My First Day Analysis

[Natedawg44]

My biggest problem is the smoke Jerry and Ireland are blowing at us. Fasano was a need pic since we are now running a two TE offense. Unless by BPA you get extra points on the big board if you are from New Jersey and a TE and Italian.

 

[Joe a Cowboys fan]

Actually Ad I did get slamed last year when I said we didn't draft any O in the first day and our O would have trouble scoring. Last year our old and in some cases has been O ran out of gas when the play off teams started gathering steam. So I will say it again. We lack scoring punch and the line is still weak. We haven't addressed the O in the first round of the draft for 8 years now. We got TO who should help and a TE from Seattle that should help and some band aid O-linemen in FA.

After todays draft I think I will just reprise last years posts. Dallas needs to score more points to win. Our D is not the Ravens at their peak yet and so far they haven't scored anything close to what Baltimore's D did. Another year and it remains waiting for next year to get the people to improve our scoring.

Jimmy may have coached in a different era but both Jimmy and Tom Laundry got some offensive punch to go along with a good D. Bill and Jerry keep taking a pass on O in the draft. Tell me I am wrong again, it's ok. A few more drafts like this and we will eventually get some high first round picks. Maybe we will even spend them on players who score points.

 

[big dog cowboy]

Eddie is just upset with the draft, no reason to come down on him here. If you were told we were going to take a DE and a TE on Wednesday for the first day, you would have probably been upset too. The biggest problem is we are nowhere near our needs.

Not exactly. I wouldn't be upset I would listen to the explaination. There is a reason for what happened today. Getting emotional isn't the answer. When there is a logical answer presented by the owner/GM and the head of the scouting deptartment, perhaps one should listen. Otherwise one can get upset. Without a good reason.

 

[dmq]

I gotta say, with how well the boys did with the Witten pick, it is hard to find argument with the Fasano pick until I see otherwise.

 

[Deep_Freeze]

Not exactly. I wouldn't be upset I would listen to the explaination. There is a reason for what happened today. Getting emotional isn't the answer. When there is a logical answer presented by the owner/GM and the head of the scouting deptartment, perhaps one should listen. Otherwise one can get upset. Without a good reason.

Perhaps, but we did totally ignore the obvious needs of the team in the draft. That can be upsetting to anyone who has spent a good amount of time researching potential picks for us. Now I'm not going to attack the picks, I can see the reasons for them in some ways, I just have to wonder if we are really ready to go to a full BPA drafting system cause I don't feel that we are a good enough team to go to that yet.

 

[rkstevens]

Perhaps, but we did totally ignore the obvious needs of the team in the draft. That can be upsetting to anyone who has spent a good amount of time researching potential picks for us. Now I'm not going to attack the picks, I can see the reasons for them in some ways, I just have to wonder if we are really ready to go to a full BPA drafting system cause I don't feel that we are a good enough team to go to that yet.

I'm not sure we ignored the need on the offensive line. The Cowboys just addressed it in a way that most of us didn't think of. Instead of drafting the best available tackle or guard available in the second round to help the pass protection and run blocking, the Cowboys chose to improve the offensive line by drafting a TE with a good combination of blocking/pass catching skills and use a 2 TE set with no FB. A look at the following page shows that our rushing was best running to the middle and worst on the ends.

http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/ol.php

With a TE next to each tackle, that should improve our outside running. Then we can also pass off the same formation having 5 eligible receivers in the 2 TE, Single RB formation. So basically by drafting Fosano and moving to 2 TE, we can run it better outside, max protect with both TE's, or send out one TE and leave one TE in to block off the same formation. I almost see this as the offensive version of the 3-4 where the Cowboys now have two additional receivers on each side and defenses don't know which one (if any) will stay in to block and which one will go out for a pass. I also like the match-ups between Witten/Fasano and LB's over Crayton and LB's. I also like Fabini/Petitti/Rookie OT + Witten/Fasano pass-blocking over Fabini, Petitti or a Rookie OT pass-blocking by himself.

Not sure why the Cowboys didn't address the need at safety. They may feel that Beriault and Coleman can handle the job, or they didn't think any of the free safeties available were worth taking in the 2nd and 3rd rounds. Other teams must have agreed as only two free safeties (as classified on NFL.com) were taken.

 

[Deep_Freeze]

I'm not sure we ignored the need on the offensive line. The Cowboys just addressed it in a way that most of us didn't think of. Instead of drafting the best available tackle or guard available in the second round to help the pass protection and run blocking, the Cowboys chose to improve the offensive line by drafting a TE with a good combination of blocking/pass catching skills and use a 2 TE set with no FB. A look at the following page shows that our rushing was best running to the middle and worst on the ends.

http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/ol.php

With a TE next to each tackle, that should improve our outside running. Then we can also pass off the same formation having 5 eligible receivers in the 2 TE, Single RB formation. So basically by drafting Fosano and moving to 2 TE, we can run it better outside, max protect with both TE's, or send out one TE and leave one TE in to block off the same formation. I almost see this as the offensive version of the 3-4 where the Cowboys now have two additional receivers on each side and defenses don't know which one (if any) will stay in to block and which one will go out for a pass. I also like the match-ups between Witten/Fasano and LB's over Crayton and LB's. I also like Fabini/Petitti/Rookie OT + Witten/Fasano pass-blocking over Fabini, Petitti or a Rookie OT pass-blocking by himself.

