xwalker
Well-Known Member
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The thing that bugs me about the extreme negativity is that it makes it difficult to analyze what really happened.
The opposite is also true. The groups that have an extreme devotion certain players will derail any thread where someone attempts to analyze that player.
The way I see it:
Free Agents
Paea - Played well. Not certain if the knee was a problem after or before signing. Probably a good move to sign him but it didn't work out.
D.Moore - Low cost move that almost worked out. They could have moved on after his suspension if he sucked on the field. Reasonable decision to give him a shot.
Carroll - This one is difficult. He was good against the Giants but sucked for a half against the Broncos. I don't know how much the concussion factored into the decision to cut him. I'll put this under bad decision but I can't completely dismiss the fact that he was decent against the Giants.
Thorton - He was really good against the run the year before they signed him. He gave gave Zack Martin problems especially on zone stretch runs. At 4M per it seemed like a good move at the time. He seemed to lose focus after getting paid.
Look at any one of these alone and they seemed like reasonable low cost moves; however, looking at them all together makes it seem like a problem. Is is just that low cost free agents often don't work out or is it that the team is missing something in their evaluation process?
Free Agents not signed. Questionable not to sign a legit free agent but if they're going to fail, better Carroll at 4M than Carr at 50M.
The most positive sign is that they cut bait on these players and didn't make the problem worse by holding on to them to prove a point which they would have done 10 years ago.
Draft Issues
Taco - His slow progress is a concern, but it's well chronicled that rookie DEs often struggle.
Awuzie - He didn't have a significant injury history; therefore, I can't expect the team to foresee the injury. He has looked really good in very limited snaps but you need to study the All-22 to see it. He still seems like a bargain at the end of the 2nd because I expected him to go in the first.
Lewis - Obviously a good decision despite the pending DV issue at draft time.
Jaylon - Maybe worth the risk considering the Cowboys Doctor is his Doctor. It has to be considered a fail at this point even if he is great next year.
Gregory - Similar risk/reward decision as Jaylon. Obviously a fail at this point but a reasonable risk/reward at the time of the decision.
The problem is not drafting 1 high risk, high reward player, but the fact that they've done it too often.
Drafting Zeke
This argument seems silly. He is a Super Star type player. Looking back I wish they had drafted a RB instead of Claiborne.
Dez Fan Boys
The Dez fan boys won't concede any criticism of the player. The excuses in response to Percy's numbers were bizarre. The number one WR should not have a catch rate that is way worse than all of the other Cowboys receiving options considering they all have the same QB. The problem goes back to the last couple of years with Romo also, so the finger can't really be pointed at Dak, but the Fan Boys or should I say fan Boiz try to claim it's Dak's fault.
Kellen Moore
People love to hate this player. My take is that it's better than spending money and/or draft picks on a spare like they did with Matt Cassell. They also didn't just keep him on the 53 all season to prove a point like they might have in the past.
Summary
People have complained about everything but not much about something that might have been the biggest problem. They didn't adequately address back-up LB.
Jaylon was forced to play way too many snaps. Durant was a added just before training camp and missed the entire preseason just to get into football condition; therefore, I can't really consider him a legit backup plan. Bruce Carter was available until May 2nd. I would have taken him over seeing Jaylon and Durant out there for far too many snaps.
The opposite is also true. The groups that have an extreme devotion certain players will derail any thread where someone attempts to analyze that player.
The way I see it:
Free Agents
Paea - Played well. Not certain if the knee was a problem after or before signing. Probably a good move to sign him but it didn't work out.
D.Moore - Low cost move that almost worked out. They could have moved on after his suspension if he sucked on the field. Reasonable decision to give him a shot.
Carroll - This one is difficult. He was good against the Giants but sucked for a half against the Broncos. I don't know how much the concussion factored into the decision to cut him. I'll put this under bad decision but I can't completely dismiss the fact that he was decent against the Giants.
Thorton - He was really good against the run the year before they signed him. He gave gave Zack Martin problems especially on zone stretch runs. At 4M per it seemed like a good move at the time. He seemed to lose focus after getting paid.
Look at any one of these alone and they seemed like reasonable low cost moves; however, looking at them all together makes it seem like a problem. Is is just that low cost free agents often don't work out or is it that the team is missing something in their evaluation process?
Free Agents not signed. Questionable not to sign a legit free agent but if they're going to fail, better Carroll at 4M than Carr at 50M.
The most positive sign is that they cut bait on these players and didn't make the problem worse by holding on to them to prove a point which they would have done 10 years ago.
Draft Issues
Taco - His slow progress is a concern, but it's well chronicled that rookie DEs often struggle.
Awuzie - He didn't have a significant injury history; therefore, I can't expect the team to foresee the injury. He has looked really good in very limited snaps but you need to study the All-22 to see it. He still seems like a bargain at the end of the 2nd because I expected him to go in the first.
Lewis - Obviously a good decision despite the pending DV issue at draft time.
Jaylon - Maybe worth the risk considering the Cowboys Doctor is his Doctor. It has to be considered a fail at this point even if he is great next year.
Gregory - Similar risk/reward decision as Jaylon. Obviously a fail at this point but a reasonable risk/reward at the time of the decision.
The problem is not drafting 1 high risk, high reward player, but the fact that they've done it too often.
Drafting Zeke
This argument seems silly. He is a Super Star type player. Looking back I wish they had drafted a RB instead of Claiborne.
Dez Fan Boys
The Dez fan boys won't concede any criticism of the player. The excuses in response to Percy's numbers were bizarre. The number one WR should not have a catch rate that is way worse than all of the other Cowboys receiving options considering they all have the same QB. The problem goes back to the last couple of years with Romo also, so the finger can't really be pointed at Dak, but the Fan Boys or should I say fan Boiz try to claim it's Dak's fault.
Kellen Moore
People love to hate this player. My take is that it's better than spending money and/or draft picks on a spare like they did with Matt Cassell. They also didn't just keep him on the 53 all season to prove a point like they might have in the past.
Summary
People have complained about everything but not much about something that might have been the biggest problem. They didn't adequately address back-up LB.
Jaylon was forced to play way too many snaps. Durant was a added just before training camp and missed the entire preseason just to get into football condition; therefore, I can't really consider him a legit backup plan. Bruce Carter was available until May 2nd. I would have taken him over seeing Jaylon and Durant out there for far too many snaps.
