jterrell
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The one thing you can be sure of is that fans will have a strong reaction both for and against any high draft pick.
Some hated drafting Dez and some loved drafting Felix Jones. It just is what it is. Everyone feels invested and that they are an expert.
So the first thing we should all do is tap the breaks on glorified rants and simply be patient. If you draft a bust there'll be lots of time to complain. If the guy is really good and you complained well you can always go get a new username or just ignore the 25 posters that will mock you mercilessly while flying their BJ31 avatars.
And if you loved the pick like Barbie Carpenter and Felix Jones.. well watching that level of play is plenty of punishment; admitting you were wrong about the players just adds salt to the wound.
BUT.. what we can do is walk through what Dallas was thinking entering and during round 1.
Most know 105.3 The Fan has become the Cowboys flagship. They get inside access and have Broaddus and other guys in from Valley Ranch regularly. In an effort to expand coverage they've had 2 or 3 radio guys sit with Broaddus and do joint film reviews of players. Those listens have been very telling.
Dallas was never seriously on RB in round 1. --yes maybe they would've had to re-think had Gurley fallen and was considered healthy but neither was true. He's expected to miss all of rookie camp, OTAs and the first month or so of training camp. And he is a rare enough talent someone was willing to wait.
The supposed dream board for Dallas was Dupree/Kevin Johnson. Dallas told anyone who asked they wanted defense in this draft early.
When neither of those dream selections fell Dallas was fortunate to grab a positional target with an r1 grade.
It is very likely the only other R1 grade they had left was Randy Gregory and they certainly could have had him at OLB as opposed to DE given his weight.
So it appears Dallas preferences in order at 27 were.
1. Byron Jones
2. Randy Gregory
3. Trade Down
No matter how many people liked Malcom Brown, Dallas wasn't going to draft him. It is not a positional fit for them. Dallas may be wrong here but the track record has been right far more often the last few years. And one thing I am certain of is you need to draft players with a plan in place for them. This isn't the NBA where you can add superstars then tinker. You have 11 defensive starters in a system so it's more important to fit the system than be best available talent.
SAM LB in Dallas is currently about a 20% of the snaps guy. Gregory likely would have changed that. He'd have been a 50-60% guy who got nickel pass rush duties. But he was a risk with his drug use and really we may have dodged a bullet. Not sure you want to draft a guy a team just gave up on drug testing. The dude literally just didn't even try to pass. That's Josh Gordon like defiance and silliness in a guy being linked to a social anxiety issue much like Ricky Williams was.
So all in all Dallas was fortunate. They got the CB and pass rusher to fall to them. It could have been the OG and another WR on the board quite easily. And if so they may well have dropped down for 50 cents on the dollar. Dallas excitement wasn't faked. They were sweating for 2 guys to last the 6 or so picks after Dupree came off the board. Now we find out if they were right or if the league dumped a lemon on them.
Some hated drafting Dez and some loved drafting Felix Jones. It just is what it is. Everyone feels invested and that they are an expert.
So the first thing we should all do is tap the breaks on glorified rants and simply be patient. If you draft a bust there'll be lots of time to complain. If the guy is really good and you complained well you can always go get a new username or just ignore the 25 posters that will mock you mercilessly while flying their BJ31 avatars.
And if you loved the pick like Barbie Carpenter and Felix Jones.. well watching that level of play is plenty of punishment; admitting you were wrong about the players just adds salt to the wound.
BUT.. what we can do is walk through what Dallas was thinking entering and during round 1.
Most know 105.3 The Fan has become the Cowboys flagship. They get inside access and have Broaddus and other guys in from Valley Ranch regularly. In an effort to expand coverage they've had 2 or 3 radio guys sit with Broaddus and do joint film reviews of players. Those listens have been very telling.
Dallas was never seriously on RB in round 1. --yes maybe they would've had to re-think had Gurley fallen and was considered healthy but neither was true. He's expected to miss all of rookie camp, OTAs and the first month or so of training camp. And he is a rare enough talent someone was willing to wait.
The supposed dream board for Dallas was Dupree/Kevin Johnson. Dallas told anyone who asked they wanted defense in this draft early.
When neither of those dream selections fell Dallas was fortunate to grab a positional target with an r1 grade.
It is very likely the only other R1 grade they had left was Randy Gregory and they certainly could have had him at OLB as opposed to DE given his weight.
So it appears Dallas preferences in order at 27 were.
1. Byron Jones
2. Randy Gregory
3. Trade Down
No matter how many people liked Malcom Brown, Dallas wasn't going to draft him. It is not a positional fit for them. Dallas may be wrong here but the track record has been right far more often the last few years. And one thing I am certain of is you need to draft players with a plan in place for them. This isn't the NBA where you can add superstars then tinker. You have 11 defensive starters in a system so it's more important to fit the system than be best available talent.
SAM LB in Dallas is currently about a 20% of the snaps guy. Gregory likely would have changed that. He'd have been a 50-60% guy who got nickel pass rush duties. But he was a risk with his drug use and really we may have dodged a bullet. Not sure you want to draft a guy a team just gave up on drug testing. The dude literally just didn't even try to pass. That's Josh Gordon like defiance and silliness in a guy being linked to a social anxiety issue much like Ricky Williams was.
So all in all Dallas was fortunate. They got the CB and pass rusher to fall to them. It could have been the OG and another WR on the board quite easily. And if so they may well have dropped down for 50 cents on the dollar. Dallas excitement wasn't faked. They were sweating for 2 guys to last the 6 or so picks after Dupree came off the board. Now we find out if they were right or if the league dumped a lemon on them.
