More Picks Than Spots?

[dbair1967]

I count 48 "Yes" votes and 3 "Maybe" votes (Keith Davis could be a "Yes" if he doesn't sign elsewhere; the others will be based on TC performance). Assuming we're done in FA and none of our RFA's are poached, we're looking to fill a maximum of 5 roster spots with 11 draft picks.

So what do ya'll think? Trade up and use about 6 picks on guys we really want, or use all 11 picks and see whether guys like Doug Free can hang on to their jobs?

There's several people you have as "yes" that are bubble people...guys like Courtney Brown, Sam Hurd, Cory proctor, Pat Watkins, Rodney Hannah etc etc...none of those guys are locks to make the team

They'll use more than 6 picks, but might not use all 11 (or 12 if someone like Greg Ellis were swapped for a pick)

 

[Vinnie2u]

Use all 11 picks.. Create competition in training camp... Let the best player win... Guys like Brown, Battle,Watkins, Ball, Proctor, Hannah, Hurd, Free, Marten and Mcquistan could use some pushing out the door if more talented players are drafted....

 

[BrAinPaiNt]

I think it depends on how the draft unfolds as compared to their draft board.It could be we trade some of the pics away for pics in the 2010 draft,or atleast it seems a possibility.

Craig

Yep....I could see some picks traded away for next year if we do not trade up much in this years draft.

 

[Yeagermeister]

The only picks you can guarantee Jerry won't trade is the comp picks and if he could trade those he would. :laugh1:

 

[dmq]

I think we might trade up a little, but I expect us also to trade back and better our draft position for next year.

 

[playmakers]

Thats why its having 11 draft picks on this team is risky. Let me explian. As many in here have said there will only be maybe 3 spots open to make the team. When you have a team with that much talent you cant draft projects because theres no room to put them. If we drafted Tom Brady jr. this year, like the Patriots did, we would probably cut him. He wouldnt make this active roster, and the practice squad would be iffy because a team would probably claim a 6th round pick. Then when Brady jr develops our loss would be somebody elses gain. I would trade to move up in this draft or if not trade some picks this year to move up next year. Just ask yourself with all of those 5-6-7 round picks that we have, theres only so much playing time to go around in the preseason. We could really miss out on some players.

 

[Smith22]

Thats why its having 11 draft picks on this team is risky. Let me explian. As many in here have said there will only be maybe 3 spots open to make the team.

3 spots?

OT: We need backup tackles along the OL. The depth there is scary.

CB/S: We lost 3 members from our secondary (RW, Pacman, Henry) and we signed 1 guy to replace them so far.

ILB: Lost Thomas and Burnett and signed 1 guy to replace them.

QB: easily an option.

WR: speed is a need there. Yes, we have some hope at the position, but we also have plenty of questions as well.

NT: depth would be nice, not to mention the flexibility to move Ratliff around.

OLB: Greg is closing in on the end of his career, and as much as I would like to think Spencer will be the real deal, that is still up in the air at the moment.

 

[fanfromvirginia]

There's several people you have as "yes" that are bubble people...guys like Courtney Brown, Sam Hurd, Cory proctor, Pat Watkins, Rodney Hannah etc etc...none of those guys are locks to make the team

They'll use more than 6 picks, but might not use all 11 (or 12 if someone like Greg Ellis were swapped for a pick)

This is about where I stand. My guesstimate for number of picks used: 9.
Another point to remember is that every year there are a few people who just flat don't cut it -- they get injured, arrested, eat the whole buffet, or just flat bomb out.

Given this, your points, and how well we've done recently on Day 2, I'd be fine with staying put and using all 11.

 

[TellerMorrow34]

I think we'll wind up with 6 or 7 picks this year after we move things around. A few of these this year will be traded down to get picks for next year, I'm sure.

 

[jday]

Considering that cutting players from the roster will count against this years cap, I can certainly see where the Cowboys will likely trade up. But I'm not sure whittling it down to 6 would be realistic. This list doesn't account for positions the Cowboys could upgrade, such as the backups in the OL, DL, LB, and CB. Those are positions in serious need of an upgrade.

