Dez Bryant and Martellus Bennett were terrible picks

[Eskimo]

You think Witten will be a starter in eight years?

Really?

I think Witten is showing a lot of indirect signs of slowing down.

I suspect he will be quite mediocre in about 3 years or so. His blocking is already down to average and in major decline at a rapid pace.

 

[PullMyFinger]

Dez a bad pick? Are you on crack?

 

[iceberg]

the Roy Williams trade has helped Detroit immensely, and the Cowboys have had 1 playoff win in 15 years.

**** Jerry

anger rages.

it never thinks.

 

[Cowboys&LakersFan]

I think Witten is showing a lot of indirect signs of slowing down.

I suspect he will be quite mediocre in about 3 years or so. His blocking is already down to average and in major decline at a rapid pace.

He hasn't declined at all. Due to a terrible OL and all the weapons (Dez, Robinson, and Austin) he was targeted less. He'll be like Gonzalez. Great tight end till he retires.

 

[Randy White]

I think if we had kept that pick we would have taken Hakeem Nicks who really fits our philosophy for WRs in Garrett's offense. We also had an ageing TO who we were about to cut, Patrick Crayton, Sam Hurd and Miles Austin at WR at that time..

No, we wouldn't have. The underlined sentence is one of the reasons why we wouldn't have and why the trade for Roy Williams.

The Cowboys believed, as most of us did, they were superbowl contenders that year. That roster was the result of the rebuilding process that started with Tuna coming over. T.O. was supposed to be a final piece to that puzzle. Drafting a young, inexperienced WR who needed to time to mature ( as the overwhelming majority of receivers do ) was not feasible because they already had at least two of those on the roster ( Austin and Hurd ), so they decided to go with a veteran that was still young, but had experience and talent. The thinking was to keep the continuity with Romo in case T.O. got injured, while at the same time not having to go through the growing pains of a young WR. In short, Roy Williams was supposed to be the #1 WR for the long term and the #2 WR, back up #1, in the short term.

It was a sound theory on paper, but not a practical one. One reason for that is that RW isn't the typical #1 goto guy because he doesn't demand the ball like most #1, alpha male receivers do. That's not his personality and his game reflects it. Another reason ( and this is probably the most important one ) the Cowboys simply had more talent than pass attempts. Not only was T.O. going to get the bulk of passes for WRs, but Jason Witten was going to get just as many if not more of the looks, and Crayton was going to get some looks, and, at the time, Marion Barber was going to catch passes also. Adding RW to the mix didn't or doesn't " produced " more passes, he just simply took from others. The only way to fix that would have been for the Cowboys' offense to turn into a run-n-shoot system, and they weren't about to do that ( check the pass/rushing ratio for both 2008 and 2009 ). By the way, that's the same reason why people who criticize Marty Bennette for " not catching more passes ", have no clue of what they're talking about. Even if Bennett was the second coming of Tony Gonzalez, we would have never known it because he'd still wouldn't have seen many passes thrown his way.

The simple truth is that the Cowboys took a shot at finding a potential, long term #1 receiver and it didn't work out. Here's the breaking news: it happens all the time and to every team. However, they still found one in Miles Austin, who the crazies in here are now starting to complain about, and it didn't cost them anything, so at the very least they're even.

 

[SaltwaterServr]

We got Romo for 'free' which I think is the bigger deal of the two UDFA players.

And Miles.

 

[slomoxn]

No, we wouldn't have. The underlined sentence is one of the reasons why we wouldn't have and why the trade for Roy Williams.

The Cowboys believed, as most of us did, they were superbowl contenders that year. That roster was the result of the rebuilding process that started with Tuna coming over. T.O. was supposed to be a final piece to that puzzle. Drafting a young, inexperienced WR who needed to time to mature ( as the overwhelming majority of receivers do ) was not feasible because they already had at least two of those on the roster ( Austin and Hurd ), so they decided to go with a veteran that was still young, but had experience and talent. The thinking was to keep the continuity with Romo in case T.O. got injured, while at the same time not having to go through the growing pains of a young WR. In short, Roy Williams was supposed to be the #1 WR for the long term and the #2 WR, back up #1, in the short term.

It was a sound theory on paper, but not a practical one. One reason for that is that RW isn't the typical #1 goto guy because he doesn't demand the ball like most #1, alpha male receivers do. That's not his personality and his game reflects it. Another reason ( and this is probably the most important one ) the Cowboys simply had more talent than pass attempts. Not only was T.O. going to get the bulk of passes for WRs, but Jason Witten was going to get just as many if not more of the looks, and Crayton was going to get some looks, and, at the time, Marion Barber was going to catch passes also. Adding RW to the mix didn't or doesn't " produced " more passes, he just simply took from others. The only way to fix that would have been for the Cowboys' offense to turn into a run-n-shoot system, and they weren't about to do that ( check the pass/rushing ratio for both 2008 and 2009 ). By the way, that's the same reason why people who criticize Marty Bennette for " not catching more passes ", have no clue of what they're talking about. Even if Bennett was the second coming of Tony Gonzalez, we would have never known it because he'd still wouldn't have seen many passes thrown his way.

