It's time for a brutally honest roster talent evaluation

[Kaiser]

• WR- I'd draft a WR every year. Position often takes a couple seasons to develop, they make great special teamers quite often and about the time you pay them massive money they go crazy.

Its a deep draft this year so I could see that being the BPA at some spot. But I'm in the minority in that I think they will still have a deep group with Amari, Gallup and Cobb returning, then Devin Smith, Cedric Wilson, Noah Brown and JonVea Johnson competing for the 4th and 5th spots.

 

[jazzcat22]

With 20 plus FA's, and 15 players on IR / PUP. Which some are also FA's on the IR. And all the coaching staff not set yet. It is hard to determine or evaluate the roster right now. What happens with one or two positions and players may effect the entire set up and needs or how they approach another position group.

I usually try to do my own write up on this, as many of us do. But I think I will wait until after FA is over, then just look at needs in the draft.
But at least this will be interesting off season to see how it is all put together.

Also official team workouts can start on April 13th, but teams with new coaches and can start on April 6th.

 

[big dog cowboy]

Mike McCarthy is a good hire. He gives us a realistic chance to maximize the talent we have, but perhaps more importantly, he gives us the opportunity to have a fresh set of eyes to evaluate this team’s roster. This team needs a really good offseason to evaluate its talent and upgrade where needed.

We all know players like JWit and likely Lee need replaced but we will all find out before the season begins how this staff feels about all the players they inherited. Some pet cats are going to be cut and there will be some will make you scratch your head. The unexpected cut are the ones I'm most interested in. The players that have skated by under Garrett. The players the new staff doesn't feel is a long term solution.

 

[gimmesix]

LT- Truly one of the 3 most important positions on a team includes LT. From 2011-2018, Tyron Smith was one of the best players in the NFL and perhaps even the best player on the Cowboys roster. But back and knee injuries have made Ty Smith a lot more human. We need to consider that his days as a top LT are winding down.
Guard- I’m not convinced that Connor Williams is a starter. He’s ok at best. Maybe Connor Macgovern is an upgrade and Williams just becomes a decent backup. But this position needs to be addressed.

I think we have some intriguing options at these two spots for the new coaching staff to explore. It's quite possible that Williams will be a better LT than he is a LG because you deal with less size and more speed at the tackle spot. It's possible that we could end up with our LG and LT both already being on the roster if McGovern proves to be any good at guard and Williams can handle playing tackle on this level.

I'm not saying we should trust in that, but I don't think we need to invest heavily in the line more at this point. These players need to be sorted first. I'm also interested in seeing more of the two rookies, Mitch Hyatt (who clearly needed to work on his strength) and Brandon Knight, who I thought played pretty well when called on. I don't think either are answers as starters, but they could turn into decent depth.

 

[atlantacowboy]

Apparently the only thing one must have to become a GM is enough money to buy a team. Jerry qualifies as a GM the night his check to buy the team cleared the bank.

I know right? Its so ironic that folks on here throw shade at us evaluating talent but Jerry Jones is qualified?

 

[Future]

1 playoff win.

Now, they are due or had received huge raises and we have the highest paid offensive line, with 3 of the 5 nearing or at 30 years old and getting in the meat of their deals.

I can't see how this team can acquire potentially high talent in those listed areas except through the draft.
Now, you don't need studs at every spot, but you need competent to good players in key areas. Spots where the talent has been weak for years like at DT

30 doesn't really mean anything for OL

 

[Stash]

Mike McCarthy is a good hire. He gives us a realistic chance to maximize the talent we have, but perhaps more importantly, he gives us the opportunity to have a fresh set of eyes to evaluate this team’s roster. This team needs a really good offseason to evaluate its talent and upgrade where needed.

One of the weaknesses of our organization the last two decades is too often having a rosy estimate of our talent. The best NFL GMs are willing and able to look at players critically and determine how much tread is on the tire of a player and their true value in a hard salary cap.

I’m of the opinion that most of us as fans, and sadly even the Jones power brokers, tend to overvalue our talent. That’s normal for fans. It’s not normal for a good front office.

