Looking at this years draft picks

[burmafrd]

It does kind of seem that we did not quite strike gold, unlike last years.
Fasano seems like a good value at #2; Hatcher at #3 Ditto. And it does look like McQ could be a real find in the 7th. Whitley - IR- so nothing either way.
BUT
Green
Watkins
Carpenter
have to say that they have been disapointments. Carpenter is the closest to being OK, considering how stacked we are at LB.
We got Montavious back, so maybe that will turn out OK.
Green- just plain bad pick.
Watkins- still hoping but the signs are not good.

 

[CactusCowboy]

It does kind of seem that we did not quite strike gold, unlike last years.
Fasano seems like a good value at #2; Hatcher at #3 Ditto. And it does look like McQ could be a real find in the 7th. Whitley - IR- so nothing either way.
BUT
Green
Watkins
Carpenter
have to say that they have been disapointments. Carpenter is the closest to being OK, considering how stacked we are at LB.
We got Montavious back, so maybe that will turn out OK.
Green- just plain bad pick.
Watkins- still hoping but the signs are not good.

Not a great draft. It happens to all teams. Hopefully next year will be better.

 

[sago1]

Don't understand why some of you haven't learned that it take time for some players to come on. We got Watkins in the 5th round for pete's sake so already he's not good cause he's not a starter; give this kid some type to adjust to the NFL & its speed. He'll also gain a lot in our offseason weight conditioning program.

Was glad to got Stanley back and apparently Parcells likes the improvement he has seen. But Stanley was a 6th rounder and it takes a while for guy to be able to play the 2 gap NT we require in our 3-4 defense. Again, like Watkins he needs build himself up which he will get in our offseasonw eight conditioning program.

The same program I mentioned above will also do a lot for Carpenter, Fasano and Hatcher. I think Hatcher is really coming along well and could easily make a lot of noise next year--maybe even we think this year.

Carpenter is beginning to play more aggressively which apparently was part of his problem along with adding more moves, etc. Give him a break. We just too eager to be the first to jump on these guys when they don't fit our schedule of production.

I think maybe we need start a fund which everybody must contribute to if they call a player a bust and then within 2 years he becomes the player for us that we hoped.

 

[MONT17]

Jerry could have made this draft!!! Day 1 picks have to play and contribute more than what we have been getting.... Basicly we used our first 2 picks on Back ups!

If it wasnt for ROMOs play this draft class would be getting ripped to no end!!!

 

[conner01]

forgive me for wanting to see a guy play more than 3 or 4 games before i deem him a bust.newman and james would both be gone if the real nfl people thought like that

 

[CrazyCowboy]

Yea, after last year.....I believe we got a little greedy......it is hard to hit on all picks.

Hey, remember.....we got ROMO as a FA.....THAT MAKES UP FOR LAST YEARS CLASS!

 

[SupermanXx]

Cowboys to make Hoyte highest-paid player
by Aaron Richards

Dallas - Dallas Cowboys fullback Oliver Hoyte's contract talks with team owner Jerry Jones are nearing a close as we approach the weekend. Hoyte is expected to become the highest paid player on the team. Preliminary reports have the contract at 5 years, $60 million with a $15 million signing bonus. More details to follow...

 

[Dcowboy84]

I think the guy who has been labeled a disappointment that is WAY to early to call on is Watkins.

There's a few points on him that have to be remembered.

When he was starting i swear that i always saw him close to the ball when a play was over, whether he made the tackle, or was coming up for support, etc. Biggest example was the fumble recovery against Tennessee. IMO that is a very important quality for a FS, always be around the play.

Everyone who whines about him talks about him not making plays on the ball. While this is true, what has become more and more overlooked is that HE WAS IN POSITION TO MAKE A PLAY!! That's more than we can say about every other FS we've had. We've all seen Keith chasing the play, always catching up and getting there too late (Shockey's TD).

What has also been forgotten: How many deep passes against Watkins have we seen in the games since he's been back in the lineup. None...so how do we know what his reaction and ability to make a play on the ball is now?

