2014 draft class doesn't look bad

[JoeyBoy718]

Durant was SLB last season. I think their top concern is getting the best player at WLB and MLB with SLB as an after thought.

Yeah, with Lee and McClain playing every snap and the SLB only playing in the base (I probably 45% of the snaps), SLB is definitely less of a priority than the other two. I think having four quality LBers is crucial given the injury history at the position. Lee and Hitchens will be on the roster next year. I'd be shocked if we didn't lock up McClain long-term. That leaves Durant and Carter. Both will probably draw some interest. Carter will probably draw more because of his age and athleticism. But Durant has proven he can be a reliable starter in this league. I think teams will take a look. If they both get big offers, I wouldn't be shocked if neither of them were here next year. But, like you said, Durant seems like the only one besides Carter who is capable of playing SLB.

 

[big dog cowboy]

Hitchens is an NFL backer. He was a good draft pick.
Not sure what his ceiling is but his ability to play sudden and certain was clear Sunday.

I heart McClay.

You have to give Sean Lee some credit for his work with Hitchens.

 

[Nation]

EVERY CB drafted in round 1 this past 5 years has had bad games and has had fans blasting him at some point.
PP was a bum after the Denver game and was rough his rookie year as well.
Revis was torched after falling from shutdown status.

CB get beat and get insulted. It happens.

Mo is a good Cover CB. He is no where near a complete football player yet but he was drafted for his ceiling.
Chances are good he will be fine long term if not ever truly worth the 6th overall selection. ---very few players ever are.

Mike Jenkins has started over 60 games in his career in a position where you gotta carry 4 guys to every game. He was a "solid" draft pick.

Felix Jones was the "bad" pick. he only "played" in 50 games total for his career and played a position where teams routinely get by with mid round picks.

I agree with everything you said other than the part about Mo being a good cover CB, or that chances are good he will be fine long term.

 

[BigStar]

The Cowboys have some issues but they've drafted well above average the past 5 years.
WELL ABOVE.

You are correct most definitely. I would like to hit on more post 3 but Hitchens does look promising as well. Looked good @ MLB and OLB as a rook and I admittedly hated the pick. This team does seem to do well with UDFAs (Leary, Bailey, Beasley, Church-kinda there) so that could be argued to offset the misses later (at least as developmental prospects) but would make it just as much sweeter to luck into a couple. Team did get scorned with Holloman who looked good too. Improved drafting has set them up well going forward and outside of QB, this team is built for the future. Still need help on D (DE, LB, S) but the team has had some finds with Crawford, McClain, and now Melton showing up. Lawrence may make this DL look pretty damn formidable and not the total rebuild that was envisioned (by me too).

 

[vlad]

Jenkins did irritate them in the off-season before his final year when he was intentionally missing off-season work.

Jenkins was a quality cover guy, IMO. He just wasn't a team-first type of guy.

Oh yeah, forgot about that. I don't necessarily blame players for stuff like that but i do see how the organization was annoyed and blamed that on his recovery, but at least he played through it, showed heart imho. I don't think playing with that busted shoulder shows him as a team-first guy, at least that did. I recall Broaddus and some other media member shocking me by saying openly he was screwed and players felt that. Interesting, I have no insider knowledge...but he's long gone.

The Mo pick is going to hurt for a long while...ugh. Wish he would have turned out, maybe he does, but I hated the idea of drafting a corner that high...just seems silly to me unless you have everything else or no one else is there.

 

[Gameover]

The Cowboys have some issues but they've drafted well above average the past 5 years.
WELL ABOVE.

Preach

 

[darthseinfeld]

2013 was very good too. We have 3 starters already, we just have to use Escobar more.

We would may have had 4 starters is Holloman didnt have to retire

 

[rags747]

Streets is the guy I'm more disappointed in. There's only one football so I didn't expect much but it seems he's been getting more and more looks as the weeks go on and he can't even get a ball his way and when he does its a poor pass. I guess I'm not disappointed in him per se just disappointed he can't even show any flashes.

Agree on streets, thought we would have seen more from him by now. Still early possibly.

 

[DFWJC]

I posted dozens of times back in the off-season that Hitchens was a good pick based on his game footage. He has already played more and better than the average for a 4th round pick.

Yes you did

 

[TheEnigma]

You have to give Sean Lee some credit for his work with Hitchens.

I don't think this should be overlooked. I guarantee that Lee hasn't given up on the year from a metal standpoint and is almost like having another coach in the team.

 

[Plankton]

I posted dozens of times back in the off-season that Hitchens was a good pick based on his game footage. He has already played more and better than the average for a 4th round pick.

I do recall that you also said that Zack Martin was being overrated in the draft process.

No one gets it all correct all of the time.

