Twitter: PFF ranks Cowboys rookie class 24th in the league

[TheMarathonContinues]

Again, just because they started doesn’t mean they were good.

Biadasz was ranked the 33rd worst center out of 37. For comparison, the Gnats had a guy starting center who was an undrafted free agent IIRC, never played the position before this season and had a better rating than Tyler. It’s another classic case of over rating our own guys.

Gallimore had a PFF ranking of 52, that’s not good and he probably wouldn’t even be starting if it weren’t for injuries (same as Biadasz) which is why I think them starting is irrelevant.

Jury is still out on Diggs, he did ok for a rookie but also got burned on several plays. We’ll see how he does this year.

Lamb is a very good receiver but I think that pick could have been better spent elsewhere. We were already set at receiver, that wasn’t our problem.

Yeah they are ROOKIES. Not veterans so if you want to compare them to veterans than yeah they struggled. But let's get to the facts....

Tyler Biadicz had the highest grade of any rookie center this year. He's on the right track.

Yes, Gallimore had a 52 pff rating....Javon Kinlaw who was a 1st rounder has a 55 pff rating....Derrick Brown has a 60 pff rating....once again...right on track with fellow rookies and great value in comparison to those guys being he was a 3rd round pick.

AJ Terrell 60 pff rating
CJ Henderson 57 pff rating
Jeff Okudah 42 PFF rating
Damon Arnette 41 pff rating
Noah Igbinoghene 37 pff rating


Trevon Diggs 62 PFF rating

Lamb 71 PFF rating....very good rating for a rookie....far from the best rookie prospect but surely worthy of his 1st round status.


You are gauging these guys based on what veterans have done as opposed to where other rookies have done.

 

[5Stars]

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

things of note:
This was ESPN using PFF stats, not a PFF article.

I am a nerd and have both subscriptions.....

24. Dallas Cowboys
Why they're ranked here: To no surprise, wide receiver CeeDee Lamb (No. 17 overall) was the most valuable Cowboys rookie by a considerable margin and finished with a top-15 WAR generated in the entire rookie class. We can't completely ignore the rest of Dallas' rookie class production, however, even when it was a seventh-rounder, quarterback Ben DiNucci, who brought down the class significantly. DiNucci recorded only 51 dropbacks but finished with a lowly 25.6 PFF grade on those and generated the lowest WAR of anyone in the class.

How their top pick fared: Hauling in targets was an issue for Lamb. He tied for the fourth-most drops at the position with nine. Lamb did continuously exploit holes in zone coverage from the slot, though. No wide receiver generated more 15-plus-yard plays by finding a hole in zone coverage from the slot than him (nine). He hauled in 21 of 27 such targets for 325 yards, and none of his drops came on those targets.


Round/Pick Name Pos College
1/17 CeeDee Lamb WR Oklahoma
2/51 Trevon Diggs CB Alabama
3/82 Neville Gallimore DT Oklahoma
4/123 Reggie Robinson II CB Tulsa
4/146 Tyler Biadasz C Wisconsin
5/179 Bradlee Anae DE Utah
7/231 Ben DiNucci QB James Madison

So I'm blaming PFF but its really how dumb BSPN is with this...How can a 7th round pick take down a whole draft......weird..

 

[aria]

You defend them.
I cut 'em.

Nobody goes beyond Year 1.

Lol, that’s hard core, I dig it!

 

[aria]

One of the worst who got enough snaps to be rated. With only 37 rated, that's competing almost entirely against NFL starters.

The worst centers in the league are the backups who *didn't* get significant snaps.

Even getting a decent rookie backup with a 4th round comp pick is a good deal. Getting a guy who competes with the starters in his rookie season is a good deal.

Ok, and he only got those snaps due to injuries. If he was also competing against starters, for ranking purposes, then clearly he wasn’t a good starter. Again, maybe that will change, I assume he will get better but based on what we know I can’t call it a good pick yet.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

Ok, and he only got those snaps due to injuries. If he was also competing against starters, for ranking purposes, then clearly he wasn’t a good starter. Again, maybe that will change, I assume he will get better but based on what we know I can’t call it a good pick yet.

The only reason Tom Brady got in the game was because Bledsoe got hurt.

 

[aria]

Yeah they are ROOKIES. Not veterans so if you want to compare them to veterans than yeah they struggled. But let's get to the facts....

Tyler Biadicz had the highest grade of any rookie center this year. He's on the right track.

Yes, Gallimore had a 52 pff rating....Javon Kinlaw who was a 1st rounder has a 55 pff rating....Derrick Brown has a 60 pff rating....once again...right on track with fellow rookies and great value in comparison to those guys being he was a 3rd round pick.

AJ Terrell 60 pff rating
CJ Henderson 57 pff rating
Jeff Okudah 42 PFF rating
Damon Arnette 41 pff rating
Noah Igbinoghene 37 pff rating


Trevon Diggs 62 PFF rating

Lamb 71 PFF rating....very good rating for a rookie....far from the best rookie prospect but surely worthy of his 1st round status.


