Priority: Finishing defense or retooling offense?

[Mr_437]

Offense is always priority for the Joneses.

 

[NoLuv4Jerry]

There seem to be some on here who would like for us to scrap half the team and start over. That doesn't mesh with reality for building a contending team. What you can do is somewhat limited. If it came down to using our resources to try to finish what we've built on defense or retooling the offense (cutting and replacing players like Cooper and Collins, letting Schultz go and replacing him, etc.), which would you prefer?

I used to be on the side of finishing out the offense to make it a great unit instead of a pretty great one ... partially because our defenses always seemed so far away from being good. Now, I'm kind of in favor of seeing what Quinn can do if we give him all the pieces he needs to make the defense great. We may be only a stud DT and FS away from that. I'd probably throw in a second LB to pair with Parsons. That's if we re-sign Gregory and Kearse. Of course, there's always the issue of finding those players, but I would probably make it the priority.

Did you see this offense in the playoffs....or against good teams? Dak will not consistently beat good teams without a running game. 2 new OL...a TE that can block and catch...a deep threat and another RB. You'd like to think with a QB making 40/m you should not need all of that, But, you can sit back and wait for Dak to look like a 40M QB...or you can get busy plugging those holes.

 

[nightrain]

Put all the focus of improving the trenches, both sides of the ball. It's where a positive return on investment will be felt the most.

 

[shabazz]

Offense is always priority for the Joneses.

Bingo. They’ve tried stacking the offense for 26 years with the same exact results…..let’s give the defense the tools they need to lead the way. They cant do any worse than the offense when we consider the money and resources put into it.

 

[big dog cowboy]

No reason both can't be accomplished. A dynamic LOT and LOG fixes the offense. A playmaking (runstuffing) DT, the LB from Georgia and a FS (ballhawk) fixes the offense. That is 5 players. Takes this team from 12-5 and one and done to deep in the playoffs.

 

[fivetwos]

I kinda thought the whole thing was a good enough product that was a victim of some bad coaching.

Forever, we all seemed to strive for a perfect player at every position while other teams with gaping holes outscheme us, beat us, and/or surpass us while we are trying for that.

Comes to down to garbage coaching all too often.

 

[shabazz]

No reason both can't be accomplished. A dynamic LOT and LOG fixes the offense. A playmaking (runstuffing) DT, the LB from Georgia and a FS (ballhawk) fixes the offense. That is 5 players. Takes this team from 12-5 and one and done to deep in the playoffs.

……it seems like it would be a lot more doable if there was cap space to get quality players that have experience in the league……relying on the draft will take time. Sure we can get free agents but you know the quality of the ones we can afford…..jag city

 

[gimmesix]

Did you see this offense in the playoffs....or against good teams? Dak will not consistently beat good teams without a running game. 2 new OL...a TE that can block and catch...a deep threat and another RB. You'd like to think with a QB making 40/m you should not need all of that, But, you can sit back and wait for Dak to look like a 40M QB...or you can get busy plugging those holes.

And you think we can plug all those holes how exactly? Most drafts produce two starters, maybe three but not necessarily high-quality ones. The Joneses have shown that they have to get lucky in FA to find players who can be anything more than fill-ins, rotational types.

We have fewer holes to plug on defense, so therefore we have a better chance of making that side of the ball great than we do with the offense. We get an OL in the first round and a TE in the second, and that might be all the help the draft provides for us on offense (and as we've seen with some of our TE choices, that's iffy). You could go OL in the first, WR in the second, RB in the third, TE in the fourth and OL in the fifth and you are not going to hit on all those players.

Me? Given equal options in the draft, I'm leaving most of the offense intact for one more year. I'd move Collins to LG, start Steele at RT and let Farniok compete with Biadasz at C. Maybe grab an OL somewhere from the third round on. (Again, don't have any problem drafting one in the first if he's clearly our best option.) I'd re-sign Wilson if he's cheap to be the third WR. Probably lose Schultz in FA because of cost, so draft one in the fourth on and plan on Jarwin starting. I might take a late-round RB, but we've got Elliott and Pollard together for another year, so we need to ride with that.

First half of the draft for me would be defense (again, all things being equal) and the second half would be offense. Again, just because I think we can make the defense great with just a couple of moves. Rebuilding the offense will take time IMO. We built the offense over time to be the strong unit of this team, particularly the line, and now it's in need of retooling at the positions you mentioned. Unless we get serious in FA, we just can't do it in a year.

