Lose the trenches, lose the game

[kskboys]

I will give management a half a pass for drafting Lamb.. because of the lack of defensive playmakers at that point in the draft.. or at least the perceived lack. Especially in the areas of most need for us which was safety and DT. Certainly nobody expected to be playing large stretches of games with Knight, McGovern and Steele in the lineup. If either Tyron or Collins is in the lineup we probably have two more wins.. If both play the bulk of the games we're probably running away with the division. If we just had their primary backups we'd be in decent shape.. But rolling out there with guys who by rights should be on the practice squad is a dawg who not only won't hunt that pooch won't even get out of the truckbed. I am almost more annoyed at what transpired on the defensive front. Poe and McCoy were both damaged goods when signed.. McCoy was so bad they put a clause in his contract about his injury. And Poe simply was a waste of snaps and money. Hopefully this season will teach the front office that in order to get people to make plays on defense you need actual playmakers on defense. Go get some.. I would say get more depth on the o-line but if 6 or 7 of your top 10 guys get hurt you're not fixing that. But you also don't need to be starting an undrafted rookie at right tackle for half the season. Surely you can can do better than that.

Lamb is only OK for this team if you know and realize that we weren't going to win this year.

 

[Ekspozed]

This is why you don't spend first round picks on WRs and RBs. They are not primary positions. Zeke and CeeDee Lamb were the wrong picks for THIS team. When TN lost their all-pro tackle for the season, they had a first round rookie to plug in. They didn't fall apart. The logic wasn't " we got that position covered" going into the draft which is what the Dallas Cowboys do. That team understands that your skill position players are only as effective as your OL and injuries happen. Its better to have a great OT prospect as an insurance policy than a flashy WR or RB. Until you have depth along those trenches, you don't spend your premium picks on the flash positions.

Bad examples.

Ten drafted a 1st rd 5th overall on a wr in 2017.
Patriots have drafted 1st round wrs.
Chiefs drafted rb and wr with their 1st picks last 2 years.

 

[CowboyFrog]

I will admit I am one who does not think you need 4 #1 picks on the O-line....I will also admit I didn't think they would lose every o-lineman to injury this year....When you see other teams get the job done with 2 great O-linemen and 3 good ones by using a plan (scheme) it makes me wonder why we can not. think about it this way..way have 2#1 picks at WR, a #1 at RB and 3 #1 at o-line..its not hard to see why the defense has holes in it. add in we go on vacation during week 1 FA and your defense looks like what you have now. Again Lamb is a great value at 17 but damn how does he help this teams situation (even before the injuries i dont think we needed a #1 at the slot wr position). Winning Franchises last 7 #1 probably have some variance between defense and offense I think.

 

[Creeper]

I think you nailed it but this has not been the Cowboys philosophy for a long time. 1991 was the last time the Cowboys used a first round pick on a DT. They desperately need to get stronger in the middle of the DL. I do think Gallimore will get stronger in time. I think Hill may too, but I am less certain about that. I like some of what i see from Hamilton and Woods, but they are rotational guys. The Cowboys need a stud up front.

I would love to see Sewell as a Cowboy but beating Minnesota may have ended that fantasy. Cincinnati is not winning more than the 2 games they have already won with their backup QB and that means the Jets, Jags and Bengals will pick 1,2,3 and I think one of those 3 picks will be Sewell.

 

[Verdict]

This is why you don't spend first round picks on WRs and RBs. They are not primary positions. Zeke and CeeDee Lamb were the wrong picks for THIS team. When TN lost their all-pro tackle for the season, they had a first round rookie to plug in. They didn't fall apart. The logic wasn't " we got that position covered" going into the draft which is what the Dallas Cowboys do. That team understands that your skill position players are only as effective as your OL and injuries happen. Its better to have a great OT prospect as an insurance policy than a flashy WR or RB. Until you have depth along those trenches, you don't spend your premium picks on the flash positions.

While I agree that the lines are the foundation the rest of the team is based upon, it is pretty silly to suggest that one should not consider an offensive skill position with a first round pick. You draft where the draft talent takes you. e forced the Taco pick, and look where that miss got us.

 

[G2]

Contracts for the O line may also factor in with replenishing the positions.
Tyron Smith - 2024
Zach Martin & La'el Collins - 2025

I still think we should draft a FS, DT and CB ASAP.

 

[kskboys]

While I agree that the lines are the foundation the rest of the team is based upon, it is pretty silly to suggest that one should not consider an offensive skill position with a first round pick. You draft where the draft talent takes you. e forced the Taco pick, and look where that miss got us.

Taco was rated where we took him. Bad example.

 

[aria]

Bad examples.

Ten drafted a 1st rd 5th overall on a wr in 2017.
Patriots have drafted 1st round wrs.
Chiefs drafted rb and wr with their 1st picks last 2 years.

Bad examples are using the Chiefs and Patriots draft spot compared to ours.

 

[kskboys]

Bad examples are using the Chiefs and Patriots draft spot compared to ours.

Or their anything compared to ours!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Verdict]

Taco was rated where we took him. Bad example.

You and I usually view things the same way, but in this case, I think we see it a bit differently. Taco was not a draft board value pick. If we had stuck to the draft board we most likely would have taken Watt in terms of grades. Taco was a “Marinelli special”. Think a first round Joey Ivey.

We were hell bent on taking a DE. Part of that was most likely an attempt to avoid having to pay Tank. Man, that miss cost us draft capital, an opportunity cost AND arguably the Tank contract. What a beat down.

