McClay: The 2023 draft class must make a year 2 jump

[Runwildboys]

Or what?

Or we have a losing record this season, I guess.

 

[boysfanindc]

The Will McClay hate always amuses me.
It is an automatic indicator of people just being in complaint or hater mode.

Will McClay does not hit on every draft pick. Will McClay will have a bad draft here and there.
Even though Will does not make the picks, he just sets up the board and Jerry has the final say of the picks.

There is no gm, owner group, scout group or VP of personnel that gets every pick right and has a great draft every year. There is some weird notion among fans that Every pick and every draft has to be good to great when that is simply not a notion grounded in reality.

What is grounded in reality is the fact that the Cowboys over the last decade have been one of the best drafting teams in the NFL. You can try and argue that but you will lose the argument.

So even if a player or a year of a draft is considered bad, the draft rate for the Cowboys has been one of the top teams this last decade. And further goes to show that nobody gets the draft 100% nor does it mean you will never miss on a pick.

If you want to be called a realist and not a hater...be real and not a hater.

With Big and Little enos in charge and Little Enos being Polly Penny Pincher who refuses to spend money on quality players in FA. This front office has made it so that the draft is about the only vehicle for this team to bring in good players.

The last three years this team has had a 12-5 record.
You do not get to win that amount in the regular season if you are drafting bad every year.

Now here comes the people bringing up the Playoffs record and that record does suck. However I argue for a team that only relies on the draft and pretty much makes a mockery of Free Agency...that is still a very good record in the regular season and if they would only invest in the FA period maybe they would get over that final hump in the playoffs.

Will McClay is not infallible for this team. But to show so much hate and sarcasm his way is a product of unreasonable fans. You might not like that, but it is true.

I would say this accurate, now imagine if they allowed Will to run football operations with autonomy over player acquisition (free agency, draft, trades, contracts, cap).

Just try it for 2 years and compare results. One would bring a systematic, logic based approach and the Jones's just want to play with their toy.

Let the football guy do his thing and have Jones focused on marketing, selling and making the money, their thing.

Hey I can dream can't I?

 

[DallasEast]

I would say this accurate, now imagine if they allowed Will to run football operations with autonomy over player acquisition (free agency, draft, trades, contracts, cap).

Just try it for 2 years and compare results. One would bring a systematic, logic based approach and the Jones's want to play with their toy.

Hey I can dream can't I?

Yes, you, as a fan, are allowed to dream about a temporary football management strategy that could possibly produce better results. What you and others dream is a possibility Jerry 'I'm the Nightmare Before Christmas' Jones has rejected for over two decades straight.

It is so funny it's sad. Jones is both owner and self-made President of the franchise. He has absolute power over the Dallas Cowboys. At any point in time, he could have said, "Screw it. I'll give so-and-so a shot at GM. I'll fire him if he doesn't produce me a Super Bowl or NFC Championship appearance in two years."

Does that sound reasonable? If it does, you understand why it has never happened before.

 

[John813]

I raised their overalls in Madden. I have full confidence they will be better this season.

 

[DallasEast]

I raised their overalls in Madden. I have full confidence they will be better this season.

If it's in the game, IT'S IN THE GAME!

 

[CowboysLakerBamaFan]

Mazi is too fat to jump.

 

[cristglo]

This is going to be a long season. Expecting lesser players to become good all of the sudden is silly. Having said that I blame coaching on a lot of that as well. For instance, making Mazi slim down. Turpin catches a TD against SF where he burned the DB, and we never saw that play again. Sam Williams not getting more snaps on D when it was clear he gets in the backfield. Not trying Thomas at Safety because you paid Hooker.

A really GREAT POST 100%

 

[Momanpr100]

“We haven’t won the big game”

My guy, we have won A big game. Forget THE big game

A playoff game is a big game, so yes he's right. We haven't won the big game.

 

[Rayman70]

I see Schoonmaker having a strong year if he stays healthy. We will implement a 2 tightend set alot, and thats great for Ferguson and Schoon, run game. That to me, is Dak friendly.

 

[Bullflop]

For one thing that doesn't make sense, I submit that Dan Quinn may well deserve some of the blame for having Mazi lose 30 lbs.

Anytime the scouting department and the staff chooses a one tech to serve as a run stopper, you don't convert him into a 3 tech.

