25 years of roster building- what it reveals

[75boyz]

My latest broken record opinion is that if a team's GM'ing, HC'ing and QB'ing( I know, debatable, lol) are inept, than success should not be expected.

I see nothing currently or on the horizon to be encouraged by future roster building success provided all these same cast of characters remain in their same roles.

My .02.

 

[Redball Express]

A quarter of a century has gone by since the Dallas Cowboys played in and won a Super Bowl. Or played in and won a conference championship game. Or even won a divisional playoff game. Perspective? Dak Prescott was 2 years old the last time that happened. Cedee Lamb wasn’t born yet. Nearly half our current roster wasn’t even born yet. Tony Romo was 15. This could go on....

But I was curious about how this organization invested its roster building capital the last 25 years. By that I mean which positions did the organization spend the most draft and trade capital to build a roster? The answer to that question reveals a big reason why this organization can’t seem to build a playoff winner.

Here are the positions this FO has spent most of its roster and draft capital on the last 25 years showing what they value most:

• WR- Surprise! The Cowboys have drafted 18 WRs in the last 25 drafts, and have also used 4 number one draft picks in trades for Joey Galloway, Roy Williams, and Amari Cooper. That makes a whopping 22 draft picks used to acquire WRs!
  
• DEs- The Cowboys have used 20 draft picks to acquire DEs the last 25 years.
• LBs- The next most popular position has been LB with 18 draft picks.
  
• CBs- Next most popular is corner backs with 13 picks.
• DTs- only 11 have been drafted over 25 years, and 3 of those were in the last 2 years.
• I’m not going to go position by position but the bottom two roster positions valued after P and K was also no surprise- S (only 7 drafted in 25 years) and QB (only 6)

If you want to know what an organization values, look at where they spend their roster capital. For the Cowboys the last 25 years, that position is WR. That says a lot about why we can’t seem to get over the playoff hump the last quarter century.

Here is a link I used to look up Cowboys draft history on Pro Football Reference, a free site with lots of good info. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/dal/draft.htm

So now the question is why?

The trend to draft offense is clear to me.

Jerrah Jones is the GM.

Offense sells tickets. The GM is directed by the owner. Both parties want sizzle AND they understand economics. Therefore the team will not improve defensively until both the owner and the GM agree that defense has to be addressed as the highest need of the team to succeed.

The Owner and GM pays the coaches and players paychecks. Assuming these people understand which side their butter is on their bread..

they do what Jerrah sets as the priorities.Jerrah sets the table. If you want to eat from Jerrah's table..you do what he wants.

Now that has been challenged in the past with little success. When Jerrah wanted TO and Parcell's did not..

Jerrah the GM prevailed.

Parcells was unable to stop it. TO was signed. Parcell's left shortly later.

Garrett was brought in to rebuild the team in the model of the 90's teams Garrett having had a front row seat as Aikman's caddy. Garrett had longtime connections thru his father who was a coach and worked as a scout for Dallas over the years.

Jerrah thought that with Jerrah's experience that Garrett could be taught how to coach. So Jerrah surrounded Garrett with former HCs to make it work. The majority were offensive HCs.

It never worked. The defense did not receive the talent needed to improve. The defense was continually led by coaches like Marrinelli and Richards and Rob Ryan who were past their prime. The defense continued to crater.

So if you simply look at how our roster breaks down vs our cap..you will see we pay about double for our offensive talent vs. what we pay the defense.

Why?

Becuz Jerrah wants it that way to make money. He loves the TV ratings. He loves the attention on his team. Even if his team does not win..the media still covers it and it is in the public eye.

Unfortunately..there is a cost. When your cashcows like Romo and Dak end up injured and do not play..your team loses. And if the defensive shelves are bare and need to contribute..

they can't. They have not been given the means to do so.

So then we wait as fans till next year.

I fully expect 2021 to be a much better year after we get our injured people back and Dak is signed. This year's draft with the additional help of our supplemental draft picks holds promise.

In the meantime..we wait.

 

[cowboyec]

i miss Coach Landry.

 

[cowboyec]

i don't think it's "what" they draft....but "who" they draft.

