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Well I have said many times in the past that the one constant with this teams lack of post season success over the last many years is Jerry Jones. We have went through different systems, different players and different coaches over the years but Jerry has always been the constant and I guess if you wanted to argue it Stephen has been there as well. But IMO Stephen was probably not as pivotal in the past other than contracts. I think that has changed within the last few years.
Now I will also say that Jerry, on numerous occasions, has said that he has final say in everything. He has said, when he hired Parcells, that he can be outvoted at times but at the end of the day as the owner and GM he will always have final say even if he agrees with others.
So with all of that said, I am not sure Jerry was the real architect of this draft. Sure he has final say to sign off on it but I don't think he was the architect of this draft. I will give some thoughts and ideas of who I think were the real architects and why I think that way.
Prior to the draft someone was asking Jerry and Stephen some questions about trading picks and Stephen Jones said that they might have to put a straight jacket on Jerry to keep him from trading too much. Jerry laughed it off but also kind of agreed with it. In my mind they were not talking about trading down but more of trading up and losing picks.
However this is the first time I can recall off the top of my head where we traded completely out of the first and second rounds.
Although the WR Roy Williams trade does take into account of trading out of the 1st round I am mainly speaking about trades during the draft for some following thoughts.
Jerry is well known for being a major trader in the draft over the years yet we
We traded down in the 2nd with the bills, we traded down a few picks with the bucs and we traded up with the falcons. Just not as much trading from Jerry as we have grown to expect.
After the draft Jerry indicated that we were looking for ST players now who could eventually also turn into starters at positions. Jerry also said that they were looking at David Beuhler at Kicker prior to the draft.
Now another interesting thing was said during the post draft PC by Wade. They were talking about taking that Kicker as a Kickoff specialist. The interesting thing is he said that they did this with success with ST Joe D when Wade and Joe D were at other teams. Think about this for a moment.
Prior to Folk being drafted by the cowboys, which was a shock at the time, the cowboys rarely drafted kickers for years. The cowboys philosophy was not to draft kickers but just get some guys as UDFA or FA and develop them. We went through a good number of Kickers this way but rarely spent a decent draft pick on them. Not only that but when was the last time you heard Jerry or the cowboys actually carry two kickers with the express idea of carrying two kickers?
Yet here we are with them talking about looking at this guy prior to the draft, even with the thought of looking at him at going into the combine. This was not just some draft day idea here.
I don't think Jerry takes on this idea by himself. I think this is a Wade and coach Joe D idea all the way. To actually draft another kicker with the idea of carrying two kickers on the roster. Now I don't think Wade does this by himself. I think Coach D is a major player in this as well.
I will also mention on an Interview with norm on the ticket that Coach Joe D said...I am only as good as the players I have. Now this is a common thing for many coaches to say but just seemed like another thing to reinforce my thoughts here to go along with the idea of this draft and Coach D being a major part of the philosophy behind this draft.
I think Jerry has seen the terrible ST play we have had over the last many years and is finally persuaded that we need to improve this and I think since Coach Joe D has some skins on the wall concerning his success with STs at other stops, combined with Wade being in his corner...I think they persuade Jerry to do something that only a few short years ago you would never say Jerry do.
One could argue that we have seen Jerry draft for other ST players in the past and that is being brought up a great deal now. However I also think that at that time he did so without the idea of some of those players actually having a shot at turning into anything later, by that I mean I don't think they drafted those players with the idea of developing them into future starters...just straight backups.
This years players may or may not turn into anything down the road but I do think there is real potential there with the Cincy DBs and a couple of the LBs (whether it be at ILB or OLB) down the road. I also think they want to develop this players into future starters or contributors and not just ST players and backups.
Again the results may wind up being the same, but I really think the intent is otherwise.
A couple of others tidbits that kind of reinforce the idea that they see potential in these players and not just as backups. During an interview that norm did on the ticket with LB Coach Herring (sp?) It was quite clear the Coach was really pumped at what he thinks Jason Williams, Victor Butler and Brandon Williams can do for this team. He really was pumped and norm and the others on the ticket picked up on that. He really thinks these guys can wind up being very good players and not just in a ST team role. They just need time to develop.
Another tidbit is a Micky article where he points out that the scouts really like the job they did with these picks and he goes on to say that he could tell it was not a fake attempt at saying they are happy about it.
So I indeed think that the comparisons of a long ago draft to get backups and ST players is different because I don't think they got those players in the past to develop into starters or contributors.
However I can not take away that the point of taking lower drafted guys would not be a valid selling point to Jerry due to the current economic situation with the cowboys. They still have to worry about Ware's contract, they got dead money on the books and the last thing Jerry thought would happen with the stadium is the economy taking a turn to the point of not getting a good Company sponsor to pay big bucks for the naming rights of the top new stadium for one of the most visible team in all of sports.
That would also make it easier for him to be persuaded into this type of situation.
So in the end I am not sure that Jerry was the architect of this draft idea. I think it was more of a Wade and Coach D situation. I would also imagine a further selling point Wade might have used is that if we rely heavily on the idea of a run controlled offense (since we have let TO go and we have a heck of a backfield now) that ST play will be even more of a factor.
