Branden Albert, OG Virginia

[batman36]

I do

considering we haven't drafted an Olineman in the 1st round since '83, which coincidentally was the year that I was born

I don't see it

Jim Jeffcoat (DE) was taken in the first round in 1983. Howard Richards was the last lineman selected in round one by the Cowboys. He was out of Missouri.

 

[Bob Sacamano]

Jim Jeffcoat (DE) was taken in the first round in 1983. Howard Richards was the last lineman selected in round one by the Cowboys. He was out of Missouri.

I thought Richards was taken in '83? guess it was '82 then

 

[Alexander]

i'm not getting into this whole thing, as it's between you and him

but who on the market would you be comfortable w/ as the #3 CB?

I would be perfectly fine with a rookie in that role. What I am saying is that we just absolutely don't have to lock into one in the first round.

The difference between the fifth best and tenth best cornerback is fairly minimal.

I think four cornerbacks go before our choice. Rodgers-Cromartie, Jenkins, McKelvin and Talib will be gone IMO. So you then HAVE to force a Reggie Smith/Tracy Porter/Antoine Cason choice? That's foolish.

In terms of veterans, you could see some shake loose (like Shawn Springs). I would also take Ty Law.

 

[Bob Sacamano]

I would be perfectly fine with a rookie in that role. What I am saying is that we just absolutely don't have to lock into one in the first round.

ah, gotcha

The difference between the fifth best and tenth best cornerback is fairly minimal.

agreed, but the 5th-best CB is better than the 10th-best one

I think four cornerbacks go before our choice. Rodgers-Cromartie, Jenkins, McKelvin and Talib will be gone IMO. So you then HAVE to force a Reggie Smith/Tracy Porter/Antoine Cason choice? That's foolish.

Cason is not a bad option, he's quite a good one actually, good size, good speed, has the nuances of playing CB down pat, and is a ball-hawk, plus he adds a punt-returning dimension

In terms of veterans, you could see some shake loose (like Shawn Springs). I would also take Ty Law.

if Springs is released at all, that will probably be a June 1st move, I don't want to wait that long on a mere chance, and hell no to Ty Law, the D-starved Chiefs said no to him

 

[TheSport78]

Why not? Is there a rule?

The point I am trying to make is that we don't know a thing about any of those three. And we have a new position coach who might want something different than Tony Sparano.

McQuistan was a Coach Parcells pet and a project that Sparano liked. Houck could come in here and hate him. Free showed some potential, so he's the one of the three I think can make it. Marten? I think the silence about him speaks fairly large about what his standing is.



Contending teams shouldn't have to draft for need. You just do not do it. Go take a look at champions and contenders over the last few years.




Oh NO! Two 7th round choices who have done nothing won't come back, what will we do?



There is plenty of time in free agency.

And honestly, I didn't feel fine with Reeves or Jones as the nickel, but that is besides the point.



Why would we give up on Free by taking Albert?



And you also need to know when to say this player isn't going to do what we want.

Instead of talking about McQuistin, Free and Marten, I don't see many people harping about the lovely potential of Berger and Proctor.

Why is that?

They are the interior depth. Not Free. Not Marten.



"Great" CB? The "Great" CBs will be long gone by choice 22.

How about a "good" CB versus a "Great" guard? I take the "Great" player every time.

Cornerbacks carry more value than guards.

In terms of McQuistan, he must be doing something right if he was a 7th round draft choice and is the swing tackle on our team. Free I think will end up being a steal. With Marten, he was a rookie last year. You can't just give up on a first day pick because he didn't do anything productive in his FIRST year.

Yeah, the Cowboys were 13-3 last year. But tell me why we didn't "contend" in the playoffs. Because the Giants exposed our weakness, which was mainly our CB depth. Statistically, Reeves was the most targeted CB in the LEAGUE. BTW Nate Jones was trash. He wouldn't be a #4 CB on any team. Dallas won't be "contenders" until we win a playoff game. We didn't win a playoff game for numerous reasons, but Reeves was the main reason. We give up 7 points in a span of :47 seconds or something like that before halftime. Who gave up that huge pass play? Reeves. Who had the facemask penalty? Reeves. If we don't give up a TD before half, we go in with a 14-7 lead with HUGE momentum. We lost that game at halftime. We NEED a corner man.

