DMN: Gosselin: Cowboys can improve pass coverage without touching their secondary

[Kaiser]

Our drafting has been much better lately, as shown in the playoff run and number of Pro Bowl players. And if you look at the recent drafts, we generally had either 2 or 3 players who contributed in the first year and had the first round pick as a day one starter:


2010 Draft
Round Pick # Overall Name Position College
1 24 Dez Bryant Wide Receiver Oklahoma State
2 23 55 Sean Lee Linebacker Penn State
4 28 126 Akwasi Owusu-Ansah Safety Indiana (PA)
6 10 179 Sam Young Offensive Tackle Notre Dame
6 27 196 Jamar Wall Cornerback Texas Tech
7 27 234 Sean Lissemore Defensive Tackle William & Mary
2011 Draft
Round Pick # Overall Name Position College
1 9 Tyron Smith Offensive Tackle USC
2 8 40 Bruce Carter Linebacker North Carolina
3 7 71 DeMarco Murray Running Back Oklahoma
4 13 110 David Arkin Guard Missouri State
5 12 143 Josh Thomas Cornerback Buffalo
6 11 176 Dwayne Harris Wide Receiver East Carolina
7 17 220 Shaun Chapas Fullback Georgia
7 49 252 Bill Nagy Center Wisconsin
2012 Draft
Round Pick # Overall Name Position College
1 6 6 Morris Claiborne Cornerback Louisiana State
3 18 81 Tyrone Crawford Defensive End Boise State
4 18 113 Kyle Wilber Linebacker Wake Forest
4 40 135 Matt Johnson Safety Eastern Washington
5 17 152 Danny Coale Wide Receiver Virginia Tech
6 16 186 James Hanna Tight End Oklahoma
7 15 222 Caleb McSurdy Linebacker Montana
2013 Draft
Round Pick # Overall Name Position College
1 31 31 Travis Frederick Center Wisconsin
2 15 47 Gavin Escobar Tight End San Diego State
3 12 74 Terrance Williams Wide Receiver Baylor
3 18 80 J.J. Wilcox Safety Georgia Southern
4 17 114 B. W. Webb Cornerback William & Mary
5 18 151 Joseph Randle Running Back Oklahoma State
6 17 185 DeVonte Holloman Linebacker South Carolina
2014 Draft
Round Pick # Overall Name Position College
1 16 16 Zack Martin Offensive Tackle Notre Dame
2 2 34 Demarcus Lawrence Defensive End Boise State
4 19 119 Anthony Hitchens Linebacker Iowa
5 6 146 Devin Street Wide Receiver Pittsburgh
7 16 231 Ben Gardner Defensive End Stanford
7 23 238 Will Smith Linebacker Texas Tech
7 33 248 Ahmad Dixon Safety Baylor
7 36 251 Ken Bishop Defensive Tackle Northern Illinois
7 39 255 Terrance Mitchell Cornerback Oregon

 

[GimmeTheBall!]

I think the Cowboys need to draft three defensive players who can walk in as starters this season to make the necessary improvements.

This could work. In our dreams.

However, I half been working in my secret laboratory trying to come up with a potent potion that would do just this. If I succeed i will be rich. Rich, i tell you!

 

[jobberone]

With a 7 round draft is that even possible any more?

Uh, that's why I put in the obviously remark. Just an analogy as to how rare it is to hit on all draft choices. We were coming off a non-playoff year in 74. That team did go 7-2 after a 1-4 start but missed the playoffs.

Here's the Dirty Dozen:

Randy White
Thomas "Hollywood" Henderson
Bob Breunig
Pat Donovan
Herbert Scott
Mitch Hoopes
Percy Howard
Randy Hughes
Scott Laidlaw
Burton Lawless
Kyle Davis
Roland Woolsey

I think Henderson and Hughes would have pushed to be in the HOF if their careers hadn't been cut short.

 

[jobberone]

This could work. In our dreams.

However, I half been working in my secret laboratory trying to come up with a potent potion that would do just this. If I succeed i will be rich. Rich, i tell you!

That's not my quote but the authors.

 

[GimmeTheBall!]

That's not my quote but the authors.

yes, not your quote. you are knowledgeable and stuff. the author seem naive.

 

[dfense]

Gosselin: Cowboys can improve pass coverage without touching their secondary

Follow @RickGosselinDMN rgosselin@***BANNED-URL***
Staff Columnist
Published: 24 February 2015 07:32 PM

SportsDay columnist Rick "Goose" Gosselin hosted a chat Tuesday morning to talk everything sports. Here are some of the highlights:

Question: I have read fans posting about wanting to bring back Nick Hayden, George Selvie and Anthony Spencer. Do you agree with me that is no way to improve the weakest link? In addition if I need 16 million per year plus, you would let me walk right?

