Grantland: The Cowboys have built the leagues best OL, but at what cost?

[Section446]

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/t...leagues-best-offensive-line-but-at-what-cost/

A few weeks after the 2012 season, Jerry Jones said something in his postseason, “state of the Cowboys” press conference that I haven’t forgotten. Dallas had just finished what felt like its 10th consecutive 8-8 season. The blame game roulette was just getting started, and for most people, the ball had already landed on the Cowboys’ offensive line. The 1,265 rushing yards for Dallas’s offense were the worst in franchise history, and the per-play numbers weren’t much better (they finished 24th in rushing DVOA). Still, Jones wasn’t convinced that’s where his team needed the most help.

 

[DFWJC]

I think I'd let Martin play a year before proclaiming this the best Oline. And even then there would be plenty of debate.
Absolutely love that it should be a strength though.

 

[daveferr33]

What the writer fails to realize is that although Tyron was clearly the target in 2011, the Frederick and Martin picks were most probably fall back positions, but very, very good ones.

You have to take what comes to you in the draft, and the Cowboys have done a very good job sticking with their board and drafting the best available player, which in 2013 and 2014 meant drafting Frederick and Martin.

It appears to me to be nitpicking on the highest order to complain about spending premium picks in the trenches. Of all the things to criticize the Cowboys for, this is not one of them.

 

[tyke1doe]

I have no problems with the Cowboys building their OL. I just think ...
1.) It's a little too late and
2.) and doubt they'll use the OL to pound the rock.

If the team had that philosophy from the beginning, i.e., when Tony Romo became the starter, we might have gone to a Super Bowl by now.
We've essentially wasted him in Dallas, as far as Super Bowl appearances are concerned.

 

[xwalker]

If I were build a team, the OL would be my first and top priority. A dominant OL can solve many issues and protecting the health of the QB should be a top priority for any team. A bad DL does not get the QB injured, a bad OL does.

Also, it takes longer for an OL to come together than a DL which is another reason to focus on OL first.

This writer had an agenda to complain about something that is not a problem.

It's a little premature to proclaim the Cowboys OL as the best.

 

[AbeBeta]

Sure -- you can argue that we could have used those picks on the defensive side. But then we'd have a mediocre OL and a mediocre DL. I'd much rather be really good on at least one side of the ball. A great OL can make the defense less of an issue.

 

[Aggie87]

You have to take what comes to you in the draft, and the Cowboys have done a very good job sticking with their board and drafting the best available player, which in 2013 and 2014 meant drafting Frederick and Martin.

Not sure that's true that they stick with their board. Wasn't Sharrif Floyd still available when the Cowboys were set to pick at #18 in 2013? He was their highest rated player (#5 on their board I think?), and instead they moved down and ended up with Frederick.

And if 2014 Johnny Manziel was on the board when the Cowboys drafted at #16, and he was their highest rated player at the time. Instead they drafted Martin.

 

[gimmesix]

Sure -- you can argue that we could have used those picks on the defensive side. But then we'd have a mediocre OL and a mediocre DL. I'd much rather be really good on at least one side of the ball. A great OL can make the defense less of an issue.

I do believe we were targeting an offensive lineman last year pretty much no matter what, but this year was just the way that the draft fell and I don't mind because we're probably going to go as far as this offense will take us.

 

[Nova]

What the writer fails to realize is that although Tyron was clearly the target in 2011, the Frederick and Martin picks were most probably fall back positions, but very, very good ones.

You have to take what comes to you in the draft, and the Cowboys have done a very good job sticking with their board and drafting the best available player, which in 2013 and 2014 meant drafting Frederick and Martin.

It appears to me to be nitpicking on the highest order to complain about spending premium picks in the trenches. Of all the things to criticize the Cowboys for, this is not one of them.

Yeah, this guy is forgetting that Shazier (defense) was the actual pick had he not been taken right before we were up.

He's also forgetting that we moved up to take Lawrence, and overall used 7 of our 9 picks on defense.

So it's not like we didn't address the defense. We just didn't stretch ourselves to try to fix it all in one year.

Furthermore!: The defense was actually fine as much as we were concerned before last year. We looked to have one of the strongest DLs in the league, Carter and Lee were a dynamic tandem and Durant was solid, had a great, promising CB tandem with a top 5-10 slot corner, and Church was solid and returning from injury and Wilcox had future playmaker potential.

Out of the loop, hindsight article.

 

[CCBoy]

Not sure that's true that they stick with their board. Wasn't Sharrif Floyd still available when the Cowboys were set to pick at #18 in 2013? He was their highest rated player (#5 on their board I think?), and instead they moved down and ended up with Frederick.

And if 2014 Johnny Manziel was on the board when the Cowboys drafted at #16, and he was their highest rated player at the time. Instead they drafted Martin.

So, you suggest to stick to an abstract number and get a QB that you didn't yet need or a DL that didn't marry with the defense as well as current picks...and it takes 101 Aggies to replace a light bulb. One to hold the light bulb and 100 to turn the house.

 

[jterrell]

With Dez, Demarco and Romo on the offensive side of the ball, OL was the best area to improve.

Defensively there are lots of places I'd have preferred that r1 pick fell but you got to take what's there. You can't force other teams to pass guys for you.

Dallas didn't sacrifice other areas to build the OL, that happened organically.

