DFW: Dallas Cowboys 2005 draft class ranked the best of the decade

[TheMarathonContinues]

49ers 2007 : Patrick Willis, Joe Staley, Dashon Goldson, Terrell Brown, and Ray Mcdonald.

I'd take this one over that draft but it at the very least is debatable and its very close. I'm more so looking at Staley, Willis and Goldson....

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

guys like you are so completely blind to what it took to change things at VR.

And much of what is known as regards the whole Ware/Spears thing comes from Broaddus who BP fired. So that is not exactly an unbiased source.

You do remmember BP taking a team with Q and Hambone and a few others like that and getting into the playoffs and going 10-6?

Maybe you need to brush up on Cowboys history a little more.

And what did he do the year after? I appreciate what Parcells did while he was here but it does seem like he gets far too much credit for his personnel decisions then he should. He started a culture change. When he came you atleast saw some direction with the drafts and until this day you can sort of feel that impact still existing somewhat. But that being said, he that 10-6 team overachieved and Parcells quit on us.

 

[DFWJC]

That was nice draft class for sure.
Hard to screw up too much early when you have two first round picks.
But they also managed to find value later, which is huge.

 

[Idgit]

Maybe so, but Parcells wanted Spears over Ware.

In fact if they didn't trade down the year before, we could've had Steven Jackson instead of Julius Jones, at the mere cost of no Marcus Spears.

Parcells wasn't bad for the team, but I feel he is often given more credit than he deserves for his time here.

Sean Payton vouched for Tony Romo.... so really the best Defensive Player and Offensive Player we've had over the last few years had literally nothing to do with Parcells.

Parcels was far from perfect here. His 2003 season--despite how weak the NFCE was--was one of the best coaching jobs I recall seeing. That offense was a rice cake if I ever saw one. Of course, having the #1 defense overall and the #2 scoring defense (thanks, Mike Zimmer) can make even a rice cake look decent.

But what Parcels did best is bring structure and process to an organization that had lacked it for years. I really didn't like what he did offensively very much on game days, and his defense was a bit played out in terms of the impact of those concepts had already been seen and largely adjusted to by the league. But the real value came in conditioning the players, getting the kinds of guys he wanted all over the roster, setting the mindset and not tolerating players not on the same page.

There's so much to be said about having everybody pulling in the same direction. Even when the direction isn't quite as good as the direction some of your competitors are pulling in.

Thankfully, a lot of the same things can be said of Jason Garrett. He's strong as a HC in a lot of the areas BP was strong in as a coach. Very different personality, but it's the same philosophy, message, and objective to find the right types of players. I also don't love, frankly, the overall direction of the offense, and I think we need to improve on game day management, overall. But, fundamentally, we're finally on a program and it's paying dividends that you can see in how the players stick around in games or win games from behind. Or play through injuries. Or even how they all say the same types of things in interviews, on both sides of the ball.

I think this year we finally round out the roster and get some depth in place at the last of the positions that have been thin forever. Then we get to see what happens. Another great draft like the one in 2005 is probably too much to hope for, but if we can just do what we've done the last two offseasons, and then add a veteran or two we've had our eyes on, we should be in good shape to make a run in the NFCE, at least, and a team with an outside shot in the conference.

 

[Idgit]

That was nice draft class for sure.
Hard to screw up too much early when you have two first round picks.
But they also managed to find value later, which is huge.

If we can manage to add the equivalents of Chris Canty, Marion Barber and Jay Ratliff from rounds 4 or lower this year, yeah, I'd be doing backflips.

 

[AbeBeta]

Maybe so, but Parcells wanted Spears over Ware.

In fact if they didn't trade down the year before, we could've had Steven Jackson instead of Julius Jones, at the mere cost of no Marcus Spears.

Parcells wasn't bad for the team, but I feel he is often given more credit than he deserves for his time here.

Sean Payton vouched for Tony Romo.... so really the best Defensive Player and Offensive Player we've had over the last few years had literally nothing to do with Parcells.

So when there is a success in a player like Ware or Romo you give someone else credit. Never mind that Parcells completely changed the teams' approach. If Jerry had been making the decisions, a guy like Romo likely wouldn't have ever made the roster because we would have been eating spots with low round draft picks who showed nothing.

My point about this draft remains -- there was a focus on getting good leaders and RKGs. That turned out pretty well for us.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

So when there is a success in a player like Ware or Romo you give someone else credit. Never mind that Parcells completely changed the teams' approach. If Jerry had been making the decisions, a guy like Romo likely wouldn't have ever made the roster because we would have been eating spots with low round draft picks who showed nothing.

My point about this draft remains -- there was a focus on getting good leaders and RKGs. That turned out pretty well for us.

I don't know about that one. If there's one thing you can say about this team is that they are willing to give undrafted free agents a legit shot at making this team. They may not throw them out there immediately but they do get a shot. Kevin Ogletree's release was long overdue.

 

[DFWJC]

If we can manage to add the equivalents of Chris Canty, Marion Barber and Jay Ratliff from rounds 4 or lower this year, yeah, I'd be doing backflips.

Amen!!

 

[AbeBeta]

I don't know about that one. If there's one thing you can say about this team is that they are willing to give undrafted free agents a legit shot at making this team. They may not throw them out there immediately but they do get a shot. Kevin Ogletree's release was long overdue.

That wasn't the case before Parcells got here. We held on to drafted players even when they showed nothing - Parcells changed that in a good way.

 

[Red Dragon]

I thought someone wanted to draft Spears over Ware? Ware almost certainly wouldn't be a Cowboy today if that had happened.

 

[HanD]

That wasn't the case before Parcells got here. We held on to drafted players even when they showed nothing - Parcells changed that in a good way.

that's part of the great culture change and mindset that parcells brought to VR. but giving him credit for all the drafts while he was here is still incorrect IMO.

 

[khiladi]

Culture is suppose to last when it is allegedly built. People suddenly started blaming Wade for being such a 'cupcake' his first year and onwards.

 

[AbeBeta]

that's part of the great culture change and mindset that parcells brought to VR. but giving him credit for all the drafts while he was here is still incorrect IMO.

He never took credit for the drafts -- he made clear that the drafts were shared decisions. No coach is going to be THE reason a team drafts well or poorly unless he is the GM. He did certainly leave his mark on those drafts with a focus on high character guys and obviously 3-4 front 7 players.