Note from NFLDraftBlitz editor :)

[calicowboy54]

1. Dallas Cowboys (From Cleveland): *Darren McFadden (RB) Arkansas
22. Dallas Cowboys: *Aqib Talib (CB) Kansas
54. Dallas Cowboys: Andre Caldwell (WR) Florida
86. Dallas Cowboys: Will Arnold (OG) LSU
118. Dallas Cowboys: Kendall Langford (DE) Hampton
150. Dallas Cowboys: Ricky Santos (QB) New Hampshire
182. Dallas Cowboys: "Red" Keith (ILB) Central Michigan
214. Dallas Cowboys: Shannon Boatman (OT) Florida State

 

[Yeagermeister]

Are there any 3-4 lbs in next yrs draft?

 

[YosemiteSam]

1. Dallas Cowboys (From Cleveland): *Darren McFadden (RB) Arkansas
22. Dallas Cowboys: *Aqib Talib (CB) Kansas

That should be...

1. Dallas Cowboys (From Cleveland): *Darren McFadden (RB) Arkansas
32. Dallas Cowboys: *Aqib Talib (CB) Kansas

 

[ThreeSportStar80]

Dallas is looking good as far as the 2008 NFL draft is concerned....

 

[ThreeSportStar80]

That should be...

1. Dallas Cowboys (From Cleveland): *Darren McFadden (RB) Arkansas
32. Dallas Cowboys: *Aqib Talib (CB) Kansas

EXACTLY, glad you caught that!

 

[peplaw06]

Hypothetical... All 32 teams 1st rounders in 2008 are available. You get one. You have to choose today. Who do you take?

I take Cleveland... maybe that's just me.

 

[Chocolate Lab]

I wouldn't sell Kiffin short -- he might not be a huge name -- and certainly it is pretty weird to hire a college coordinator to be your HC (but really, USC runs a very pro-style game with lots of talented players so the difference isn't that big) - but the kid is going to bring some good stuff to the Raiders.

Also keep in mind that the Raiders stank last year at least partly because their coaching staff was so awful -- Shell and Walsh were so out of touch and the players knew it. That offense has a hell of a lot of talent that hasn't been in a good situation.

I don't think they'll be awesome next year but they aren't going to be the worst team in the league.

Like everyone else, I laughed at the Kiffin hire, but when I heard that he's the one who persuaded Davis to get rid of Moss, that showed me something. Maybe he does have the leadership ability and charisma, even at such a young age, to get the job done.

And you're so right, almost anyone would be better than the coaching staff they had last year on offense. That offensive line was an absolute disgrace... Maybe the worst I've ever seen in my life.

 

[SMCowboy]

Before we get all giddy and cream ourselves...

Wimbley had a good rookie year. He should be better with his second year of development.

They do have a solid, but far from spectacular LB core last year, they do have some talent at LB, I will give you that much.

Sean Jones and Brodney Pool are a nice young S tandem. Leigh Bodden, when healthy, is a very good CB. Eric Wright had 1st round talent.

Andra Davis is a pretty solid LB and DQwell Jackson is a solid prospect for them as well.

They have one MAJOR problem on there D they can NOT stop the run.

They were 29th in yards per game given up rushing, and 23rd in yards per attempt.

There secondary was not that bad last year at all, but if you can't stop the run you can not win ball games.

Offensively, Braylon is coming back, Winslow began to show signs last year,

Braylon Edwards is going to be a very good NFL WR, but he has yet to show the burst to make him a GREAT NFL WR. Becides, it doesn't matter how good he is, his QB;s are still either Frye(who is a good smart QB, with the talent to be a NFL player thus limiting his effectiveness, or a rookie, and even Peyton Manning didn't look all that great his rookie year, and he had alot more talent than Quinn does to work with.

their OL should be improved with Steinbach and Thomas.

The thing about great OL's is teams don't ever seem to develope great OL's threw FA's. And it is also rare that FA OL ever live up to the hype and live upto there billing. And a HUGE part of that is OL is more of a cohesive thing, that a person thing. I have seen OL's with alot of great "talent" that do not live upto there billing, and alot of OL's that do not have any one great player on the OL, but the unit as a whole is a GREAT unit.

Frye will have another year of experience if he starts.

Experience was not Frye's problem last year, it was talent level. He is a smart kid and a hard worker supposedly. But, the knock on him from the beginning is that he does not have the talent level to be a starting NFL QB. Experience does NOT help that....