With that in mind, here are some positions and roster spots (in no particular order) I believe need some real scrutiny:

• LT- Truly one of the 3 most important positions on a team includes LT. From 2011-2018, Tyron Smith was one of the best players in the NFL and perhaps even the best player on the Cowboys roster. But back and knee injuries have made Ty Smith a lot more human. We need to consider that his days as a top LT are winding down.

• Safety- a no brainer. We haven’t had great talent at this position for too long. It’s time for this team to invest in a premium draft pick at a long time position of need.

• DT- a close second to safety in obvious need. Another position where we have settled for mid-late round draft picks or cheap retreads. It’s past time to address this position early in the draft.

• WR- Amari Cooper is a great talent and he certainly helped this team for two years. But I don’t believe in investing huge cap space on a position that is one of the easiest to find talent. Michael Gallup’s emergence also makes giving huge cap dollars to Cooper less attractive. I favor moving on from him and saving some cash.

• LB- I still believe a healthy LVE is a great talent. I’m a little concerned about Jaylon after his big contract but he’s still certainly a talent. This team still needs LB talent. We should probably say goodbye to Sean Lee though. Love the guy and what he has meant to this team. But it’s better to cut a guy a year early than too late.
  
  
• Guard- I’m not convinced that Connor Williams is a starter. He’s ok at best. Maybe Connor Macgovern is an upgrade and Williams just becomes a decent backup. But this position needs to be addressed.
  
  
• TE- Jason Witten needs to go. He’s a HOFer but he’s done. We need another TE probably from the draft to complement the emergence of Blake Jarwin.

There are probably more positions of need not mentioned above. But it’s certainly clear this team needs upgrades at multiple positions. In general, I would say the defense has the most glaring needs. But I also hope Coach Mac is able to bring a more discerning eye on this roster. And that we can stop being married to a player too long because “we love them”.

I think your overall assessment is a very good one, but I'd like to know how you would list them in order of importance?

My feeling is that I would try to help two areas with one move - Conner Williams back to tackle. In this case, swing tackle, with a lean towards left tackle. I'm not cutting Tyron Smith, but I am protecting myself with an eyet to the future with Williams and potentially Hyatt who they liked enough to keep. Let McGovern and other candidates like a potentially re-signed Sua Filo or maybe a cut Ron Leary compete at left guard.

 

[gimmesix]

We all know players like JWit and likely Lee need replaced but we will all find out before the season begins how this staff feels about all the players they inherited. Some pet cats are going to be cut and there will be some will make you scratch your head. The unexpected cut are the ones I'm most interested in. The players that have skated by under Garrett. The players the new staff doesn't feel is a long term solution.

For me, it depends on who we get to replace them. Witten is not nearly the tight end he was, but did we have three tight ends better than him? I'm not sure we had one (although I would have liked for Jarwin to be given more of an opportunity to prove it.)

Lee was easily our third-best linebacker, and at times, was clearly our best last year. (Other times, not so much.)

Although neither player needs to be a full-time starter, I can't say they don't belong on the roster. I would like to see this coaching staff not just grant them their spots and playing time based on legacy, though. If we have better players to start or keep, then so be it.

However, I won't be surprised if neither is brought back because of cost vs. production. If they could be re-signed for about $2 million per year, there might be some value there. $5 million is too steep for where they are in their careers.

 

[Rayman70]

Left Tackle is a much more pressing issue than many wanna admit. Left guard can be fixed instantly if we flip Connor Williams to RT and move Collins back to left guard. 2 HOLES FILLED and improved. Creates depth and saves us from drafting another guard or RT. We better take a hard look at replacing Tyron soon. He has a ton of miles on him and been banged up a lot.

 

[jterrell]

Its a deep draft this year so I could see that being the BPA at some spot. But I'm in the minority in that I think they will still have a deep group with Amari, Gallup and Cobb returning, then Devin Smith, Cedric Wilson, Noah Brown and JonVea Johnson competing for the 4th and 5th spots.

Right now Amari and Cobb are both free.
Everyone assumes Cobb is back but I am sure cost will play a role there.

The WR group put up lots of yards but also led the league in drops.
I think I'd like a Beasley-esque hands guy quite a lot in there as WR4 at least.
Unless you get that with an elite TE.

