Grading Cowboys rookies

[McKDaddy]

DiNucci - Well below replacement level; Garrett Gilbert showed up off the street and outplayed him easily. Not long for the league.

you guys are rough on a late round QB thrown into the fire with little preparation.

 

[McKDaddy]

Gallimore - C

got to be at least a C+ or B-. The guy was raw coming in & had little to no mentorship before being thrown in the fire. He flashed the abilities you drafted him for in every game and by the end of the year was relatively solid. that's a lot to build on. I think he becomes a solid player or better (assuming health).

 

[starfan1]

Don't be bad mouthing the Nooch! He is the heir apparent if we don't sign Dak and our savior.

 

[CalPolyTechnique]

I think we had a pretty solid class. I’d like to see Robinson develop into something. I’m not holding my breath on Anae. DeNucci looked out of his depth and more like an high-level ultimate frisbee guy.

 

[aria]

We have the best draft class every year according to most fans here...until a year or two later.

 

[CalPolyTechnique]

We have the best draft class every year according to most fans here...until a year or two later.

We always win the off-season championship according our fans.

 

[CWR]

Lamb gets a B because he still dropped the ball at times. Biadasz gets an Incomplete because for some reason they Wally Pipped him for the bum Looney.

Not a good draft class, gotta do better this year.

Cmon man seriously? Lamb and Diggs were both major contributors. Biadaz was solid when given the opportunity. I dont think we could ask for much more. As of now this draft class was very good. That is subject to change, as we have too often seen.

 

[CWR]

Jefferson deserves an A++++

It was a an excellent draft class for WRS. No doubt Jefferson and Lamb will both be super stars. I think Judy will make progress as well when Sutton comes back and if he has any reasonable QB play. Aiuk, Higgins and Claypool are loaded with talent.

 

[Motorola]

Lamb gets a B because he still dropped the ball at times. Biadasz gets an Incomplete because for some reason they Wally Pipped him for the bum Looney.

Not a good draft class, gotta do better this year.

Going to stamp the 2020 draft as 'not good'-- after only one season.
No consideration that the players will work to improve between now and the start of 2021?

 

[Motorola]

Starts
Lamb - 14/16 technically, but really started every game by snaps
Diggs - 11/12 started when healthy all year
Gallimore - 9/14 started last 8 games of the season
Biadazz - 4/12 started when starter went down, arguably should have kept the job
*Steele UDFA - 14/16 - Not ready for prime time, but the experience did him good

Likely 3 starters next year in Lamb, Diggs, Biadasz.
By PFF *this* year, Lamb our 2nd WR, Diggs our 1st CB.
Gallimore as clear rotation DT.
Steele a good development prospect at OT. Not a disaster to play him anymore.

Probably some future mileage in some of Anae, Olinilua, Robinson, Carter, Bernard, Gifford (only 1accrued season)

Bernard PFF 67.2. Blew our other LBs away. Gifford next at 58.6.
Anae - 85.2 on 6 snaps. Ok. LImited sample. But keep playing him!
I just hate it when we don't continue to play guys that play well. Especially in this toilet of a season. Should have been the year to develop young guys and get a good draft pick.

How is this not a great rookie class already? Multiple starters with lots of guys who could add to the haul in the coming years.

People can get so ridiculously demanding.

Nice work - and good assessment, 'buybuydandavis'.

 

[Future]

You get two starters out of a draft and its a success, you get three you should be thrilled. I wouldnt sleep on Gallimore either.

Gallimore's a starter.

You can just go ahead and call it 4 lol.

 

[Aven8]

I’m thinking considering none of them even saw the turf at the Star until July these dudes were Fantastic.

Im thinking if Gallimore spends the offseason in the weight room, and the light turns on he could be a game wrecker. He has all the intangibles to be that dude. Remember his 40 time folks? That’s a big man moving that fast.

 

[J-man]

I'm very happy with this draft class. Not sure anyone could/should say otherwise.
Lamb, Diggs, Biadasz and Galimore all look like, at the very least, capable NFL players.
And a couple of them have potential to be very good NFL players.
Don't think you could hope for much more than that in any given draft.

 

[aria]

We always win the off-season championship according our fans.

It wasn’t too long ago that a lot of fans were calling 2016 the best draft class ever for the Cowboys, look at it now or even the last few years.

I don’t care how good a RB is, taking one 4th overall is just dumb. Then we have the fan favorite, Jaylon, nothing more needs to be said. Collins was the 3rd pick, not bad, much more solid than most gave him credit for. 4th was Tapper, who’s that? 5th was Dak, I think solid pick but the fan base seems split 50/50. 6th was Anthony Brown, not bad for a 6th but not good as a starter. I won’t even mention the last 3 picks.

2017 not one difference maker, busted 1st round pick and nothing but a bunch of JAG’s that are starters and why our secondary sucks.

2018 LVE is looking more and more like a bust, we’ll see. Gallup was very good and Shultz has looked good. Connor Williams, meh.

2019 looks like crap with the exception of Pollard.

2020 looks solid but we’re only a year in.

Having read the threads after these drafts you’d think we have nothing but all pros.

