Kiper's grades

[ufcrules1]

That is the problem. What you feel we need and how the front office is running this team are different.

Yeah, they are different alright. What the "front office" has done for 17 years now is given us pathetic results and hacked up many drafts. That doesn't stop the homers from thinking they are wonderful though. Some fans just can't take enough abuse, they want more and more.

 

[ufcrules1]

Safety. More OL. DL depth and youth.

All more important than another TE, another WR and another CB.

Excellent spot on post.

 

[ufcrules1]

Ratliff 31 (32 in August), Hatcher 30 (31 in July), Ware 30 (31 in July), Spencer 29.

So by seasons start, Ratliff will be 32, Hatcher 31, and Ware 31. 3 of the 4 starting DL.

Another excellent post. And how well did our dline do last year?

 

[Risen Star]

Another excellent post. And how well did our dline do last year?

You need a visionary at GM. We have a reactionary GM. He'll attempt to fix the DL once it's woefully obvious on the field that it's a mess.

 

[anj113]

Everybody knows you can't grade an NFL draft on performance the day it ends. You can't do it for years, which is part of the reason why I audit old drafts. What I do here is assess three main things:

• How much overall talent did a team add based on board position?
• How effectively did they address key personnel needs?
• How efficient were they in maneuvering on the draft board?

And I use my player grades as the prism. I'm well aware all NFL teams see players differently -- I might have a third-round grade on a safety many teams see as a late-round pick. That's the reality of player evaluations.

Grading Scale: In my mind an "A" means it's exceptional; a "B" is pretty good; a "C" means average, with hits and misses; a "D" means below average with some big questions. An "F" … well, I didn't have one.


Dallas Cowboys

Needs: B
Value: C-
Overall: C+

Summary: I'm pretty sure I described the Dallas draft as "a little all over the place" when I was asked about it midway through. But looking at all the picks together, I'll tell you it certainly improved in my eyes as we got into the later rounds. I was a little critical of the first-round pick, just because the Cowboys drafted a player I thought they could have taken at least 30 spots later. <A href="http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/_/id/15793/travis-frederick">Travis Frederick was my 87th-ranked player. And yet they should get credit because he'll be a starter at a position where they were a total mess in 2013. <A href="http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/_/id/15836/gavin-escobar">Gavin Escobar is a good tight end and a great catcher of the football, and he can learn from Jason Witten, but Witten can still play. Similar story with Terrence Williams, an extremely productive wideout for Baylor, who offers depth with the potential to start. Now, those are players I like, but taking two pass-catchers without addressing safety or an aging defensive line seemed really odd to me. Then it got better. J.J. Wilcox has the potential to become a starter and was my No. 5-ranked safety. B.W. Webb is also a prospect at corner out of William & Mary. My concern with both of those picks is the jump in competition, so they'll need seasoning. Randle is a get at a need position late. The Cowboys made some good picks, but no help on the defensive line or depth at tackle out of this draft is disappointing.

http://insider.espn.go.com/nfl/draf...t-mel-kiper-gives-grades-every-nfl-team-draft

I dont get why this team cannot draft a quality safety. We have not had one since Woodson. Its a huge hole this team fails miserably at trying to fill. Hey but lets draft a TE, yeah thats what we needed with our 2nd pick

 

[anj113]

If we don't see a lot of "13" personnel packages, then Escobar was a luxury pick.

This team is NOWHERE good enough to waste 2nd picks on luxury picks. That is NOT how to build a successful team

If thats what you meant, hope I didnt misunderstand you, if I did than I apologize

 

[5Stars]

You need a visionary at GM. We have a reactionary GM. He'll attempt to fix the DL once it's woefully obvious on the field that it's a mess.

It's woefully obvious that you have not seen the NEW DL this year. Nobody has as of yet. You saw last years DL, but not this years, so once again, you speak in absolutes as if you are the see all know all.

Guess what? You not...

 

[jterrell]

We spent a 2nd round pick on a TE for the 3rd time in 7 years, Jerry doesn't get it

So Jerry should ignore the scouting board and avoid all TE?

I don;t like the pick either but if the player is BPA you take them there. Witten is old and Hanna was a late pick. We don't have a 3rd TE at all. If this kid is a future Pro Bowler this is bad pick?


Our FB just had back surgery. Yes our 1 FB. You can;t run a lot of 2 TE sets with 2 TE on the roster.

Think a guy 6'6" with soft hands might be hard to cover?

 

[jterrell]

This team is NOWHERE good enough to waste 2nd picks on luxury picks. That is NOT how to build a successful team

If thats what you meant, hope I didnt misunderstand you, if I did than I apologize

So you reach for need and take guys at positions that fit but can't help you anyways?

Can you imagine how sickening it would have been to select a safety in round 2 and then have that player not start?

You gotta trust the scouts. They rated this kid a top 25 player in this draft.

Dallas scouts feel this guy can add weight which will help block and will maintain his naturally soft hands.

 

[wileedog]

That is the problem. What you feel we need and how the front office is running this team are different.

The front office hasn't won anything in 17 years. This draft was more of the same. Hence my problem.

For example, we feel good about our DL corp hence no picks there,

More of the same problem.

how we want to run our offense going forward warranted another pass catching TE,

I question the fact that we decided we were going to mimic the Patriot 12 offense before or after Jerry found out we could draft Escobar. We certainly could have done better with Eifert at 18 if the plan was to transform our offense to more 2 TE sets if that was the plan going in. This sounds like rationalization for the pick after the fact, especially considering that we already drafted a similar player in Hanna last year, and our HC/OC has shown no real inclination or ability to run a 2 TE offense effectively lately.

we went WR because of Austin's contract and uneasy feel about one of the backups starting,

Really? With Romo running for his life just about every pass play Austin's contract is our big concern? With no viable proven NFL safety on the roster at all we have to start thinking about the future at #2 WR now?

Jenkins is no longer here - in a pass happy league you can never have to many good CB's and so on.

But apparently in the same pass happy league safety is a position you only draft 4th round small school projects who have 1 year playing actual defense in their entire career. You know there are some other guys running around in the backfield besides corners, right?

 

[wileedog]

Can you imagine how sickening it would have been to select a safety in round 2 and then have that player not start? .

Explain to me how that is worse than drafting a 4th round safety project, who you know with some certainty will NOT start, when there is not another proven starting NFL safety on the roster? At. All. Just so you can have another guy who is an awful lot like the guy you drafted last year in Hanna on the roster.

 

[jazzcat22]

8-8 teams usually have 8-8 drafts.

No they don't...explain the 2-14 Rams winning the SB the next year...

 

[Keystone_Heavy]

8-8 teams usually have 8-8 drafts.

If this were true, wouldn't the exact same teams go 8-8 every year?

 

[Deep_Freeze]

Explain to me how that is worse than drafting a 4th round safety project in the 4th, who you know with some certainty will NOT start, when there is not another proven starting NFL safety on the roster? At. All. Just so you can have another guy who is an awful lot like the guy you drafted last year in Hanna on the roster.

Well I have beat the drum at safety for a while, but the draft is different, you can't just reach for positions cause your drafts will just plain stink. You have to look at BPA according to grades when you pick, and if a safety didn't make the grade, then he shouldn't have been picked.

The draft is about talent acquisition, not filling needs, and you seem to want them to have a need based draft which has caused us to massively fail in the draft in the past. You fill needs in FA, not the draft....and thats where we should've gotten a starting safety if we wanted one.