Agreed, and I have talked about this in other posts, but the big thing here is this. We have to run this new 2 TE offense, and hopefully it isn't just noise to sell the pick.

A receiver is a receiver, whether it is a TE or a WR, so a 2nd TE or a 3rd WR does matter as much, especially in this draft where there weren't many good WRs. I agree that this is a good way to solve an age old problem we have, although with both TEs on the ends I would like to make sure we are safe in the middle where teams actually like to attack Bledsoe the most.

I see it in concept, but in action I hope we can hold down the middle of the line where Bledsoe's real weakness is.

 

[CallMeCrazy]

I gotta say, with how well the boys did with the Witten pick, it is hard to find argument with the Fasano pick until I see otherwise.

I'm not a football expert especially college football but when the Cowboys passed on Witten in the second round, I thought they were nuts. They got Witten in the third and he was a steal (I think that year they either got Gurode or Johnson in the second round so you can't always be right or lucky) but they're paid to do their due diligence and we have to trust them.

 

[PullMyFinger]

Im wondering why Gilles wasnt drafted first day, at one time he was a potental top 20 pick.

 

[Bob Sacamano]

so it is a need pick then not the best player available.

TE wasn't a big need, so I'm guessing it was BPA with a need, because we do run a 2-TE offense, if that makes any sense

 

[Bob Sacamano]

Possibly but to blindly tell us it was BPA regardless is just pissing on my shoes and telling me its raining.

well, Jerry did state not too long ago that they filled alot of needs in free agency that allowed them to focus on value, instead of strictly needs, in the draft

 

[VTEXPRESS]

Busting on OL in the past doesn't mean we abandon it completely.

I really don't think Kosier and Fabini are going to turn our OL misfortunes around.

We needed help. Higher rated players than Fasano and Hatcher were available ... higher rated players who could help immediately were available as well.

No offense, but it really doesn't matter what you think of Koiser and Fabini. Time will tell on that.

You and others on this board keep saying higher rated players. How are you determining the ratings of these Players?

 

[Big D]

No offense, but it really doesn't matter what you think of Koiser and Fabini. Time will tell on that.

You and others on this board keep saying higher rated players. How are you determining the ratings of these Players?

Exactly! And give specific names of these higher rated players as well.

Its easy to sit back and say they should've taken someone rated higher but who??

 

[rkstevens]

Agreed, and I have talked about this in other posts, but the big thing here is this. We have to run this new 2 TE offense, and hopefully it isn't just noise to sell the pick.

A receiver is a receiver, whether it is a TE or a WR, so a 2nd TE or a 3rd WR does matter as much, especially in this draft where there weren't many good WRs. I agree that this is a good way to solve an age old problem we have, although with both TEs on the ends I would like to make sure we are safe in the middle where teams actually like to attack Bledsoe the most.

I see it in concept, but in action I hope we can hold down the middle of the line where Bledsoe's real weakness is.

Yep, if the Cowboys drafted Fasano in the 2nd round to be a backup to Witten, I'll be the first to say that they reached with that pick. I remember them playing a bit of 2 TE last season, mostly for max protect. I think Campbell's limitations in the passing game prevented its use for much more than short goal-line type situations. I like the TE pick over a WR in the second round who would at best be a 3rd WR who couldn't help with blocking, whereas the TE can do both. I could easily see Fasano making the kind of catches Keyshawn made for us. He's taller and bigger, and his 40 time is 4.71. I can't imagine Keyshawn being much faster than him at this point in his career. He's not a deep threat, but I'm not sure we have room on the roster for a rookie WR who's just a deep threat if we want to keep T.O., Glenn, Crayton and Copper. Like you said, hopefully Jerry's not blowing smoke, because I like the potential of this offensive formation.

Julius or MB3 will have to help with the pressure up the middle, and we have to hope Kosier, Johnson/Gurode and Rivera do the job there. I actually am more scared about the pressure from the edges because it seemed like that's when Bledsoe made the most mistakes (fumbles, INTs). It seemed like he at least recognized the pressure up the middle and either sidestepped it, threw the ball away or took the sack, which isn't good, but it's better than a turnover. I could be wrong about that, so I'll probably have to go back and watch some of last season's games. So maybe the Cowboys should look at drafting a guard or center in the second day instead of tackle if they plan to have TE's help them block.