***Mega Merge Grade our Draft thread***

[JPostSam]

I hope I'm wrong but I am not all that impressed with this draft.

my exact sentiments

 

[KingintheNorth]

B. Solid players but some questionable decisions.

1 Zack Martin G Notre Dame - Under those circumstances, it was the absolute right choice. Very good player will be a starter for the next decade.
2 Demarcus Lawrence DE Boise State - Like the player, hate the trade up. You do not give up a 3rd rounder in such a deep draft.
4 Anthony Hitchens LB Iowa - As big a reach as Matt Johnson was. Trying to be cute and passing up on better football players. Colossally bad.
5 Devin Street WR Pitt - Kind of big target that Romo can make look good. Liked him all year. Will win jump balls.
7a Ben Gardner DE/DT Stanford - Great pick. Poor man's Chris Long.
7b Will Smith LB Texas Tech - Another reach but less painful in the 7th. Whoever is signing off on LB's should be looking for work in a year.
7c Ahmad Dixon S Baylor - Good player. My issue is we have 3 of him on the roster already and no Free Safety in sight.
7d Ken Bishop DT Northern Illinois- Position should have been addressed way earlier but has a chance since we are position poor there.
7e Terrance Mitchell CB Oregon- Cover 2 Corner who has a knack for big plays. Great value here.

JC Copeland, Jordan Najvar, and L'Damian Washington (another big target) are solid UDFA signings. The Alabama punter has a chance too. The other guys are FCS and D3 guys who will be forgotten by September.

I'll end on a positive...I think we had the best draft of any of the NFC East teams.

 

[btcutter]

B. Solid players but some questionable decisions.

1 Zack Martin G Notre Dame - Under those circumstances, it was the absolute right choice. Very good player will be a starter for the next decade.
2 Demarcus Lawrence DE Boise State - Like the player, hate the trade up. You do not give up a 3rd rounder in such a deep draft.
4 Anthony Hitchens LB Iowa - As big a reach as Matt Johnson was. Trying to be cute and passing up on better football players. Colossally bad.
5 Devin Street WR Pitt - Kind of big target that Romo can make look good. Liked him all year. Will win jump balls.
7a Ben Gardner DE/DT Stanford - Great pick. Poor man's Chris Long.
7b Will Smith LB Texas Tech - Another reach but less painful in the 7th. Whoever is signing off on LB's should be looking for work in a year.
7c Ahmad Dixon S Baylor - Good player. My issue is we have 3 of him on the roster already and no Free Safety in sight.
7d Ken Bishop DT - Position should have been addressed way earlier but has a chance since we are position poor there.
7e Terrance Mitchell CB - Cover 2 Corner who has a knack for big plays. Great value here.

JC Copeland, Jordan Najvar, and L'Damian Washington (another big target) are solid UDFA signings. The Alabama punter has a chance too. The other guys are FCS and D3 guys who will be forgotten by September.

I'll end on a positive...I think we had the best draft of any of the NFC East teams.

Based on what you said and I would give heavier weight to the top 4 picks than bunch of 7th rounders......I would say C at best for now.

If we get eventual 3 starters and 2 solid contributors then A-.

 

[JPostSam]

i was feeling so good about the front office going with the smart choice in round one... then day two threw me.

take a look at what baltimore did right behind us in the picks we would have had: they took tim jernigan and fs terrence brooks, two highly rated guys from fsu who would have been day one starters at positions of need.

if the choice is between demarcus lawrence and nothing, and jernigan and brooks, the latter choice seems a whole lot smarter.

honestly, the rest of the picks don't inspire much confidence, either.

going to need to see some glowing reports from training camp to begin to think these picks were good ones.

 

[Pessimist_cowboy]

A

 

[LatinMind]

F

1st of all....Only time will tell if we made a huge mistake passing on Manziel. We were basically forced to pass on a QB.... cause of the ridiculous extension we gave to Romo. Again only time will tell if we blew it not taking Manziel... just for the record i wouldve liked to have took him, but understood the reason why we didnt.....Now onto the rest of the draft.