I don’t think the Cowboys organization as a whole had Taco graded where he was selected.

 

[kskboys]

You and I usually view things the same way, but in this case, I think we see it a bit differently. Taco was not a draft board value pick. If we had stuck to the draft board we most likely would have taken Watt in terms of grades. Taco was a “Marinelli special”. Think a first round Joey Ivey.

We were hell bent on taking a DE. Part of that was most likely an attempt to avoid having to pay Tank. Man, that miss cost us draft capital, an opportunity cost AND arguably the Tank contract. What a beat down.

I don’t think the Cowboys organization as a whole had Taco graded where he was selected.

Watt was rated lower.

I never liked the Taco pick but many had him rated even higher. It wasn't a case of reaching, it was a case of bad evaluation.

 

[Verdict]

Watt was rated lower.

I never liked the Taco pick but many had him rated even higher. It wasn't a case of reaching, it was a case of bad evaluation.

I never liked the pick either. For more than one reason.

 

[817Gill]

This is why you don't spend first round picks on WRs and RBs. They are not primary positions. Zeke and CeeDee Lamb were the wrong picks for THIS team. When TN lost their all-pro tackle for the season, they had a first round rookie to plug in. They didn't fall apart. The logic wasn't " we got that position covered" going into the draft which is what the Dallas Cowboys do. That team understands that your skill position players are only as effective as your OL and injuries happen. Its better to have a great OT prospect as an insurance policy than a flashy WR or RB. Until you have depth along those trenches, you don't spend your premium picks on the flash positions.

Zeke fine since Ramsey was there, but lamb? Everyone who says we should have went defense over lamb just says it IMO. I don’t think anyone does any looking to see who the other options were.

Mr. 1 Sack all year K’Lavon Chaisson? The one who wouldn’t have even seen the field in front of DLaw, Aldon, or Randy? Literally the next best corner in that draft has been Damon Arnette or Diggs which whom we got in round 2. Arnette was a 2-3rd round prospect as well Raiders pounced early. By the time we picked all our 1st round db grades were gone (Okudah, Henderson, and Terrell).

Who would you have picked instead? You would’ve passed on the best player on the board for who?

People who claim we shouldn’t have drafted Ceedee rarely give an opinion on who the pick shoulda been.

 

[buybuydandavis]

This is why you don't spend first round picks on WRs and RBs. They are not primary positions. Zeke and CeeDee Lamb were the wrong picks for THIS team. When TN lost their all-pro tackle for the season, they had a first round rookie to plug in. They didn't fall apart. The logic wasn't " we got that position covered" going into the draft which is what the Dallas Cowboys do. That team understands that your skill position players are only as effective as your OL and injuries happen. Its better to have a great OT prospect as an insurance policy than a flashy WR or RB. Until you have depth along those trenches, you don't spend your premium picks on the flash positions.

We came into the season tremendously deep on the oline. With our top 4 Ts out - Top 5, counting Martin - we're now in trouble. How many teams wouldn't be?

Flashy oline prospects aren't necessarily needed either. Belichick's got by for years on the cheap with his oline. I wouldn't spend a top ten pick to sit on the bench for a year, hoping someone gets injured.

Zeke was a Romo window pick. Questionable decision with Romo's health history, obviously a loser in hindsight, but an interesting question if Romo had played like 2014, adding Zeke's monster rookie season.

With Lamb we have an NFL ready WR#1. WR's usually take years to develop. Too much value there to pass up. We'll have the option in 2022 to wave goodbye to Cooper, Gallup, or *both*, riding with Lamb as our #1 for 3 more years. That's a hell of a lot of value for pick 17. I'm taking that and liking it.

 

[Corso]

People who claim we shouldn’t have drafted Ceedee rarely give an opinion on who the pick shoulda been.

It's easier and more fun that way!
People could always cop-out and say "trade down", but with who? And for what? It kind of takes two to tango.

 

[kevm3]

Lamb was a luxury pick which an 8-8 team with a gimpy LT shouldn't be drafting. We had just signed Amari to a mega contract.........it was a deep WR draft. Its just more stupid FO decisions. I'm used to it.

I think drafting ceedee was the right choice. Reaching for some defender instead would still have us at the same record if not worse given our starting QB and the majority of our starting line is out. The defenders left on the board wouldn't have changed around this defense. The real issue is how bad we were in free agency. Only Aldon Smith is still around out of all those guys.

 

[817Gill]

I think drafting ceedee was the right choice. Reaching for some defender instead would still have us at the same record if not worse given our starting QB and the majority of our starting line is out. The defenders left on the board wouldn't have changed around this defense. The real issue is how bad we were in free agency. Only Aldon Smith is still around out of all those guys.

Exactly!

 

[cern]

There is no way i fault the cowboys for draftinf lambo. We've already seen glimpses of his ability. The best is yet to come. Injuries to the o-line this year could never have been foreseen. No more than we could have planned for covid.

 

[Corso]

There is no way i fault the cowboys for draftinf lambo. We've already seen glimpses of his ability. The best is yet to come. Injuries to the o-line this year could never have been foreseen. No more than we could have planned for covid.

When chased by a leopard, don't try to win a foot race.

 

[kevm3]

Now if only someone could tell Stephen Jones to stop shopping at Ross in free agency. Most of these bargains DON'T pan out. We've literally had to cut or trade away like 7 of those free agents we signed.