Bill Barnwell offseason report cards on Dallas, N.Y. Giants, Philly, Washington

[jazzcat22]

And yet more useless grades, as useless as rankings.

 

[ElGatoGrande]

They were added last year.
Sure, they were injured all of last year, but technically have a year under their belt with the Cowboys.

Did he do that for other teams? If so you may have a point, but they weren't 2017 offseason acquisitions.

Technically true, but in reality the team has 53 game day spots and those two players will occupy two of them this year while they did not last year. "Delayed additions" as it were,,, no doubt these players affected how they approached the offseason.

 

[gimmesix]

What went wrong
They didn't draft anybody along the offensive line. The Cowboys possessed the deepest offensive line in football last season, but that depth took a major hit this offseason, when right tackle Doug Free retired and guard Ronald Leary left for the Broncos in free agency. Dallas responded with modest measures. It signed a pair of frustrating players in former Cardinals bust Jonathan Cooper and former Panthers tackle Byron Bell but otherwise left the position untouched. The Cowboys will consider moving left guard La'el Collins to right tackle, but he hasn't been consistent on the interior, and that would open up another hole at Collins' old spot. This wasn't a great draft for offensive linemen, but it probably wouldn't have hurt Dallas to use a mid-round pick on one.

I can see how this would be considered the case. Cooper's past injury trouble does make him a frustrating player, as does Bell's play at tackle. Also, even though Collins has shown a lot of ability, I'll also agree that he hasn't been consistent. But I think there are two things not being considered here.

First, Bell as an interior player is much superior to Bell as a tackle. I don't think the drop-off at guard would be much if we had to start him there. Second, he leaves out another player who could go on the frustrating list in Green, who handled both right and left tackle well when called upon.

We didn't draft an offensive lineman because we've got four players already to consider at those two positions. This may ultimately prove to be a failure on Dallas' part, but it's hard to say that the Cowboys' plan went wrong. It might end up as a bad plan, but clearly there's a plan in place.

 

[MiddleStar]

I but they viewed Free's retirement as a bigger negative than it could be. Yes, I think a lot of people believe he is trash, but he was a glue player on the OL and was not nearly as horrific as fans believe. But Collins could be an improvement and I fail to see how he could be a downgrade. But yet they got dinged for not drafting an OL in a horrible OL draft. Makes zero sense.

Not singling you out Alexander but this is a point everyone makes about Free," he is a glue player" or "he is the leader of the line". So we are going to have to play him until he is 90 years old? We have Smith- going into his 7th season, Frederick-5th, and Martin- 4th, at what point do these three become "the leaders of the line" and the "glue". When do they not need Free to be their leader. I think we will be just fine in the the "glue" and "leadership" quota along the line. Now we just have to match the talent level, which I think Collins does easily and if Green is healthy is probably an upgrade as well.

 

[Cowboys_22]

This grade doesn't mean a thing, the re-grade is the one that really matters.

 

[PJTHEDOORS]

They were added last year.
Sure, they were injured all of last year, but technically have a year under their belt with the Cowboys.

Did he do that for other teams? If so you may have a point, but they weren't 2017 offseason acquisitions.

They weren't on the 53 and didn't play in a game last year, so how was that added? And they technically collected a paycheck last year, nothing more.

 

[aria]

Ridiculous. Everyone but this clown knows we had one of the best drafts in the NFCE if not top 5 of the NFL. We have a couple potential pro bowler rookies in the secondary and Free and Leary are not nearly as irreplaceable as some people think.

 

[Alexander]

Not singling you out Alexander but this is a point everyone makes about Free," he is a glue player" or "he is the leader of the line". So we are going to have to play him until he is 90 years old? We have Smith- going into his 7th season, Frederick-5th, and Martin- 4th, at what point do these three become "the leaders of the line" and the "glue". When do they not need Free to be their leader. I think we will be just fine in the the "glue" and "leadership" quota along the line. Now we just have to match the talent level, which I think Collins does easily and if Green is healthy is probably an upgrade as well.

I would love to say they should be big boys by now also. But Frederick's comments mean something, especially if he was truly viewed as the leader. That just means Frederick should probably be that leader. Sounds like he has allowed Free to be that to this point.

 

[Alexander]

Ridiculous. Everyone but this clown knows we had one of the best drafts in the NFCE if not top 5 of the NFL. We have a couple potential pro bowler rookies in the secondary and Free and Leary are not nearly as irreplaceable as some people think.