I would've preferred if we gave up a 3rd or 4th rounder to move up from 16 to 12 to get Donald, rather than giving it to the Commanders in a move to get Lawerence. since Donald and Barr and Beckham were all gone by 16, the best move would've been to try and trade down at that point, but for some reason it didnt work out. so there at 16..... i wouldve took Pryor over Martin. and the reason is there was OL all over this draft, infact i cant ever remember so many OL in one draft. Im tired of having junk at Safety for so many years. It hurt to lose the 3rd rounder but even more difficult was the Hitchens pick in the 4th..... most experts had this guy a 7th rounder or UDFA....I hope im wrong but that pick didnt feel right and i feel like thats a bust waiting to happen. Street and all our 7th rounders were solid......was happy with those

I think fans pay too much attention to these so called experts who sit behind a computer and rate players. Fans think teams dont know anything because fans sometimes dont know the player theyre drafting.

4th round guys who were rated low

SEA Kevin Norwood was rated by alot as a RD6 guy
KC DeAnthony Thomas RD6-7 guy
SF Dontae Johnson RD7-FA guy

So dont get hung up on all these draft sites and how they rank people.

 

[Sarge]

Ask me again in three years.

 

[Gaede]

B-.

Like a lot of our players.

Think we could've done better in rounds 2-4. Disappointed in our production there.

Love our 7th round. I think we got three players there who can actually make the team and possibly contribute in Dixon, Gardner and Mitchell.

 

[Manster54]

C
Martin is excellent. I do not think Lawrence is worth 2 draft spots on the worst Dallas defense in team history. Followed by Hitch. I like Street and the 7th round selections.

 

[Risen Star]

1(16) Zack Martin G Notre Dame
Great value pick. Gives the Cowboys another outstanding building block along the offensive line.

2(34) Demarcus Lawrence DE Boise St.
My #1 pet cat. Love the player. Hate giving up a 3 to get him. Will need to be worked into full time duty. Not plug-and-play.

4(119) Anthony Hitchens OLB Iowa
Massive reach. Marginal draftable grade. Backup/special teamer.

5(146) Devin Street WR Pittsburgh
Intriguing prospect. Gives the Cowboys needed length on the depth chart behind the starters.

7(231) Ben Gardner DE Stanford
High effort guy who is probably destined to be a backup in the NFL.

7(238) Will Smith OLB Texas Tech
Run and chase backer. Local kid. At this point in the draft you have to give the Cowboys the benefit of the doubt considering their track record with late round picks and UDFA.

7(248) Ahmad Dixon S Baylor
Box safety and core special teamer. Lost in coverage.

7(251) Ken Bishop DT Northern Illinois
Marginal 1 tech prospect who has a shot to stick for now considering the make up of the roster.

7(254) Terrance Mitchell CB Oregon
Steal and good fit for the defense. Will make B.W. Webb earn his spot as the #4 on the depth chart.

-

Overall, I think the first two picks have a shot to be quality impact players. Martin's almost a lock for it. I think Lawrence can be a double digit sack guy over his career. I'm hard pressed to find another player with down the road starting ability. Possibly Street.

In my view the Cowboys got next to nothing out of their 3rd and 4th round picks. That's significant. This team lacks talent and depth and can't afford that kind of hit.

You can only grade the class so low if you think it will give the team a pro bowl caliber G and a disruptive edge rusher. The rest of the class did little to excite me.

Grade: C

 

[Rockytop6]

I give it a B+

I'm really not qualified to give letter or number grades, I only evaluate drafts emotionally. I realize the scouts, coaches and FO study from a much wider perspective that we fans. I was disappointed that Donald or Barr wasn't available but was very happy with the Martin pick. I told my wife at the beginning of the round that my first choice was Donald and if he were not available then Barr and if both were gone I wanted martin and I would be happy with either of those three. It worked out Martin and I was proud of JJ.