 

[jterrell]

You are correct most definitely. I would like to hit on more post 3 but Hitchens does look promising as well. Looked good @ MLB and OLB as a rook and I admittedly hated the pick. This team does seem to do well with UDFAs (Leary, Bailey, Beasley, Church-kinda there) so that could be argued to offset the misses later (at least as developmental prospects) but would make it just as much sweeter to luck into a couple. Team did get scorned with Holloman who looked good too. Improved drafting has set them up well going forward and outside of QB, this team is built for the future. Still need help on D (DE, LB, S) but the team has had some finds with Crawford, McClain, and now Melton showing up. Lawrence may make this DL look pretty damn formidable and not the total rebuild that was envisioned (by me too).

The last 5 years late rounds(5-7) have produced Brent, Lissemore, Hanna, Randle, Dwayne Harris.
Lots of misses too but the guys at the top have been very good including Dez, Lee, Tyron, TFred, Martin all arguably being top 5 at their position.

 

[jterrell]

I agree with everything you said other than the part about Mo being a good cover CB, or that chances are good he will be fine long term.

You'll eventually agree with me so it's OK that you are wrong now LOL.
In all seriousness we will see. I am well on the record.
Then again people still pretend Mike Jenkins was terrible and Felix Jones was pretty good so who knows.

 

[jterrell]

I don't think Claiborne is as bad as most people believe. His criticism is all based on where he was drafted. With the current CBA, teams need production from draft picks to make the cap work. Based on that concept, he is a bad pick because he has not contributed what he should have based on where he was drafted; however, that does not mean that he can't play or can't improve.

Having said all of that and agreeing that the past few years that Cowboys have done a decent job of drafting, I do wonder if they failed to follow their process on the Claiborne pick. It seems that the Rams called them with the trade offer and they made a quick decision to make the trade up. It seems like they were not trying to trade up and didn't really do their homework on Claiborne. The Cowboys seem to do well with draft picks that they meet with and work out like when Callahan had a private workout with Fred or they spent a lot of time with T. Williams. I'm more supportive of Jerry than most, but I feel like the Rams called him directly and the Cowboys just jumped at the offer because the Rams were not asking for the moon. They had never even met with Claiborne. I think the learning issue and lack of mental and physical toughness might have been determined if they had really studied him in detail.

I feel good about the Lawrence pick, because he is one of those picks that they really studied and that they really wanted.

The Cowboys did the same thing with Emmitt Smith and many others. When a guy they had rated highly falls someone will champion said player and they'll go get him.
Dallas had Mo as it's top defensive guy in the draft and ranked 3rd overall after the QBs.

They drafted Mo based on his ceiling ignoring that he wasn't a good tackler (which was known) and that he was injured(broken wrist).
That is why he dropped. It wasn't some mystery.
They had no reason to suspect he'd be a great tackler nor a physical guy year 1.
Hard to lift much weight or gain strength with a broken wrist.
They realize he is small and needs babying thus the lack of pre-season reps. --which has limited his technique.

In time I suspect Mo will be fine.

I do believe you are correct about perception versus his draft status being the biggest issue.
It's like people who never gave Greg Ellis any credit.
Ellis was a really good player for a very long time, he just wasn't Pro Bowl good and definitely not Randy Moss good.

With Mo you've also got a guy who lost his Dad (they were very close) and who had the fan base turn on him.
So mentally/emotionally he has been struggling as well.
But the talent is there.

He still has Pro Bowl potential.

 

[jterrell]

TOTAL COMPLETE WASTE.

Sorry but I never understood the pick. I was hoping for Mark Barron to be honest. If we had picked Barron our Safety situation would have been solved by now and we can use those 4th round picks on something else besides Safeties from small schools.

Barron was a complete miss at Safety. That would be a worse pick than what they made.
The Bucs just traded Barron for a r4 and r6.
That's ridiculously bad return.

 

[xwalker]

He still has Pro Bowl potential.

The problem is that even if he is great next season, then he's a free agent. They really needed more from him during his rookie contract.

The mental meltdown that he had just before he got injured was apparently not a new problem. Broaddus has been saying that his mental-makeup has been a problem from the beginning.

My point isn't to bash Claiborne, but that I think they didn't really dig into his mental makeup issues before the draft because they didn't think there was any chance of drafting him. I really think that they have changed their process not will McClay in charge. I really prefer to see Garrett stay because I think they've finally got the structure in place to draft and develop players now. It seems like that structure could get destroyed if Garrett were gone. Jerry could make a mess while a new HC gets up to speed OR they could end up with a HC like Parcells that didn't really have a great draft structure either (Bobbie Carpenter, Jacob Rodgers, etc..).

 

[xwalker]

Yeah, with Lee and McClain playing every snap and the SLB only playing in the base (I probably 45% of the snaps), SLB is definitely less of a priority than the other two. I think having four quality LBers is crucial given the injury history at the position. Lee and Hitchens will be on the roster next year. I'd be shocked if we didn't lock up McClain long-term. That leaves Durant and Carter. Both will probably draw some interest. Carter will probably draw more because of his age and athleticism. But Durant has proven he can be a reliable starter in this league. I think teams will take a look. If they both get big offers, I wouldn't be shocked if neither of them were here next year. But, like you said, Durant seems like the only one besides Carter who is capable of playing SLB.