 

[Idgit]

It's simple to say start with the OL. Of course you need good protection. The problem is, the draft has broken in a way the last two years that we've effectively overdrafted interior OL positions the last two years.

I don't mind a top-10 pick on a LT, since that's where you have to get those guys. First round Cs are expensive, though. At least we moved to be back of the line to get him, but it's still a position you ideally fill in the second round or later. Martin at 16 this year was the right pick, but that hurt, too. If he ends up a quality RT for you, ok, but he looks like a career fit at RG to me, and again, those are expensive positions to fill in the middle of the first.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a BPA guy, and it's more important that you hit on your first round picks than it is that you get value for the position you're taking. But we've got big shoes to fill at DE, and probably at the 3-tech and at one of the LB spots. If you're spending premium resources on interior OL positions other teams regularly fill in middle rounds and develop, it makes it that much harder to get the athletes you need elsewhere at positions that have lower probabilities the farther you get from the first half of the first round.

 

[CCBoy]

It's simple to say start with the OL. Of course you need good protection. The problem is, the draft has broken in a way the last two years that we've effectively overdrafted interior OL positions the last two years.

I don't mind a top-10 pick on a LT, since that's where you have to get those guys. First round Cs are expensive, though. At least we moved to be back of the line to get him, but it's still a position you ideally fill in the second round or later. Martin at 16 this year was the right pick, but that hurt, too. If he ends up a quality RT for you, ok, but he looks like a career fit at RG to me, and again, those are expensive positions to fill in the middle of the first.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a BPA guy, and it's more important that you hit on your first round picks than it is that you get value for the position you're taking. But we've got big shoes to fill at DE, and probably at the 3-tech and at one of the LB spots. If you're spending premium resources on interior OL positions other teams regularly fill in middle rounds and develop, it makes it that much harder to get the athletes you need elsewhere at positions that have lower probabilities the farther you get from the first half of the first round.

But if it were the Giants and drafting defensive linemen fireworks would still be left in the sky from the 4th of July.

 

[TellerMorrow34]

I'm just glad they've made a real effort to fix that O-Line. It was badly needed.

 

[erod]

Great offensive lines make a whole lot of warts and boo-boos go away.

 

[daveferr33]

Sure -- you can argue that we could have used those picks on the defensive side. But then we'd have a mediocre OL and a mediocre DL. I'd much rather be really good on at least one side of the ball. A great OL can make the defense less of an issue.

These were my thoughts going into the 2012 draft--keep building the O'line into a serious position of strength. Glad they picked up the rebuild in 2013.

 

[Aggie87]

So, you suggest to stick to an abstract number and get a QB that you didn't yet need or a DL that didn't marry with the defense as well as current picks...and it takes 101 Aggies to replace a light bulb. One to hold the light bulb and 100 to turn the house.

You're entirely missing the point.

The argument was that the Cowboys were sticking to their draft board. My take is that they weren't.

It has nothing to do with your opinion of Manziel or Floyd.

 

[daveferr33]

Not sure that's true that they stick with their board. Wasn't Sharrif Floyd still available when the Cowboys were set to pick at #18 in 2013? He was their highest rated player (#5 on their board I think?), and instead they moved down and ended up with Frederick.

And if 2014 Johnny Manziel was on the board when the Cowboys drafted at #16, and he was their highest rated player at the time. Instead they drafted Martin.

Well, trading back and then tacking Frederick if he was their best available at #30 is sticking with their board.

You might be correct about 2014. But as Jones said after the draft, JM was never a serious consideration.

 

[Idgit]

But if it were the Giants and drafting defensive linemen fireworks would still be left in the sky from the 4th of July.

It all depends on the position, right? Impact pass rushers are going to go high. Just like tackles who can pass protect the QB's blindside. It's a rare 1-tech DT worth spending a high pick on. The same goes for OGs. How much better does the guy have to be than other OGs in the league to justify taking him in the first round when you can find good college RTs or small school OG prospects with good athleticism who just need the benefit of 18 months in an NFL weight program in order to perform just as well? Because good luck finding that pass rush specialist or that QB or that cover CB or that elite pass protector anywhere outside the first round. There are plenty of exceptions to this rule, of course, but it's ultimately a question of supply and demand. You want to be filling your toughest vacancies to fill as early as you can.

That said, again, hitting on a player is more important than anything else. I like Martin and Frederick both as players for us, and we really didn't have any luck in the first round the last two years in terms of how things broke. I'm happy we stayed pat and picked the guys we picked.

 

[Yakuza Rich]

I thought this was a sloppy, uninspired article by Grantland's standards.

The last couple of sentences didn't make any sense. The Niners drafted the same way and found quality defensive players. Why can't the Cowboys do the same thing? And they did find Sean Lee and Bruce Carter. Just Lee can't stay healthy.

I have no problems about how we've built the O-Line. Tyron was a must needed pick. Benardeau/Leary are basically taken for fish heads and rice. Doug Free should have been given his original contract extension and we re-did his deal after a disastrous 2012 season. Frederick is hardly a big hit. And in the end, Martin was the right pick. Particularly for the future.

Our problems on defense have been in large part due to injuries. And if we have an issue, it's what type of players we look for in the secondary (light tackling cover corners and go cheap on safety).

If there's anything that separates the Niners from us, it's those two issues (injuries and the makeup of DB's).

You take what the draft gives you and you don't just take a lesser player because you've drafted too many players of similar positions.






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