The simple truth is that the Cowboys took a shot at finding a potential, long term #1 receiver and it didn't work out. Here's the breaking news: it happens all the time and to every team. However, they still found one in Miles Austin, who the crazies in here are now starting to complain about, and it didn't cost them anything, so at the very least they're even.

The very reason none of us are NFL talent evaluators and Jerry shouldn't be either.

 

[Randy White]

The very reason none of us are NFL talent evaluators and Jerry shouldn't be either.

He isn't..

 

[28 Joker]

Robert Meachem should be in Dallas instead he's in New Orleans winning Super Bowls and hanging 111 yards and 1 TD (4 receptions) on the Lions.

Where was Dallas today?

Watching!

I wanted Meachem, but Dallas went with Anthony Spencer.

That was a very costly and big time 1st round mistake, imso.

Not only did the GM/organization arm the Saints, (see Meachem on Thanksgiving going yard), they spent a fortune on wide receivers.

If Meachem is the pick in the first round (in 2007), does the ridiculous contract/trade for Roy E. Williams happen?

Does iOwens' ridiculous second contract happen?

Does Austin cost so much money, because Roy E. Williams' horrendous contract set the market on Austin.

I know that I'd trade Austin for Meachem (straight up right now) and build the passing game around Dez Bryant. Bryant would be number 1, and Meachem would be number 2.

Austin had some of his salary turned into pro-rated signing bonus, so moving him is probably not even possible.

Why is Denarius Moore in Oakland?

Good luck with that Laurent Robinson contract....

 

[FLcowboy]

I'll agree with you about the Bennett pick, but not the Dez pick

I think the Dez pick needs more time to see if he can mature into a receiver the likes of Calvin Johnson. Dez had issues in college, and several teams were down on him. I've seen a few spectacular plays from him, but more often than not, he is not a game changer. That's too bad, because there isn't anybody else who is reliable when the chips are down. Austin is showing holes in his game, and Robinson, while great in the red zone, doesn't have much to offer elsewhere.

So far, Dez is a big disappointment.

 

[ElGatoGrande]

None of those players, including Romo, will ever realize their full potential until Jerry Jones decides that fixing that ****ing offensive line is a TOP priority and that the level of player he thinks is "good enough" for the OL really is not. This is assuming that Houck is doing a good job of coaching the players Jerry is bringing in. Odds are that given a clean pocket and time to run deep routes and double moves the Dez-Miles-Romo combinations would be nearly as prolific as Brees and his receivers.

Unfortunately for Jerry(and us), fixing weak OL isn't his only problem...

 

[Venger]

"Dez Bryant and Martellus Bennett were terrible picks" was a terrible post.

 

[jobberone]

It still amazes me how many people don't understand Bennett's role on the team. He's a 2nd TE who is asked to block. He's not asked to catch many passes. And he fills that role very well. In fact exceptionally well. I wish he were a better H back but as an inline blocker he is perhaps the best in the league.

People are up in arms because the guy messes around on Twitter. While I don't entirely like his attitude he's definitely not a problem and those that matter say he works hard and takes his on field play very seriously.

Those disappointed we didn't get a pass catching TE need to think about what are you going to do with Witten. Are you really going to ask him to halve his receptions? Bet he wouldn't be happy.

If Bennett leaves he will continue to be a very good traditional TE. Who knows about his pass catching. Put him in an offense that is TE friendly and who makes him the number one TE and I suspect you'll see a very good player all around. He has the athletic talent to be very good.

I hope we keep the guy but I suspect he wants to get a chance to be the guy somewhere else and I believe there will be more than one suitor.

 

[jterrell]

Dez has lots to do but at 24 pick overall he is not bust, had he been a top 5 pick as his talent level is, then yes he'd be a disappointment thus far. Bennett was a bad pick, i agree, Fasano was a decent tightend and contributor, crap Tony Curtis did more than Bennett.

I wish he was a bengal and Dallas had taken their first round pick.

neither fasano nor curtis could block. fasano wasnt just bad at it, he was terrible.
you can not find the caliber of blocker bennett is in the 5th round unless you get very lucky.

he has been an outstanding blocker. far better than witten who is very good.
bennett could play some OT with a commitment to adding weight. he is that good of a blocker.

i do wish we had taken the 1st rounder for him though!

taking a te in r2 who is destined to never ever be your starter is always going to beg questioning but bennett wasnt a bad overall value at pick 60.
at the same time fans need to wake up and realize he wasnt going to supplant a hall of fame caliber player only a couple years older than himself. his job has largely been to block so witten can run routes and put up insane numbers.

 

[Oh_Canada]

Wasn't he supposed to do that this year?

Dez definitely wasn't a bad pick, considering where we snagged him. But I believe he could be far more productive than what he has been. As dominating as his talent is, just going to him four times a game - in some cases - suggests something, and I think we all know what that something is as it has been reported quite frequently.

