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Jerry Jones: Why the Cowboys draft iffy players, the 'beauty' of signing Greg Hardy
Jerry Jones: Why the Cowboys draft iffy players, the 'beauty' of signing Greg Hardy | SportsDay
Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones recently sat down with Bleacher Report to talk all things NFL, Cowboys and Greg Hardy. Below are some highlights:
On the risk vs. reward with Ezekiel Elliott:
"Well, the fact that he's a rookie--albeit an accomplished one--but getting him acclimated and having high expectations of his production has some iffiness to it. I'll be the first to admit that. On the other hand, his skills are outstanding. It's arguably the most impressive thing. The staff at Ohio State will tell you that. He's an outstanding running back. He's an instinctive receiver. He's as instinctive as you could imagine as a blocker.
"It's like [former Cowboys fullback] Daryl Johnston. With Daryl, it wasn't the guy he was supposed to get, but it's the one that would appear when he wasn't supposed to. He had the instincts to pick up that guy first because if he took the guy he was supposed to get, that guy would have made the tackle. So there are instincts in blocking. [Elliott] has that, and he has real good instincts relative to route running. ... [I see] his talent being the juiciest unknown and a way to really add a level that his talent would allow you to have."
Was signing Randy Gregory a good call?
"Gregory would have been a bonus. We were aware of Gregory's iffiness at the end of last season. I look at him as a bonus that is looking diminished right now. We didn't alter our approach in any way with him. There are issues you read about in the program that he has to address, and he has done that. So we can [draft] the Gregorys because of the core character base we have on our team. I've had teams where we certainly had some behavioral issues and won big. ... But with Gregory and Hardy, we had too much at one position. That will give you a concern. ... That really can create some scrutiny and some critiquing and some second-guessing even on our part when it really happens at one position as it did last year with Gregory and [Greg] Hardy as right ends, rush ends.
The 'beauty' of Greg Hardy
"Really, our contract with Hardy last year was a thing of beauty relative to structuring to getting him at the values and getting him, period. I do recognize the criticism...was more than we expected because of the pictures and things like that, and his approach to things was more than we had anticipated. And don't misunderstand my statement. We abhor domestic violence and are in no way making a statement there, but what we are doing is trying to put a team together within the rules."
Should the Cowboys have cut Hardy earlier in the season?
"Well, if I had had a crystal ball and known we were not going to get [Tony] Romo back and only win four games...in hindsight, there's a lot to consider here. And I think it had a lot to do with the success Hardy had. Had we been a team that was contending, had we been a team that was in the Super Bowl hunt, you might have had a little more success with Hardy. ... He has a lot of ability, but the results for our defense certainly exacerbated the criticism of the decision to bring him on."...
Jerry Jones: Why the Cowboys draft iffy players, the 'beauty' of signing Greg Hardy | SportsDay
Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones recently sat down with Bleacher Report to talk all things NFL, Cowboys and Greg Hardy. Below are some highlights:
On the risk vs. reward with Ezekiel Elliott:
"Well, the fact that he's a rookie--albeit an accomplished one--but getting him acclimated and having high expectations of his production has some iffiness to it. I'll be the first to admit that. On the other hand, his skills are outstanding. It's arguably the most impressive thing. The staff at Ohio State will tell you that. He's an outstanding running back. He's an instinctive receiver. He's as instinctive as you could imagine as a blocker.
"It's like [former Cowboys fullback] Daryl Johnston. With Daryl, it wasn't the guy he was supposed to get, but it's the one that would appear when he wasn't supposed to. He had the instincts to pick up that guy first because if he took the guy he was supposed to get, that guy would have made the tackle. So there are instincts in blocking. [Elliott] has that, and he has real good instincts relative to route running. ... [I see] his talent being the juiciest unknown and a way to really add a level that his talent would allow you to have."
Was signing Randy Gregory a good call?
"Gregory would have been a bonus. We were aware of Gregory's iffiness at the end of last season. I look at him as a bonus that is looking diminished right now. We didn't alter our approach in any way with him. There are issues you read about in the program that he has to address, and he has done that. So we can [draft] the Gregorys because of the core character base we have on our team. I've had teams where we certainly had some behavioral issues and won big. ... But with Gregory and Hardy, we had too much at one position. That will give you a concern. ... That really can create some scrutiny and some critiquing and some second-guessing even on our part when it really happens at one position as it did last year with Gregory and [Greg] Hardy as right ends, rush ends.
The 'beauty' of Greg Hardy
"Really, our contract with Hardy last year was a thing of beauty relative to structuring to getting him at the values and getting him, period. I do recognize the criticism...was more than we expected because of the pictures and things like that, and his approach to things was more than we had anticipated. And don't misunderstand my statement. We abhor domestic violence and are in no way making a statement there, but what we are doing is trying to put a team together within the rules."
Should the Cowboys have cut Hardy earlier in the season?
"Well, if I had had a crystal ball and known we were not going to get [Tony] Romo back and only win four games...in hindsight, there's a lot to consider here. And I think it had a lot to do with the success Hardy had. Had we been a team that was contending, had we been a team that was in the Super Bowl hunt, you might have had a little more success with Hardy. ... He has a lot of ability, but the results for our defense certainly exacerbated the criticism of the decision to bring him on."...