannot make the Lamb mistake again

Here's what CC is saying guys: Taking players in the draft willy nilly w/o a plan is what's keeping us from winning. It's not specifically taking Lamb that's the problem, it's that Jerry consistently does this type of thing, leaving us w/ huge weaknesses that keep us from the playoffs, and makes us lose when we do get there.

KJJ said:

Had the Cowboys not drafted Lamb they would have likely drafted K’Lavon Chaisson. He only started 3 games for Jacksonville and had 12 tackles. We drafted an impact player who barring injury will end up being one of the best players the Cowboys have drafted in the past two decades. The biggest mistake we could have made was forcing a pick at 17 on defense on a player who didn’t warrant the draft position. A great player fell to us at 17 and we took him. Great move!

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So you were OK w/ taking Jaylon over Jarron Reed and Escobar over Mathieu/Kelce and trading up for MO instead of taking Brockers and Bobby Wagner?

kskboys said:

So you were OK w/ taking Jaylon over Jarron Reed and Escobar over Mathieu/Kelce and trading up for MO instead of taking Brockers and Bobby Wagner?

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I’m on record as hating the Jaylon and Escobar picks. We passed up Myles Jack who’s become a terrific player for Jaylon and Le’Veon Bell for Escobar.

Remember when in a span of three years, we got Frederick, Collins and Martin.

Had we drafted Le’Veon Bell in 2013 who went one pick after Gavin Escobar we could have taken Jalen Ramsey in 2016 instead of Zeke. We could have ended up with TJ Watt instead of Taco and Myles Jack instead of Jaylon. Our defense could have looked much different right now.

TwentyOne said:

I like Lamb too.

But to say BPA in the first round always is like saying "always buy the cheapest thing" or "always buy the most expensive thing". Its a nice little rule with virtuially no meaning.
If you want success you must accept that life is more complex and so are decissions.

Lamb is a good WR and he for sure impacted the game more than you could have expected from a rookie WR. For most it takes three years before they are able to shine like Lamb did.

Still we did not need a WR AND we had a lot of holes to fill at other positions. Just look how we started the season at DE.

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No harm in disagreeing. I understand where you’re coming from and certainly agree in the later rounds. I just think when you’re picking #10 you pick the BPA. Now you might have 2 or 3 players all rated about the same when that pick comes up and then you would pick for need. But if it’s obvious, like the Lamb pick, you go with BPA.

khiladi said:

Remember when in a span of three years, we got Frederick, Collins and Martin.

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I agree, no team is going to have perfect draft every year. some years are really bad, some years average just like everybody else and some years you hit on more. what's fascinating about cowboys in the past 15 years, offensively we have drafted Dez, Smith, Zeke, Dak, CD, traded for Cooper, Martin, Fredrick, Murray and big contriubtors in Pollard, Schultz, but only two impact type players on defense in lawrence and jones (and we let him walk)....

we have to fix the defensive evaluation process and defensive drafts.....otherwise it will be more of the same.

dallasdave said:

I am double happy as hell that Dallas picked Lamb----let these other people tell us who they would have picked so much better

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We don't need to do that........team was 8-8 without Lamb and 6-10 with him. He caught a lot of balls.........and made no difference. Could it possibly be that we had bigger needs at many other spots? I bet the BPA at #10 is going to be a WR in this draft. We trying to rebuild Matt Millen's Lions?

I love Lamb’s talent- but there are definitely reasons to say that the Cowboys drafting Lamb first last year was not necessarily a good move:

• In essence, we drafted WRs in the first round in back to back years. Amari Cooper being acquired in 2018 was essentially a 2019 first round pick, then Lamb in 2020. We were already deep there, meanwhile, our defense is talent starved.
  
• The Cowboys could have traded down last year at 17 for more value in the bottom of the round and maybe an extra 2nd. We didn’t have to take Chaisson.
  
• Lamb’s talent is unquestionable. But having him did not make the TEAM better. This isn’t fantasy football where stats and flash are king. If winning is the goal, you draft what will make your team better. Your first round pick should have impact. Lamb was impactful on the stats sheet but not so much in the win column.
• WR is the least difficult position to find talent.

