Free to stay at Guard

[Alexander]

that just tells me that jerry was trying to be over think his hand again and be "im smarter than everyone" and traded down for another pick ... when what he should have done was stand pat ... Draft Pugh in their slot .. then get frederick in the 2nd liked they planned ... instead you only got 1 pick in your whole draft that will be productive this season. Escobar will ride the pine cause Witten is a stud and Hanna is better than Escobar ... we cant coach up wide receivers ... so Williams is a wasted pick. I hate our drafting .. i really do. What he should havbe done was pick all O lineman and D lineman the whole draft.

There is no assurance we could have got Frederick in the 2nd round though. I do believe the rumors that clubs like Detroit were eyeing him as well. We made the right move in biting the bullet, it seems. We just made what appears to be a risky choice with Escobar and a few other modest risks. But right now the draft class does not look all that awful, but time will tell.

 

[TheRomoSexual]

that just tells me that jerry was trying to be over think his hand again and be "im smarter than everyone" and traded down for another pick ... when what he should have done was stand pat ... Draft Pugh in their slot .. then get frederick in the 2nd liked they planned ... instead you only got 1 pick in your whole draft that will be productive this season. Escobar will ride the pine cause Witten is a stud and Hanna is better than Escobar ... we cant coach up wide receivers ... so Williams is a wasted pick. I hate our drafting .. i really do. What he should havbe done was pick all O lineman and D lineman the whole draft.

I seriously don't think I've ever disagreed more with a post. Literally every one of your "points" is off base.

 

[JackWagon]

I seriously don't think I've ever disagreed more with a post. Literally every one of your "points" is off base.

I just think the way they are building this team is backwards. Jerry wants to sell tickets not win championships. He would rather draft WRs, DBs, and RBs instead of drafting O line and Defensive front 7 players. You build a sustainable winning team in football on the lines ... not with flashy players.

 

[TheRomoSexual]

I just think the way they are building this team is backwards. Jerry wants to sell tickets not win championships. He would rather draft WRs, DBs, and RBs instead of drafting O line and Defensive front 7 players. You build a sustainable winning team in football on the lines ... not with flashy players.

No, this cliche' is tired and outdated. Of all the drafting strategies I've encountered, the absolute worst is the "I have to draft this position" approach. It has literally destroyed teams. The best, on the other hand, is nearly straight BPA with consideration of need if players are similarly ranked. Your approach is the former, and the Cowboys approach is the latter, hence why the Cowboys have had very solid drafts since 2010.

 

[fanfromvirginia]

It always amazes me how fans overestimate how much resources teams generally expend on the OLine.

Where did I say anything about what resources teams expend? It's possible to cobble together successfully, something we haven't managed to do. NYG might fall into this category. It's possible to cobble together while expending significant resources, something we've tried at times but have been unsuccessful at. And it's possible to (relatively) fully expend resources so as to (mostly) avoid cobbling together. A few teams have tried this recently, fairly successfully. I would love for us to try this model but admit, of course, it pulls resources from other areas, thus the relative lack of teams that try it.

 

[TheRomoSexual]

Where did I say anything about what resources teams expend? It's possible to cobble together successfully, something we haven't managed to do. NYG might fall into this category. It's possible to cobble together while expending significant resources, something we've tried at times but have been unsuccessful at. And it's possible to (relatively) fully expend resources so as to (mostly) avoid cobbling together. A few teams have tried this recently, fairly successfully. I would love for us to try this model but admit, of course, it pulls resources from other areas, thus the relative lack of teams that try it.

How do you know what we currently have "cobbled" together? Seriously. A lineup of Smith-Bern-Fred-Free-Parnell performed fine against a great Bengals' dline, and that lineup is missing a key component in Leary.

 

[85Cowboy85]

No, this cliche' is tired and outdated. Of all the drafting strategies I've encountered, the absolute worst is the "I have to draft this position" approach. It has literally destroyed teams. The best, on the other hand, is nearly straight BPA with consideration of need if players are similarly ranked. Your approach is the former, and the Cowboys approach is the latter, hence why the Cowboys have had very solid drafts since 2010.

