My Personal Fave in this draft

[egn22]

would LOVE a draft that somehow ended up with us picking Andrew Billings. I can see him pushing our DLine to the next level. Elite territory.

 

[4lifecowboy]

I like Billings and Rankin. DT in the first is really the direction I'm beginning to lean in. with a trade down of course.

 

[DBOY3141]

I like Billings and Rankin. DT in the first is really the direction I'm beginning to lean in. with a trade down of course.

I don't see the Cowboys doing that. Over the last couple of years the only one that sparked their interest was Donald. They passed on Floyd and Brown. I think 2nd round, maybe, is where we could see a DT.

 

[CF74]

Prediction: He's gone by 15.

Hope: We somehow get him in a trade down or by miracle in the 2nd.

 

[tm1119]

A'shawn Robinson is better than Billings. I don't see the hype he's getting.

Billings just doesn't bring enough as a pass rusher for me to warrant a top 15 selection. His game consists of him doing his best to overpower the guard/center in front of him and not much else. And for a short guy with short arms he plays way too high. If he could learn to stay low and fire off the ball he'd be very hard to deal with.

I do think Billings will be a good NFL player though. No matter what, he's going to be a stout run defender who's hard to move. I just don't see enough in his game right now besides being really strong to warrant the top 15 hype though.

 

[4lifecowboy]

I don't see the Cowboys doing that. Over the last couple of years the only one that sparked their interest was Donald. They passed on Floyd and Brown. I think 2nd round, maybe, is where we could see a DT.

I don't see it either. I'm just looking at all the possible scenarios that would most benefit this team the most and stating my opinion on it. I've been a fan for 30 years I'm almost certain they will go in a direction opposite to what i may feel is best.

 

[4lifecowboy]

Prediction: He's gone by 15.

Hope: We somehow get him in a trade down or by miracle in the 2nd.

We need a top flight pick at DT. Waiting til the second may not get us what we need.

 

[DBOY3141]

I don't see it either. I'm just looking at all the possible scenarios that would most benefit this team the most and stating my opinion on it. I've been a fan for 30 years I'm almost certain they will go in a direction opposite to what i may feel is best.

Ditto. Rankins would be a beast to add to the DL.

 

[Sydla]

I don't see the Cowboys doing that. Over the last couple of years the only one that sparked their interest was Donald. They passed on Floyd and Brown. I think 2nd round, maybe, is where we could see a DT.

I think people need to separate the DTs.

Marinelli places value in a 3 Tech. Hence why Donald probably was very intriguing to them. Now they have Crawford and believe he's their stud 3 Tech.

Floyd and Brown are more 1 techs and we all know Marinelli thinks you basically need a slug at the 1 tech and as long as he works hard, that's all he needs.

 

[Bocephus]

Billings has unbelievable strength and he's only 19. He'll be very disruptive in the next level, I hope somehow he falls to us in the 2.

 

[Bigdog]

Ditto. Rankins would be a beast to add to the DL.

I like him and Butler in the 2nd or 3rd but I highly doubt they make it to our pick in the 3rd

 

[RS12]

Ditto. Rankins would be a beast to add to the DL.

Yep, I think he is gonna be a stud.

 

[4lifecowboy]

I like him and Butler in the 2nd or 3rd but I highly doubt they make it to our pick in the 3rd

After senior bowl i almost guarantee Rankins is going in the 1st round. He will be this year's Donald

 

[4lifecowboy]

Resigning Hardy and adding a Rankin or Billings would solidify our d-line IMO

 

[MichaelValentino]

would LOVE a draft that somehow ended up with us picking Andrew Billings. I can see him pushing our DLine to the next level. Elite territory.

Egn, I am with you 100%. I know Billings is your guy and because of other posts from you I looked into him more closely. He's my favorite DT in the draft, now even more so than Robinson.

This is one strong man. When he gets his hands on you, you're going down. You see Roethlisberger bounce off so many D-linemen and escape their grasp to extend plays. Billings is one guy who will bring down Roethlisberger. When this guy hits training camp he will likely be the strongest player in the NFL.

I see quickness too, which is why he reminds me of Russell Maryland.

Even when he plays high, the C or G can't overpower Billings. It becomes a stalemate but eventually he disengages. If he stays low he is going to win the vast majority of one-on-one battles.

Maybe you, or someone else, can shed some light for me but I do not understand the constant refrain on this board that Marinelli does not value the 1-tech and so the Cowboys won't draft one high. If the Cowboys had a shot at Suh, would they pass on it because he'd line up at the 1-tech?