Demarcus Ware can't play every snap and Kevin Burnett, his only back-up just signed with San Diego. Junior Siiavi is not a viable back up for Jay Ratliff. We have 4 CB's, possibly only 3, if we transition Ball to Safety, in a position that typically occupies 6 of the 53 final roster. We have plenty of Safeties, but behind Hamlin and Sensabaugh, an upgrade could present itself in the draft. Your list suggest Greg Ellis will still be with the Cowboys in 09; I'm not so sure. I'd say he's a maybe, considering the youth movement occurring on the roster currently.

Considering the other pitiful replacements we have for an OL that already underperforms, definite upgrades could occur. So, by my count we have about 12 potential roster spots. I'm not saying we will find replacements throughout the draft, but if you consider players such as Pat McQuistan, Cory Proctor, Doug Free, James Marten, Ryan Gibbons, Matt Spanos, Rodney Hannah, Travis Wilson, Paris Warren, Alan Ball, Patrick Watkins, Courtney Brown, Michael Hawkins, Jerome Carter, Steve Octavien, Carlos Polk, Marcus Dixon, Stephen Bowen, Jason Hatcher, Justin Rogers, Tra Battle and the loss of Pacman, Anthony Henry, Zach Thomas, Kevin Burnett, Roy Williams, T.O., Joe Berger, Tank Johnson, and Chris Canty minus the acquisition of Keith Brooking, Matt Stewart, Gerald Sensabaugh, and Igor Alshansky, that leaves about 12 positions, if not more, that need to be filled or upgraded. The only way to determine a filled spot or an upgrade is to create that competition in training camp.

So like I said, I have no problem with the Cowboys grouping a few draft picks here and there to acquire quality over quantity, but within reason.

 

[gimmesix]

I don't think we will draft 11 players this year, but I could easily make a case for at least 11 roster position changes/upgrades.

1. Brooks Bollinger
2. Berger - he's gone to Miami
3. C Proctor
4. McQuisten
5. WR - TO - he's gone, and potential roster spot available
6. Stanback - I think he has to show something this TC
7. Our 3rd TE position can be upgraded
8. Cricket at FB - nice guy and all, a good STs player, but just o.k. as starter
9. NT - Tank is gone. Roster spot available
10. ILB - Burnett gone. Roster spot potentially available.
11. OLB - We can upgrade depth here for sure
12-14. Up to 3 CBs, if Ball is moving to Safety. We only have Newman, Jenkins, and Scandrick.

15. Easily 1 Safety
16. Another ILB if we trade/cut Carp. Maybe this won't happen, but it could.

This is pretty much the same list I had put together. I don't think we can say we have enough quality players or holes filled that we cannot use all 11 picks. In fact, I think we should just stay where we are and use them, but I don't expect Jerry to do that.

Go back and look at some of our most lauded drafts and look at how many players we drafted in order to find a handful of good ones (particularly, I believe, the 1992 and 1993 drafts). We're not going to hit on every pick, so the more you use, the better chance you have of hitting.

If you bundle picks just to get one player, then not only might that player not turn out to be any good, but you've also given up your chance of possible hitting with those other picks.

If we're going to do any trading at all, I'd rather trade back slightly if we have several players rated the same and gather some picks for next year but still keep and use all the picks we have this year.

 

[Disturbed]

I would not bet against drafting most of the 11 picks we currently have (some may be packaged to move up)....after all you will not be 100% in drafting. I think most teams hit about 50-60% of the time on draft picks. I would like to see the team draft more OL -- a real problem area for us that is aging and getting worse.

I do agree that JJ is fond of dealing on draft day. He makes more deals than any other owner I can think of....not always good for the team.

 

[Woods]

This is pretty much the same list I had put together. I don't think we can say we have enough quality players or holes filled that we cannot use all 11 picks. In fact, I think we should just stay where we are and use them, but I don't expect Jerry to do that.

Go back and look at some of our most lauded drafts and look at how many players we drafted in order to find a handful of good ones (particularly, I believe, the 1992 and 1993 drafts). We're not going to hit on every pick, so the more you use, the better chance you have of hitting.

