FWST: Offense Likely Next Step

[jeff]

As much as we need help on the offensive line (and a future QB), I think we need a young offensive weapon more than anything. Maybe that's Santonio Holmes. I don't know enough about him, but I wouldn't count on Terry Glenn being around for 16 games and it sounds like Santonio is in Glenn's mold. It's pretty simple: We need to find a way a score more touchdowns!
:starspin

(Vince Young is the real deal - but he'll be a Titan next year).

 

[CrazyCowboy]

Hopefully, #18 will be a starter from day 1.....who ever the player is.

 

[MinnesotaCowboy]

we need impact players at these positions: WR, RB, FS, and SOLB.
Juliuos and Barber are OK but aren't dominant. Johnson & Glenn are serviceable.

Huh??????? We can talk dominant or not dominant after we fix the OL!

 

[Doomsday101]

But what you forget Doom is that Petitti is a 6th round draft pick with year's experience and that is very valuable. All the OT's after Ferguson are projects in my opinion. You through them out there and you aren't going to get anything better than what Petitti will give you in his second year... And they may well be worse.

In many ways Petitti is like Canti. Going into his senior season at Pitt, Petitti was a projected 2nd rounder by many folks. But injuries really drove down his draftability.

I'm not forgetting he is a 6th rd pick for a reason sorry but your not going to convince me that Petitti talent is on the same level as McNeil or Justice after all there is a reason why the scouts around the league think these guys will go in rd 1, I did not hear a sole make those claims for Petitti. I have no issue with Petitti and hope he can continue to improve but you got to be kidding if you think he is of the same talent level.

 

[Derinyar]

Hopefully, #18 will be a starter from day 1.....who ever the player is.

I think that shouldn't necessarily be the goal. Get the player whos most likely to help us in the long run. This is a marathon, not a sprint.

 

[silver]

Huh??????? We can talk dominant or not dominant after we fix the OL!

we haven't picked an offensive lineman in the 1st round since 1981. i don't think the front office values them that high except if its an orlando pace or somebody like that. but based on the numerous flops from 1st round offensive linemen in recent years i believe we'll stick with our strategy of finding one in the second round and lower. first round picks are supposed to make an inmediate impact. i.e. td's, ints, sacks etc. offensive linemen produce none of them.

 

[burmafrd]

Going into his senior year at Pitt, Pettiti was considered a mid second rd talent. Most of the prognosticators thought he might move up to the first rd with a good senior year. weight concerns and such drove him down. The fact that we got him with a 6th is amazing. With the single exception of Khaliff Barnes, none of the rookie tackles that started last year did much better then Pettiti- and they were all picked a lot higher.

 

[Doomsday101]

Going into his senior year at Pitt, Pettiti was considered a mid second rd talent. Most of the prognosticators thought he might move up to the first rd with a good senior year. weight concerns and such drove him down. The fact that we got him with a 6th is amazing. With the single exception of Khaliff Barnes, none of the rookie tackles that started last year did much better then Pettiti- and they were all picked a lot higher.

I'm not talking about getting rid of Pettiti, I like him and I think he can improve but when I see McNeil did not give up 1 sack in his college career I know that is a big reason why he is projected as a 1st rd pick. I would love to see Dallas build a line that can get this offense going once again which is something we have not seen in years. We continue to stick with Allen because he is so much better than these other guys? That is not saying a lot. At this stage I think this team needs to get serious about what is going on up front because without those guys it does not matter who we get a QB, RB, TE or WR our offense will continue to struggle

 

[burmafrd]

Our problem is the money tied up in LA, Flo and Rivera. We really cannot clean house even if we wanted too. All we can do is maybe improve at one tackle position and maybe at center. If LA does decide to not renegoitiate, tehn he is probably gone. Peterman has shown nothing in any game that I am aware of- so Gurode would probably start there if we keep him. I want Max Jean-Gilles since I think he can be a truly dominant guard that we can get int he second rd. All the top OT's have at least one question mark except Ferguson- and he has to gain some weight. If I had to grab one OT outside of Ferguson right now I could not really choose between the next 2 rated ones in Macneil and Winston. Either one is a bit of a gamble, but not much.

 

[Doomsday101]

Our problem is the money tied up in LA, Flo and Rivera. We really cannot clean house even if we wanted too. All we can do is maybe improve at one tackle position and maybe at center. If LA does decide to not renegoitiate, tehn he is probably gone. Peterman has shown nothing in any game that I am aware of- so Gurode would probably start there if we keep him. I want Max Jean-Gilles since I think he can be a truly dominant guard that we can get int he second rd. All the top OT's have at least one question mark except Ferguson- and he has to gain some weight. If I had to grab one OT outside of Ferguson right now I could not really choose between the next 2 rated ones in Macneil and Winston. Either one is a bit of a gamble, but not much.

You can't do it all at once I agree but you have to start somewhere which brings me back to Allen and his 8mill hit should he stay. As for question marks heck Vince Young who will go in the top 5 has question marks. If Dallas was picking in the top 10 I would not even think OL as my 1st choice but at 18 I would have no problem going after 1 of the top OT in this draft.