Had the Eagles addressed their secondary with Awuzie and Lewis, would you be saying they are potential Pro Bowlers?

 

[Alexander]

Not mentioning Jaylon pretty much makes his whole article incomplete. Tapper as well.

On the other hand, he was at least consistent. He did not go down the roster singling out redshirt players and look for "extra draft picks" that now suddenly count.

If so, he could have picked the Giants' Darian Thompson and the Commanders' Josh Dotson/Kendall Fuller as "additions".

 

[Kolemmitt]

"Sign a veteran or two on defense. The Cowboys should be thinking about veteran help, either along the defensive line or in the secondary, particularly at cornerback."

We have 2 vets at CB with Scandrick and Carroll. Add those 2 along with Anthony Brown, and rookies Awuzie, Lewis, and White. That's 6 right there. Prob only 5 make the team. So what so called vet unsigned cb out there is a better option than the 6 we have right now?

I was thinking the same thing. Unless we have the chance to add a real game-changer that is better than who we have now, what is the point? I feel like that for the whole defense. Game changer or just let the talented young guys compete with our current vets.

The one place I would like to see another vet is on the OL. Cooper is intriguing, but has only played well for a few games during his career. Bell is, at best, a below average journeyman. One more solid vet to compete with Cooper would be reassuring.

 

[BourbonBalz]

"Sign a veteran or two on defense. The Cowboys should be thinking about veteran help, either along the defensive line or in the secondary, particularly at cornerback."

We have 2 vets at CB with Scandrick and Carroll. Add those 2 along with Anthony Brown, and rookies Awuzie, Lewis, and White. That's 6 right there. Prob only 5 make the team. So what so called vet unsigned cb out there is a better option than the 6 we have right now?

Yeah, unless there's a very unexpected cut from some team, we're better off with what we have - young talent. The same can be said for the DL. We're young there as well with several very promising players. We're going to have to let go of some of our own DL.

 

[PJTHEDOORS]

On the other hand, he was at least consistent. He did not go down the roster singling out redshirt players and look for "extra draft picks" that now suddenly count.

If so, he could have picked the Giants' Darian Thompson and the Commanders' Josh Dotson/Kendall Fuller as "additions".

But he will say that the Cboys need to look at another vet cb out there unsigned and that would be an 'addition'. lol.

 

[Longboysfan]

Sounds about right. The club will miss both Leary and Free. The Cowboys are in good shape. May have a slow start but should finish strong.

Imagine if the defense has a strong start.

 

[Sydla]

Eagles just upped their grade. They signed Blount giving them now an upgrade at RB now too.

The Eagles are going to be a bigger pain in the butt this year than people realize.

 

[sideon]

Sounds about right. The club will miss both Leary and Free. The Cowboys are in good shape. May have a slow start but should finish strong.

Did you not see his final season? Dude became a human turnstyle and wiped out big plays with penalties.

 

[Alexander]

Eagles just upped their grade. They signed Blount giving them now an upgrade at RB now too.

The Eagles are going to be a bigger pain in the butt this year than people realize.

I still don't think they got it right at WR. And Blount might be okay as a grinder, but I don't think he does much to help their run game in total as he is not much of a threat as a receiver, which in the WCO is pretty important. Had the Eagles got one of the top backs in this draft, I would consider that part of their team much more scary.

 

[Clove]

Pretty sure every expert had us going 9-7 or worse after Romo went down too. Everyone is an expert in their own mind.

 

[AbeBeta]

And no mention adding last year's draftees Jaylon Smith and Charles Tapper to this years team. Having them along with this years draft class. Smith should be ready to go for camp and Tapper will be a big help with his speed. Mickey said on Talkin Cowboys Tapper was in the running for a starting DE spot before he got injured. I give the Cowboys offseason an A-. The A+ would have been if we got something for Tony.

You want to judge our off-season by giving credit for guys who we can't be sure will contribute?

 

[Sydla]

I still don't think they got it right at WR. And Blount might be okay as a grinder, but I don't think he does much to help their run game in total as he is not much of a threat as a receiver, which in the WCO is pretty important. Had the Eagles got one of the top backs in this draft, I would consider that part of their team much more scary.

The may not have gotten WR totally right but there's no question their WRs are better this year than last year unless you are going to argue that Nelson Agholor and Green-Beckham are as good as Jeffries and Smith. And Blount is better than any running TB they had on their roster last year. Matthews is a decent talent but he can never stay on the field.