Cooper is tough. I am certain he wasn't right last year physically and that probably wore on him to point he wasn't right mentally.
Looks like his agent's kick the can gamble failed where others worked perfectly.
He probably should have taken a Zeke stance and gotten paid last off-season.

Spotrc says////
Market Value

• 5 yrs, $98,589,580
• Avg. Salary: $19,717,916
• NFL Rank: 24
• WR Rank: 2

I simply can't do that given his drops issue.

 

[Sarge]

We need some bad ***** on defense. Ones who want nothing to do with the Hotboyz label.

 

[Kaiser]

Spotrc says////
Market Value

• 5 yrs, $98,589,580
• Avg. Salary: $19,717,916
• NFL Rank: 24
• WR Rank: 2

I simply can't do that given his drops issue.

I think the issue with Amari was definitely physical, he didn't anywhere near the quickness he did in 2018. But that Spotrac number is an average and includes the 22MM given to Julio Jones. The benchmark will really be more like 15-18 Million and be backloaded just like Zeke's deal.

Amari's cap hit last year was 14MM, even if you give him 100 Million over 5 years the cap hit the first two years will probably be the same or lower than 14MM.

 

[conner01]

Amari and Tryon are staying, I think both are locks to stay and very likely to play better.

Conner Williams is better than OK, but if McGovern beats him out great. We will have six starting caliber OL next year and that's pretty rare in the NFL.

DT will be a FA who comes in after playing before in the McCarthy Mafia TM

Something to watch for at Safety is that Derwin James was projected to go in the top ten but dropped to the 17th spot in the draft for the Rams because safeties aren't usually drafted that high. Dallas drafts in that same spot at 17 and the same thing could happen this year.

TE is the real question mark, I have no idea which way they go.

This draft looks good to fix secondary
Creating more holes just makes it harder
I think Amari either gets signed or tagged
Dak gets signed
We go get a good quality FA at DT and draft 3 secondary guys
TE is a tough one, getting a mid or late TE and him producing is tough but we will have jarwin and Schultz

 

[Typhus]

Mike McCarthy is a good hire. He gives us a realistic chance to maximize the talent we have, but perhaps more importantly, he gives us the opportunity to have a fresh set of eyes to evaluate this team’s roster. This team needs a really good offseason to evaluate its talent and upgrade where needed.

One of the weaknesses of our organization the last two decades is too often having a rosy estimate of our talent. The best NFL GMs are willing and able to look at players critically and determine how much tread is on the tire of a player and their true value in a hard salary cap.

I’m of the opinion that most of us as fans, and sadly even the Jones power brokers, tend to overvalue our talent. That’s normal for fans. It’s not normal for a good front office.

With that in mind, here are some positions and roster spots (in no particular order) I believe need some real scrutiny:

• LT- Truly one of the 3 most important positions on a team includes LT. From 2011-2018, Tyron Smith was one of the best players in the NFL and perhaps even the best player on the Cowboys roster. But back and knee injuries have made Ty Smith a lot more human. We need to consider that his days as a top LT are winding down.

• Safety- a no brainer. We haven’t had great talent at this position for too long. It’s time for this team to invest in a premium draft pick at a long time position of need.

• DT- a close second to safety in obvious need. Another position where we have settled for mid-late round draft picks or cheap retreads. It’s past time to address this position early in the draft.

• WR- Amari Cooper is a great talent and he certainly helped this team for two years. But I don’t believe in investing huge cap space on a position that is one of the easiest to find talent. Michael Gallup’s emergence also makes giving huge cap dollars to Cooper less attractive. I favor moving on from him and saving some cash.

• LB- I still believe a healthy LVE is a great talent. I’m a little concerned about Jaylon after his big contract but he’s still certainly a talent. This team still needs LB talent. We should probably say goodbye to Sean Lee though. Love the guy and what he has meant to this team. But it’s better to cut a guy a year early than too late.
  
  
• Guard- I’m not convinced that Connor Williams is a starter. He’s ok at best. Maybe Connor Macgovern is an upgrade and Williams just becomes a decent backup. But this position needs to be addressed.
  