 

[CowboysFaninHouston]

You've made many good points. But sometimes oddities come into play. Gregory has talent, but a screwed up psyche. Fa david irving could have been the league's best. But turned our to be a head case. Taco could have been something special, but again a head case. We might need to add psychological testing to our analytical repertoire.

well, we can write up reason behind each, but typically in FA we have signed over the hill or head cases ala hardy and Irving as you said...talented but head cases. we seem to take a lot of risk and reach in the second round, ala Lee, Carter, Jaylon all with injury concerns (continued into NFL) and then Gregory who was and has been a headcase (missed more games than played), Hill who was/is immature. all talented, but all had issues. We can't hit on almost anything defensive in the first round, ala Claiborne, LVE (jury out, but he is declining relative to his first year), Taco.

we just can't pick them. like you said we go for the nut cases or injured and seemingly we just try to hit a home run every time, instead of doubles and triples...

 

[john van brocklin]

A quarter of a century has gone by since the Dallas Cowboys played in and won a Super Bowl. Or played in and won a conference championship game. Or even won a divisional playoff game. Perspective? Dak Prescott was 2 years old the last time that happened. Cedee Lamb wasn’t born yet. Nearly half our current roster wasn’t even born yet. Tony Romo was 15. This could go on....

But I was curious about how this organization invested its roster building capital the last 25 years. By that I mean which positions did the organization spend the most draft and trade capital to build a roster? The answer to that question reveals a big reason why this organization can’t seem to build a playoff winner.

Here are the positions this FO has spent most of its roster and draft capital on the last 25 years showing what they value most:

• WR- Surprise! The Cowboys have drafted 18 WRs in the last 25 drafts, and have also used 4 number one draft picks in trades for Joey Galloway, Roy Williams, and Amari Cooper. That makes a whopping 22 draft picks used to acquire WRs!
  
• DEs- The Cowboys have used 20 draft picks to acquire DEs the last 25 years.
• LBs- The next most popular position has been LB with 18 draft picks.
  
• CBs- Next most popular is corner backs with 13 picks.
• DTs- only 11 have been drafted over 25 years, and 3 of those were in the last 2 years.
• I’m not going to go position by position but the bottom two roster positions valued after P and K was also no surprise- S (only 7 drafted in 25 years) and QB (only 6)

If you want to know what an organization values, look at where they spend their roster capital. For the Cowboys the last 25 years, that position is WR. That says a lot about why we can’t seem to get over the playoff hump the last quarter century.

Here is a link I used to look up Cowboys draft history on Pro Football Reference, a free site with lots of good info. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/dal/draft.htm

Good info!

 

[Bobhaze]

So now the question is why?

The trend to draft offense is clear to me.

Jerrah Jones is the GM.

Offense sells tickets. The GM is directed by the owner. Both parties want sizzle AND they understand economics. Therefore the team will not improve defensively until both the owner and the GM agree that defense has to be addressed as the highest need of the team to succeed.

The Owner and GM pays the coaches and players paychecks. Assuming these people understand which side their butter is on their bread..

they do what Jerrah sets as the priorities.Jerrah sets the table. If you want to eat from Jerrah's table..you do what he wants.

Now that has been challenged in the past with little success. When Jerrah wanted TO and Parcell's did not..

Jerrah the GM prevailed.

Parcells was unable to stop it. TO was signed. Parcell's left shortly later.

Garrett was brought in to rebuild the team in the model of the 90's teams Garrett having had a front row seat as Aikman's caddy. Garrett had longtime connections thru his father who was a coach and worked as a scout for Dallas over the years.

Jerrah thought that with Jerrah's experience that Garrett could be taught how to coach. So Jerrah surrounded Garrett with former HCs to make it work. The majority were offensive HCs.

It never worked. The defense did not receive the talent needed to improve. The defense was continually led by coaches like Marrinelli and Richards and Rob Ryan who were past their prime. The defense continued to crater.

So if you simply look at how our roster breaks down vs our cap..you will see we pay about double for our offensive talent vs. what we pay the defense.

Why?

Becuz Jerrah wants it that way to make money. He loves the TV ratings. He loves the attention on his team. Even if his team does not win..the media still covers it and it is in the public eye.

Unfortunately..there is a cost. When your cashcows like Romo and Dak end up injured and do not play..your team loses. And if the defensive shelves are bare and need to contribute..

they can't. They have not been given the means to do so.

So then we wait as fans till next year.

I fully expect 2021 to be a much better year after we get our injured people back and Dak is signed. This year's draft with the additional help of our supplemental draft picks holds promise.

In the meantime..we wait.

Here’s something Jerry does understand- losing doesn’t sell. This team is a combined 14-18 the last two seasons and has missed the playoffs 3 of the last 4 years. We are being pulled off prime time TV slots. This kind of performance doesn’t sell. In fact, if it continues, he may have to do some things he hasn’t done since 2003- back off at least some from his dominant role.

