Jerry Jones truly squandered an incredible opportunity when in a couple of drafts he managed to find Romo, Witten, TNew, Ware and Ratliff in years 2003-5. He had himself All-Pro pass rusher, franchise QB, All-Pro NT, #1 CB and an All-Pro TE. Most of them were young and cheap. All we had to do was keep replacing the vets with new recruits.
But then came the disastrous drafts of 2006-9 and the RW11 trade. He squandered that golden chance to build an elite team by being unable to execute in talent acquisition and managing contracts of aging players. Then lo and behold the 2010 season comes along and our talent isn't so superior to other teams and we get whipped 1-7 to start the season. And everyone wonders what happened to the Cowboys talent - well it got old and didn't get replenished at key positions along the OL and secondary. Poor coaching didn't help matters any. But people were still under the delusion that our talent was so much better than anyone else. Then comes the 2011 season after a good couple of drafts and we start to show some promise again but now those players we acquired 2003-5 are aging and getting up and around 30. People wonder with the new kids why we aren't dominating and the issue is the team's core should have been built around those guys 2006-9 hitting their prime but that core group was weak and flawed. All we had to show for it was Hatcher, Free, Spencer, Jenkins and Felix now. 3 of those players probably won't be on the team next year and many people think Free is so overpaid that he'll be released next year.
Anyhow that's all in the past now. Hopefully the vets from 2003-5 can continue to play well for a few more years while the kids from the 2010-12 drafts mature and hit their primes. We're also lucky that Romo is still healthy, at the top of his game and is willing to play 6 more years. But we need to keep executing in the draft, UDFA and FA so we keep letting the old players go before they fall off a cliff We also need to avoid overpaying vets who are not premium players, especially as they hit their 30s.
This past offseason looks like it is a good one. The OGs acquired played well this week although the Giants aren't particularly strong at DT. Carr played well at CB most of the time but did get beat deep 3 times with 2 resulting in big plays. Claiborne played quite well for his debut although he needs to attack the ball more when he's in position. Silva looked good out there for a rookie. Ryan Cook did well filling in during a pinch. Garrett filled out his staff with quality hires in Henderson and Callahan. One weak unit coach still needs to go but this is a top notch group of coaches he has collected here. We now just need to keep the formula going and not mess around with things and get too cute with projects and backup drafts. I really think one more great draft and we can be elite - all we really need now is a better Center and a pass rusher to step up to that next level of domination.