  
• TE- Jason Witten needs to go. He’s a HOFer but he’s done. We need another TE probably from the draft to complement the emergence of Blake Jarwin.

There are probably more positions of need not mentioned above. But it’s certainly clear this team needs upgrades at multiple positions. In general, I would say the defense has the most glaring needs. But I also hope Coach Mac is able to bring a more discerning eye on this roster. And that we can stop being married to a player too long because “we love them”.

LT - Honestly, one of the most neglected positions on this entire roster, and simply due to negligence, there is no way to sugar coat this, negligence, there is no other way around it.
Should we invest the 17 on a potential LT, IDK... will one worthy of being developed still be there?
I will get a better feel for this draft and the depth at positional groups in the coming weeks, but history suggests that taking a replacement LT at 17 usually ends in bust.
LTs, do not grow on trees, lets take a moment, and revisit this in a few weeks.

S - Lets just move it down,, as much as everyone wants to have a top safety, myself included, there has to be a draft staus/value, and I believe that MM will value this need, but I believe that he will do so lower on your evaluation priority list, and will reach out in FA to possibly fill that void,, Heath needs to be moves to Bill Bates, solely special teams number one gunner hit man.

DT - should be equal with LT on your list, and the only reason why I say this franchise should strike there first at 17 is only based on availability and risk vs reward.
You have a much higher chance of actually nabbing an impact interior DL at 17, historically speaking... so lets evaluate LT vs DL for this draft draft class and come back and discuss.. again its early, and I need a chance to really take a look at what will be on the board,, but those two seem to be of equal value at this point as far as immediate relevance, so lets see.

WR - Don't like were you have the need, but I do like the big enormous fast bests at WR in this draft and that's exactly why I move that down to the very last position of need, because I like playing the odds is a draft saturated with WRs. This draft is stacked with WRs, lets grab one with tremendous upside late.

LB - Again, I would move a few up my board, its a need pick, rather or not most fans want to admit it, we need LBrs, and I would be willing to bet that MM agrees.

G - FA pick ups all day long, we got a bit of cap, not much of a concern, don't waste draft picks even late on the position that wont make the team.

TE - The juggernaut, Is Jarwin that guy,, lets all hope he can be,, you got this positon in the right place only because rook TEs take a bit, and we have much more pressing needs,, TE last, if we have a pick to waste

 

[Kaiser]

I know right? Its so ironic that folks on here throw shade at us evaluating talent but Jerry Jones is qualified?

Its so ironic that Jerry Jones has a Hall of Fame jacket and most posters here have a $20 keyboard.

 

[kskboys]

Its so ironic that Jerry Jones has a Hall of Fame jacket and most posters here have a $20 keyboard.

Pay attention. Jerry got in the HOF for business contributions to the NFL. Makes your argument seriously inane.

 

[Kaiser]

TE is a tough one, getting a mid or late TE and him producing is tough but we will have jarwin and Schultz

Same, I really don't know what they will do. With Jarwin I don't think he would hold up as a blocker if he plays full time and if he does, it would increase the chances he gets injured. IMO he is in the perfect role as a TE2, trying to start him would weaken two spots.

 

[CyberB0b]

I think just having a different philosophy on defense will help. We're too weak up the middle on both sides of the ball.

 

[Kaiser]

Pay attention. Jerry got in the HOF for business contributions to the NFL. Makes your argument seriously inane.

I paid attention. Jerry has been making NFL front office decisions for 30 years. Jerry is Jerry but the keyboard warriors here wanted DLaw cut after calling him a bust.

"Inane" is people who have never met an NFL player outside a shopping mall pontificating that they know better.

 

[Sydla]

I paid attention. Jerry has been making NFL front office decisions for 30 years. Jerry is Jerry but the keyboard warriors here wanted DLaw cut after calling him a bust.

"Inane" is people who have never met an NFL player outside a shopping mall pontificating that they know better.

Just being GM for 30 years doesn't mean much. He won't fire himself.

23 of those years (in a row) of him making decisions have also resulted in a run where they have not sniffed a conference title game and have something like 5 playoff wins total................... People defending Jerry the GM are an interesting lot, for sure.