Yeah, the Cowboys have been a marquee team for years. But they have barely been good enough to matter. The trend lines have been south. We have been living on past semi-glory when it’s been 25 years since...you know the rest.

You can’t put lipstick and an earring on a pig snout forever and get away with it. Not even Jerry.

 

[rnr_honeybadger]

One of the worst drafts in not only Cowboys history- in NFL history. A literal road map on how NOT to conduct a draft. And realize that draft was led not by a rookie GM, but a cocksure man with (at that time) 20 years of experience. That’s top shelf ineptitude. And what’s amazing about Jerry is he literally has no ability to be embarrassed. In fact, he’s cocky. Which as Cowboys fans know is not well placed.

Totally. Did a single guy taken in that draft last 3 seasons?

 

[rnr_honeybadger]

i miss Coach Landry.

I miss Landry, Jimmy and Parcells. Parcells couldn't even finish what he started and he was right when he said that in a few years it would be like he wasn't even there. Any discipline that was brought it went out the door when he left town.

 

[rnr_honeybadger]

Totally. Did a single guy taken in that draft last 3 seasons?

I stand corrected - Stephen McGee for the win.

 

[Bobhaze]

Totally. Did a single guy taken in that draft last 3 seasons?

Here’s the infamous 09 draft. For what it’s worth, 6th rounder TE John Phipps played nearly a decade in the league, last played 2018. Everyone else, last 2-4 years. Really, really bad draft.

3rd round Jason Williams LB West. Illinois
3 Robert Brewster 75 T Ball St.
4 Stephen McGee QB Texas A&M
4 Victor Butler LB Oregon St.
4 Brandon Williams DE Texas Tech
5 DeAngelo Smith DB Cincinnati
5 Michael Hamlin 166 DB Clemson
5 David Buehler 172 K USC
6 Stephen Hodge DB TCU
6 John Phillips 208 Virginia
7 Mike Mickens DB Cincinnati
7 Manuel Johnson WR Oklahoma

Amazingly- they drafted 12 players in 2009. All but one was a bust. That’s some big league ineptitude.

 

[rnr_honeybadger]

Here’s the infamous 09 draft. For what it’s worth, 6th rounder TE John Phipps played nearly a decade in the league, last played 2018. Everyone else, last 2-4 years. Really, really bad draft.

3rd round Jason Williams LB West. Illinois
3 Robert Brewster 75 T Ball St.
4 Stephen McGee QB Texas A&M
4 Victor Butler LB Oregon St.
4 Brandon Williams DE Texas Tech
5 DeAngelo Smith DB Cincinnati
5 Michael Hamlin 166 DB Clemson
5 David Buehler 172 K USC
6 Stephen Hodge DB TCU
6 John Phillips 208 Virginia
7 Mike Mickens DB Cincinnati
7 Manuel Johnson WR Oklahoma

Amazingly- they drafted 12 players in 2009. All but one was a bust. That’s some big league ineptitude.

I was looking at some of these guys and the number of games they played, almost non-existent. Some of them didn't even make it out of the 2009 season before they were out of the league. You have to try hard to achieve this level of ineptitude. Just for giggles I'd like to see the draft board Jerry was going off for this draft or was it simply just looking at who was there and blindly picking?

 

[calicowboy54]

Yes I could... but I think you would do better, lol.

Thank you excel:

OK Patriots from 2000 - 2020 20 Years
OLB/EDGE 23
T 19
WR 18
DE 16
TE 14
DT 13
G 12
QB 11
RB 10
C 7
CB 6
ILB 3
FB 3
K 3
S 2
P 2

this Looks miss leading, what this tells me is Patriots are a revolving door at OLB/EDGE, T, WR, DE, TE, DT, G, Backup QB & RB. that tells me they are not putting cap dollars in DLINE OLINE, WR and EDGE Players. instead they draft and wait on someone to stick. other wise they rinse and repeat.

 

[DandyDon52]

It’s obvious Jethro still believes the Triplets won those rings.

But the new bar for this era in our Football Idiots own words are “ relevant and interesting “. That’s it!

good point,but add to that Haley and deion, and that explains war daddy and CB.
Jerry thinks that is all you need is good players in those 5 positions.
Then the rest can be meh so so players, and of course any 1 of 500 coaches lol.

 

[DandyDon52]

A quarter of a century has gone by since the Dallas Cowboys played in and won a Super Bowl. Or played in and won a conference championship game. Or even won a divisional playoff game. Perspective? Dak Prescott was 2 years old the last time that happened. Cedee Lamb wasn’t born yet. Nearly half our current roster wasn’t even born yet. Tony Romo was 15. This could go on....