Maybe it suggests our QB is afraid to throw to a covered WR? How many times a game does Eli just heave balls up to Nicks/Cruz? How many times do you see Romo do the same thing? I realize Bryant does need to improve route running, but Romo sometimes needs to let his most talented player make a play.

It's not like every grade A reciever has been a dominant player from day one anyhow, there are a littany of top wr's who didn't make an impact until year three...Roddy White, Kenny Britt (sort of), Greg Jennings, Steve Smith, Plaxico Burress, Reggie Wayne, even the great Andre Johnson had less td's playing more games than DB in his second year....it's not unusual for Wr's to take a little time to become top players at this position.

 

[Eskimo]

No, we wouldn't have. The underlined sentence is one of the reasons why we wouldn't have and why the trade for Roy Williams.

The Cowboys believed, as most of us did, they were superbowl contenders that year. That roster was the result of the rebuilding process that started with Tuna coming over. T.O. was supposed to be a final piece to that puzzle. Drafting a young, inexperienced WR who needed to time to mature ( as the overwhelming majority of receivers do ) was not feasible because they already had at least two of those on the roster ( Austin and Hurd ), so they decided to go with a veteran that was still young, but had experience and talent. The thinking was to keep the continuity with Romo in case T.O. got injured, while at the same time not having to go through the growing pains of a young WR. In short, Roy Williams was supposed to be the #1 WR for the long term and the #2 WR, back up #1, in the short term.

It was a sound theory on paper, but not a practical one. One reason for that is that RW isn't the typical #1 goto guy because he doesn't demand the ball like most #1, alpha male receivers do. That's not his personality and his game reflects it. Another reason ( and this is probably the most important one ) the Cowboys simply had more talent than pass attempts. Not only was T.O. going to get the bulk of passes for WRs, but Jason Witten was going to get just as many if not more of the looks, and Crayton was going to get some looks, and, at the time, Marion Barber was going to catch passes also. Adding RW to the mix didn't or doesn't " produced " more passes, he just simply took from others. The only way to fix that would have been for the Cowboys' offense to turn into a run-n-shoot system, and they weren't about to do that ( check the pass/rushing ratio for both 2008 and 2009 ). By the way, that's the same reason why people who criticize Marty Bennette for " not catching more passes ", have no clue of what they're talking about. Even if Bennett was the second coming of Tony Gonzalez, we would have never known it because he'd still wouldn't have seen many passes thrown his way.

The simple truth is that the Cowboys took a shot at finding a potential, long term #1 receiver and it didn't work out. Here's the breaking news: it happens all the time and to every team. However, they still found one in Miles Austin, who the crazies in here are now starting to complain about, and it didn't cost them anything, so at the very least they're even.

We can argue until we are blue in the face about it but we definitely severely overpaid in that trade when you compare all the other WRs in the league who have been moved since then for far, far less than RW11 who had much more distinguished resumes. History has borne this out to be true. Jerry had himself a RW11 fixation and Matt Millen played him like a violin on that one. The rest of the league knows how bad of a poker player Jerry is so they know when he is going to fold and that is why the demands for RW11 never came down and why Jerry still made the move that no other GM in the league would.

As for whether we pick Nicks, who knows. That's what I think we would do but maybe we wouldn't. Regardless, there were many very good players who moved at that point of the draft so unless our board was looney tunes off (which is a distinct possibility since Jerry was in charge) we should have gotten ourselves a very good player. The odds weren't as great with our 3rd rounder but there were some pretty good players on the board there too that went off in the next few picks.

This organization has a hard time succeeding because the FO is constantly in the way between bad trades, bad utlilization of draft picks, bad HC hires and bad contract extensions. It is a miracle we have been .500 over the last 15 years and this is mostly due to lucking out with a UDFA (Romo) and finding the best defensive player in the league with that #11 pick in 2005 (Ware).

 

[KJJ]

Dez has put up more yards and TD's in his first 2 seasons than Michael Irvin did in his first 3 seasons. Irvin had 12 TD catches after his first 3 seasons compared to Dez's 15 TD catches in his first 2 seasons. It took Irvin 8 seasons before he had more than 8 TD catches in a season. He only had one season with more TD receptions than Dez had this past season. Dez has shown steady improvement from year 1 to year 2. For anyone to say he was a bad pick clearly hasn't a clue what they're talking about.

 

[ringmaster]

I think the Dez pick needs more time to see if he can mature into a receiver the likes of Calvin Johnson. Dez had issues in college, and several teams were down on him. I've seen a few spectacular plays from him, but more often than not, he is not a game changer. That's too bad, because there isn't anybody else who is reliable when the chips are down. Austin is showing holes in his game, and Robinson, while great in the red zone, doesn't have much to offer elsewhere.

So far, Dez is a big disappointment.

Oh yeah I agree he has been a disappointment spot on old man.

 

[TellerMorrow34]

Wow...I get the Williams and Bennett hate but lumping Dez in there? Really?

Really?


That just doesn't make any sense to me at all.

 

[Ren]

Honestly, I'd rather have drafted UFA Victor Cruz in the first round instead of Dez.

How the heck did the Gnats get Cruz for free???

Same way we got Austin?