Mickey Spagnola's Analysis of Dallas 2006 1st Pick

[ghst187]

Jason Allen would be a GREAT pick for us but I don't see him sliding down that far into the second round, since he seems to be testing out and showing that he's recovered from his hip injury. I've read reports saying his stock is rising since the Combine.

Prior to his injury he was a top 15 talent.

That's true, Jason Allen is my pick in the second, and you're right he probably won't last til our 2nd pick. Would be worth moving up a few slots to grab. If we trade down in the 1st and get an extra second...
He would've been the top S prospect in not for his injury.
He still came back and ran a 4.3 40 at the combine I believe. He's a stud and can play FS or CB. He's big and fast with coverage as his forte. That's exactly what we need back there. Jimmy Williams is grossly overrated and I think Allen will be a much better player with much less "baggage."
Huff is a great player and I think is very similiar to Allen but Huff is going top 15 and Allen probably bottom 15 or even second round....value is better for similar talent and skills

 

[Idgit]

I guess I am alone on this, but I think Keith Davis did a servicable job last year. There are no teams in the NFL without any holes. I am much more apprehensive about the offensive line.

You're not alone. He was adequate last year, and will/would be better this year. It's just tiring fighting that battle in thread after thread.

 

[Typhus]

I guess I am alone on this, but I think Keith Davis did a servicable job last year. There are no teams in the NFL without any holes. I am much more apprehensive about the offensive line.

Skaven, I have all the Dallas games saved on my Tivo from last year, and while reviewing them, one thing that I really noticed was how many times Newman and Roy were constantly turning their head in Davis' direction at, and after the snap. Davis seemed to be out of posistion more times than not, causing Newman or Roy to have to play out of posistion many times to fill the void initiated by Davis' inability to read the coverage succesfully.

Davis is a great special teams player, but doesnt posses the ball hawking coverage instincts that the top FS in this league have.

 

[Sandman52]

After reading this thread, I'm really starting to believe that signing Coleman to an Aaron Glenn-equivalent contract is the way to go......especially if we draft a non-1st rd FS.

 

[scottsp]

Nice take by Spags. Not so sure it's the way it will go, but how could any of know for sure.

I doubt our current payroll will determine our direction in the first round - this year anyway. Especially if the player(s) available, talent of said individual, and need at a given position present an opportunity for this club.

Hard to write anything off at this point.

 

[J-DOG]

Jason Allen would be a GREAT pick for us but I don't see him sliding down that far into the second round, since he seems to be testing out and showing that he's recovered from his hip injury. I've read reports saying his stock is rising since the Combine.

Prior to his injury he was a top 15 talent.

Agree completely.
Players who run fast forty times are going to go quick.
Cromartie will be the the same way.
Whitner seems like a more realistic pick for our 2nd round pick.

 

[Stash]

I fear that we're going to do the same thing to Roy Williams that we did to LaRoi Glover.

We're never going to maximize his talents because we're never going to give him some help.

We never maximized Glover's pass rush skills because he never had a big DT tackle next to him to eat up blocks. I'll never understand why we never tried to bring in a 330 pound monster to pair with Glover.

I fear will never maximize Roy's talents. I think we'll always have a servicable safety next to him, and Roy will never get to roam around the LOS. We saw how destructive he could be when he had Woody next to him.

I can really see us standing pat in the draft at safety....unfortunately.

I very much agree with the comment about Glover. I always felt the Cowboys should have paired him up with a space-eating "slob" like New Orleans did with Norman Hand.

That said, I don't think Dallas will use their #1 pick on a safety unless Huff falls to #18 somehow.

Given the lack of priority on the safety position, I think several will still be available in Rounds 2-4.

 

[blindzebra]

Mickey's been reading the forum again. Several of us have been saying this for a long time.

Further if you make the front 7 more dynamic, combined with the quality of our corners, the "need" at FS gets much smaller.

 

[WoodysGirl]

from Spags Mail:


[FONT=Arial,Helvetica][SIZE=-1]Chris Hall, Los Angeles: [/SIZE][/FONT]Do you think there is any chance that the Boys would try and move up and take Texas safety Michael Huff? What would it cost? Maybe first, second, and a second next year? This might seem hefty, but let's face it, since they selected Larry Allen, the only good second-round selection has been Julius Jones, and he was basically our first-round pick. With Huff on paper, we'd have to be one of the favorites for the title.
Mickey: Are you serious? You want to give up that many picks for a safety? A safety? Please. I had a hard time qualifying a first on Roy Williams. Now your math is about right. It likely would take that to move up from 18 high enough to get in Huff's projected range. But again, you can't have a steak on every plate. And as I've been pleading, why haven't any of you demanded Roy Williams get better? If he's a Pro Bowl safety, he should not be one dimensional. He needs to learn to cover better. He needs to study more, then there won't be so much responsibility on the other safety. And while you have a nice point about second-round picks, you do forget Randall Godfrey, Flozell Adams, Solomon Page (for a few years, at least), Antonio Bryant (from a talent standpoint) and I'd say the jury still is out on Al Johnson and Kevin Burnett.

 

[Yakuza Rich]

Mickey makes a good point. But the biggest point is that the stock of safeties usually drops considerably come draft day whereas pass rusher stock increases during draft day.

Statistically, the secondary did pretty well with a liability at FS. If they can get somebody opposite of Ware, they should do better. Adding a FS is important, but it's still pretty much adding icing to the cake.


Rich...........

 

[trueblue1687]

Jason Allen would be a GREAT pick for us but I don't see him sliding down that far into the second round, since he seems to be testing out and showing that he's recovered from his hip injury. I've read reports saying his stock is rising since the Combine.