 

[gimmesix]

No reason both can't be accomplished. A dynamic LOT and LOG fixes the offense. A playmaking (runstuffing) DT, the LB from Georgia and a FS (ballhawk) fixes the offense. That is 5 players. Takes this team from 12-5 and one and done to deep in the playoffs.

Name me one draft where we got five starters, much less five dynamic, playmaking, ballhawking starters. Maybe 2005 (Ware, Spears, Barber, Canty, Ratliff), but not all of them started the first year. Maybe 2016 (Elliott, Smith, Collins, Prescott, Brown), but I wouldn't consider Smith and Brown fixes and Collins made some plays, but definitely was not a run stuffer.

 

[Tabascocat]

Well, Dallas doesn’t value interior DL, so that is out of my equation. Next on the list would be the interior OL and Linebackers. Fixing those two areas will go a long ways but we are more than a draft away for either side of the ball.

 

[plasticman]

I don't think you ever "finish": a defense or offense. Salary caps and free agency turns team building into a constant and never ending process.

 

[bayeslife]

The offensive line needs work. They need to throw at least a couple high picks but the rest can go to defense.

 

[PAPPYDOG]

Center is our biggest need.

Major Playmakers those centers......

 

[john van brocklin]

There seem to be some on here who would like for us to scrap half the team and start over. That doesn't mesh with reality for building a contending team. What you can do is somewhat limited. If it came down to using our resources to try to finish what we've built on defense or retooling the offense (cutting and replacing players like Cooper and Collins, letting Schultz go and replacing him, etc.), which would you prefer?

I used to be on the side of finishing out the offense to make it a great unit instead of a pretty great one ... partially because our defenses always seemed so far away from being good. Now, I'm kind of in favor of seeing what Quinn can do if we give him all the pieces he needs to make the defense great. We may be only a stud DT and FS away from that. I'd probably throw in a second LB to pair with Parsons. That's if we re-sign Gregory and Kearse. Of course, there's always the issue of finding those players, but I would probably make it the priority.

With the large number of free agents we have
And limited cap, we will be doing well to maintain status quo on both sides of the ball as well as special teams

 

[TwoDeep3]

Defensive tackles and interior offensive linemen. Maybe a linebacker.

 

[Cowfan75]

We are obviously going to go O-line. Jerry is "all-in" on making Dak look good. If we can't win, at least he'll think he can prove signing Dak was the right move.

 

[Typhus]

There seem to be some on here who would like for us to scrap half the team and start over. That doesn't mesh with reality for building a contending team. What you can do is somewhat limited. If it came down to using our resources to try to finish what we've built on defense or retooling the offense (cutting and replacing players like Cooper and Collins, letting Schultz go and replacing him, etc.), which would you prefer?

I used to be on the side of finishing out the offense to make it a great unit instead of a pretty great one ... partially because our defenses always seemed so far away from being good. Now, I'm kind of in favor of seeing what Quinn can do if we give him all the pieces he needs to make the defense great. We may be only a stud DT and FS away from that. I'd probably throw in a second LB to pair with Parsons. That's if we re-sign Gregory and Kearse. Of course, there's always the issue of finding those players, but I would probably make it the priority.

Build around your stars, Parsons is our shining star.
You know we wont have both, so I would rather be entertained on gameday with a defense that is at least feared.

 

[Typhus]

Bingo. They’ve tried stacking the offense for 26 years with the same exact results…..let’s give the defense the tools they need to lead the way. They cant do any worse than the offense when we consider the money and resources put into it.

Exactly, we would need 4 first round picks to make the offense comfortable for Dak, just give Quinn some more weapons and lets roll.

 

[kskboys]

There seem to be some on here who would like for us to scrap half the team and start over. That doesn't mesh with reality for building a contending team. What you can do is somewhat limited. If it came down to using our resources to try to finish what we've built on defense or retooling the offense (cutting and replacing players like Cooper and Collins, letting Schultz go and replacing him, etc.), which would you prefer?

I used to be on the side of finishing out the offense to make it a great unit instead of a pretty great one ... partially because our defenses always seemed so far away from being good. Now, I'm kind of in favor of seeing what Quinn can do if we give him all the pieces he needs to make the defense great. We may be only a stud DT and FS away from that. I'd probably throw in a second LB to pair with Parsons. That's if we re-sign Gregory and Kearse. Of course, there's always the issue of finding those players, but I would probably make it the priority.

Haven't really seen any of that.

To get into contention, we do need to dump a few big contracts. And then definitely go D.

 

[gimmesix]

Build around your stars, Parsons is our shining star.
You know we wont have both, so I would rather be entertained on gameday with a defense that is at least feared.

Yeah, that's how I lean.