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Picking Jaylon Smith: How The Cowboys Made The Controversial Decision
http://www.bloggingtheboys.com/2016...boys-made-decision-rolando-mcclain-myles-jack
The recent news that Dallas Cowboys linebacker Rolando McClain has been suspended for ten games has added a renewed emphasis to the debate over the drafting of Jaylon Smith in the second round. Our own Danny Phantom has weighed in with his arguments about why it was a good decision, but he focuses more on the impact Smith will have when (knock on wood) that nerve regenerates and he can start practicing. What is not discussed as much is just how the Cowboys came to pick Smith. The truth is that he was not Plan A for Dallas. He was more Plan D - and the situation at the time he was taken was somewhat different than it is now. All that has to be considered before you decide whether the Cowboys made a mistake in taking a player who is not likely to have any impact on the team this year.
Dallas certainly had other ideas for their second-round pick, 34 overall. On the first day of the draft, they used it to put together a trade offer to move back into the first round. The target was the Seattle Seahawks pick at 26. The Cowboys saw an opportunity to get their quarterback of the future, and a possible candidate to supplant Kellen Moore as the primary backup this season, since Paxton Lynch was still on the board. It was an expensive move given the many other places that the team could use talent, but franchise quarterbacks, even unproven ones, are that valuable, as seen by the astronomical prices the Los Angeles Rams and the Philadelphia Eagles paid to trade up to the first two spots in the draft to take Jared Goff and Carson Wentz.
However, there was another suitor for the Seahawks’ pick, the Denver Broncos. They were in the unusual position of being a defending Super Bowl champion that had lost both their starting quarterback, the retired Peyton Manning, and his expected successor, Brock Osweiler, who had been stolen away in free agency by the Houston Texans. And they had the last pick in the first round to offer to the Seahawks as part of their package. That pick comes with the fifth year option for a first rounder, and according to reports, that swayed Seattle to take their deal instead of Dallas’, despite the fact that the Cowboys actually offered more value. Had the Broncos not let the Texans outbid them for Osweiler, they would not have been in the market and Dallas would have gotten Lynch. But they were, and the Cowboys were left to move onto Plan B.
According to reports from the draft, that alternate plan was to take a pass rusher. The Cowboys had time to set their strategy for day two of the draft, since they would be the third team on the clock once things recommenced. With only two teams ahead of them, they had a good chance to get a defensive end they liked. Or so they thought.
The first choice for Dallas was Emmanuel Ogbah. However, he was taken by the first team up that day, the Cleveland Browns. The Cowboys had prepared for this, with Kevin Dodd their Plan C. But the Tennessee Titans also coveted Dodd, taking him just ahead of the Cowboys...
http://www.bloggingtheboys.com/2016...boys-made-decision-rolando-mcclain-myles-jack
The recent news that Dallas Cowboys linebacker Rolando McClain has been suspended for ten games has added a renewed emphasis to the debate over the drafting of Jaylon Smith in the second round. Our own Danny Phantom has weighed in with his arguments about why it was a good decision, but he focuses more on the impact Smith will have when (knock on wood) that nerve regenerates and he can start practicing. What is not discussed as much is just how the Cowboys came to pick Smith. The truth is that he was not Plan A for Dallas. He was more Plan D - and the situation at the time he was taken was somewhat different than it is now. All that has to be considered before you decide whether the Cowboys made a mistake in taking a player who is not likely to have any impact on the team this year.
Dallas certainly had other ideas for their second-round pick, 34 overall. On the first day of the draft, they used it to put together a trade offer to move back into the first round. The target was the Seattle Seahawks pick at 26. The Cowboys saw an opportunity to get their quarterback of the future, and a possible candidate to supplant Kellen Moore as the primary backup this season, since Paxton Lynch was still on the board. It was an expensive move given the many other places that the team could use talent, but franchise quarterbacks, even unproven ones, are that valuable, as seen by the astronomical prices the Los Angeles Rams and the Philadelphia Eagles paid to trade up to the first two spots in the draft to take Jared Goff and Carson Wentz.
However, there was another suitor for the Seahawks’ pick, the Denver Broncos. They were in the unusual position of being a defending Super Bowl champion that had lost both their starting quarterback, the retired Peyton Manning, and his expected successor, Brock Osweiler, who had been stolen away in free agency by the Houston Texans. And they had the last pick in the first round to offer to the Seahawks as part of their package. That pick comes with the fifth year option for a first rounder, and according to reports, that swayed Seattle to take their deal instead of Dallas’, despite the fact that the Cowboys actually offered more value. Had the Broncos not let the Texans outbid them for Osweiler, they would not have been in the market and Dallas would have gotten Lynch. But they were, and the Cowboys were left to move onto Plan B.
According to reports from the draft, that alternate plan was to take a pass rusher. The Cowboys had time to set their strategy for day two of the draft, since they would be the third team on the clock once things recommenced. With only two teams ahead of them, they had a good chance to get a defensive end they liked. Or so they thought.
The first choice for Dallas was Emmanuel Ogbah. However, he was taken by the first team up that day, the Cleveland Browns. The Cowboys had prepared for this, with Kevin Dodd their Plan C. But the Tennessee Titans also coveted Dodd, taking him just ahead of the Cowboys...
