"Reasons" for optimism

[aikemirv]

I could give a few, but they are offset by the FO

I could give a ton, but they are offset by the QB position!

 

[btcutter]

Ok you want realistic optimism, that is actually within grasp?

You want a top 5 Defense, this is obtainable short term.

Draft or sign a "true" 1 tech. They occasionally get drafted high, but there are 3 really good ones in this upcoming draft.. or POE in FA.

Just get it done already, tired of trying to find a cheap 1 tech that never achieves the minimal standard of what comes with the job title.

Top LB
Top S

That's a couple of high draft picks, and or spending up in FA..

A great Defense serves a huge role in righting the ship.

I want a TRUE 1 tech and a young LB to eventually take over Lee's spot. I am tired of watching this D get scored on when ball is inside 5 yd line. We have zero ability to stop short yardage goal line plays.

 

[Rockport]

Post some good things that are happening to this team. I know there's a lot of gloom and doom going on here, but I thought many of us needed something like this to raise our spirits


1. The defensive side of the ball looks like it will be a force to be reckoned with next year, assuming they bring back all the major components back with Lawrence and hitch. Additionally, the emergence of Jaylon Smith will dramatically improve our defense night and day.

2. Dallas DID win the last 4 of the last 5 games(meaningless or not)). Could this be a good trend for next year?

Refreshing. Lots to be optimistic about if you open your eyes without an agenda.

 

[Idgit]

By stability you mean the same old bad coaching coming back in jason Garrett and the crew? Is that stability to you?

This season uncovered more questions then answers and brought on some VERY troubling trends. Such as Tyron Smith and the Oline. And the fact that the WR corps is all but horrid, old, and needs to be completely gutted. Certainly Dak took a step back and came back to reality. Lee is another year older.

You seem to be struggling with the nature of this thread, Roy.

 

[Bigdog]

The defense looks much improved. The one thing I REALLY worry about is that when Sean Lee was out the defense fell back to being below average.

Sean Lee will be 32 next season. He missed 5 games this season. What can we expect from him next year?

That is why Roquan Smith should be top of the board. If he is any where close to pick 19 ( I know a pipe dream) we need to get him.

 

[DogFace]

jerry made lots more money

On top of that he will soon receive massive tax cuts!!!


Thank goodness.

 

[LandryFan]

There are reasons to be optimisic. We have four Pro Bowl players on offense that are probably the best at their positions. One is the best RB in football.

We have a top ten defense that is young and has plenty of young players who will likely improve.

We have a bunch of draft picks and the most salary cap room we have ever had in one offseason.

Plenty of teams would love to trade places with us.

Not arguing your points, Kaiser. Was merely pointing out that optimism, which hasn't been been found in much abundance on here in a while, would be a hard sell after the year we just had.
I expect that a good chunk of our cap space will go to our own players that need to be resigned, but wonder if Stephen will finally dole out some $$ for a FA difference maker or two. I also agree with you that we seem to have hit on some young secondary talent, finally. I'm not oozing with optimism right now, but I'm not on the doom and gloom wagon, either.

 

[cowboy_ron]

Ok...

Jerry gets one year older.

Unfortunately, Bleu, so do the rest of us.

 

[PA Cowboy Fan]

Should have Zeke back for the entire season . That's all I got.

 

[Typhus]

The secondary was forced to get rid of the older guys, minus Oscan, and work with a bunch of young guys.

While the young guys had struggles at time, as a whole I think it is fair to say they flashed and played better than many expected....and some of them did so with little to no training camp and missing parts of the season due to injuries.

J. Smith as others have pointed out. Looked bad for a good portion of the season but was still showing progress when he got chances in the end of the season. He seems to be getting better as time goes on as he heals and he learns.

I also think it is fair to say that even though it still needs improved and we do not know if will get better...The Pass rush was much better than most expected. Will we keep Tank and Irving who both have had injury issues and one has had "quirky" issues so it seems. Will Taco improve. With some of the other guys on the line get healthy and continue to improve.

This team has had problems, this defense has had problems and issues but I think it is fair to say that for the most part it was much better than expected and doing so with a younger core while also doing so with injuries.

====

Offense...I don't know if there is too much to get excited about going forward.

I think the offense regressed.

I will say that Cooper when Healthy has turned out well...we will see if he did well enough to get another contract with the cowboys. L. Collins also made us wonder if the transition was too much for him early on but started to look good as the season wore on.

Elliott...we have to see how he handles himself away from football. Even if he is 100% innocent (or not)...there will be those out there that will try to take advantage of him...it is up to him to limit the ability and access those type of people have to him.