Every team in the league does this. It's only fans who try to pick what position you should take in every round based on need. There is no gm in the league who would ever say let's only look at o-line first three rounds.

The problem with need based drafting is even if you hit it only gives you a very marginal advantage over taking the best player at another position. Once the next free agency hits teams have a chance to fill needs again. Even the players that do turn out to be pretty good usually function at a greatly diminished capacity their rookie years.

Over the 10+ years of a good players career you have tons of free agency periods and opportunities to fill needs. Overwhelmingly it is the talent that wins out over the long haul.

 

[AbeBeta]

Bigg played LT for 3 seasons in Arizona prior to coming to Dallas; I didn't say anything about Bigg never playing guard or whether or not he liked to play guard, so calling me out for it is silly.

He played tackle for 2 seasons. He played G for three. Acting like we "switched him to guard" is anything comparable to doing the same with Free who has never played the position is silly. Hence, you go called out. Deal with it.

 

[dmq]

I don't mind Free moving to guard if they think he can make the transition, but you'd think they could have worked him in a little bit more at guard this TC.

 

[onlyonenow]

How do you know what we currently have "cobbled" together? Seriously. A lineup of Smith-Bern-Fred-Free-Parnell performed fine against a great Bengals' dline, and that lineup is missing a key component in Leary.

Fine? seems like the bar is getting lower and lower

 

[TheRomoSexual]

Fine? seems like the bar is getting lower and lower

Care to elaborate? Are you questioning my use of fine? Because after the first series, the pressure rate was quite low and run blocking as passable. Are you saying we should strive for more than fine? Well obviously, but I think this group with Leary has the potential to be very good.

 

[mrmojo]

I'm glad. Put him back at his natural position, always thought he was a better guard, and at the same time we keep Frederick at center.

 

[aikemirv]

Me, too. I didn't think he had the body to do it. I still don't like what it does to our OT depth, but maybe there's an option out there for that. It's easier to swallow given how frustrating the OG injuries have been. We've got three guys who just can't stay on the field there.

It increases our depth not decreases it. It takes a Player who can now play 2 positions allowing you to keep an extra player. Especially if Leary is short term injury

 

[big dog cowboy]

that just tells me that jerry was trying to be over think his hand again and be "im smarter than everyone" and traded down for another pick ... when what he should have done was stand pat ... Draft Pugh in their slot .. then get frederick in the 2nd liked they planned ... instead you only got 1 pick in your whole draft that will be productive this season. Escobar will ride the pine cause Witten is a stud and Hanna is better than Escobar ... we cant coach up wide receivers ... so Williams is a wasted pick. I hate our drafting .. i really do. What he should havbe done was pick all O lineman and D lineman the whole draft.

What I find ironic is we did exactly what you say you wanted in your sig.

 

[erod]

I don't think that's really true. Levitre just got a huge contract, as did Nicks the year before. As a whole, I don't think those guys ever got paid huge money before the CBA. The CBA made it more important to have good, deep drafts.

I'm talking about the rookie caps.

Free agency is an entirely different thing. Even the players (veterans) were disgusted with what rookies were making.

 

[dmq]

Any chance we are actually moving Free to Guard because we think Bell is coming along?

 

[fanfromvirginia]

How do you know what we currently have "cobbled" together? Seriously. A lineup of Smith-Bern-Fred-Free-Parnell performed fine against a great Bengals' dline, and that lineup is missing a key component in Leary.

In which case, we would be in my 'successful cobble' category. I remain skeptical, which is to say I want more evidence. I am very open to the *possibility* our OL will be good (or good enough). I'm just not expecting it.

 

[JackWagon]

What I find ironic is we did exactly what you say you wanted in your sig.

When i created it ... i was wanting front 7 players ... but i was reading Jerrys mind ... and how he has drafted in the past ... i was making fun of jerry by predicting that ... and thats exactly how he picked. Sad really.