McClay fans

[john van brocklin]

I see incessant claims of how good McClay is at drafting. Starting this offseason, we will see exactly how good he is. We desperately need D help, and we need it yesterday. So, what's going to happen? More CB's and WR's and TE's?

If he's as good as some claim, then it's time to show it.

Was good awhile ago.
Lately , not so much.

 

[HungryLion]

Yeah, but around here, we have this paradox where you can't grade a draft until 3-4 years later, and by that time, the damage is already done, and then you have to wait another 3-4 years. It has been 3 decades now. Other teams are able to rebuild multiple times in a single decade, but somehow, we aren't. This is what happens when you have an unqualified person pretending to be GM part time.

The team wouldn't be in such bad shape if they didn't ignore free agency for the better part of a decade. The draft is a total crapshoot. Free agency is, to a lesser degree, because you have seen the players in the NFL. You hedge your bets in the draft by doing well in free agency.

This highlights one of the problems with the cowboys team building Philosophy.

They are regularly relying on rookies and 2nd year players to not just contribute. But to be key starters.

It’s just not realistic. Yes sometimes you have rookies who come right into the league and are ready to start and be a good player. But many aren’t. Many need 2-3 years to start really hitting their full stride.

I mean seriously. Every single year we are going into the season with key positions being penciled in as having a rookie start and be a key player for us. And it’s just not working.

Think about it.

Just recent history. Lt with Guyton. RG with booker. Center with Beebe.

Mazi at DT. Overshown at LB.

The list goes on.

 

[john van brocklin]

Of all the problems with this organization, McClay is very low on the list imo

Until we get a real GM, all the rest is small stuff.

 

[Xizor]

McClay doesn't make the picks. He just doesn't.

He is on camera hyping up the Mazi pick in draft room so there is that.

 

[Chuck 54]

Jerry gets the final say because he is the owner, but his yap should be shut unless it's to break a tie, and only then after he listens to both sides reasons.

The coaches' only involvement in the draft should be to let the scouting department know what they need, what type of players they are looking for, everything. Then trust McClay and the scouting department to go get you what you need. Period. When coaches start lobbying for certain players, it's usually a mistake unless they have actually coached the player in the past or spent 2 weeks with the player at the senior bowl.

Trust the scouts to find you what you want! That's their 24-7 job.

 

[jazzcat22]

Until we get a real GM, all the rest is small stuff.

It is GM by committee.
So the entire committee needs replaced.

 

[sunalsorises]

What is happening on the developmental side of the equation? It seems every year the defense is too complicated for the players to understand. That's coaching.

 

[Ironicalicon]

I think we just want a GM not named Jones and McClay is the closest thing there is to that so we sort of cherish him.

 

[zrinkill]

I am the committee !!!

 

[Xizor]

I still believe our drafts dropped in quality after Tom Ciskowski left. Not that Will McClay is bad but it seems they may miss his presense.

 

[CATCH17]

McClay doesn't make the picks. He just doesn't.

The problem is Jerry takes too much input from his coaches.

Coaches are terrible at evaluating college talent.

 

[jazzcat22]

What is happening on the developmental side of the equation? It seems every year the defense is too complicated for the players to understand. That's coaching.

Also.
What happened to the philosophy ... we will draft football players, and adapt our scheme to what they do best ...
As opposed they used to draft a player and tried to change his play to fit the scheme. (Which did not work).

 

[KingCorcoran]

Nobody on this board knows what transpires in Jerry’s Oval Office on draft days.

It’s obvious what doesn’t.

 

[ghst187]

I think it’s almost equally sad how many first round picks we’ve spent on the OL only to not be able to run the ball against decent DLs….

 

[Gambit]

This team relies on coaches telling McClay what traits they want, he then finds them.

If coaches are poor at evaluating then the scouts are going to have a flawed sense of what to look for.

With so many different dcs and philosophical changes youre going to have this problem.

 

[Desperado]

Just an opinion… no facts to support… but I think after about the 2nd round we focus more on traits we think we can develop into draft steals that make the FO look smart rather than just finding good football players. As a result our middle-down roster is weak. It gets worse when coaching changes keep resetting what is happening with the guys we are supposedly developing. I get drafting for traits in rounds 6-7, but rounds 3-5 need to be more stable, IMO. Easier said than done, of course.

 

[Xizor]

I think it’s almost equally sad how many first round picks we’ve spent on the OL only to not be able to run the ball against decent DLs….

Well if you believe PFF they have scored high in run blocking and not as good in the pass blocking.

 

[pitt33]

The problem is Jerry takes too much input from his coaches.

Coaches are terrible at evaluating college talent.

Broddaus alluded to this the other day in his podcast with Voch. He was fired up about it.

And it all goes back to no true GM in the building. Jerry & spermatozoa have no freaking idea what they’re looking at.

 

[cmoney23]

I see incessant claims of how good McClay is at drafting. Starting this offseason, we will see exactly how good he is. We desperately need D help, and we need it yesterday. So, what's going to happen? More CB's and WR's and TE's?

If he's as good as some claim, then it's time to show it.

In the NFL, a team's draft success is primarily defined by its ability to select players who outperform their draft position, with particular emphasis on consistently finding quality contributors in the mid-rounds (Rounds 3-5). Studies show that the greatest correlation between drafting performance and winning is tied to a team's effectiveness in these mid-rounds, as opposed to simply getting a top-tier talent in the first round.
While top-tier picks, Pro Bowlers, and All-Pros are important metrics, they do not fully capture draft success for two reasons:

• Market-based valuation: More sophisticated analyses often use metrics like a player's guaranteed money on their second NFL contract to measure value, which offers a market-based, non-subjective assessment.
• Depth matters: Relying heavily on first-round picks can be misleading since success rates decrease drastically after the first round, making consistent mid-round value the key to building and maintaining a strong roster.

Based on these modern analytical metrics, the Baltimore Ravens have been identified as one of the best drafting teams in the NFL over recent decades.

Top drafting teams since 2000

Rank	Team	Analysis
1	Baltimore Ravens	Consistently rank at the top in draft performance, particularly since 2011. A 2024 study showed they amassed almost double the median guaranteed money on second contracts from their drafted players between 2011–2019, showcasing their high-level talent acquisition.
2	Green Bay Packers	Named the best drafting team since 2000 in a 2024 CBS Sports article. They have led the league in Approximate Value generated from draft picks, highlighting their success in acquiring productive players.
3	Seattle Seahawks	Received the highest Career Approximate Value Over Expected (CAVOE) for their draft picks from 2012–2021. This reflects their skill in finding players who significantly exceeded the expected value of their draft slot.
4	Kansas City Chiefs	Ranked high in CAVOE and total wins from 2012–2021. Their draft process has consistently provided solid contributors to sustain a winning culture, even if it hasn't always yielded the most elite top-end talent.
5	Dallas Cowboys	Noted by Medium for drafting players with high aggregate Approximate Value since 2019. In the period from 2012–2021, they also ranked in the top five for CAVOE.

 

[fivetwos]

The problem with McClay is they need him to be damn close to perfect, and when he isn’t, it’s magnified.

They need mid rounders to play like top picks and they can NEVER afford to blow a first rounder. Thats the the big acquisition every off season.

He isnt great, but he also can’t do everything that he wants. He may know he needs an immediate starting LB (as an example), which should be done in FA, but ownership won’t approve it.

The three headed GM thing is a problem. Taking turns getting your way adds up to looking like a strange plan that won’t work.