The WR core and passing game as a whole regressed. I don't know of any WR in the corp that looked good or outstanding and the Passing game including the QB had a fair share of that but all blame cannot, unless one has an agenda, be placed on him.

If we keep the same offensive staff in place...I am not sure we will improve much next year.

So it seems the defense is the side of the ball showing promise...offense not so much.
However one wonders how a very good speedy WR could help...or how about a TE that can stretch the field..
Maybe a change of pace RB that is jitterbug type that can be a threat out of the back field.

If we have a good draft it can help this team...even though the naysayeres will disagree.

One last thing to consider.

With the way this team went down tubes this year...it probably means the Ginger and Cowboys will have a good year next year, regular season wise, as they are so bi-polar anymore with a good season then a bad season then a good season and so on.

Well, if there ever was a season to scratch your entire back seven it was this year, and I agree that Jaylon will be changing a lot of negatives into positives very soon.
He will become more efficient, everyone wants 100 percent, that most of the time is not going to happen, but a Jaylon at 80 percent, with a journey mans understanding of a defense, and a defined scheme will naturally trancesend his level of play, and I don't care what anyone say, Ive been observing this game for a very long time, too long..lol
Kid has the tools, a coaching change in the defense I actually consider harmful considering Jaylons development, and the young secondary.

 

[DandyDon52]

Well Garrett could be the head coach for the next 20 to 30
years !
how about that for optimism.
that means we're all set for many Super Bowls.... only problem is the Cowboys will be watching them all on TV LOL

 

[Typhus]

Well Garrett could be the head coach for the next 20 to 30
years !
how about that for optimism.
that means we're all set for many Super Bowls.... only problem is the Cowboys will be watching them all on TV LOL

Garrett will never be the type of coach that most Cowboy fans envision, but the fact that he will be the HC of this team for the very foreseeable future is reality.
Pipe dreams are a fantastic way of offsetting your personal fears no matter how irrelevant they may be, so we can continue to stay in that dream state, or we can actually rationalize what Jerrys reality is, he doesn't have to dream, he can buy his.
All the haters or believers can really do at this point is kneel and pray, rather your religious or not, for an unbelievable assistant coach over haul, I'm talking young versions of Walsh and Gibbs back in the day.... oh man,, sorry about that,, just started dreaming a bit.

 

[visionary]

Post some good things that are happening to this team. I know there's a lot of gloom and doom going on here, but I thought many of us needed something like this to raise our spirits


1. The defensive side of the ball looks like it will be a force to be reckoned with next year, assuming they bring back all the major components back with Lawrence and hitch. Additionally, the emergence of Jaylon Smith will dramatically improve our defense night and day.

2. Dallas DID win the last 4 of the last 5 games(meaningless or not)). Could this be a good trend for next year?

Jerry is richer because of fans
Fans are poorer because of Jerry with no hope on the horizon

 

[Darkhound]

It still amazes me how some people have faith in this crappy team

 

[StarBoyz83]

Defense looks pretty solid, hooefully we add more pieces via fa and the draft
Oline will have more time to mesh possibly add via the draft
Jaylon will have another off-season To prepare

 

[erod]

Defense looks pretty solid, hooefully we add more pieces via fa and the draft
Oline will have more time to mesh possibly add via the draft
Jaylon will have another off-season To prepare

The defense didn't look solid at all against good offenses.

 

[StarBoyz83]

The defense didn't look solid at all against good offenses.

True. It just looked better than was expected with all the new faces.

 

[Shake_Tiller]

In the long run, stability is usually a good thing in professional sports, and the organization is stable. Prescott had a bad stretch, but his overall body of work shows a lot of promise. The resolution of the Elliott situation sets the table for less distraction. The team is young. In what seemed like an endless loop of negative developments, they still won 9 games. The recent track record points to the likelihood of a decent to good draft. The defense played much better as the year unfolded, largely due to contributions from young players. The offense still has most of the pieces of a unit that was quite dominant two seasons ago and early this past season. Young players are prone to letdowns following very early success. That entitlement ought to have been cured. The league is rife with teams/organizations that have a great many holes and have similarly disappointed their fans. I didn't pay a lot for this muffler.

 

[Sydla]

I'll feel better about the defense if these guys spend a little cash in fixing a few trouble areas on defense in FA - LB, DT and S. This also allows them to be more flexible in the draft and not find themselves in situations where they have to draft a position instead of a player.

IMO, I think they took Charlton because where they did because they were looking for a DE and not the best player on the board.

I think they can be a decent defense next year but a really good one if they get a few key vets in here.

 

[Jake]

jerry made lots more money

And he's one year closer to being out as GM.