 

[burmafrd]

Frankly the player who seems to have the fewest question marks of all the top picks is either White or Ferguson. have not heard anything really doubtfull about either. Bush is not a 25 carry back; Leinart might have looked so good due to the talent around him; Young- we all know; Cutler is just the hot one at the moment; those are the really top picks.

 

[Doomsday101]

Frankly the player who seems to have the fewest question marks of all the top picks is either White or Ferguson. have not heard anything really doubtfull about either. Bush is not a 25 carry back; Leinart might have looked so good due to the talent around him; Young- we all know; Cutler is just the hot one at the moment; those are the really top picks.

I agree with that assesment. My point however was they all come with question marks and as I have said in other post if Dallas goes LB,FS or OL with the 18th pick I would have no problem with that because I think each fills a need. I would also not be opposed to trading the pick if we get a good offer for it. One thing I can't do is pretend that our line is in good shape because the fact is it is not in good shape and 1 injury on the line should not have caused as many problems as it did last year. Dallas needs to address the OL because until they do I think we will continue to have problems on offense.

 

[kartr]

I agree with the premise, but what offensive player is worth the 18 pick? Big MAYBE Santonio Holmes or Chad Jackson. I suspect they'll both be gone by then. There are some RBs that are worth the pick: Maroney and Williams but we don't exactly need a RB. What OL is going to be there that is worth the pick? Ferguson will be LONG gone. The other top T's have question marks from either injury or technique. McNeil is a guy some people talk about but I think he has back injury issues and I hear he didn't perform well recently against some of the better DEs. Probably a VERY late first rounder if at all.
There are some stud G's in the draft, but who drafts a G in the first round? Would be dumb because you can get them in the second and third, esp since they are so plentiful this year....Jean-Gilles, Davin Joseph, etc.
Mangold is a guy I like at C, but I'm not convinced BP/JJ are looking to upgrade at C.
Meanwhile we still need a LB and FS on defense in a bad way...both positions should have quality players still available at 18 that are worthy of a pick, or closer to it.
I think the most prevalent need based on where we draft and the players likely available is the need to make a trade with the 18 pick, and probably move down at least 3-6 picks.

I still feel that we should go defense in the first round, with Ferguson being an older player and the talk that Glover will be released. Even if he's not released, we'll need a pass rushing DT to replace him eventually. Let's complete at least one unit, like the D-line,since it's close with Ellis and Canty as ends. Spears is good, but he's not a pass rusher and neither is Fergy. If we had an elite pass rushing line, it would make our secondary so much better. I think Chicago's D-line has made the secondary look much better than it is.

 

[kartr]

We won't be drafting an OL in round 1.

Hopefully not, since this is such a deep draft for OL. The best O-line in football wont make Bledsoe stop holding the ball too long.

 

[Doomsday101]

Hopefully not, since this is such a deep draft for OL. The best O-line in football wont make Bledsoe stop holding the ball too long.

But it may help open some holes so we can run the ball and not rely on the passing game as much as we did. I did not want to see Dallas throwing the ball 500 times last year I was hoping more in the range that we see from the Steelers. Heck in our most successful years in the 90's Troy was not having to pass as much as what we were forced to this past season.

 

[kartr]

Would you really want VY if he were there at 18? I mean, come on now, just how many new QBs do the Boyz need!

Evreytime I think about this, I just want to slap JJ upside his new face for not having someone behind Aikman ready to step in!! :grab:

Yes I would cause he would make the OL better immediately and he would be the only legitmate NFL tablent behind Bledsoe.

 

[kartr]

we've been starting off great on offense, especially in the passing game, these last 2 years, but the Oline and lack of game-breaking talent has caused us to tail off as opponents got a better feel for how we were doing things, more talent, and we can diversify how we run our O, and more importantly, fielding an Oline that can give Bledsoe adequate time

Actually we've been starting off great the last three years in the passing game.

 

[kartr]

Dallas may take a defensive player at 18 but I think we will see Dallas make the majority of their moves on the offensive side of the ball both in FA and in the draft. I also would not rule out Dallas taking 1 of the top OL at 18 depending on who is on the board at that time

Yeah, I'd like to get Bunkley at 18 or trade down to 25, pick up an extra 3rd and take him there. I feel like this guy can be a real impact player immediately. If we could develop an elite pass rush, we'll be ahead of the game. I do like Carpenter and Lawson, but Lbs play further away from the ball, while Bunkley could keep the qb from stepping up in the pocket.

 

[kartr]

Other than possibly Holmes, I think any receiver at 18 is a major reach. Outside of D'Brick, I don't know that there are any sure fire OL in one either.

Yeah, this is another reason why I favor taking Bunkley in the first round.

 

[kartr]

I agree with Junk. I just don't any offensive players selected at #18 that would start. Defensively-- yeah.

Agreed.