Complete defensive rebuild

[Hawkeye0202]

No one has mentioned it, but that's exactly what we are seeing and rightfully so. Attrition is always 10-15% of players, but it's not hard to see they want cultural and leadership change. As usual, they are telegraphing their positional draft targets for high picks ( CB, LBer and DT/DE)

 

[Reality]

No one has mentioned it, but that's exactly what we are seeing and rightfully so. Attrition is always 10-15% of players, but it's not hard to see they want cultural and leadership change. As usual, they are telegraphing their positional draft targets for high picks ( CB, LBer and DT/DE)

My personal thinking is they realized they had a core problem with this team's defense and they needed to get a lot of fresh heads into the mix.

Sure they needed and still need to upgrade several defensive positions, but they are getting rid of depth and not all of it can be explained away as switching to a new defensive system.

I think this is a purge of the old "bad defense" mindsets and replacing them with players from teams who had good or solid defenses or at least not bad defenses.

As for tipping their hand at the draft, only fans think that's some type of secret.

Now, the first round? Sure. A team doesn't want to tip their hand on the positions they'll be after in the first round, though if you're picking in the top 5 and you don't have a franchise quarterback, most people know that's what you're after.

Beyond that though, teams tip their hand long before the draft because the put word out that they're looking for linebackers, cornerbacks, etc. and all teams know what players you signed or traded for to fill those positions.

Teams may know the Cowboys need linebackers, cornerbacks, edge rusher, tackles, etc. but you could create that kind of list for most teams.

What teams don't know is which ones the Cowboys will prioritize in the first round.

 

[Hawkeye0202]

Beyond that though, teams tip their hand long before the draft because the put word out that they're looking for linebackers, cornerbacks, etc. and all teams know what players you signed or traded for to fill those positions.

Jerry has a history of using his 1st round picks on positions that lose a starting player ......see Guyton = Tyron Smith, Booker = Zack Martin. It's why I am a 100% confident he will target Diggs and Osa replacements with high picks.

 

[Killerinstinct]

Guess as to what the current starting lineup would be.

Eze OLB
Q Williams DE
Otito O NT
Clark DE
Gary OLB

Overshown ILB
James ILB

Locke SS
Hooker FS
Thompson Big Nickel

Bland CB
Revel CB

I suspect Locke, James, and Otito will end up being backups after the draft and other player acquisitions. Thompson could end up at safety instead of the big nickel.

Ideally Hooker would end up as a backup as well.

 

[Bigrandrn]

Jerry has a history of using his 1st round picks on positions that lose a starting player ......see Guyton = Tyron Smith, Booker = Zack Martin. It's why I am a 100% confident he will target Diggs and Osa replacements with high picks.

We need so many players though, a couple DTs, a DE (I look at Gary as average, not a lot of improvement from what Clowney gave us last year), 2 LBs, at least 1 Corner lol….we will have a hard time filling those gaps in the draft and if we don’t do much the rest of FA.

 

[Hawkeye0202]

We need so many players though, a couple DTs, a DE (I look at Gary as average, not a lot of improvement from what Clowney gave us last year), 2 LBs, at least 1 Corner lol….we will have a hard time filling those gaps in the draft and if we don’t do much the rest of FA.

Well, they were never going to do it in one offseason. Keep in mind, we could trade down BOTH 1st-rounders (if we can find a trading partner) and pick up an extra 2nd- or 3rd-round pick. This would mean
1st.....our own
1st.....Packers
2nd....trade down
3rd/2nd....trade down
3rd....Osa
That's potentially 5 new starters if you play your cards right..........remember Jerry said we don't have time for redshirts. We need players hitting the ground running.

 

[Tabascocat]

Well, they were never going to do it in one offseason. Keep in mind, we could trade down BOTH 1st-rounders (if we can find a trading partner) and pick up an extra 2nd- or 3rd-round pick. This would mean
1st.....our own
1st.....Packers
2nd....trade down
3rd/2nd....trade down
3rd....Osa
That's potentially 5 new starters if you play your cards right..........remember Jerry said we don't have time for redshirts. We need players hitting the ground running.

This draft isn’t that deep to find five starters with trade downs. They can find some depth for sure, but starters is a stretch. Dallas might get lucky and get three if they stick to the two firsts and the third.

 

[Hawkeye0202]

This draft isn’t that deep to find five starters with trade downs. They can find some depth for sure, but starters is a stretch. Dallas might get lucky and get three if they stick to the two firsts and the third.

That's interesting coz Brugler mentioned Day-2 is where you could find starters.......especially since this draft doesn't have a lot of blue chippers. Keep in mind that our talent level at certain positions is so low that 2nd- and 3rd-rounders can compete for starting jobs.

 

[Tabascocat]

That's interesting coz Brugler mentioned Day-2 is where you could find starters.......especially since this draft doesn't have a lot of blue chippers. Keep in mind that our talent level at certain positions is so low that 2nd- and 3rd-rounders can compete for starting jobs.

Unfortunately, Dallas only has one day two pick. Like I said, they need to hit on the first three picks. After that, it is a crapshoot.

