Jones: Romo Asked For Help Along O-line

[Outlaw Heroes]

"The idea was Tony always told me, he said 'Now Jerry, I can see the right tackle and I can make that guy miss me if the right tackle doesn’t get his block. But he said I got to have protection on my blindside … I need to feel like we’re not getting pushed around, we’re soft in the middle. That really does influence me in terms of how much I can stand in there, how quickly I can spin and turn out, so to speak,'" Jones said Tuesday.

Assuming this can be believed, it offers a big clue as to Zack Martin's future: he'll be staying inside, where he helps ensure the middle of the pocket stays firm, rather than being moved to RT, where it appears that Romo, and therefore Jerry (and therefore Garrett?), is happy to have JAG.

 

[Yakuza Rich]

Yet another "Something good has happened to the Cowboys, so do not give Jerry any credit!" article, but when things are bad, "It's all Jerry's fault!" articles.

I’ve felt it was a collective effort with the draft because…well…I’ve been saying that the draft is a collective effort between Jerry, the coaches and the scouts for quite some time. Even when the drafts didn’t go the way we had hoped. And I have also said this for a long time…the idea of ‘having an eye for talent’ is greatly overblown when it comes to the draft. ‘Good Drafting’ comes down to the coaching staff’s ability to develop talent. The other important parts are staying away from problem players and finding the right mesh of skill sets. It’s not a coincidence that most of the teams considered to be ‘great drafters’ usually stockpile picks instead of trading them away.


The narrative of the GM makes all of the decisions with no real input is more appealing though. And so is the “Jerry is the evil, bumbling owner that can’t do anything right” narrative as well.
But it really comes down to the draft grades from team to team being so similar that coaching and getting a little lucky with health is what really determines the quality of the draft.


Jerry deserves credit, but he should not have shouldered as much of the blame as he has to begin with.



YR

 

[BrAinPaiNt]

I buy this one, though. The year we drafted Frederick was right after we extended Tony. We'd reportedly been looking at up to five interior OLs in that first round, and Frederick was the last of them. When we traded down, it was because we thought it was a safe bet that one of the OLs would be there, and that's why we were pretty comfortable with that perceived reach when the time came to make the pick. It sure felt to me like something that Jerry had committed to in his negotiation. I think I even may have mentioned it as one of my conspiracy theories when it happened. It's part of why I was ok with the pick, even though it represented an obvious reach when we took him.

This was also around the same time that Jones started using the "Romo Friendly" mantra in multiple interviews.

 

[conner01]

If Romo would take a $10M/yr pay cut, we could go out and get two more really good OL. Which, you know, would probably help the team out a lot. But, I guess the desire for victory gets trumped by greed sometimes.

Not just Romo, I think all QBs in the league are way overpaid and they all should accept less if they really wanted a ring. My .02.

romo is far from being over paid or greddy. he could have gotten more money on the open market and we don't need two more oline guys. we just need a rt or sign one of the ones we have.i suspect we take a tackle at some point in this draft and sign one of ours too

 

[Staubacher]

Romo is da man. He knows his football and knows what is best for his team. Even defensively he said that Tyrone Crawford was gonna ball this year.

And give Jerrah credit for a number of things that everyone disagreed with to some extent or another. Some examples:

-Locking down Romo long term and always standing by him (except for the Manziel crush lol)
-Sticking with Garrett through the tough times
-Touting Leary as a big part of our OL future when everyone doubted him
-Drafting and sticking w Dez and allowing him to develop and mature
-Agreeing with the other coaches and mgmt on key controversial draft picks even when he had his doubts (ie Frederick, Martin, etc)

 

[ufcrules1]

but I'm not too proud to admit that some of Jerry's decisions have panned out. It's easy to stop and point out every \

Of course some of the decisions Jerry has made have panned out. The odds alone favor that. He can't screw up every single thing he touches. I agree with you about wanting a true GM but Jerry is too much of an ego maniac for that to happen. This team could have been built from the trenches a long time ago. Why did it just start happening? A very small amount of Jerry's decisions have panned out but a vast.. and I mean vast amount of them have not.

 

[dragon_mikal]

If Romo would take a $10M/yr pay cut, we could go out and get two more really good OL. Which, you know, would probably help the team out a lot. But, I guess the desire for victory gets trumped by greed sometimes.

Not just Romo, I think all QBs in the league are way overpaid and they all should accept less if they really wanted a ring. My .02.

 

[Tusan_Homichi]

I still have trouble understanding why we weren't in the market for offensive linemen at the top of the draft long before. I was dumbfounded as I know many other fans were as well. Romo was getting abused constantly. We lost him to injuries several times before they started taking it seriously. When we started making moves in the first round for OL candidates, I was relieved but reluctant to believe we would follow through. Now that it's complete, All I can say is.... "What took you so long?!!"

I'd have to find the quote, but I'm fairly certain that in the past Jerry has said that we could save money on the offensive line because Romo is so elusive. I'll see if I can find it.

Anyway, seeing as how that was his opinion in the past, it makes sense that it took this long. I'm just surprised someone in the organization didn't slap him upside the head when he said it originally.

Edit: This isn't the exact quote I was thinking of, but it's him expressing similar thoughts:

http://cowboysblog.***BANNED-URL***...romo-can-handle-a-porous-offensive-line.html/

 

[rcaldw]

Where does anybody get the idea that Romo was "begging" for OL help from reading that article? As its written it sounds like basic talk that any QB might have with his coaches or GM in a general way.