I told my wife that now they would pick up two DL players in the 2nd and 3rd rounds because those two rounds represented the gold mine of the draft. When they traded both picks for a player that was not graded first round by most pundits (sic), and then rubbed salt in the wound by giving them to Washington, I was bombed out and went to my office.

I was not helped any by their 4th rd pick either. I, then really got some work done in the office. Finally the 7th rd came around and I wasn't expecting much. I felt like if they couldn't make a decent decision in the 4th why would I have any hope about the 7th. I was wrong. I am much higher on the picks in the 7th than it appears most are here on the board. I believe there is a good chance 3 of the picks will make the team or wind up on the PS from the 7th.

Further, after further review and more info I think the second rd pick could star for us. When you put it all together, as I learn more, I am happier about the draft. Now, I won't get as much done in my office.

No, I still think we gave too much for the second pick.
I still hate giving Washington the two premium picks, although they did not do a lot with them.
Yes, I am very happy with Martin and that JJ resisted his urge to pick Circus Johnny.
No, I'm not convinced about the 4th rd pick yet but admit the jury is still out.
Yes, I'm encouraged by all of the rest of the picks with the exception of two in the 7th I don't know much about.

Well, I think I will give a grade anyway, an emotional grade, on the draft after all:

A SOLID B.

 

[TheFinisher]

C

Martin will be a good player, but he plays one of the least valued positions in the NFL. Maybe he can slide out to RT and replace Free in a year, but he doesn't have the ideal length to make that transition. I'd be fine with him staying inside and giving us stability inside next to Fredrick.

Lawrence I'm lukewarm on because we had to give up a 3 to get him. I just don't know if he's worth that much. I think the player is a nice get and he gives us some pass rushing ability to rotate in, but I'm not really seeing him as a premier RE prospect.

The rest of the guys have limited impact potential, mostly guys you hope that can find a niche as a depth/teams guy.

So I'm looking at this class as getting a good Guard to solidify the interior OL, which is nice, Grabbing a rotational pass rusher, and then the rest of the class resembles the 2009 draft philosophy.

Very disappointing considering how deep this draft was. Giving up the 3 and then making a dumb pick in the 4th really hurts.

 

[Bleu Star]

"C" you in three years.

 

[RS12]

http://BAN-INCOMING-IN-3-2-1/images/fball/cowboysb_logo.gifDallas Cowboys: C- Grade
Goals Entering the 2014 NFL Draft: The Cowboys have a terrible defense with plenty of holes. Upgrades are needed all over. Some areas could be addressed on offense, including right tackle and receiver, but Dallas has to spend most of its energy improving the stop unit.

2014 NFL Draft Accomplishments: Some expected Johnny Manziel to be the pick at No. 16, but that was never a realistic option, given Tony Romo's contract. Zack Martin made a lot more sense even though the Cowboys had to upgrade their defense. The guard position had to be addressed in order to keep Romo healthy, and Martin will be able to start there right away before perhaps moving to right tackle once Doug Free moves on.

So, did the Cowboys manage to bolster their stop unit with the rest of their selections? Not really. Demarcus Lawrence was a solid pick, but Jerry Jones made a ridiculous trade in order to get him, surrendering his third-rounder to the Commanders, of all teams. With no choice in the third frame, the Cowboys' next selection came in the fourth, where they took Anthony Hitchens, an undraftable player. The next defender would be chosen at No. 231.

Dallas is still going to have a terrible defense, so it obviously deserves a poor mark. There are two things saving it from an "F." The first is the Martin pick; Jones didn't reach, so that was a miracle. The second were some exceptional seventh-round choices. All eyes were on Michael Sam toward the end of the draft, so no one noticed that Jerry was absolutely on fire. My theory is that he handed the reins over to his scouts because he didn't recognize any of the names remaining on the board.

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