O-Line - give up the draft for FA?

[BourbonBalz]

Larry Allen fell out of the first round because he came from Sonoma State, which is a really small school. Like John Madden said, had everyone known how good he would be, he would have been the first pick overall. People who never got a chance to see him in his prime really missed out on something. He was the most dominating football player I have ever seen.

Very true, but before his car accident, Erik Williams was every bit as dominant. Plus, he was just nasty.

 

[speedkilz88]

Flozell Adams and Larry Allen are the only ones I know of besides Gurode. Pretty terrible track record considering how many lineman we've drafted. Remember Clay Shiver? Man he was awful, and he was a second rounder.

Clay Shiver was a 3rd though.

 

[jobberone]

FA is too expensive and the more you rely on it the worse off you will be in the long run. The best way to build a championship team is through the draft. And we should not give large contracts to older players (over 30) which is also very negative for the team's long term success.

Is the issue "player quality" or "coaching"? I am beginning to think that Dallas has both -- OL coaching issue and talent assessment issue. I find it interesting that Parcells was able to draft all other positions, but not OL...what gives....this is just very strange. So something must change at Dallas to improve drafting, coaching, and execution.

And one last thing, Romo is fairly evasive which makes our current line appear better at times than it really is.....our OL is below average but paid like it is the best in the league. Sad really...

I don't buy into the idea its below average but there are certainly question marks. And it's irrelevant where we obtain players as far as to their abilities. FA and trades are going to cost more than most rookie contracts.

If we get a repeat of last year then some of that has to be on the OL. And some of us aren't particularly thrilled with the coaching although because of injuries and play calling I'm not certain who to point a finger at. All we can say is the offense failed last year. And ask for a new deck. Hopefully we'll get a new dealer as well.

We need to draft on the LOS every draft until the league changes again and dictates something different.

 

[CF74]

Man there has to be a few sleepers out there, gotta keep trying.

 

[Doomsday]

What scares the heck out of me is Jerry's statement that he felt like they had good depth along the oline. What? Are you kidding me Jerry? The oline is one injury away from being disasterous again this year. I dont see how you can watch the last half of the season and feel comfortable going into this season with basically the same oline.

 

[EveryoneElse]

What scares the heck out of me is Jerry's statement that he felt like they had good depth along the oline. What? Are you kidding me Jerry? The oline is one injury away from being disasterous again this year. I dont see how you can watch the last half of the season and feel comfortable going into this season with basically the same oline.

If Jerry said that, he has officially lost his marbles.

 

[CF74]

What scares the heck out of me is Jerry's statement that he felt like they had good depth along the oline. What?

That just means we will draft O-line.

 

[speedkilz88]

What scares the heck out of me is Jerry's statement that he felt like they had good depth along the oline. What? Are you kidding me Jerry? The oline is one injury away from being disasterous again this year. I dont see how you can watch the last half of the season and feel comfortable going into this season with basically the same oline.

I think you have to put in perspective though. OL depth is better than safety and linebacker depth.

 

[jobberone]

I think they need to play the backups more. Too bad we don't get into position to play them more often.

 

[Jon88]

Very true, but before his car accident, Erik Williams was every bit as dominant. Plus, he was just nasty.

I heard that. That's a damn shame.

 

[burmafrd]

Right now outside of Holland we have NO depth worth mentioning. Free for allthe excuses made has shown nothing and McQ seems to have regressed. Noneof the others are even worth talking about honestly.
I really am worried that Houck has lost his touch.

 

[dbair1967]

The last good OLineman we drafted was Flozell Adams, and he fell into our laps, just as Larry Allen did. Whoever is in charge of scouting OLinemen needs to be put somewhere else.

Andre Gurode is one of the 3 or 4 best centers in the league, we drafted him.

 

[dbair1967]

Right now outside of Holland we have NO depth worth mentioning. Free for allthe excuses made has shown nothing and McQ seems to have regressed. Noneof the others are even worth talking about honestly.
I really am worried that Houck has lost his touch.

He's only been here a yr, give him some time. He didnt have any input in the selection (draft or free agency)of any of these OL's except Adams (he was still on our staff in 1998) and the trade for Montrae Holland, who did look good at the end of last yr before getting hurt. Adams has been a quality LT for a decade.

There's alot of guys here who clearly dont fit the physical description of what he normally likes. Kosier doesnt, Proctor doesnt, Free and McQuistan dont. Berger didnt.

 

[Monster Heel]

I think they need to play the backups more. Too bad we don't get into position to play them more often.

Even then you don't really learn much about them. A lot of guys can run block pretty adequately. Unless you were in a situation where you were getting beaten by 30 points and they had to pass block you're not going to learn about what's really important. Can they pass protect, can they identify blitzers and do they have the ability to pick up said blitzers?

 

[burmafrd]

Sorry but the way they all seemed to regress you HAVE to look at the coaching and that means Houck.

 

[YosemiteSam]

Andre Gurode is one of the 3 or 4 best centers in the league, we drafted him.

Subtract his inability to consistently perform the shotgun snap and I'd argue that he is the best center in the NFL.

 

[PullMyFinger]

Those are facts. The good big men don't fall out of the first round unless something serious is wrong with them mentally or injury that will re-occur. So we either look in the first round or depend on FA for tackles. You can get some decent guard in the early 2nd round.

Not all great O-linemen are drafted in round 1. Look how many very good to great O-linemen there are in the NFL today, I bet only a small percentage (less than 50%) were drafted in round 1. And if they were some sat at least a year.