If you bundle picks just to get one player, then not only might that player not turn out to be any good, but you've also given up your chance of possible hitting with those other picks.

If we're going to do any trading at all, I'd rather trade back slightly if we have several players rated the same and gather some picks for next year but still keep and use all the picks we have this year.

Actually, one of the things that I was thinking was that if at 51 there are a handful of players available that we like, we should trade down and pick up an extra 3rd or 4th for this year.

And then, use one of our 5th, 6th, and 7th rounders to move up and get another 4th. (We end up with around 4 4th rounders, or 2 3rd rounders and 3 4th rounders all in all.)

That way, we still have about 10 picks, and they are higher quality picks.

I think the 4th and 5th rounds are very interesting this year. There should be quite a few solid QBs, OGs, LBs, and DL available there.

 

[reddyuta]

my guess is we are drafting 7-8 guys.
guaranteed drafts-S,OT,QB,DT,WR,ILB or OLB

 

[big dog cowboy]

I am tired of players viewing camp cupcake as nothing more than a "get-back-in-playing-shape exercise period" rather than a "fight-to-earn-or-keep-a-job period".

:signmast:

No doubt.

 

[Yeagermeister]

Stop kissing up to the boss. That's Juke's job.

 

[sonnyboy]

You are making assumptions that if the Cowboys trade up, their higher round picks will automatically be better and that does not always happen. While I am definitely not against trading up, think about it like this .. More people (who have a realistic chance at making the team) competing for fewer slots means competition will be much better from both the drafted players and any rookie free agents. On top of that, it means more people to challenge and threaten spots currently maintained by bottom fringe players who would conceivably be less worried with fewer draft picks.

There are too many draft failures (busts) from high rounds and too many draft successes from low rounds to discount the statistical probability of improving the team as a whole with more picks. Not to mention the increased competition factor caused by having more draft picks in camp.

Personally, I like the odds of finding 5 good players out of 11 draft picks than I do finding 5 good players out of 7 or 8 draft picks. I am tired of players viewing camp cupcake as nothing more than a "get-back-in-playing-shape exercise period" rather than a "fight-to-earn-or-keep-a-job period".

-Reality

Couldn't agree more.

I'd prefer we select 11 players. Go BPA acoss the board, create a lot of competition and let the chips fall where they may.

But I don't discount any senario that benefits the team.

Lets say we have a player we really like ranked 25 who also fills a serious need and is sliding. Just past pick 34 and we have an offer to trade up to 35 to grab him.

Well then I'd have no problem trading the 51st pick along with a 5th and 7th.
Not sure that draft chart value adds up right, but you get the point.

We do our homework on these kids as well as we have the last two years we'll be more than fine regardless of how it plays out.

 

[sonnyboy]

Thats why its having 11 draft picks on this team is risky. Let me explian. As many in here have said there will only be maybe 3 spots open to make the team. When you have a team with that much talent you cant draft projects because theres no room to put them. If we drafted Tom Brady jr. this year, like the Patriots did, we would probably cut him. He wouldnt make this active roster, and the practice squad would be iffy because a team would probably claim a 6th round pick. Then when Brady jr develops our loss would be somebody elses gain. I would trade to move up in this draft or if not trade some picks this year to move up next year. Just ask yourself with all of those 5-6-7 round picks that we have, theres only so much playing time to go around in the preseason. We could really miss out on some players.

Here's what you're missing. When you have good rookies, doing well in camp, you're not the only team that knows about it.

If we have a serious log jam at say LB. We're probably going to cut a real player. Trade options almost always open up.

 

[Pokes12]

Outstanding post JoaquinFenix!!!

Even if you are wrong by a half your argument is brilliant. We have way more draft picks than potential spots. Therefore, what do we do? If we cannot move up, which is my desire then we should ship draft picks to others for future years' drafts. It makes absolutely no sense to draft 11 to keep 5.

 

[FLCowboyFan]

What is interesting are all of the people who are ticked about the RW trade. We have plenty of picks to do what we need even after the trade.