Parcells said he was working very hard in practice and knew he had to work his way back onto the field. And he's said in press conferences that Watkins will get more playing time.

Point of this long post is that there is the chance he already has fixed his issues, and could be our answer, and we just haven't had a chance to see him do it.

Now he also could be the same player who was benched, but the main point is that WE DON'T KNOW.

Let's save judgement on him for now, until we see him get tested and how he responds.

It may be just me, but i think he will be our future and be a great FS for us.

 

[cowboys#1]

Cowboys to make Hoyte highest-paid player
by Aaron Richards

Dallas - Dallas Cowboys fullback Oliver Hoyte's contract talks with team owner Jerry Jones are nearing a close as we approach the weekend. Hoyte is expected to become the highest paid player on the team. Preliminary reports have the contract at 5 years, $60 million with a $15 million signing bonus. More details to follow...

uhhhh, you have to be joking....

 

[ghst187]

LOL sago1. nice post.

We were all calling Bradie James a bust until well into his third season. I expect Carpenter to get it figured out. He has pro-football in his blood, just like MBIII (who I think some were also calling a bust when he was injured early his first year) and he has the physical tools.

Fasano was a decent pick, nothing spectacular, but solid. He's contributing. I don't think he'll ever be Jason Witten, but I think he'll continue to get better.
I LOVE Hatcher. I think he was a solid pick. He may end up being closer to a Willie McGuinnest than Spears or Canty. Hatcher can really rush the passer, which I think is probably a little harder to learn than how to play the run. If he can learn to play the run, Spears will see the pine.
I think its safe to say Watkins was a wasted pick. I liked the pick at the time, thought he would do well for us on STs. I saw him up close at the Houston game returning punts, he looked awful. He just didn't look natural.
I liked the Stanley pick a lot too. I'm glad we got him back. Its good to hear that he's coming around. I hope that continues because getting a decent backup and eventual replacement at the NT position is vital. I can't imagine its all that difficult to learn how to plug up the middle, its more a matter of just being able to do it. If Stanley is our long-term answer at NT, then we save some cap money/draft pick next offseason.
I LOVED the Pat Watkins pick. I still tend to think he'll come around. We need him to. It'd be nice if Parrish lights it up though too and Watkins can get another year to learn. I still believe in Pat longterm.
McQ will turn out to be a steal if he sees any playing time at LT and the steal of a decade if he turns out to be a quality starter at some point. You just don't get quality, starting LTs in the 6th or 7th rounds....at least not very often. Whitley should replace Al Johnson, whom I see as being gone this offseason. Whitley can play C or G which is huge for BP. If Whitley turns out to be reliable at all as a backup...then we got good value.

Who we REALLY need to step up over the course of the next year:
FS Watkins
LB Carpenter
NT Stanley

I think Hatch and Fasano are going to be fine.

I think it was a solid, not spectacular draft for us. I think it'll take another season before we see the kind of returns on this year's picks that we expect. What we have to remember is that we are a very talented team with a deep roster, which is new for us after suffering for a decade. That makes it a lot harder for rookies to get PT and harder for them to stand-out. Take for example Shanle and Fujita...they are all-stars for New Orleans (mostly by relative standards to the rest of their defense) but they would not have seen much time here, if any.
We'd all like to see drafts like some of toilet franchises get every year, but they draft in the top 10 or 5 year after year. Harder to get stellar drafts when you pick late in every round.

 

[Hostile]

I am still very happy with our Draft Picks. I think in 2 years we'll be looking back and saying it was a good draft.

 

[Dcowboy84]

I am still very happy with our Draft Picks. I think in 2 years we'll be looking back and saying it was a good draft.

Great point, and isn't it said that you have to wait for like 3-4 years before you can really grade a draft class?

 

[JPM]

Great point, and isn't it said that you have to wait for like 3-4 years before you can really grade a draft class?