#1 is far from a lock.

No they are far from a lock, but I have hard time coming up with a team that looks significantly worse on paper than the Browns do.

They could win 6 games next year.

I would say that 6 wins is the absolute BEST that the Browns can hope for next year with there schedule. And that would require they pull a couple of upset wins and still not lose to any of the winnable games. Heck, I don't see a single game on there schedule that they SHOULD win, just a few that they COULD win.....

And I don't see how the Browns are worse than the Raiders.

As for how they are worse than the Raiders. Well, the Raiders have a better RB corps, a better WR corps, and a MUCH MUCH better defense. While OL play is the ONLY position that sticks out to me as a position that COULD be a stronger position for the Browns, and even that is not a 100% sure thing. The Raiders did bring in several solid OL in FA this year.

 

[SMCowboy]

And who would have thought that Drew Bledsoe would lead the Bills to 8-2 over their last 10 games, getting sacked only 14 times in those 10 games, back in 2004?

Drew Bledsoe while he had his flaws as an NFL QB, had a TON more "talent" than Charlie Frye. And I am definately not worried about Brady Quinn (as a rookie) leading Cleveland to a good record with that BRUTAL schedule. That 2004 Buffalo team had alot of "talent", this years Cleveland team does NOT have that "talent". Anything could happen, but with there schedule, Cleveland has to be one of the top 5 teams most likely to finish with the worst record in football next year.

 

[SMCowboy]

Like everyone else, I laughed at the Kiffin hire, but when I heard that he's the one who persuaded Davis to get rid of Moss, that showed me something. Maybe he does have the leadership ability and charisma, even at such a young age, to get the job done.

And you're so right, almost anyone would be better than the coaching staff they had last year on offense. That offensive line was an absolute disgrace... Maybe the worst I've ever seen in my life.

The talent level in Oakland was not the problem last year, the coaching staff was a complete JOKE thought..... There is ZERO reason that Oakland last year shouldn't have been a 6 or 7 win team at WORST!!!!!

 

[AbeBeta]

Like everyone else, I laughed at the Kiffin hire, but when I heard that he's the one who persuaded Davis to get rid of Moss, that showed me something. Maybe he does have the leadership ability and charisma, even at such a young age, to get the job done.

And you're so right, almost anyone would be better than the coaching staff they had last year on offense. That offensive line was an absolute disgrace... Maybe the worst I've ever seen in my life.

Kiffin really can sell it -- he had a major role in recruiting at USC -- before he was 30.

The shame is they have good talent on that line. Gallery may never be dominant but he played far better his first two years than he did last year -- that's a kid who looked just plain lost in '06.

 

[jobberone]

I like the odds of Cleveland being in the bottom third of the league. I wouldn't bet on them being last but I'll hope for it.

 

[theebs]

Before we get all giddy and cream ourselves...

Wimbley had a good rookie year. He should be better with his second year of development.

Sean Jones and Brodney Pool are a nice young S tandem. Leigh Bodden, when healthy, is a very good CB. Eric Wright had 1st round talent.

Andra Davis is a pretty solid LB and DQwell Jackson is a solid prospect for them as well.

Offensively, Braylon is coming back, Winslow began to show signs last year, their OL should be improved with Steinbach and Thomas.

Frye will have another year of experience if he starts.

#1 is far from a lock.

They could win 6 games next year. And I don't see how the Browns are worse than the Raiders.

I happen to agree. I think the raiders will continue to be horrendous and I think there is a chance the wheels could come off in Miami, especially in that division. I also think minnesota and atlanta are going to struggle this year.

 

[AtlCB]

Hypothetical... All 32 teams 1st rounders in 2008 are available. You get one. You have to choose today. Who do you take?

I take Cleveland... maybe that's just me.

I would take Oakland's pick, but Cleveland's pick would definitely be in my top 5. Miami, Detroit, and Green Bay would also be in my top 5.

 

[baj1dallas]

Hypothetical... All 32 teams 1st rounders in 2008 are available. You get one. You have to choose today. Who do you take?

I take Cleveland... maybe that's just me.

Detroit. No chance whatsoever of lightning in a bottle. 5 wins at absolute most.

 

[ZeroClub]

I'm not banking on the first overall pick, but I'm still giddy at the prospect of having one of the first half dozen overall picks.