Hey- I’m a big Lamb fan. Glad he’s a Cowboy. But the thinking that was behind drafting him is not going to make us better as a TEAM faster.

blueblood70 said:

BPA on defense when you have tie between say anon need and big need you take the defense this year..we can Not pick an OL or , WR, RB, or TE ., or QB etc etc

you get that right?

BPA yes but unless its generational cant miss player that ridiculously better then the NEED pick you take the NEED BPA on DEFENSE

Last year no defender was even close when lamb fell into our laps and Chiasson at DE wasn't even a true need..

it was the right pick

round 1-3 should be defense unless its a crazy differential..

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Yes, if they're closely ranked whatever helps team more now sounds ideal. Every draft is different in position strength yet all drafts are a crapshoot. Teams are wrong about who will be a generational talent. Want to give them your crystal ball?

I'd love an all defense draft if it made sense. I had high hopes for FA DT's. Mistakes have been made. The latest biggest one was Watt who was the best player. I'm one of a few that don't see T. Smith coming back. If BPA is LT so be it.

You get that draft pick decisions factor in FA availability, right?

If the team hasn't made terrible contract decisions, they can get need in FA.

Need was that second corner we were convinced to get excited about Reggie Robinson but can't tell you if he played.

Bobhaze said:

I love Lamb’s talent- but there are definitely reasons to say that the Cowboys drafting Lamb first last year was not necessarily a good move:

• In essence, we drafted WRs in the first round in back to back years. Amari Cooper being acquired in 2018 was essentially a 2019 first round pick, then Lamb in 2020. We were already deep there, meanwhile, our defense is talent starved.
  
• The Cowboys could have traded down last year at 17 for more value in the bottom of the round and maybe an extra 2nd. We didn’t have to take Chaisson.
  
• Lamb’s talent is unquestionable. But having him did not make the TEAM better. This isn’t fantasy football where stats and flash are king. If winning is the goal, you draft what will make your team better. Your first round pick should have impact. Lamb was impactful on the stats sheet but not so much in the win column.
• WR is the least difficult position to find talent.

Hey- I’m a big Lamb fan. Glad he’s a Cowboy. But the thinking that was behind drafting him is not going to make us better as a TEAM faster.

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Of course the team didn’t have to draft Chaisson. They didn’t have to draft any player in particular. However, Chaisson was going to be the pick if he made it to 17, but Lamb (who they thought would be taken much earlier) was there and rated much higher than anyone else left, so they did what was widely acclaimed as the right move and picked the much higher rated Lamb.

You said: “Lamb’s talent is unquestionable. But having him did not make the TEAM better.” The fact is, if they didn’t take Lamb, it would have been Chaisson who also, wouldn’t have made the team better because DE was about the only defensive position that the defense was ok at. Not to mention that he just didn’t play that well. So, had Dallas done just what you and CouchCoach are saying they should have, nothing really would have gone differently with the season. The only difference would be that Dallas would now have less talent on their team.

Also, the team did need a slot WR, so had they taken Chaisson at 17, perhaps they end up skipping Diggs in the second for a WR and the team ends up with an average DE and an average WR in the first two rounds instead of one of the best young WR’s in the league in Lamb and a very good Diggs who was the team’s best corner.

There is just about infinite different outcomes when you start doing this sort of hindsight drafting, but I (and many other people) think that you can’t really go wrong with taking a guy who plays at a position you want to upgrade, who is also the best available player by a mile.

You can bang on the Cowboys for not going defense in round 1 but the bottom line is, the team is better with Lamb than they would be with Chaisson.

1LoyalCowboyFan said:

Yes, if they're closely ranked whatever helps team more now sounds ideal. Every draft is different in position strength yet all drafts are a crapshoot. Teams are wrong about who will be a generational talent. Want to give them your crystal ball?

I'd love an all defense draft if it made sense. I had high hopes for FA DT's. Mistakes have been made. The latest biggest one was Watt who was the best player. I'm one of a few that don't see T. Smith coming back. If BPA is LT so be it.

You get that draft pick decisions factor in FA availability, right?

