Best trade Jerry has ever made !!

[casmith07]

it just means mccordsville cowboy hasnt seen thread yet

he won't see it either, since he won't visit the site since we won.

 

[RainMan]

Best run organizations? Based on what? One playoff win in 16 years? I am a huge Cowboy fan but c'mon!

Look at where we're at right now, my friend. We're a team that has been in the postseason for three of the past four seasons, advancing to the second round in two of the three.

More importantly, look at where this team is personnel and coaching wise. We have a harmonious mix, meaning a personnel base that is precisely what the coaches look for. And we have a scouting department that is able to unearth players in the lower rounds that can plug in here and do exactly what our schemes demand.

Take a look at this roster. We have a plethora of players that are among the best at their craft, and a very limited amount of players perceived name-value wise to be good when in reality they're not what they're perceived to be.

We were among the worst run organizations for a long stretch, which is why that playoff drought built up the way it did. 1996-2002 was dreadful. Absolutely dreadful from a draft/free agency perspective. Using a baseball analogy, we had nothing coming through the pipe line.

That is much different now.

And call me a homer if you want. There are already media types -- as documented here -- saying we are poised to be the team of the next decade.

 

[RainMan]

The play off drought has made allot of folks to happy and satisfied with one playoff victory. Now I'm ecstatic to win last night but I expect way more from this team.

Last night's win really has nothing to do with my comment. I was saying this last week.

From a personnel standpoint, we've been dynamite for a brief stretch of years here.

Romo, Witten, Austin, Ware, Ratliff, Spencer and Jenkins are all legitimately among the game's best players at their position. Free is in the pipeline as a dynamite prospect, and Felix's performance last night makes you wonder what we have in him.

But Eskimo was talking about this last week -- we are very, very good and young at all the important positions.

 

[TellerMorrow34]

it just means mccordsville cowboy hasnt seen thread yet

Of course he hasn't cause he hasn't stopped crying yet over the fact that he's been so dead wrong this season. It's probably killing the guy.

he won't see it either, since he won't visit the site since we won.

Exactly.

 

[yimyammer]

Look at where we're at right now, my friend. We're a team that has been in the postseason for three of the past four seasons, advancing to the second round in two of the three.

More importantly, look at where this team is personnel and coaching wise. We have a harmonious mix, meaning a personnel base that is precisely what the coaches look for. And we have a scouting department that is able to unearth players in the lower rounds that can plug in here and do exactly what our schemes demand.

Take a look at this roster. We have a plethora of players that are among the best at their craft, and a very limited amount of players perceived name-value wise to be good when in reality they're not what they're perceived to be.

We were among the worst run organizations for a long stretch, which is why that playoff drought built up the way it did. 1996-2002 was dreadful. Absolutely dreadful from a draft/free agency perspective. Using a baseball analogy, we had nothing coming through the pipe line.

That is much different now.

And call me a homer if you want. There are already media types -- as documented here -- saying we are poised to be the team of the next decade.

God, I hope they're right. If Jerry has finally figured it out, we'll be the luckiest fans on the planet

 

[chuffly]

Best run organizations? Based on what? One playoff win in 16 years? I am a huge Cowboy fan but c'mon!

Uh, we've had more than one playoff win in 16 years. We actually had a Super Bowl mixed in there somewhere.

 

[Chocolate Lab]

I always love trading for multiple picks in the future, just like the Pats have done. The key is then hitting on the picks, and it looks like we knocked them out of the park.

This is how you keep a contending team around year after year.

 

[Jenky]

Trading up for Jenkins.

 

[The Realist]

The only thing is that it wasn't quite that simple.

From what I recall, we traded down a fair bit into the second round with the Browns and got the next year's #1 thrown in (on the one year when the Browns ended up being good). However, we had traded down too far and were risking someone else taking Spencer. So we then ended up trading back up again to grab Spencer.

They did exactly what they wanted to do and came away from it with two great players.

1) Trade down for two and next year's one.

2) Trade up with Brown's 2 just acquired and our own 3.

Came away with Spencer and Felix and to add insult to injury it was the Eagles that let us back into the first round. We got Spencer who will punish McNabb or who ever is the QB for year's to come........they got Kevin Kolb.