3-4 years ??? 10 games into their rookie seasons MAX. If they are not playing great then they are busts.....

 

[burmafrd]

Green frankly is a bust. Watkins is looking like one since he does not seem to be able to make plays; hopefully that will change- but usually DB's show ability early.

 

[Phrozen Phil]

I am still very happy with our Draft Picks. I think in 2 years we'll be looking back and saying it was a good draft.

Agreed. I'm getting the sense that if a draft pick doesn't have a pro-bowl season right out of the gate by posters on this board, then he's a "wasted pick". Carpenter's case may be the best one to examine. Ellis's conversion to LB was a surprise and a success that few people expected. A position that was considered an area of concern was addresssed through free agency and through the draft, resulting in depth in a league where gaining depth is a bit of a rarity. The improvement resulted in two LB's moving on (Shanle and Fujita) who are starting for a much-improved New Orleans team.

Carpenter was and still is a rookie on a team with quality experience at LB. Parcells experimented with him in the inside, an area which was not his strong suit, and has only used him in recent times on the outside since Ellis's injury. Perhaps we should be just a tad more patient with the development of this young man and with the other players. As noted by multiple posters, both on this thread and others, Bradie James was getting little or no respect on this board not so long ago. He is now a veteran leader of a highly ranked and respected defence.

One thing that has not gotten much ink is that other teams have had to play well against this defence. The Giants actually "played their game" to a reasonable level (sorry, Mr Shockey) and got decent yards. The fact that the Cowboys won the game can be attributed to good, solid, team play on both sides of the ball. Count me as one of the people that believes that the Cowboy's draft approach is working and that it will continue to pay off in terms of wins. Bobby Carpenter will contribute in due course.

 

[alancdc]

forgive me for wanting to see a guy play more than 3 or 4 games before i deem him a bust.newman and james would both be gone if the real nfl people thought like that

Agree with this totally. I think Watkins and Carp will be solid NFL players. Green, now that might very well be a bad pick.

 

[Doomsdayblitz]

I think we have to add the UDFAs to the mix. After all, they were in the 2006 draft class too. We also got Oliver Hoyte, Sam Hurd, & Miles Austin in this draft. The two receivers are part of the future of this team, and Hoyte has shown to be a very good FB.

The one pick I just couldn't understand was Skyler Green. At the time, there were many receivers/RS still on the board that are much better than Green. Plus, OG Rob Sims, Ohio St. was snatched up three picks later by the Seahawks. We needed a quality OG at the time than a return specialist who wasn't even starting at WR for his COLLEGE team!

I also thought the Fasano pick was strange. With the offensive line playing so bad last year, I didn't think we could afford to pick another TE-especially when we had a Pro Bowler in Witten. We also had some decent backup TEs. I thought we would spend that pick on an OT in either Marcus McNeil or Andrew Whitworth. Both players are starting on quality offensive lines at San Diego & Cincinnati respectively.

All of the other picks are going to take some time before we can make an intelligent decision on them. Carpenter will turn it around. I've seen him too long to think he will fail. Hatcher is already giving BP ammo to threaten the starting DEs to get their act together. He knows he can insert Hatcher, and at least improve the pass rush. The jury is still out on the other picks.

 

[bbuck822]

Bradie James was drafted for depth. He worked into a starting job from the ground level (special teams, nickel, etc...). Carp was drafted to START! There is a B-I-G difference between these two individuals. Skyler Green was not a bad pick. He was drafted based on the hope that he could regain his speed that he showed in his sophmore year. He obviously is either still slowed by his injury and needs more time to rehab or he never will show that big play ability that he had before his injury. Either way Skyler is cut so lets move on to the next topic!

 

[Future]

uhhhh, you have to be joking....

well he does have to be paid enough to compensate for being a premier LB and FB :laugh1:

 

[JPM]

Carp was drafted to START!

I don't remember Bill ever saying Bobby was drafted to start. I understand we as fans expect our first round picks to start from day one, but did Bill ever mention this ?