You are gauging these guys based on what veterans have done as opposed to where other rookies have done.

And how many rookie centers were there? So he was the best of two? We could have drafted any center and had a 50/50 chance that he would have been the highest rated rookie center. Color me impressed. And that doesn’t include the Giants center who was an undrafted free agent, never played center and wasn’t considered a rookie since they hired him in 2018 but he hardly took any snaps and was injured most of the time until this year.

We are still talking about the Cowboys, right? So because other teams drafted a player higher than us and those players are rated lower then someone we drafted in a later round means that we are good at drafting? Lol, ok. If you want to play that game, where should we start?

How about your boy zeke, there’s some horrible value. What about taking Trysten Hill instead of DK Metcalf or Terry McClaurin (3rd round who had an 85 rating his rookie year) or AJ Brown?

What about taking CeeDee over Justin Jefferson who made the Pro Bowl and had a 90.4 rating compared to Lambs 71? How about Chase Claypool who had a higher rating than Lamb and was a 2nd rounder? What about Bradon Aiyuk and his 80.1 rating? What about Tee Higgins (75.9) rating or Shenault?

You said Lamb was “certainly worthy of his first round status” and I just named 5 other WR’s taken much lower than him and who had better PFF ratings and there are probably more. Lol @ certainly worthy of his 1st round status.

I could literally go on and on with every position but you seem content getting mediocre players and saying we had a good draft because they were rated higher than a few players taken before them. You conveniently left out the several players that were better and taken after we drafted, go figure.

 

[aria]

The only reason Tom Brady got in the game was because Bledsoe got hurt.

Fantastic. Let me know when Biadasz becomes the best center to ever play the game. My point was that part of your claim we had a good draft was because we had 4 starters, that’s a ridiculous claim when some of those starters aren’t very good and are only in there because of injuries or because the players they were replacing weren’t good because we AREN’T that good at drafting.

Hey we kill it at drafting, we had a 7th round QB pick that started a game!

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

And how many rookie centers were there? So he was the best of two? We could have drafted any center and had a 50/50 chance that he would have been the highest rated rookie center. Color me impressed. And that doesn’t include the Giants center who was an undrafted free agent, never played center and wasn’t considered a rookie since they hired him in 2018 but he hardly took any snaps and was injured most of the time until this year.

We are still talking about the Cowboys, right? So because other teams drafted a player higher than us and those players are rated lower then someone we drafted in a later round means that we are good at drafting? Lol, ok. If you want to play that game, where should we start?

How about your boy zeke, there’s some horrible value. What about taking Trysten Hill instead of DK Metcalf or Terry McClaurin (3rd round who had an 85 rating his rookie year) or AJ Brown?

What about taking CeeDee over Justin Jefferson who made the Pro Bowl and had a 90.4 rating compared to Lambs 71? How about Chase Claypool who had a higher rating than Lamb and was a 2nd rounder? What about Bradon Aiyuk and his 80.1 rating? What about Tee Higgins (75.9) rating or Shenault?

You said Lamb was “certainly worthy of his first round status” and I just named 5 other WR’s taken much lower than him and who had better PFF ratings and there are probably more. Lol @ certainly worthy of his 1st round status.

I could literally go on and on with every position but you seem content getting mediocre players and saying we had a good draft because they were rated higher than a few players taken before them. You conveniently left out the several players that were better and taken after we drafted, go figure.

There wasn't 3 centers taken there was 9 centers taken.

And I never said whether or not we were good at drafting. I said drafting 4 starters is a quality draft no matter how you slice it. Zeke, Trysten Hill, DK Metcalf....all are irrelevant to the discussion we are having about the 2020 draft.

Justin Jefferson has a great rookie year no doubt.

A 71 PFF rating is very good for a rookie 1st round pick. Jerry Jeudy and Henry Ruggs had worse grades than Lamb. But through one year yes Justin Jefferson looks above and beyond better than any other rookie. Great value for the Vikings there.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

Fantastic. Let me know when Biadasz becomes the best center to ever play the game. My point was that part of your claim we had a good draft was because we had 4 starters, that’s a ridiculous claim when some of those starters aren’t very good and are only in there because of injuries or because the players they were replacing weren’t good because we AREN’T that good at drafting.

Hey we kill it at drafting, we had a 7th round QB pick that started a game!

You're missing my point. You tried to discredit Biadasz because he started due to injury as if he was a inferior player who couldn't get on the field. You can use that argument for Dinucci. But the talent gap between Looney and Biadiasz wasn't that great and they simply went with the veteran. That's more indicative of this coaching staff than it is Tyler Biadasz's talent level.

So I didn't bring up Brady to prove that Biadasz would become the best center to ever play the game. I'm saying that yes, even the greatest quarterback of all time got into the game because of injury. Its a flawed angle on your part.

 

[JoeKing]

24th? Can't possibly be true.