I'm old school, but does anyone here recall how the Steelers would line up Joe Greene in the A-gap on an angle. Wasn't that a 70s version of the 1-tech? Greene occupied two guys and Jack Lambert shut down any inside running game.

Would Marinelli have passed on Joe Greene? If that's the case, the coach should go and the team should draft the player. I'm not saying Billings will be the next Mean Joe Greene (or Randy White, or Bob Lilly) but he is far and away better than any DT on the roster and he can/would markedly improve this defensive front seven.

If the Cowboys can move down to 11-15, take Billings and do not look back. He will lead the team in TFL as a rookie and he will occupy two linemen on almost every play, keeping our MLB clean.

 

[Bigdog]

After senior bowl i almost guarantee Rankins is going in the 1st round. He will be this year's Donald

I was hoping Rankins would slip to us in the 2nd but like you said, he will probably not make it

 

[egn22]

Egn, I am with you 100%. I know Billings is your guy and because of other posts from you I looked into him more closely. He's my favorite DT in the draft, now even more so than Robinson.

This is one strong man. When he gets his hands on you, you're going down. You see Roethlisberger bounce off so many D-linemen and escape their grasp to extend plays. Billings is one guy who will bring down Roethlisberger. When this guy hits training camp he will likely be the strongest player in the NFL.

I see quickness too, which is why he reminds me of Russell Maryland.

Even when he plays high, the C or G can't overpower Billings. It becomes a stalemate but eventually he disengages. If he stays low he is going to win the vast majority of one-on-one battles.

Maybe you, or someone else, can shed some light for me but I do not understand the constant refrain on this board that Marinelli does not value the 1-tech and so the Cowboys won't draft one high. If the Cowboys had a shot at Suh, would they pass on it because he'd line up at the 1-tech?

I'm old school, but does anyone here recall how the Steelers would line up Joe Greene in the A-gap on an angle. Wasn't that a 70s version of the 1-tech? Greene occupied two guys and Jack Lambert shut down any inside running game.

Would Marinelli have passed on Joe Greene? If that's the case, the coach should go and the team should draft the player. I'm not saying Billings will be the next Mean Joe Greene (or Randy White, or Bob Lilly) but he is far and away better than any DT on the roster and he can/would markedly improve this defensive front seven.

If the Cowboys can move down to 11-15, take Billings and do not look back. He will lead the team in TFL as a rookie and he will occupy two linemen on almost every play, keeping our MLB clean.

I'm no expert and won't pretend to be one but I think the talk about Marinelli not being big on the idea of spending too much on a big 1 tech started in 2013.

Shariff Floyd who was a stud DT at Florida who was said to have been one of the best overall players in the entire draft was available for us to select. We passed on him (along w several other teams) and our reasoning (based on multiple Cowboys media member and insiders) was that Marinelli preferred more versatile quick twitch "Rushmen" that could be moved around the DLine in his system. And Floyd despite his talent didn't fit that mold.

Since then the local media has continued to report that nothing has changed in terms of Marinelli's philosophy and so the likelihood of us spending a 1st on an A'shawn Robinson or an Andrew Billings is slim to none because these guys don't fit the mold of what Marinelli is looking for in his system.

I don't dislike Marinelli and I would never pretend to know more than him about football, it's just my personal opinion that a big fat run stuffing 1 tech with the ability to eat up double teams and create space for pass rushers and blitzers would be amazing. But I'm just an average fan, what the hell do I know?! Lol

 

[Mr Cowboy]

There are plenty of very good DL in the first 3 rounds.... which is good because they shouldn't take one very high to sit behind Crawford. They are not going to sit Crawford and his high salary and start a rookie.

 

[egn22]

There are plenty of very good DL in the first 3 rounds.... which is good because they shouldn't take one very high to sit behind Crawford. They are not going to sit Crawford and his high salary and start a rookie.

The idea would be to sign a stud to put next to Crawford, not to replace him.
So you'd have:

Hardy/Gregory
Crawford
Billings
Lawrence

Maaaaan, that would be awesome.

 

[JoeyBoy718]

Kinda want us to try to use our #4 and #34 to try to acquire two mid-1st round picks. I want one of the top 3 QBs. I'm guessing one will fall to around the 12-18 range. I also want one of the stud DTs (Robinson, Billings, Rankins). I can see them all being gone in the top 20. Get me two picks in the 15 to 20 range and I'll be happy. Walk away with Lynch and Billings. That's a win.

Just for fun. #4 pick is worth 1800 and #34 is worth 560. That's 2360 combined. The #12 and #13 picks are worth 2350 combined. I don't know how but make it happen.