I might have said this previously, but I just don't get the feeling that Marinelli is a big fan of Carter. Marinelli has heaped praise on Durant, but his comments towards Carter seemed to have an underlying negative tone.

Neither Durant or Carter have ever started 16 games in a season. That's somewhat of a concern, especially consider Lee's injury history and McClain has had some injury issue as well.

I wouldn't be surprised to see them draft a LB fairly high depending on how things fall in the next draft.

 

[jterrell]

The problem is that even if he is great next season, then he's a free agent. They really needed more from him during his rookie contract.

The mental meltdown that he had just before he got injured was apparently not a new problem. Broaddus has been saying that his mental-makeup has been a problem from the beginning.

My point isn't to bash Claiborne, but that I think they didn't really dig into his mental makeup issues before the draft because they didn't think there was any chance of drafting him. I really think that they have changed their process not will McClay in charge. I really prefer to see Garrett stay because I think they've finally got the structure in place to draft and develop players now. It seems like that structure could get destroyed if Garrett were gone. Jerry could make a mess while a new HC gets up to speed OR they could end up with a HC like Parcells that didn't really have a great draft structure either (Bobbie Carpenter, Jacob Rodgers, etc..).

His mental makeup was fine as a college kid who had everything come easy to him and had a stable family and support system behind in the loyal LSU fanbase.

He'd never dealt with the fickle Cowboys/NFL fan base nor been physically outmanned.
Mo's issues are not Freudian nor surprising.

He needs to get bigger and stronger; when he does the mental part will take care of itself.

I am glad the dude threw a tantrum when benched. That's exactly the mental makeup I want from a guy.
I don't want some back up who loves being a back up and collecting a check.

Scandrick was a sulky back up CB at one point too.
Now he's arguably our best defender.
It takes time and patience with these guys.

The draft is what it is. Dallas isn't getting the pick or the money back.
I'd be signing Mo to a Scandrick deal now if I could and let him develop.
5m a year is chump change for a starting corner.
Certainly better than paying Carr twice that to be more professional and a lot tougher but no more effective in coverage.

 

[Macnalty]

EVERY CB drafted in round 1 this past 5 years has had bad games and has had fans blasting him at some point.
PP was a bum after the Denver game and was rough his rookie year as well.
Revis was torched after falling from shutdown status.

CB get beat and get insulted. It happens.

Mo is a good Cover CB. He is no where near a complete football player yet but he was drafted for his ceiling.
Chances are good he will be fine long term if not ever truly worth the 6th overall selection. ---very few players ever are.

Mike Jenkins has started over 60 games in his career in a position where you gotta carry 4 guys to every game. He was a "solid" draft pick.

Felix Jones was the "bad" pick. he only "played" in 50 games total for his career and played a position where teams routinely get by with mid round picks.

I disagree on Jenkins(there were some reasons he dropped so much on that draft day) he had some moments but a solid player would still be in the herd and he was less than inspiring as a team player(IMO he made too many business decisions), maybe that is not a feature you scale highly in your diagnosis of talent. It ranks high on mine, Jenkins snuck into a pro bowl year and I still stick by my prediction that Mo will in his career never sneak in, along with that additional second rd pick we lost that never had a chance to wear the star. Mo was a huge misjudgement of talent and compounded by throwing away a additional premium pick. We are a lesser team because of that 1st rd pick.
I am in lockstep with you on Felix, award winning scout evaluation was not at the draft table that day.

 

[jterrell]

I disagree on Jenkins(there were some reasons he dropped so much on that draft day) he had some moments but a solid player would still be in the herd and he was less than inspiring as a team player(IMO he made too many business decisions), maybe that is not a feature you scale highly in your diagnosis of talent. It ranks high on mine, Jenkins snuck into a pro bowl year and I still stick by my prediction that Mo will in his career never sneak in, along with that additional second rd pick we lost that never had a chance to wear the star. Mo was a huge misjudgement of talent and compounded by throwing away a additional premium pick. We are a lesser team because of that 1st rd pick.
I am in lockstep with you on Felix, award winning scout evaluation was not at the draft table that day.

Lots of stuff here.

Firstly, not every 1st round pick is going to be a franchise cornerstone.
Jenkins has legitimate NFL starting ability and has had it for 7 years at one of the most demanding positions.
He beat out the guy we consider our best defensive player like 3 times... even after he demanded a trade and whined.

That's a solid if not more than that, pick in the 20s.

Business decision stuff started with Deion saying it about himself.
Anyone going to suggest he couldn't play?

Mo was "largely" not misjudged in talent. He has probably been mismanaged since then in a rush to get value.
But anyone with eyes can see his speed and ability to turn and run with people.
But he needs to add weight and strength. --Deion was over 6' and 200 pounds. Not 5'11" and 180.
And it is hard to do that when always injured.
This IR stay might be great for his development.
Depends on if they can get him in the weight room.

His ceiling hasn't changed just the perception of him.