Read my response about trading up, which you failed to mention. I'll say it again. Dallas has the ammunition to trade up and get that CB they love (aka DRC). You're going to draft an OG, when you shelled out over 40 million dollars to Bigg and Kosier who isn't exactly getting vet's minimum either.

 

[batman36]

I thought Richards was taken in '83? guess it was '82 then

Bob, I'm not trying to be a know-it-all, but Rod Hill was taken in the '82 draft in the 1st round. I Believe he was out of Eastern Kentucky. He never became a player. Gil Brandt, the personnel guy at the time, thought he'd trumped the other teams by selecting Hill. Not so. Howard Richards was the '81 pick. Hope that clears it up.

 

[Bob Sacamano]

Bob, I'm not trying to be a know-it-all, but Rod Hill was taken in the '82 draft in the 1st round. I Believe he was out of Eastern Kentucky. He never became a player. Gil Brandt, the personnel guy at the time, thought he'd trumped the other teams by selecting Hill. Not so. Howard Richards was the '81 pick. Hope that clears it up.

thanks

you're good dude, I'd rather be corrected, than go on being wrong, and I learned something else too, which is cool, thanks

 

[Alexander]

Yeah, the Cowboys were 13-3 last year. But tell me why we didn't "contend" in the playoffs. Because the Giants exposed our weakness, which was mainly our CB depth.

That was our weakness all season long. Teams figured out Reeves was terrible by midseason and went after him. We just made more plays offensively and compensated.

That game was not an exposure like the Saints game in 2006 was.

We got beat because we didn't step up and make plays offensively in that game. End of story.

The issues they exploited were self-evident for months.

All we are faced with is getting a better player than Jacques Reeves.

We can do that in any round.

We don't HAVE to get a CB in the first.

Statistically, Reeves was the most targeted CB in the LEAGUE. BTW Nate Jones was trash. He wouldn't be a #4 CB on any team. Dallas won't be "contenders" until we win a playoff game. We didn't win a playoff game for numerous reasons, but Reeves was the main reason. We give up 7 points in a span of :47 seconds or something like that before halftime. Who gave up that huge pass play? Reeves. Who had the facemask penalty? Reeves. If we don't give up a TD before half, we go in with a 14-7 lead with HUGE momentum. We lost that game at halftime. We NEED a corner man.

Yes.

But that doesn't mean reach if we don't have to.

I am talking about value. I would not take the sixth best CB over the top ranked guard. Sorry.

Read my response about trading up, which you failed to mention. I'll say it again. Dallas has the ammunition to trade up and get that CB they love (aka DRC). You're going to draft an OG, when you shelled out over 40 million dollars to Bigg and Kosier who isn't exactly getting vet's minimum either.

I would never trade up for a cornerback unless I was sure they would be a difference maker like Deion Sanders or Champ Bailey. "DRC" isn't that.

 

[TheSport78]

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That was our weakness all season long. Teams figured out Reeves was terrible by midseason and went after him. We just made more plays offensively and compensated.

That game was not an exposure like the Saints game in 2006 was.

We got beat because we didn't step up and make plays offensively in that game. End of story.

The issues they exploited were self-evident for months.

All we are faced with is getting a better player than Jacques Reeves.

We can do that in any round.

We don't HAVE to get a CB in the first.




Yes.

But that doesn't mean reach if we don't have to.

I am talking about value. I would not take the sixth best CB over the top ranked guard. Sorry.



I would never trade up for a cornerback unless I was sure they would be a difference maker like Deion Sanders or Champ Bailey. "DRC" isn't that.

Agree to disagree!

 

[tomson75]

I have had this guy on my radar for the last two years...if we take him in the first two rounds I'll be pissed. See below, I love this guy, but he's an interior lineman in a relatively weak class of OL. We take him in the third, so be it, but before that...no good.

 

[TwoCentPlain]

Brandon Albert? Never heard of him! Therefore, it won't happen.

