Looking back, did we overrate the 2012-14 drafts?

[Zordon]

What do you guys think? Besides the 1st round, has drafting really improved around here? Is it too much to ask for more from our 2nd and 3rd day picks or this about consistent with the rest of the league? Interested in the board's thoughts.

2012:

• Morris Claiborne - one of the worst picks in franchise history. Kuechly, Poe, Gilmore, Cox drafted after him.
• Tyrone Crawford - good player, jumped the gun on a new contract but he's starting to wake up. 4 sacks on the season.
• Kyle Wilber - JAG
• Matt Johnson
• Danny Coale
• James Hanna - JAG
• Caleb McSurdy - drafted him instead of taking a flyer on Vontaze Burfict

2013:

• Travis Frederick - starter, pro-bowl
• Gavin Escobar - 26 catches in 3 yrs. wasted pick trying to copy the Patriots
• Terrance Williams - marginal #2 receiver, won't get a 2nd contract
• J.J. Wilcox - the project hasn't worked
• B. W. Webb - off the team
• Joseph Randle - jail
• DeVonte Holloman - retired

2014:

• Zack Martin - starter, pro-bowl
• Demarcus Lawrence - panthers got a better player at the same position (Kony Ealy) w/out having to trade up.
• Anthony Hitchens - starter who really should be a back up. I begged for Telvin Smith at this spot. He was drafted 30 spots after Hitchens and has more sacks, FF, int, and double career tackles.
• Devin Street - invisible
• Ben Gardner
• Will Smith
• Ahmad Dixon
• Ken Bishop
• Terrance Mitchell

@AsthmaField @Risen Star @RS12

 

[canters]

Seems like just slightly above average to me.

 

[Common Sense]

We overrate every draft.

 

[TrailBlazer]

Top picks aren't bad. Drafting of late isn't the issue.

 

[Carson]

Top picks aren't bad. Drafting of late isn't the issue.

Bingo.

We do pretty well in the first. It's the late rounds we tend to stink

 

[Zordon]

Seems like just slightly above average to me.

Fair enough, I'm looking for opinions. I'm not convinced the drafting is that bad just slightly overrated due to 2nd-5th rds.

We overrate every draft.

Remember when we thought all of the 7th rounders from the 2014 draft were going to be contributors.

 

[Risen Star]

I was going to do something similar soon and break down recent drafts.

The answer is no, @Zordon. Our drafts haven't really improved. Which is why I chuckle at the Will McClay love around here.

Late round picks are longer odds but over a three year period you need to find contributors there. The Cowboys have essentially gotten nothing after the 4th round those years. There's a very good chance the same will be true with this year's crop of rookies.

They say day 3 of the draft is for the scouts. It's where they make a living finding gems still on the board. Guys who may not be the prototype you're looking for but a perfect fit for your roster and scheme. The later you go into the draft the harder it is to evaluate the talent. It's a bigger projection. It's a real test of the personnel guys across the league. The Cowboys basically strike out on day 3 every year. I'll let you figure out why that is.

I think my feelings on the 2012 draft are well stated. Along with FA that year, it was one of the worst offseasons in team history (though celebrated by many at the time). A complete waste of huge resources and it really set the team back. Whenever I want to feel good about Garrett I think back to that offseason. Was he okay with these decisions? Because if he was he doesn't have a clue of what he's doing either. The philosophy was flawed. Even with proper evaluation of the talent.

 

[Hardline]

You can probably look at just about every teams draft in those years and see similar results.

 

[texbumthelife]

I absolutely guarantee you Terrance Williams gets a second contract. Not a shadow of doubt in my mind. He is a good #2. The system is the issue.

 

[RS12]

We overrate every draft.

Dont stop having common sense

 

[LucaBrasi]

Will Mcclay is just another guy that jerry is "comfortable" working with. In other words, he agrees with Jerry and Stephen.

 

[jazzcat22]

We overrate every draft.

Or more like most fans think every pick should work out and be a pro bowl player.
Easy to second guess picks around us. How many other teams fans are saying, dang, we could have had Martin, or Frederick, or Jones, or Dez......

Romo gets injured twice and the season is over, so every player and draft will now be questioned.
Going to be an extremely long off season, starting. Now.
I myself will look at what needs to be done, not what could have been.

 

[Zordon]

I was going to do something similar soon and break down recent drafts.

The answer is no, @Zordon. Our drafts haven't really improved. Which is why I chuckle at the Will McClay love around here.

Late round picks are longer odds but over a three year period you need to find contributors there. The Cowboys have essentially gotten nothing after the 4th round those years. There's a very good chance the same will be true with this year's crop of rookies.