 

[chuffly]

God, I hope they're right. If Jerry has finally figured it out, we'll be the luckiest fans on the planet

Team of the next decade may be stretching it a bit because it takes a lot to be that competitive for that long and we don't know how long this teams is going to keep hitting the mark, but there's clearly enough talent here in the pipeline to go on a run for the foreseeable future. If this team keeps hitting in the draft, who knows how long this will last. I'm not sure who in the organization is responsible for these draft picks, but whoever it is has been getting it done lately.

 

[RainMan]

Team of the next decade may be stretching it a bit because it takes a lot to be that competitive for that long, but there's clearly enough talent here in the pipeline to go on a run for the foreseeable future. If this team keeps hitting in the draft, who knows how long this will last. I'm not sure who in the organization is responsible for these draft picks, but whoever it is has been getting it done lately.

Exactly, and that was my whole point.

This organization has simply hit on a high number of the moves we have made in recent years -- be it coaching or personnel. With the emergence of players like Jenkins and Spencer, I suddenly even have hope for what I thought was an abysmal draft last year.

Honestly, I would not be surprised now to see Jason Williams, for instance, to carve out a nice role for himself next season.

 

[chuffly]

I always love trading for multiple picks in the future, just like the Pats have done. The key is then hitting on the picks, and it looks like we knocked them out of the park.

This is how you keep a contending team around year after year.

Yep, too many people overvalue what they can currently see and don't have the patience to wait. Teams like the Patriots take advantage of those teams, and end up with a slew of draft picks to keep restocking their dynasty. I like that we have started doing the same. I'm of the philosophy that the more draft picks you get, the better. Of course, it always helps when you are able to actually hit on those draft picks.

 

[chuffly]

Exactly, and that was my whole point.

This organization has simply hit on a high number of the moves we have made in recent years -- be it coaching or personnel. With the emergence of players like Jenkins and Spencer, I suddenly even have hope for what I thought was an abysmal draft last year.

Honestly, I would not be surprised now to see Jason Williams, for instance, to carve out a nice role for himself next season.

I've graded this past year's draft as an incomplete. Too many key players have suffered injuries, and a few of the picks were more projects to begin with. I'm willing to play the wait-and-see game with that draft class to see where it leads. Even then, we still have two players - Phillips and Buehler - who have carved out a nice role on a very good team.

 

[Eskimo]

I always love trading for multiple picks in the future, just like the Pats have done. The key is then hitting on the picks, and it looks like we knocked them out of the park.

This is how you keep a contending team around year after year.

This is why I'm hoping the club has the confidence in Free to pull the plug on Flo and try to trade him to some other team that wants a stopgap solution at LT for 2-3 years. Maybe we can get back a second rounder.

The only reason I propose doing this is for most of the year, Flo has been a below average LT - lots of pressures, sacks and penalties. He also hasn't been nearly as good a run blocker as in years past. But he still has ability and multiple Pro Bowl notches on his belt. Now is the time to trade him. Don't wait until he completely falls apart and no one wants him.

Meanwhile, we can upgrade the position (Free will be a better player next year than Flo will be) and get a 2nd rounder. That 2nd rounder could be used at Safety, ILB or OL depth and improve the team considerably.

 

[Bach]

Last night's win really has nothing to do with my comment. I was saying this last week.

From a personnel standpoint, we've been dynamite for a brief stretch of years here.

Romo, Witten, Austin, Ware, Ratliff, Spencer and Jenkins are all legitimately among the game's best players at their position. Free is in the pipeline as a dynamite prospect, and Felix's performance last night makes you wonder what we have in him.

But Eskimo was talking about this last week -- we are very, very good and young at all the important positions.

We do have quite a few quality young players. The '08 draft does look to be one of our top two over the last 15 years. But then the '09 draft still has alot of ???'s.

But looking at the players you mentioned, Romo and Austin were undrafted. Ware and Ratliff were part of Parcells' '05 draft. It is good to see Spencer emerge from the '07 draft - although I recall Ireland was still running the personnel dept here back then.

Now Felix and Jenkins are both from the '08 draft which was conducted by the current personnel dept, so that is really promising.