I've read here countless times how this was an awesome draft, and the Cowboys have been drafting really well recently.

It always looks great in a vacuum. When you compare it to other teams you get a different perspective.

So you are really buying that 23 other teams got more out of their rookie class?

 

[KingintheNorth]

But I thought we were the bestest at drafting?

Anyone know what they ranked our free agent class?

 

[Shake_Tiller]

Caveats... I haven't studied other teams' draft classes and can't fairly say where the Cowboys ranked. And it is silly to rank any draft class after a year.

That said, intuitively, I can't imagine the Cowboys' haul was anywhere near the bottom half of the league. The rookies weren't responsible for the circumstances under which they played.

Lamb dropped too many passes. He also made big plays and flashed Pro Bowl talent.

Diggs might have been the best rookie CB in the league. Dane Brugler pegged him at the top and deserves respect.

Gallimore played as one should expect given his draft position. He flashed. How he develops remains to be seen.

Anae didn't get on the field. That isn't promising, but we shall see.

Biadasz showed promise and looks like a league average center, at worst. He might be better than that.

The Dinnuci comment was absurd and surprising in its vacuousness. He was drafted in the 7th round as a development project and was forced to play under unusual circumstances and with a beaten up offense. He never had a chance. But being drafted that late, had he been cut before the season, the result wouldn't have been unusual for a 7th round pick.

Lamb and Diggs likely are long-term starters on a good team. Gallimore has a chance. Biadasz has a chance.

If 3 of those 4 become solid starters, it will have been a very good draft by typical NFL standards. Anything else is gravy.

PFF does some good things. This ranking likely was flawed, and the Dinucci comment was just embarrassing for them.

Time will tell whether this was a decent or a strong draft. It doesn't appear to have been a bad one.

Finally, they stayed with Looney when Biadasz returned because they had finally gotten a stable, healthy group together and didn't want to make another change. It had nothing to do with whether Looney or Biadasz was the better player. Makes me wonder whether PFF really understands offensive line dynamics. I'm surprised they can be so analytical, at once, and also seem to be clueless about something so fundamental to the game.

 

[Section446]

Cowboys bad at drafting? No way!

 

[12+88=7]

In a league where if you get two starters in a draft class you're doing well, Dallas has done better than most teams.

The NFL draft has more misses than hits. Occasionally you might hit over 50% in a draft class, but that is the exception, not the rule.

Over the last 10 years Dallas has had 86 picks.
57 are still in the NFL, 29 are not. That's a 66% rate on picking players. That's above average.

Out of those 57 players in the NFL, 31 were on the team this year. That's a 55% rate. That's an average of 3 players per year over 10 years. Again above average.

Of those 31still on the team, 16 are starters. That's 52%. That's almost 2 starters per year over 10 years. Again above average.

The numbers will tell you that Dallas is an above average team when it comes to drafting.

 

[buybuydandavis]

It does make you wonder if we're still low key looking for a center though.

I could see drafting another interior olineman. A 4th round comp pick shouldn't keep us from looking to upgrade. And I could see McGovern competing for C too. He outplayed Biadasz this year.

With Joe fading this year, and Williams likely leaving in 2022, we could use a legitimate competitor for C this year. Though it's definitely one of those "if a guy falls to us" scenarios. We've got much bigger problems at other positions.

 

[Pantone282C]

PFF. Who cares?

PFFt!

 

[Playmaker3128]

Lol little early to say just based upon one year. If diggs and ceedee are very good players then this was a great draft.

Can’t evaluate these things after a year accurately

 

[HungryLion]

It does make you wonder if we're still low key looking for a center though.

I’m surprised they haven’t given McGovern a crack at it. But perhaps they think he projects better at guard.

That being said. If a good G/C prospect is BPA in round 2-4. You gotta draft them right? Especially considering it’s Williams last year until free agency.

 

[aria]

There wasn't 3 centers taken there was 9 centers taken.

And I never said whether or not we were good at drafting. I said drafting 4 starters is a quality draft no matter how you slice it. Zeke, Trysten Hill, DK Metcalf....all are irrelevant to the discussion we are having about the 2020 draft.

Justin Jefferson has a great rookie year no doubt.

A 71 PFF rating is very good for a rookie 1st round pick. Jerry Jeudy and Henry Ruggs had worse grades than Lamb. But through one year yes Justin Jefferson looks above and beyond better than any other rookie. Great value for the Vikings there.

Oh, I didn’t realize we were only talking about the 2020 draft. 4 starters is not a quality draft no matter how you slice it. You think the fact that DiNucci started a game adds to having 2020 being a quality draft? Lol, you gotta be kidding me.

I still named 4-5 receivers that were taken much later than Lamb and had better ratings than the rating you posted to use as a proving point that he was a good 1st round pick. If you consider Lamb a quality 14th overall pick than what do you consider the other guys who had better ratings and were drafted in the 2nd round, including several in the mid 40’s overall and even one in the late 50’s?