They say day 3 of the draft is for the scouts. It's where they make a living finding gems still on the board. Guys who may not be the prototype you're looking for but a perfect fit for your roster and scheme. The later you go into the draft the harder it is to evaluate the talent. It's a bigger projection. It's a real test of the personnel guys across the league. The Cowboys basically strike out on day 3 every year. I'll let you figure out why that is.

I think my feelings on the 2012 draft are well stated. Along with FA that year, it was one of the worst offseasons in team history (though celebrated by many at the time). A complete waste of huge resources and it really set the team back. Whenever I want to feel good about Garrett I think back to that offseason. Was he okay with these decisions? Because if he was he doesn't have a clue of what he's doing either. The philosophy was flawed. Even with proper evaluation of the talent.

The two trade ups for Claiborne and D-law sting. When you look at the players drafted after Claiborne, you just want to jump off a bridge.

That being said, the thing that really sticks out to me is the three picks after Frederick in 2013. After making that trade down and picking up Frederick, the Cowboys had a chance to really run that draft. I remember Bennie Logan was so popular on here with you and the other Draft Zone guys. They had an opportunity to add a nasty player in the trenches, instead we take the finesse pick with Escobar. Same thing with Terron Armstead....he was another popular guy on here at the time.

Who is a personnel guy you'd like here in Dallas instead of McClay? I've never felt comfortable with McClay's relationship with Jerry since he pretty much gave him control of his toy arena league team.

 

[TimHortons]

2015's draft looks to be a pretty strong one though. Byron Jones may already be our best DB behind Scandrick, I think Collins has made a strong first impression, and the injury makes Gregory tough to evaluate, but he's a promising talent.

 

[The Natural]

Hitchens, OK player but when you look at the best defenses in the league they are fast and they are physical. We don't have that elite speed in our front 7, you got a guy in Telvin Smith with 4.4 speed who would have changed the complex of this defense. Anyone that doesnt get to see many Jags games, go check his stats, he's going to shatter his tackle number from last year.

Safety - two 4th rd picks, two project players from non-reputable programs. You would think they would have learned from the AOA experiment.

It's hard to improve when you aren't drafting quality players at each level of the defense

 

[Gaede]

I agree with the evaluation on everyone but Williams. Disappointed so far Lawrence's pass rush, but he hasn't too bad otherwise

But yeah, the drafting is the same otherwise. Some good, some bad

 

[RS12]

Two pro bowlers and a lot of meh.

 

[Supercowboy1986]

Good and fair post. Kudos.

I'm not sure if you could make that determination without having something to compare our drafts to.

If you are up to it, gather the drafts with other teams in our division for the same time period and then we can truly make a more accurate/educated determination whether not our drafting had improved. Also, for fun throw in the pats and the panthers as well.

What do you guys think? Besides the 1st round, has drafting really improved around here? Is it too much to ask for more from our 2nd and 3rd day picks or this about consistent with the rest of the league? Interested in the board's thoughts.

2012:

• Morris Claiborne - one of the worst picks in franchise history. Kuechly, Poe, Gilmore, Cox drafted after him.
• Tyrone Crawford - good player, jumped the gun on a new contract but he's starting to wake up. 4 sacks on the season.
• Kyle Wilber - JAG
• Matt Johnson
• Danny Coale
• James Hanna - JAG
• Caleb McSurdy - drafted him instead of taking a flyer on Vontaze Burfict

2013:

• Travis Frederick - starter, pro-bowl
• Gavin Escobar - 26 catches in 3 yrs. wasted pick trying to copy the Patriots
• Terrance Williams - marginal #2 receiver, won't get a 2nd contract
• J.J. Wilcox - the project hasn't worked
• B. W. Webb - off the team
• Joseph Randle - jail
• DeVonte Holloman - retired

2014:

• Zack Martin - starter, pro-bowl
• Demarcus Lawrence - panthers got a better player at the same position (Kony Ealy) w/out having to trade up.
• Anthony Hitchens - starter who really should be a back up. I begged for Telvin Smith at this spot. He was drafted 30 spots after Hitchens and has more sacks, FF, int, and double career tackles.
• Devin Street - invisible
• Ben Gardner
• Will Smith
• Ahmad Dixon
• Ken Bishop
• Terrance Mitchell

@AsthmaField @Risen Star @RS12

 

[basstapp]

Hitchens is a great pick, Escobar is a great TE, but isn't going to be utilized until the scheme changes. Holloman was a great pick, but a freak injury caused him to retire. If you look at the drafts of all teams it probably isn't any better than our hits and misses.

 

[Common Sense]

Hitchens is a great pick, Escobar is a great TE, but isn't going to be utilized until the scheme changes. Holloman was a great pick, but a freak injury caused him to retire. If you look at the drafts of all teams it probably isn't any better than our hits and misses.

Sorry, you lost me at "Escobar is a great TE."