Draft Perspective

[Verdict]

I am hoping, like every other Cowboys fan, that we have another great draft this year. Las years class is already appearing to be one of our better drafts in recent memory and could become even better, barring serious injury to the household names, if Jaylon's nerve regenerates and Tapper is good to go.

Let's think about that last line for a second. If Jaylon is able to play up to his potential and Tapper is the fit we thought he would be before his injury last year, then suddenly this defense looks a LOT stronger immediately. I know people will say we can't count on them, etc., but it's not that simple.

The staff will have to make an educated guess and project what hey think they have in these two guys and also where a player like Jeff Heath might fit in if he continues to develop. If they believe he can it helps to open up the draft, boot out older players and save salary cap. Personally I think his upside is slightly higher than most.

My biggest concern going into this draft is that the Cowboys will feel like they need to force a pick on defense. Historically that has really hurt us significantly and caused us to reach based on need and essentially piss off draft picks.

Another really solid draft with four or 4 strong contributors would really be a shot in the arm to this franchise. If the best player available in the first is a running back I would have no problem pulling the trigger on that. I know many here would hate that scenario. But this is a talent acquisition business and we can't forego talent at any position, even QB.

If the next Aaron Rodgers or Tony Romo is there (doubtful) then you choose the player regardless of position. I really hope we sign a couple of these free agent corners from our own team because that would really help alleviate forcing our hand.

I think if we went with the same exact players we had on our team last year that our defense will be better than it was due to emergence of Collins inside and the rooks Smith, Tapper and of course Brown who is already paying dividends and will have one year in the system.

Things are starting to point up. Let's not piss off this draft class pressing for "needs" if the player doesn't justify the selection.

 

[DFWJC]

The Cowboys have not been forcing their 1st round picks.
Not only that, more than one person involved in this draft (the Jones and Clay) have already said the ne thing they will not do is force a pick due to perceived need.

The greater worry is if they will used the 2nd rounder again as a major high risk high possible reward thing or not. That has been were their comically bad screw-ups have occurred.

 

[Verdict]

The Cowboys have not been forcing their 1st round picks.
Not only that, more than one person involved in this draft (the Jones and Clay) have already said the ne thing they will not do is force a pick due to perceived need.

The greater worry is if they will used the 2nd rounder again as a major high risk high possible reward thing or not. That has been were their comically bad screw-ups have occurred.

I are that the second round picks have not been nearly as successful as you would have expected them to be. Sean Lee was an injury risk if I remember correctly so they guessed right on that one.

If Jaylon turns out to be the greatest thing since sliced bread then you have two exceptional picks to show for the last 7 or 8 drafts.

I was against the trade up for Lawrence because I didn't think there was a high enough upside on him to justify giving up two picks. At the time I was more accepting of the trade up for Mo because he was the concensus top pick in the draft on defense. Certainly he hasn't paid proper dividends but he wasn't a complete whiff.

I suspect if the Cowboys believe, behind the scenes, that Jaylon is going to turn out to be a good gamble (because it looks like he will have a full recovery) then that will probably encourage the team to gamble in some form or fashion again.

I guess if they are going to piss off their second round pick it would be better to use it for a trade up to go get a player that we really covet. I personally hope that they are smart about every pick and use that draft collateral as the precious commodity that it is and come out with a very high percentage of their picks turn out to be significant contributors.

Personally, I would really like to see several short trade backs and get players in the second, third and fourth rounds who will be the building blocks for a great team going forward.

 

[skinsscalper]

The one thing that gives me a little bit of solace as to the concerns of forcing picks is the 2015 draft. Everyone and their dog was certain that we would be picking a RB due to the FA loss of Demarco Murray. Round after round the RB was bypassed because the value didn't match the pick.

Now, that doesn't mean that the picks that they made were better or that they didn't pass on a good back for what eventually ended up being a lesser player. The process isn't perfect and your going to hit on some and miss on some but I liked the fact that they trusted their own board and didn't force a pick for a perceived need. '

Fortunately, this season, our needs seem to have aligned with the strengths of this draft class (pass rushers and defensive backs) so there's a decent chance that we may actually be able to fill some of our needs with players that fall right in line with our value board.

I WILL say that if Dallas knocks THIS draft out of the park like they did last year's draft then we are being set up for damned good 5-10 year run with this team.

 

[Verdict]

The one thing that gives me a little bit of solace as to the concerns of forcing picks is the 2015 draft. Everyone and their dog was certain that we would be picking a RB due to the FA loss of Demarco Murray. Round after round the RB was bypassed because the value didn't match the pick.

Now, that doesn't mean that the picks that they made were better or that they didn't pass on a good back for what eventually ended up being a lesser player. The process isn't perfect and your going to hit on some and miss on some but I liked the fact that they trusted their own board and didn't force a pick for a perceived need. '

Fortunately, this season, our needs seem to have aligned with the strengths of this draft class (pass rushers and defensive backs) so there's a decent chance that we may actually be able to fill some of our needs with players that fall right in line with our value board.

I WILL say that if Dallas knocks THIS draft out of the park like they did last year's draft then we are being set up for damned good 5-10 year run with this team.

I agree that if we hit this draft out of the park we are improving our chances of making a really good strong run for the immediate future. Conversely, if we piss this draft off it takes a lot of wind out of our sails from the last draft. Dak and Zeke alone make the last draft a very good draft but I'm not sure that Dak and Zeke are better than Romo and DeMarco Murray. That's probably a wash.

Those two probably would sufffer the same fate as Romo/Murray if we don't get them a better supporting cast. I think offensively we already have a better supporting cast than Romo had for pretty much his entire tenture, but the defense is arguably overall weaker.

I get a strange feeling about this draft class. I sort of get the feeling that this class overall of draftable players is weaker than last year's draft. If so, positioning will be critical.

 

[skinsscalper]

I get a strange feeling about this draft class. I sort of get the feeling that this class overall of draftable players is weaker than last year's draft. If so, positioning will be critical.

I'm not so sure that this draft class is overall weaker than last year's. In fact regarding our needs, I'd say this draft class is actually much stronger. Last year's draft had a lot of hype because of the QB prospects and the movement around the league regarding those prospects.

Last year's draft only had one DE (Bosa and some could argue Buckner) who was really generating much pre-draft buzz. This year's draft is much deeper at that position and also at CB. We just happen to have needs at both of those positions. In fact, I would argue that this year's draft actually has more players with true 1st round grades on most team's boards than last year's. There were only three DEs drafted in the entire first round last year. There will be that many taken in the top ten to fifteen picks this season and more to choose from after that. I really think that this draft is going to be a good one for us. There are going to be players that the Cowboys pick where half of the Cowboys faithful are going say "who?" (Brown, anyone?) but I have faith that Will McClay and Co. will have done their due diligence and get us some solid contributors regardless of position.