I dont see it as any slight on Jerry the GM. Or a slight on the 3 yr plan part of the Process. Its just something you would expect a QB to say, especially if asked by Jerry or anyone else.

Reading this thread, some posting make it sound like Romo is the only guy at VR that knows the importance of having a good OL.

The one beef I have with media surrounding the Cowboys is that they don't report stories they try to create stories. Guess what, I WAS BEGGING FOR AN OFFENSIVE LINE. Gonna give me credit too? Who DIDN'T know they needed an offensive line? As Theogt already pointed out, it had to be EXECUTED. They have gotten it done. Now we get to enjoy it.

 

[Plankton]

I don't care who asked for it, or pulled the trigger. I just care that it was done.

 

[tyke1doe]

Oh I'm not disagreeing with the idea that Tony asked for help on the offensive line. Then again, every quarterback asks for positional help when the team is lacking. For example, Aikman asked for tight-end help when Novacek retired. It's quite likely that Peyton Manning asked for defensive help after last season.

I've also said for years now that for a team to be good, it needs to build from the trenches out. I've even said I'd take a team with average receivers and running backs if I could have a solid offensive and defensive line.

I just find it funny that rather than the article being solely about "Romo asking for help", the writer has to take the "Don't give Jerry credit!" angle as a lead-in, and as such, the primary premise for the article.

I've been on record many times about not being a Jerry-the-GM fan (I still wish we would hire a real GM even now), but I'm not too proud to admit that some of Jerry's decisions have panned out. It's easy to stop and point out every mistake Jerry's made in the last 20 years, but given the great season the Cowboys have had so far, it's hard to understand why the media can't just give Jerry a little break and a little pat on the back for now. The moment may not last long and then the world can return to Jerry-bashing when that happens.

Good, fair, even-handed post.

 

[BigStar]

"The idea was Tony always told me, he said 'Now Jerry, I can see the right tackle and I can make that guy miss me if the right tackle doesn’t get his block. But he said I got to have protection on my blindside … I need to feel like we’re not getting pushed around, we’re soft in the middle. That really does influence me in terms of how much I can stand in there, how quickly I can spin and turn out, so to speak,'" Jones said Tuesday. "So there’s no question we’ve been wanting to get Tony confident in what his offensive line is about."

So this is why Free was restructured? Yikes

Happy with the OL of course, but TR had to really tell you that (JG? = too easy)

 

[DandyDon1722]

The specter of the Quincy Carter draft moment will forever hang over Jerry's football image regardless of how many good decisions he makes.

Not fair certainly - but virtually unshakeable.

 

[DallasInDC]

The way I see it, just like winning the SB is a team effort (and not just the QBs to win or lose), so is talent acquisition. Jerry, like all other gm's doesn't make personnel decisions in a vacuum. It includes input from the scouts, the coaches and when you have a franchise QB, their input usually matters as well. The results are usually tied to the quality of all the inputs and how in synch the group is with each other and the needs of the team. A good GM should be able to take that information and make well informed decision even when it is counter to his own intuition/desire.

This is why I do not understand all of the arguments about who built the dynasty - Jimmy or Jerry - they both did together with the rest of the coaches and scouts. Same with the JJ/JG arguments now. It amazes me how people can't think beyond a singular cause and result.

 

[Austin 3-16]

If Romo would take a $10M/yr pay cut, we could go out and get two more really good OL. Which, you know, would probably help the team out a lot. But, I guess the desire for victory gets trumped by greed sometimes.

Not just Romo, I think all QBs in the league are way overpaid and they all should accept less if they really wanted a ring. My .02.

A highest paid super model wife would help.

 

[TellerMorrow34]

It's pretty obvious Romo had to point this out at some point.

I seem to remember a few years ago how Jerry said something to the effect that they weren't needing to use picks on O-Lineman, especially high ones, because Romo made the ones he had look good already and that was enough.

Glad to see Romo, or Garrett, or both, or whoever all it took got Jerry to finally pay attention.

 

[DOUBLE WING]

The sudden focus on reconstructing a top-flight offensive line wasn't all Jerry Jones' idea. Tony Romo had a hand in it, too.

We need to kind of accept the fact that we lucked into this offensive line. I don't really care, I mean, I'm glad we have it, but this wasn't some grand plan by the organization. Anyone who saw Garrett sulking in the war room when we didn't get Sharrif Floyd (and I remember Birddog saying Garrett also wanted Eifert), or heard Jerry gushing over Manziel (hey, I wanted him too) and how he had to be pried away from pulling the trigger on picking him can attest to that.

 

[burmafrd]

What makes this all so absolutely stupid is that Jerruh was an All American Guard at Arkansas.

Of ALL people he should understand the value of a top O line.

 

[Plankton]

What makes this all so absolutely stupid is that Jerruh was an All American Guard at Arkansas.

Of ALL people he should understand the value of a top O line.

Jones played guard, but he wasn't an All-American.

 

[burmafrd]

Jones played guard, but he wasn't an All-American.

thought he was; oh well. Still he should know better

 

[DallasInDC]

Jones played guard, but he wasn't an All-American.

He was a team captain on a national championship team.....I think the point of the poster is still relevant even if he wasn't an all-pro