 

[Skinsmaniac]

I have had this guy on my radar for the last two years...if we take him in the first two rounds I'll be pissed. See below, I love this guy, but he's an interior lineman in a relatively weak class of OL. We take him in the third, so be it, but before that...no good.

I really doubt he falls out of the first round. With all the money being thrown at guards in FA, interior linemen are looking like better and better deals in the draft.

 

[Zaxor]

IMHO the guy will probably turn out to be the best player of this draft class

 

[Hostile]

Free, McQuistan and Marten haven't proven a thing.

If Albert is hands down the best value, we would be foolish to force a need choice for a cornerback or wide receiver. Take the value player or try to trade down if you can.

Sometimes the best choices are made simply by taking the best player. You talk like we have a logjam on the OL with all of this oozing talent.

We don't have that. We have three unprovens who have demonstrated some ability but obviously aren't yet ready. Albert would automatically be our top reserve.

I have a firm belief that if Free or McQuistin were the true answers, we would not have invested what we did in Adams. I am not acting like I know because I don't. But you can see that committed to Adams for at least two more seasons. That leaves the young talent to compete for RT. Not a one have been deemed good enough to take left tackle to allow us to pursue other options in free agency.

I will never completely understand loyalty to backup players. I like Free, Marten and McQuistan, but if we can get better, by all means let's do it. I've told this story before. I used to have a friend on the Cowboys. He lost his job when we drafted Jason Witten. I have no issue with that. The team getting better is always a priority.

Improving the secondary is my most important Draft priority, but if a top notch OL is there I will never complain. IMNSHO keeping the OL stocked is always acceptable.

I like Heath Benedict of Newberry in a later round, because I think he's going to be a sleeper steal. But there is no way I'd be upset if we took Brandon Albert or another O-Lineman if a talent fell to us.

 

[Zaxor]

But there is no way I'd be upset if we took Brandon Albert or another O-Lineman if a talent fell to us.

If there isn't a first round player at need positions like CB at our picks but their are 1st round lineman I hope like heck we take them... same goes with a LB if he has a first round grade...atleast that is the way I would do it if I couldn't trade out.

 

[InmanRoshi]

I would love to have Albert. He can play any position on the offensive line but center, and probably at a Pro Bowl level.

 

[pgreptom]

We only had two "legit" CBs on the roster all of last year.

What is your point?

We lost Jacques Reeves. Why is that suddenly room for panic?

We can find talent better than him practically anywhere in the draft.

That doesn't mean we elevate "need" to the point we force a choice in the first round no matter what.

Assume Talib, McKelvin, Rodgers-Cromartie and Jenkins are gone by our first choice. What then?

Did you SEE the games where we only had one of our "two legit" corners? They weren't pretty. Regardless, the issue here is more than "just having two legit corners" - Henry has an injury problem, no doubt. Newman is aging closer and closer to that magic 30 mark - and he had some injury problems last year himself. We need a #3 corner, who could step up and be a #2 when one of our old CB's go down. If McKelvin, Talib, and Cromartie are all gone at 22 - I would have to see the board. I'm hoping Cromartie is there at 22, though.

 

[InmanRoshi]

In his Sunday column Rick Gosselin quoted the Steelers head of personnel who said this was the best crop of tackles that he's seen in 25 years. Gosselin claims that there will be tackles taken in the 7th round that could be good NFL players. I like Albert a lot, and I really hope that Dallas grabs one of these tackles at some point. Even if Free, McQuinstan and Marten are the real deal, tackles can generally always be moved inside to guard.

 

[tomson75]

In his Sunday column Rick Gosselin quoted the Steelers head of personnel who said this was the best crop of tackles that he's seen in 25 years. Gosselin claims that there will be tackles taken in the 7th round that could be good NFL players. I like Albert a lot, and I really hope that Dallas grabs one of these tackles at some point. Even if Free, McQuinstan and Marten are the real deal, tackles can generally always be moved inside to guard.

I know he's pretty athletic for a guard, but why is everyone suddenly projecting him as an NFL tackle? Keep him at guard, and he could be a dominant player, move him to tackle, and he might just be average. IMO.

 

[Bob Sacamano]

22. Owen Schmitt
28. Brandon Albert

I like it