But I was curious about how this organization invested its roster building capital the last 25 years. By that I mean which positions did the organization spend the most draft and trade capital to build a roster? The answer to that question reveals a big reason why this organization can’t seem to build a playoff winner.

Here are the positions this FO has spent most of its roster and draft capital on the last 25 years showing what they value most:

• WR- Surprise! The Cowboys have drafted 18 WRs in the last 25 drafts, and have also used 4 number one draft picks in trades for Joey Galloway, Roy Williams, and Amari Cooper. That makes a whopping 22 draft picks used to acquire WRs!
  
• DEs- The Cowboys have used 20 draft picks to acquire DEs the last 25 years.
• LBs- The next most popular position has been LB with 18 draft picks.
  
• CBs- Next most popular is corner backs with 13 picks.
• DTs- only 11 have been drafted over 25 years, and 3 of those were in the last 2 years.
• I’m not going to go position by position but the bottom two roster positions valued after P and K was also no surprise- S (only 7 drafted in 25 years) and QB (only 6)

If you want to know what an organization values, look at where they spend their roster capital. For the Cowboys the last 25 years, that position is WR. That says a lot about why we can’t seem to get over the playoff hump the last quarter century.

Here is a link I used to look up Cowboys draft history on Pro Football Reference, a free site with lots of good info. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/dal/draft.htm

and this explains why jerry just used a rd 1 pick on lamb, who we didnt really need, and jerry slaps the old 88 on him and it is SB time!
good post though bob very interesting and telling.

 

[Ranched]

 

[rnr_honeybadger]

Was Campo just 3 years? Seemed like a decade and a half to me.

 

[fivetwos]

Simple.....coaching is huge in today's NFL and Jerry wants guys in here that won't take the spotlight from him.....and therefore may not be the best coaches.

They have to have superior talent to overcome that, and even then it still comes down to coaching in the end.

Jerry thinks more of him is the solution and is dead wrong.

They will either win in spite of him or just continue on the same path of the last quarter century.

Jerry either can't understand this or doesn't care. He would rather not win if he can't stand there as thee man in the end.

 

[CowboyRoy]

A quarter of a century has gone by since the Dallas Cowboys played in and won a Super Bowl. Or played in and won a conference championship game. Or even won a divisional playoff game. Perspective? Dak Prescott was 2 years old the last time that happened. Cedee Lamb wasn’t born yet. Nearly half our current roster wasn’t even born yet. Tony Romo was 15. This could go on....

But I was curious about how this organization invested its roster building capital the last 25 years. By that I mean which positions did the organization spend the most draft and trade capital to build a roster? The answer to that question reveals a big reason why this organization can’t seem to build a playoff winner.

Here are the positions this FO has spent most of its roster and draft capital on the last 25 years showing what they value most:

• WR- Surprise! The Cowboys have drafted 18 WRs in the last 25 drafts, and have also used 4 number one draft picks in trades for Joey Galloway, Roy Williams, and Amari Cooper. That makes a whopping 22 draft picks used to acquire WRs!
  
• DEs- The Cowboys have used 20 draft picks to acquire DEs the last 25 years.
• LBs- The next most popular position has been LB with 18 draft picks.
  
• CBs- Next most popular is corner backs with 13 picks.
• DTs- only 11 have been drafted over 25 years, and 3 of those were in the last 2 years.
• I’m not going to go position by position but the bottom two roster positions valued after P and K was also no surprise- S (only 7 drafted in 25 years) and QB (only 6)

If you want to know what an organization values, look at where they spend their roster capital. For the Cowboys the last 25 years, that position is WR. That says a lot about why we can’t seem to get over the playoff hump the last quarter century.

Here is a link I used to look up Cowboys draft history on Pro Football Reference, a free site with lots of good info. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/dal/draft.htm

I have said it many times on here, Jimmy said it.........................The Cowboys have no overall plan when it comes to roster building. They cant hang their hat on anything.

They simply bring in new coaches here and there, most have different types of schemes and guys they like and they just go around in circles changing out personnel for what the newest guy likes. Jerry listened to Mirinelli for what he wants, Garrett or what he wanted, ect......ect.....

Decide what kind of team you want to build and do it. Steelers build a great defense and run game. Ravens do the same thing. ect.....ect.....

 

[Aviano90]

Don’t worry, after the first crappy team we beat next year we’ll be on the way to the Super Bowl. But after the first loss, we will be doomed to not win another game.