But at the end of the day although I think this was not a Jerry idea, like he has said many times...he has final say.
Just something to consider...that is if you could get this far in this long winded, rambling, grammar and punctuation error filled post.
Now I will also say that Jerry, on numerous occasions, has said that he has final say in everything. He has said, when he hired Parcells, that he can be outvoted at times but at the end of the day as the owner and GM he will always have final say even if he agrees with others.
So with all of that said, I am not sure Jerry was the real architect of this draft. Sure he has final say to sign off on it but I don't think he was the architect of this draft. I will give some thoughts and ideas of who I think were the real architects and why I think that way.
Prior to the draft someone was asking Jerry and Stephen some questions about trading picks and Stephen Jones said that they might have to put a straight jacket on Jerry to keep him from trading too much. Jerry laughed it off but also kind of agreed with it. In my mind they were not talking about trading down but more of trading up and losing picks.
However this is the first time I can recall off the top of my head where we traded completely out of the first and second rounds.
Although the WR Roy Williams trade does take into account of trading out of the 1st round I am mainly speaking about trades during the draft for some following thoughts.
Jerry is well known for being a major trader in the draft over the years yet we
We traded down in the 2nd with the bills, we traded down a few picks with the bucs and we traded up with the falcons. Just not as much trading from Jerry as we have grown to expect.
After the draft Jerry indicated that we were looking for ST players now who could eventually also turn into starters at positions. Jerry also said that they were looking at David Beuhler at Kicker prior to the draft.
Now another interesting thing was said during the post draft PC by Wade. They were talking about taking that Kicker as a Kickoff specialist. The interesting thing is he said that they did this with success with ST Joe D when Wade and Joe D were at other teams. Think about this for a moment.
Prior to Folk being drafted by the cowboys, which was a shock at the time, the cowboys rarely drafted kickers for years. The cowboys philosophy was not to draft kickers but just get some guys as UDFA or FA and develop them. We went through a good number of Kickers this way but rarely spent a decent draft pick on them. Not only that but when was the last time you heard Jerry or the cowboys actually carry two kickers with the express idea of carrying two kickers?
Yet here we are with them talking about looking at this guy prior to the draft, even with the thought of looking at him at going into the combine. This was not just some draft day idea here.
I don't think Jerry takes on this idea by himself. I think this is a Wade and coach Joe D idea all the way. To actually draft another kicker with the idea of carrying two kickers on the roster. Now I don't think Wade does this by himself. I think Coach D is a major player in this as well.
I will also mention on an Interview with norm on the ticket that Coach Joe D said...I am only as good as the players I have. Now this is a common thing for many coaches to say but just seemed like another thing to reinforce my thoughts here to go along with the idea of this draft and Coach D being a major part of the philosophy behind this draft.
I think Jerry has seen the terrible ST play we have had over the last many years and is finally persuaded that we need to improve this and I think since Coach Joe D has some skins on the wall concerning his success with STs at other stops, combined with Wade being in his corner...I think they persuade Jerry to do something that only a few short years ago you would never say Jerry do.
One could argue that we have seen Jerry draft for other ST players in the past and that is being brought up a great deal now. However I also think that at that time he did so without the idea of some of those players actually having a shot at turning into anything later, by that I mean I don't think they drafted those players with the idea of developing them into future starters...just straight backups.
This years players may or may not turn into anything down the road but I do think there is real potential there with the Cincy DBs and a couple of the LBs (whether it be at ILB or OLB) down the road. I also think they want to develop this players into future starters or contributors and not just ST players and backups.
Again the results may wind up being the same, but I really think the intent is otherwise.
A couple of others tidbits that kind of reinforce the idea that they see potential in these players and not just as backups. During an interview that norm did on the ticket with LB Coach Herring (sp?) It was quite clear the Coach was really pumped at what he thinks Jason Williams, Victor Butler and Brandon Williams can do for this team. He really was pumped and norm and the others on the ticket picked up on that. He really thinks these guys can wind up being very good players and not just in a ST team role. They just need time to develop.
Another tidbit is a Micky article where he points out that the scouts really like the job they did with these picks and he goes on to say that he could tell it was not a fake attempt at saying they are happy about it.
So I indeed think that the comparisons of a long ago draft to get backups and ST players is different because I don't think they got those players in the past to develop into starters or contributors.
However I can not take away that the point of taking lower drafted guys would not be a valid selling point to Jerry due to the current economic situation with the cowboys. They still have to worry about Ware's contract, they got dead money on the books and the last thing Jerry thought would happen with the stadium is the economy taking a turn to the point of not getting a good Company sponsor to pay big bucks for the naming rights of the top new stadium for one of the most visible team in all of sports.
That would also make it easier for him to be persuaded into this type of situation.
So in the end I am not sure that Jerry was the architect of this draft idea. I think it was more of a Wade and Coach D situation. I would also imagine a further selling point Wade might have used is that if we rely heavily on the idea of a run controlled offense (since we have let TO go and we have a heck of a backfield now) that ST play will be even more of a factor.
But at the end of the day although I think this was not a Jerry idea, like he has said many times...he has final say.
Just something to consider...that is if you could get this far in this long winded, rambling, grammar and punctuation error filled post.