 

[speedkilz88]

Badass outplayed Looney at every opportunity. The coaches were trying to keep continuity and started Looney despite the rookie being better. Badass only got into the starting lineup because Looney got injured. Then when Looney was healthy they did not replace Badass with him because again they were trying to keep continuity. And then Badass got hurt and Looney replaced him. Then when Badass was healthy they again would not replace Looney again because they wanted to keep continuity.

 

[OmerV]

Lamb gets a B because he still dropped the ball at times. Biadasz gets an Incomplete because for some reason they Wally Pipped him for the bum Looney.

Not a good draft class, gotta do better this year.

I get deducting a bit for LAmb drops, although for someone in his rookie season I thought he was outstanding. Biadasz may be an incomplete, but you indicated yourself that you felt he should have continued to start, so that suggests you think he was a positive player when on the field.

So why was this a bad draft class? Because they still have to develop? Because everyone didn't reach their full potential as rookies? That's not a realistic expectation in any rookie season, much less one in which there was a new coaching staff and no OTA's, an abbreviated training camp and no preseason games.

What realistically appears to be the case is ...

Lamb will be a very productive receiver over his career - if not elite, very close to it

Diggs will be a consistent starter as long as he is healthy, and there are signs that he could be outstanding, although only time will tell

Gallimore is raw, but he improved the more he played, and made some outstanding plays where he dominated the blocker- should at minimum be a solid rotational player, but could be much more.

Biadasz will be the starting center, likely for years to come


That's a pretty strong draft.

 

[the_h0wey]

Lamb gets a B because he still dropped the ball at times. Biadasz gets an Incomplete because for some reason they Wally Pipped him for the bum Looney.

Not a good draft class, gotta do better this year.

74 catches 935 receiving yards 82 rushing yards and 4 Touchdowns and you give him a B? LoL tough crowd. A rookie with 1,000 yards gets an A in my book

 

[quickccc]

- Had Lamb had his starting QB in dak year long as Jefferson did with Cousins, Lamb probably would’ve had stats more impressive than JJ as a rookie.
Hes not a top -end burner, but he’s a smooth, fluid natural catcher with great body control, can make twisting catches on bad throws, has a good knack for pass game
and getting open, and he affects the entire field- both underneath and vertically.
Not sure yet about him being a reputed dangerous, dynamic open field runner as he was in college.
Drops were a problem, hopefully he’s much more focused, more adjusted and consistent in that area.

- Diggs rookie year was up and down – but he was a rookie who immediately took on the lead CB role vs opponents best WR.
He took typical rookie-burns and these coaches/schemes didn't help matters but he didn’t lose confidence and still made plays – INTs, upper cut fumble vs Metcalf.
although I do wonder about his overall long speed and ability vs the Metcalfs, Locketts, McClaughin, Jefferson, etc, that he’ll have to face in NFC.
But Better coaching/scheme/more experience should make him into an eventual top notch CB, imo

- Gallimore was rookie inconsistent and another that I’m not sure he’s under the right DL coach/scheme. Interior guys tend to take more time to develop
He has slash penetrate skills but seems like Tomsula wanted him more of a 1 tech read type.
Neville is country strong and very athletic, but he still has a way to go vs the run, splitting double teams and getting off blocks quicker vs pass.
I’d like to see far more wow games like he had Steelers/Niners
Also under the right DL coach., I’d like to see him and Hill in much more twists and stunts with their agility & explosiveness – but not under Tomsula

- Robinson should’ve received same Incomplete grade as Anae. Coaches did not give him a chance to play vs the street guys brought in
. Just like Anae, is there something about Robinson (learning process, work ethic or inability to adapt) that turn them off ? Caused a fumble strip for near recovery on special teams.
Because he was red shirted- I dunno what to make of him per rookie year.

- Anae won’t grow until we get a new DL coach, imo.. I keep thinking there’s something behind the scenes with Anae. Something that Tomsula doesn’t like him, and in turn flat red shirted him.
Strange for a guy that has displayed edge rush skills every time he’s put on pads (at Utah, Senior Bowl, Cowboys training camp) yet Tomsula flat shut him out.

- Biadazz- I really wanted Badazzz to continue to start after he return per odd hamstring injury, but OL coach Philibin was sold on keeping vet Looney at the center role to it’s end.
Tyler should be the starting center next year. Needs to get stronger but has ability to pull and get to 2nd level and in space better than Looney who will be 32 next year.
Unless another team give Looney an usually big 1 or 2 year deal, I see Looney returning as a utility backup.

Dinnuci is a raw vastly inexperience rookie project with impressive physical tools. That’s what he is a project.
We’ll just see how this Covid affects offseason, and all the camps and preseason games which he really needs in his growth and development.

 

[jazzcat22]

We got 3 starters in Diggs, Biadasz and Lamb but Lamb is a wasted pick unless we're getting rid of Cooper or Gallup.

WHAT? wasted pick and get rid of one of them...how dumb of a statement is this. As bad as you saying it was a bad draft class. All credibility down the toilet on this one.

 

[rnr_honeybadger]

That’s a really generous A for lamb were you grading on a curve?