Going forward though, to see if we really have turned the corner in the personnel dept, we'll need to have more drafts like '08 and fewer like last year. Buehler and Phillips look like keepers, but there's far more questions than hits so far.

With another draft or two we should get a better idea though of whether we have actually turned the corner. Here's to keeping our fingers crossed.

 

[Eskimo]

I've graded this past year's draft as an incomplete. Too many key players have suffered injuries, and a few of the picks were more projects to begin with. I'm willing to play the wait-and-see game with that draft class to see where it leads. Even then, we still have two players - Phillips and Buehler - who have carved out a nice role on a very good team.

Butler also made a few good plays for us.

If you want to count Ogletree as part of this draft class, he would look pretty good right now as the return on a second rounder on a team that starts a pair of Pro Bowlers and an entrenched #3 slot guy.

 

[DA FAN]

Not to hijack this thread but what about these rookies and players with 2-3 years with the team?

They have made nice contributions this year...

David Buehler
Victor Butler - Filled in nicely for DWare in the Saints game and had played nicely when given a chance.

Kevin Ogletree- Has made some very nice plays...
John Phillips- Do I even have to say anything? Watch out MartyB
Doug Free - Same as above...
Deon Anderson-- good FB
Allen Ball - can and will improve
Martellus Bennett - playing well at times, needs to be pushed a little IMO
Tashard Choice - nothing to say here, he speaks for himself.
Mike Jenkins - same as above
Orlando Scandrick - getting better, will contribute nicely


I feel our Drafting has improved the last few years....

I hope we can keep it up..

 

[RainMan]

We do have quite a few quality young players. The '08 draft does look to be one of our top two over the last 15 years. But then the '09 draft still has alot of ???'s.

But looking at the players you mentioned, Romo and Austin were undrafted. Ware and Ratliff were part of Parcells' '05 draft. It is good to see Spencer emerge from the '07 draft - although I recall Ireland was still running the personnel dept here back then.

Now Felix and Jenkins are both from the '08 draft which was conducted by the current personnel dept, so that is really promising.

Going forward though, to see if we really have turned the corner in the personnel dept, we'll need to have more drafts like '08 and fewer like last year. Buehler and Phillips look like keepers, but there's far more questions than hits so far.

With another draft or two we should get a better idea though of whether we have actually turned the corner. Here's to keeping our fingers crossed.

Here's the main area where I disagree: You kind of scoffed at Romo and Austin since they were undrafted, but I truly look at their development as a shining example of having a well-run ship.

They were players brought into the system and developed, and it took two things to accomplish that: A scouting department that eyed talent that could fit here, and then a coaching staff that could develop that talent into something.

There is no chance either player is found here in 1999, much less a chance of either player subsequently being developed.

And, yes, last year's draft remains a huge question mark.

But we've been hitting quite nicely lately. The 2007 draft wasn't a thing of legend, but Spencer and Free suddenly look damn good. Folk, a Pro Bowler who unfortunately went south, was taken that year. Anderson and Ball, two solid contributors, were drafted as well. Matt Moore was a part of an undrafted class and, yes, unwisely let go. There were misses, too -- James Marten and Stanback.

The 2008 draft looks tremendous. Jenkins is almost as good as it gets, and Felix is a playmaker. Bennett, Choice and Scandrick all have huge roles and perform them very well.

I just think we're doing a pretty darn good job at identifying and developing talent.

 

[chuffly]

Butler also made a few good plays for us.

If you want to count Ogletree as part of this draft class, he would look pretty good right now as the return on a second rounder on a team that starts a pair of Pro Bowlers and an entrenched #3 slot guy.

That's true, I forgot to throw O-Tree in there. He's been a great find. I don't know if anyone noticed, but Ogletree was in for a fairly high number of plays for an undrafted rookie in a playoff game. This team clearly thinks he's capable of some big things down the road, and it's going to be exciting to see where his development leads.

Butler is one of those guys I think we have to wait-and-see on. He had some nice flashes at the beginning of the season. But Wade came down kind of hard on him after the Saints game (as hard as you'll ever see Wade do) so I think Butler might still have some work to do. But he's still got potential to be a usable player (it's not like we need a starter at that position anways).

 

[Hoofbite]

UM... remember Hershal Walker for 300 high round picks?

Hard to beat 300 high round picks.