Looks like the Boys Front Office was right about Sam LaPorta

[DUO_CORE]

"Welcome to the NFL, son: You have 4 games to prove yourself."

 

[TwoCentPlain]

That's a pretty massive difference if they held the same pace for a season.

LaPorta is also playing 9 more snaps per game so far. Lot more weapons on the Cowboys than Lions so they spread the ball around more. Also, this might speak a lot about who the Lions have (or don’t have) as the backup TEs. Ferguson shares time with Hendershot and Schoonmaker.

Also, the Cowboys have been up big early in three games so far. So, the Cowboys haven’t had to go for the big plays and could go for the safe short stuff.

 

[manster4ever]

The knock on LaPorta was his blocking. His RAS score was good. A lot of us liked him in the draft zone. Watching him vs GB the other night his blocking was just fine, along with the rest of his game.

DUDE....LaPorta's blocking was solid in college. Iowa TE's are known for their blocking. I live in Michigan and get all the Lions games: guy is for real and then some. Would've loved to have snagged him. Schoon? Meh.....

 

[reddyuta]

we will be used as a cautionary tale in future drafts,a non pass rush DT taken in the 1st RD will never make sense.we were better off paying in FA than drafting one so high.

 

[KJJ]

So? I mean, clearly no one knew what the Cowboys were planning for the new offense or their draft strategy. Afterwards it all made sense.

We knew with Schultz gone in free agency we might need a TE. Some thought we might go TE in the first round. With the promise that Ferguson and Hendershot showed it only made sense that if we were going to go TE with a premium pick that we would choose a good receiving TE. Very few scouts were impressed with Schoonmaker’s receiving skills. If we were looking primarily for a blocking TE we could have picked one later in the draft. He had a very catchable ball in the endzone and he dropped it last week. It’s not just the fans that are knocking to pick. It’s still early but so far he’s been a disappointment. Maybe you don’t expect more from a second round pick, but I do. Both Ferguson and Hendershot looked a lot better than Schoonmaker at this point last season. I’m just hoping it’s the planter fasciitis that’s slowing his development.

 

[kskboys]

I don't know what some on here are talking about. Mazi has played well so far. What was his snap count last game, 30%? He's not Carter but he's not been terrible. Mazi probably never shows up on the stat sheet like some want, but those DT that can do those things are special not the norm. I agree with many that the schoon pick probably was wasted, could have been almost anything else other than kicker and made more impact.

RB would've been nice.

 

[CowboyRoy]

The Gibbs pick was pretty dumb. I remember thinking that it wasn't going to push their offense much but they thought they were getting Marshall Faulk with him. The Laporta and Campbell picks were straight up great. edit: and Branch too that was a pick I did not expect to be that good.

That Gibbs pick made the Zeke pick look like the Herschel Walker trade. LOL

Worst pick in the draft. They could have added another great defender to that defense which would have really helped them.

They could have just held onto Swift at RB who is better than Gibbs anyway. Instead they traded them to the Eagles for a 4th round pick.

 

[CowboyRoy]

There's no such thing as a great off-ball LB pick in the first round. The bigger issue, though, is that they drafted replacements at non-premium positions with premium capital. Trading Swift/Hockenson for Gibbs/Laporta is stupid. They could have just kept Swift and Hockenson and then drafted, say, Broderick Jones and Zay Flowers. It's nonsensical to build a team like they did.

Completely agree.

 

[coult44]

It was reported that the Cowboys Front Office was high on LaPorta. So far he looks like the best TE in the class. I think he would've helped significantly in the red zone. Too bad the boys went with Mazi who probably won't make a significant impact until his 3rd year.

I knew there would be people who thought Mazi was brought in to be a pass rusher

 

[RustyBourneHorse]

Addressing the NT position was a need for a long time, and having done that shows they're willing to change their thinking, at least a little. It was a much better decision, IMO, than grabbing a TE, no matter what his stats are. Who's to say he'd have that success on this offense?

Exactly with the NT position. It's been a need for a long time.

 

[big dog cowboy]

Maybe you don’t expect more from a second round pick

You right. What was I thinking??? Damn him!!! How come he isn't getting at least 100 yards a game? Not to mention, no multiple TD games yet? And throwing DE's and LB's around like elementary school kids? What a wasted pick. I can't believe how the Cowboys mess this up.

 

[plasticman]

Mazi will see more playing time at the end of the season when he's more prepared. Until then, they will use him sparingly to keep him fresh.

You will see a different Mazi in December.

 

[KJJ]

You right. What was I thinking??? Damn him!!! How come he isn't getting at least 100 yards a game? Not to mention, no multiple TD games yet? And throwing DE's and LB's around like elementary school kids? What a wasted pick. I can't believe how the Cowboys mess this up.

You claimed you were pleased with what Schoonmaker has done so far. We drafted a TE in the fourth round last season who currently has 17 catches for 147 yards and one TD. Our second round TE has 1 catch for 1 yard and a TD plus he dropped a TD in the endzone last week. Schoonmaker has only been targeted 5 times compared to 25 times for Ferguson. He’s on the verge of taking a stranglehold on the number one TE position. I like what I’m seeing from him. He showed something as a rookie, and he’s taken another step so far this season. The Cowboys would’ve been much better off drafting a different position in the second round.

 

[Pantone282C]

Addressing the NT position was a need for a long time, and having done that shows they're willing to change their thinking, at least a little. It was a much better decision, IMO, than grabbing a TE, no matter what his stats are. Who's to say he'd have that success on this offense?

Long time overlooked NT position finally got a day in the sun.

 

[ActualCowboysFan]

That's okay. Maybe next year they draft Brock Bowers out of Georgia.

He’ll be top 10

 

[Rayman70]

Many NFL teams were right. That said, Bowers is better and will be Mark Andrews-like.

 

[charron]

i cannot disagree with you...but maybe we give Schoon a little more time???...you just cannot drop lazer passes in end zones....why do we have such poor fortune
on 2nd round picks????....we have had a few good ones though

Honestly it goes back to last year. Fergy and hendershot looked ok in very limited action in passing situations. Maybe schoon is a more polished blocker but I didn't see a big need that had to be addressed here. There are other spots that could have used more talent.

 

[KJJ]

We may have made the mistake of picking what was the left of the TEs.

 

[stilltheguru]

I knew there would be people who thought Mazi was brought in to be a pass rusher

He was never going to be one year 1. Can he develop into one? Yes. And I'm not talking chris Jones level I'm talking daron payne. Paynes 12 sack season was an anomaly. His avg sacks are around 3-4 per year outside of last year. He's already back to his norm with 1 sack in the first 4 games.

 

[TwoCentPlain]

For reference, the greatest TE prospect ever, Falcon Kyle Pitts, has 11 receptions for 121 yards and 0 TDs through 4 games this year.

Do the Falcons even pick up his 5th year option next year? I doubt it.