Prior to his injury he was a top 15 talent.

I watched his pro day here @ UT knoxville and got to talk with some scouts. Most have him a late 1st now. His hip thing didn't seem to affect him in the drills he did. He drew the most interest of any of UT's players. The guy is the real deal if he can show the injury won't show up in the long term.

 

[jterrell]

Mickey makes a good point. But the biggest point is that the stock of safeties usually drops considerably come draft day whereas pass rusher stock increases during draft day.

Statistically, the secondary did pretty well with a liability at FS. If they can get somebody opposite of Ware, they should do better. Adding a FS is important, but it's still pretty much adding icing to the cake.


Rich...........

Too bad you don't write his articles for him.
And yes I am serious.

Some things are just common sense when being around football for a while even as a fan.

Dallas can use both an OLB and a FS. Whichever guy makes 1st round money matters little. We just drafted Ware and are perfectly happy drafting another LB yet we are scared to pay late 1st money to a FS? Thats a rather silly argument.

We paid for Aaron Glenn after we had Henry and TNew. We know we are going to spend money on DBs because the league has went to pass happy.
Teams stay in the nickel significant portions of the game now.

 

[SouthernStar]

Wonder if Cowboys might be willing trade a first day pick in 07 to grab another pick on first day in 06--.

It would take a 2nd rounder next year to get a 3rd rounder this year...or a 1st rounder next year to get a 2nd rounder this year.

 

[AMERICAS_FAN]

Are there any James Washington or Thomas Everett type of Free Ssfeties in this year's draft class that can be had in the third round?

**

 

[Bob Sacamano]

only problem I have with taking a safety in the 1st round, much less the 1st day, is that IMO, he's going to struggle as a starter, which is what your 1st 3 picks should be, starters, just like Keith Davis did last year, covering in the deep zone is a big responsibility, and pretty complex, that's why we had Darren Woodson doing that instead of Roy Williams, and I can't name many young safeties outside of Ed Reed that are good, even adequate, in covering in the deep zones, and of course Reed has a few years under his belt

so basically I agree with Mickey's point, but add that Jerry and Bill want the FS hole solved immediately, and that IMO, doesn't pinpoint a rookie FS

 

[jterrell]

only problem I have with taking a safety in the 1st round, much less the 1st day, is that IMO, he's going to struggle as a starter, which is what your 1st 3 picks should be, starters, just like Keith Davis did last year, covering in the deep zone is a big responsibility, and pretty complex, that's why we had Darren Woodson doing that instead of Roy Williams, and I can't name many young safeties outside of Ed Reed that are good, even adequate, in covering in the deep zones, and of course Reed has a few years under his belt

so basically I agree with Mickey's point, but add that Jerry and Bill want the FS hole solved immediately, and that IMO, doesn't pinpoint a rookie FS

I disagree.

I believe safeties and running backs are the easiest positions to play as rookies.

A FS playing mostly coverage just needs to understand basic zone/man principles and as long as someone else is calling plays as they would be anyway the FS merely has to be as deep as the deepest at all times and fill lanes on running plays. Its skill based more than technique so not much to learn beyond team's tendencies and again thats negligible at the position because you simply can't afford to get beat and speed WRs are rather obvious.

Jerry has already mentionned FS/OLB as round 1 targets so I'd really think it odd to disavow that even though Jerry can be full of it when discussing draft stuff....

If the team had placed a moderate priority on a vet FS they would already have one. We have our OL, K, LB, backup TE and of course offensive playmaker and troublemaking trash-talking entertainer.

 

[roy31]

I wish they would pick OL or LB in the early rounds and grab somone like Anthony Smith in round 3

 

[Verdict]

I'm not saying we will pick a safety in the first round, but I doubt we would rule that out. I think the decision of who to draft with that first round pick is going to have more to do with who is available when we pick, how much depth is available at each position, team needs, who the best player avalable is, and how much dropoff there is in the safety pool this year.

I don't think worrying about "over allocating" money to a the secondary is going to be as big a deal as it has been in the past. Case in point....Vandy got top tier kicker money and we have always addressed kicker as an afterthought.

Make no mistake about it, we are going for it all THIS YEAR. Safety is the biggest hole remaining on this defense. I think they find a way to plug it THIS year either with a free agent, or a pick. I dont see us staying pat at free safety this year. The only wild card I see is if they think Barriult is capable of filling thay hole they might wait till later to address that need.

 

[lspain1]

We paid for Aaron Glenn after we had Henry and TNew. We know we are going to spend money on DBs because the league has went to pass happy.
Teams stay in the nickel significant portions of the game now.

I agree with this. The league rules continue to favor WR's and the forward pass. Continuing to spend money in the secondary is not a luxury but a necessity in today's NFL. The LB and FS positions are both supposed to be deep so I want the Cowboys to select the best available athlete when our first round selection comes around or trade down for more picks if that is the best strategy.

Any of those choices will make me happy if we get good value and fill our needs during this draft. Evidence suggests that both the LB and FS postions can be successfully filled by a rookie if the talent is there. They can start and will get better with experience.

 

[JackMagist]

I guess I am alone on this, but I think Keith Davis did a servicable job last year. There are no teams in the NFL without any holes. I am much more apprehensive about the offensive line.

I think the Cowboys see the OL as set for the coming year. We might draft a couple of OL in the mid to late rounds to groom for the future but they will not be looking for any immediate starters. Personally I am concerned about the interior of the line with Rivera's back, Johnson's lack of power, Gurode's lack of a brain and Kosier being such an unknown (to me) factor.

I would like to see us draft a couple of OG/C types but I'm still thinking 3rd round or later. But I still think we are looking OLB and FS in the first two rounds.