If the team hasn't made terrible contract decisions, they can get need in FA.

Need was that second corner we were convinced to get excited about Reggie Robinson but can't tell you if he played.

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well sure but on the left tackle spot i think TS is back but if he isnt LC will kick out to LT and much easier to use Erving or KNight/steel at RT

i dont think they go after a OL early in the draft its deep and kif that is target it will be 2nd or 3rd round but after using so many backups this season and getting a lot of experience to Knight an Steele plus possible bring Erving back, we are covered all over the oline + backups. Must have defense..

wont need crystal ball because FA is long before draft , so we will know what holes they filled, who they kept and or went after then the draft will be more clear..

BTW is TS does have gut feeling he might opt out this season he better not pull a witten, he best tell the FO hes feeling that way before the draft..

If drafting a player with our first pick who made a huge impact as a rookie is a mistake I hope we make the same mistake every year.

Bobhaze said:

I love Lamb’s talent- but there are definitely reasons to say that the Cowboys drafting Lamb first last year was not necessarily a good move:

• In essence, we drafted WRs in the first round in back to back years. Amari Cooper being acquired in 2018 was essentially a 2019 first round pick, then Lamb in 2020. We were already deep there, meanwhile, our defense is talent starved.
  
• The Cowboys could have traded down last year at 17 for more value in the bottom of the round and maybe an extra 2nd. We didn’t have to take Chaisson.
  
• Lamb’s talent is unquestionable. But having him did not make the TEAM better. This isn’t fantasy football where stats and flash are king. If winning is the goal, you draft what will make your team better. Your first round pick should have impact. Lamb was impactful on the stats sheet but not so much in the win column.
• WR is the least difficult position to find talent.

Hey- I’m a big Lamb fan. Glad he’s a Cowboy. But the thinking that was behind drafting him is not going to make us better as a TEAM faster.

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The Falcons tried to trade out the pick before us and they couldn't get an additional 2nd. All they were offered was a 3rd so they stayed and picked.

Hook'em#11 said:

Oh lord, It's started already. I swear , some need a breathalyzer by their keyboard before they start a thread. No offense..

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How do you know I don't have one? My keyboard won't crank up anything below .10.

KJJ said:

If drafting a player with our first pick who made a huge impact as a rookie is a mistake I hope we make the same mistake every year.

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But did he? Did he create his catches or would those have gone to another WR? Those are not new catches or yards, they're replacements.

Would any of the D players have made more impact? Don't think so but they might have found a badly needed starter on D.

If jerrah would only listen to willl mcclay

Cowboys would've drafted more hot boyz

AsthmaField said:

Also, the team did need a slot WR, so had they taken Chaisson at 17, perhaps they end up skipping Diggs in the second for a WR and the team ends up with an average DE and an average WR in the first two rounds instead of one of the best young WR’s in the league in Lamb and a very good Diggs who was the team’s best corner.

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Regarding this point, do teams usually get a slot guy in the 1st Rd? The fact that Lamb is the 3rd option is something to consider in evaluating his impact this year - people are saying he can replace Cooper or makes Gallup expendable.

Yes, he's a rookie and put up good numbers for a rookie. But his production wasn't significantly different than Laurent Robinson's one good year at DAL (CD has more targets, catches, & YDS with fewer TDs). So he was as productive as an NFL veteran playing against the most favorable matchup on the field.

Practically speaking though, it amounted to an offense that couldn't keep up with the defense's ineptitude. I'm sympathetic to CC's point. There were other players available and this is just 1 season, so I don't think it's worth debating, "who should we have taken." A defensive playmaker could emerge in the next couple of years no one saw coming.

But I think it's worth considering. It depends on how much you value the WR position I assume.

CouchCoach said:

But did he? Did he create his catches or would those have gone to another WR? Those are not new catches or yards, they're replacements.

Would any of the D players have made more impact? Don't think so but they might have found a badly needed starter on D.

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He created those catches he’s very difficult to cover. That circus catch in the end zone for a TD could’ve only been made by him. None of the D players that would have warranted the 17th selection could have made more of an impact than he did. See if you can find one who did.