 

[DandyDon52]

This is going to be a long season. Expecting lesser players to become good all of the sudden is silly. Having said that I blame coaching on a lot of that as well. For instance, making Mazi slim down. Turpin catches a TD against SF where he burned the DB, and we never saw that play again. Sam Williams not getting more snaps on D when it was clear he gets in the backfield. Not trying Thomas at Safety because you paid Hooker.

exactly, it all depends on good innovative coaches.

 

[Buzzbait]

This is going to be a long season. Expecting lesser players to become good all of the sudden is silly. Having said that I blame coaching on a lot of that as well. For instance, making Mazi slim down. Turpin catches a TD against SF where he burned the DB, and we never saw that play again. Sam Williams not getting more snaps on D when it was clear he gets in the backfield. Not trying Thomas at Safety because you paid Hooker.

Agreed. And making Mazi slim down was really stupid.

 

[DallasDW00ds0n]

Cowboys VP of player personnel Will McClay when asked about needing last year’s draft class (Mazi Smith, Luke Schoonmaker, DeMarvion Overshown, Viliami Fehoko, etc.) to make a Year 2 jump:

“Those guys have to make a jump for us to succeed. They’ve been in the system for a year. Now, we’ve got a little different defensive scheme, but they’ve been around here. They’ve been a part of the process.

“When you have a good team and we’ve won 36 games in three years, we haven’t won the big one, but that’s highly productive to win that many games. To do that, you have to have a number of good players.
So when you draft players, those players don’t always immediately step in and fill that role. But when you’re drafting a player, you’re drafting them for the four to five years of their contract, and you’re trying to get a return on investment.

“We need those guys to take a jump now based on the cap and the way things are. And they just have to step up. At the end of the day, that’s exactly what it is. We’ll continue to try and fill holes and add players as we go through this process. But guys just have to step up. It’s their time now.

“We’ve lost a number of really quality vets that have been on our roster, that have been with us for a while. These young guys need to step up. There’s no other way about it.”
"

That’s a problem we have created for ourselves.

 

[DandyDon52]

They should say the same thing to all the players, and the HC and is staff ??
They all need to be better , do more with less , and step up, and here is a JG one "Fight" !!

It has to be their fault, because the jones boys dont think they ever do anything"wrong" ( they won the off season! LOL)

They didnt draft bad, the players were just bad lol, and now they have McClay ?? telling them they need to not be bad !

 

[75boyz]

Yeah,
somebody already said it. Projects should not be the draft goal when free agency is basically ignored.

It catches up come playoff time. If you make the playoffs.

And here we are.

 

[plasticman]

That's a pretty low bar.

1st round: Mazi Smith - 17 games, 3 starts 1 sack 13 combined tackles.\
2nd round: Luke Schoonmaker - 17 games, 8 receptions, 65 yards, 2 TD's
3rd round: DeMarvion Overshown - Out entire season
4th round: Viliami Fehoko - no stats

Most could improve last season's productivity in one game.

 

[JoeKing]

Cowboys VP of player personnel Will McClay when asked about needing last year’s draft class (Mazi Smith, Luke Schoonmaker, DeMarvion Overshown, Viliami Fehoko, etc.) to make a Year 2 jump:

“Those guys have to make a jump for us to succeed. They’ve been in the system for a year. Now, we’ve got a little different defensive scheme, but they’ve been around here. They’ve been a part of the process.

“When you have a good team and we’ve won 36 games in three years, we haven’t won the big one, but that’s highly productive to win that many games. To do that, you have to have a number of good players.
So when you draft players, those players don’t always immediately step in and fill that role. But when you’re drafting a player, you’re drafting them for the four to five years of their contract, and you’re trying to get a return on investment.

“We need those guys to take a jump now based on the cap and the way things are. And they just have to step up. At the end of the day, that’s exactly what it is. We’ll continue to try and fill holes and add players as we go through this process. But guys just have to step up. It’s their time now.

“We’ve lost a number of really quality vets that have been on our roster, that have been with us for a while. These young guys need to step up. There’s no other way about it.”
"

They must make the jump or what? The Cowboys will suck? I expect them to suck.

 

[cald0d30s0]

Mazi Smith is out of the league in 3 years

Yup. I can see right now in 3 years playing in the spring league and making 3 sacks on a game then someone post its here as if it really matters.

 

[JBS]

A playoff game is a big game, so yes he's right. We haven't won the big game.

Incorrect. Nobody here cares about winning a willd card game

 

[Cowboys5217]

McClay is the de facto GM. What is your complaint? That he doesn’t also negotiate the contracts?

Jerry is de facto GM. McClay is a mask for Jerry, and nothing more than a consultant.