Heck, even if the Cowboys missed out on McFadden, with a little trading, they could still end up with a top WR (e.g., DeSean Jackson) and a top RB (e.g., Steve Slaton, James Davis).

And that would be fantastic.

 

[AtlCB]

Detroit. No chance whatsoever of lightning in a bottle. 5 wins at absolute most.

Hmmm. I don't know if I agree. The team has a really good GM.

 

[AsthmaField]

Detroit. No chance whatsoever of lightning in a bottle. 5 wins at absolute most.

I'm not so sure about that. I mean, I hope Cleveland is worst in the NFL and all, but I'm not sold on it, that's for sure... but I think if there are worse teams in the NFL this year than the Browns, the Lions won't be one of them.

The only reason that I think Detroit might be decent is because of Mike Martz having Roy Williams and Calvin Johnson as his WR's. That surely must be able to generate a lot of points... even in Detroit. I honestly don't know enough about their defense to say one way or the other, but if they're even half-arse on that side of the ball, they might be close to a .500 team, IMO.


In 2007, Detroit plays:

Oakland
Minn
Philly
Chicago
Washington
Tampa
Chicago
Denver
Arizona
Giants
GB
Minn
Dallas
San Diego
KC
GB

There are definatlely some winnable games in there for the Lions.

In short... Will they be great? Of course not. Could they string together enough wins to get close to 8-8? It's possible these days.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

I'm not so sure about that. I mean, I hope Cleveland is worst in the NFL and all, but I'm not sold on it, that's for sure... but I think if there are worse teams in the NFL this year than the Browns, the Lions won't be one of them.

The only reason that I think Detroit might be decent is because of Mike Martz having Roy Williams and Calvin Johnson as his WR's. That surely must be able to generate a lot of points... even in Detroit. I honestly don't know enough about their defense to say one way or the other, but if they're even half-arse on that side of the ball, they might be close to a .500 team, IMO.


In 2007, Detroit plays:

Oakland
Minn
Philly
Chicago
Washington
Tampa
Chicago
Denver
Arizona
Giants
GB
Minn
Dallas
San Diego
KC
GB

There are definatlely some winnable games in there for the Lions.

In short... Will they be great? Of course not. Could they string together enough wins to get close to 8-8? It's possible these days.

Good point.


And I don't see how anyone could think the division Detroit is in is more difficult than what Cleveland has to face with Pitt, Balt and Cincy... That's just brutal.

 

[silverbear]

Before we get all giddy and cream ourselves...

Wimbley had a good rookie year. He should be better with his second year of development.

Sean Jones and Brodney Pool are a nice young S tandem. Leigh Bodden, when healthy, is a very good CB. Eric Wright had 1st round talent.

Andra Davis is a pretty solid LB and DQwell Jackson is a solid prospect for them as well.

And yet with all that "talent", the Browns ranked 27th in total defense last year, giving up nearly 345 yards per game... they ranked 28th in first down percentage allowed, at 43.9 per cent... I'll give you that their pass defense wasn't nearly as bad as their run defense was, as they ranked 29th in run defense... but part of the reason their pass defense stats weren't too bad might be that they were run against quite often, third most in the league (32.1 attempts per game)... if they had been a little tougher to run against, their pass defense numbers would probably have been worse, as they had one of the feebler pass rushes around...

Their DBs aren't too bad, their linebackers and especially their defensive line are...

Frye will have another year of experience if he starts.

He already has 20 games of experience, and has put up a robust 72.2 quarterback rating... with a VERY bad 6.2 yards per attempt average, even though his completion percentage is rather good, suggesting he did little more than throw the ball short... this impression is furthered by looking at his yards per COMPLETION average, which is under 10 yards (9.87, to be exact)... he's thrown more ints than TDs (14 TDs/22 ints), and averaged 153 net yards per game passing... he has shown very little mobility, being sacked 66 times in those 20 games... he has also committed 33 turnovers in 20 games...

Which is my long-winded way of saying Cowboys fans everywhere should HOPE he starts for them next year...

#1 is far from a lock.

Actually, I think it's unlikely, unless they get bit by the injury bug...

Which is OK, since I think Julius is gonna give us 1250 yards this year, and he and Barber combined will close in on 2000 yards rushing, leaving us with no real need for Darren McFadden...