 

[Bigrandrn]

Well, they were never going to do it in one offseason. Keep in mind, we could trade down BOTH 1st-rounders (if we can find a trading partner) and pick up an extra 2nd- or 3rd-round pick. This would mean
1st.....our own
1st.....Packers
2nd....trade down
3rd/2nd....trade down
3rd....Osa
That's potentially 5 new starters if you play your cards right..........remember Jerry said we don't have time for redshirts. We need players hitting the ground running.

Yeah, it just sucks to think there’s a decent chance we go into 2026 with a mediocre D still…..and ANOTHER season down the tubes. Depressing lol. We will see how it turns out. I wanted Maxx or Trey, I think they would have paired well with our starting DTs, but scheme makes a difference. Hopefully our new coordinator can get the most out of whomever we end up with.

 

[phildadon86]

Well, they were never going to do it in one offseason. Keep in mind, we could trade down BOTH 1st-rounders (if we can find a trading partner) and pick up an extra 2nd- or 3rd-round pick. This would mean
1st.....our own
1st.....Packers
2nd....trade down
3rd/2nd....trade down
3rd....Osa
That's potentially 5 new starters if you play your cards right..........remember Jerry said we don't have time for redshirts. We need players hitting the ground running.

Jerry also said he was going to bust the budget in FA.

 

[dupree89]

Jerry also said he was going to bust the budget in FA.

i dont trust jerry

 

[kramskoi]

We need so many players though, a couple DTs, a DE (I look at Gary as average, not a lot of improvement from what Clowney gave us last year), 2 LBs, at least 1 Corner lol….we will have a hard time filling those gaps in the draft and if we don’t do much the rest of FA.

You can't do it all in ONE YEAR. Just not gonna happen. It's at least a two year build. Not nearly enough resources. It may be that Quinn stayed one year longer than he should have and that the rebuild needed to begin in 2023. Two years down the road it's now certainly problematic. All these perceived holes (real or not) can't be plugged in just one off-season. Doesn't mean that the defense can't be appreciably better than last year. Puts them back in the playoffs at least. I think 2027 is this year we see the fruit on the tree...IF Parker is up to the job.

 

[snadler]

Right now this defense is worse than it was at the end of last year.

 

[Coogiguy03]

No one has mentioned it, but that's exactly what we are seeing and rightfully so. Attrition is always 10-15% of players, but it's not hard to see they want cultural and leadership change. As usual, they are telegraphing their positional draft targets for high picks ( CB, LBer and DT/DE)

People said it couldn't be or how could we do it, it's not that hard at all

 

[Coogiguy03]

My personal thinking is they realized they had a core problem with this team's defense and they needed to get a lot of fresh heads into the mix.

Sure they needed and still need to upgrade several defensive positions, but they are getting rid of depth and not all of it can be explained away as switching to a new defensive system.

I think this is a purge of the old "bad defense" mindsets and replacing them with players from teams who had good or solid defenses or at least not bad defenses.

As for tipping their hand at the draft, only fans think that's some type of secret.

Now, the first round? Sure. A team doesn't want to tip their hand on the positions they'll be after in the first round, though if you're picking in the top 5 and you don't have a franchise quarterback, most people know that's what you're after.

Beyond that though, teams tip their hand long before the draft because the put word out that they're looking for linebackers, cornerbacks, etc. and all teams know what players you signed or traded for to fill those positions.

Teams may know the Cowboys need linebackers, cornerbacks, edge rusher, tackles, etc. but you could create that kind of list for most teams.

What teams don't know is which ones the Cowboys will prioritize in the first round.

My new motto, CP HAS A VISION!!

 

[morasp]

Gary and Thompson were both team captains culture guys.

Im looking forward to seeing how they'll use the additional cap space

 

[visionary]

You can't do it all in ONE YEAR. Just not gonna happen. It's at least a two year build. Not nearly enough resources. It may be that Quinn stayed one year longer than he should have and that the rebuild needed to begin in 2023. Two years down the road it's now certainly problematic. All these perceived holes (real or not) can't be plugged in just one off-season. Doesn't mean that the defense can't be appreciably better than last year. Puts them back in the playoffs at least. I think 2027 is this year we see the fruit on the tree...IF Parker is up to the job.

As usual someone comes in with tired self important cliched post

“remember, we cant do it all in one year”

As if the Cowboys came into being this year

As if other teams that were bad didnt radically improve in 1 year (see both SB teams this year)

But no, “remember, we cant do it all in one year”

Nonsense

Yeah, we have incompetent people running the team who haven’t “done it” in 30 years so of course we wont be able to do it but that is not because “it cant be done”

 

[Kwyn]

People are mad about Hooker and Williams but maybe they have a spot in Parker defense

Osa and Thomas? Not so much

Cutting guys loose had always been hard for the Cowboys but it’s nice to see they can do it at times

 

[Kwyn]

Gary and Thompson were both team captains culture guys

They are also both excellent tacklers, something that’s been hard to come by at times