Gosselin: Agreed. Signing Hayden, Spencer, George Selvie, Carter, Durant and McClain would just maintain the status quo -- and status quo wasn't good enough last year. I think the Cowboys need to draft three defensive players who can walk in as starters this season to make the necessary improvements. Ideally, you'd like to get them in the first three rounds of the draft. Try to get better. The worse thyou can do is fall in love with mediocrity. Bring back one or two of the above mentioned holdover defenders but certainly not all of them.

Question: Is this the year that the Cowboys take a chance and bring aboard a veteran DB to plug a hole for a year? They have such a young secondary in general, experience might be a good thing. Who knows if Carr will still be with them come training camp. I know its never good to pay for age, but there will certainly be some experienced safeties/cornerbacks cut and available.

Gosselin: Again, let's see what the market bears. There will salary cap casualties of veteran players in March and April and you may find a DB willing to come here for a one-year contract. For all those who want to replace Carr, that sound simple enough -- except you'd have to replace him. He's the only size cornerback they have with the game sprinting toward size on the flank. And I thought he was stout against Jordy Nelson in the playoffs last season. Your best pass defense is your pass rush. Fix the pass rush and Carr, Scandrick and Claiborne will look a lot better than they have the last two seasons. They were being asked to cover receivers for 6-7 seconds in the second half of that Green Bay playoff game. Deion Sanders would have trouble staying with receivers for 6-7 seconds. With a pass rush, I believe you can get by with these current cornerbacks. That's the priority -- fix the pass rush.

Click here to read the full chat transcript


Gosselin: Unless Cowboys players are willing to take paycut to re-sign Murray, silence is golden

• Gosselin: What it would take for the Cowboys to draft a running back in Round 1

• Gosselin: Reasonable offer will bring back Rolando McClain if Cowboys want to

• Gosselin: Why ex-wideout Nate Orchard could be Cowboys' answer at defensive end

Defends Carr most expensive and possibly worst CB and throws the rest to the curb. Sounds like Gosselin.

 

[jobberone]

yes, not your quote. you are knowledgeable and stuff. the author seem naive.

LOL. Esp the......stuff.

 

[jobberone]

Defends Carr most expensive and possibly worst CB and throws the rest to the curb. Sounds like Gosselin.

Carr is good at what he does well. He's just too slow. But he can be effective if you give him a physical mission.

 

[Verdict]

He probably should have said 'contributors.' We can reasonably get a couple of guys who work well in the DL rotation. Maybe we get lucky and a LB presents itself like it did last year.

If we're adding walk-on starters, they're mostly coming from VFA. The draft is necessary to improve the overall talent level and to get guys who will be leading the defense in 2-3 years and providing quality rotational depth before then. We'll get a first round starter and that's probably it for week 1 of 2015 unless we get lucky.

That is another reason why drafting for need is so foolish. You end up reaching for a less talented player and then they don't really fill the hole that you "need" for them so desperately to fill, and it ends up being a wasted pick, that you could have used to fill another hole.

I am ok with us taking a player at 27, but would like it even more if we were able to trade down a few spots (depending on where the talent break is) and picking up another premium pick in the process. If we could use that additional pick to plug another hole and add talent, that would be the best case scenario. Much like Williams the year we drafted FredBeard, that is just a bonus and if they pan out ..... well. you accelerate the talent acquisition process, and keep your cap healthy at the same time. I am not opposed to trading up as well, in certain circumstances, but that really is putting all of your eggs in one basket. The key is to hit on the picks that you do take.

 

[ConstantReboot]

I think Gooselin is one year late on the pass rush bandwagon. We all here knew from the start that we needed a pass rush. Nothing can be more than obvious.

 

[Plankton]

Uh, that's why I put in the obviously remark. Just an analogy as to how rare it is to hit on all draft choices. We were coming off a non-playoff year in 74. That team did go 7-2 after a 1-4 start but missed the playoffs.

Here's the Dirty Dozen:

Randy White
Thomas "Hollywood" Henderson
Bob Breunig
Pat Donovan
Herbert Scott
Mitch Hoopes
Percy Howard
Randy Hughes
Scott Laidlaw
Burton Lawless
Kyle Davis
Roland Woolsey

I think Henderson and Hughes would have pushed to be in the HOF if their careers hadn't been cut short.

The Cowboys also selected Mike Hegman in that draft, but he didn't make the team until 1976. He ended up having a longer career than any of the players except for Randy White.

 

[jobberone]

The Cowboys also selected Mike Hegman in that draft, but he didn't make the team until 1976. He ended up having a longer career than any of the players except for Randy White.

Very good LB. Forgot about him. Thx