Somebody talk me down

[Knotamus]

If any body has followed any of my post, I tend to be the optimistic fan.. Stasheroo I'm with you. I'm extremely excited ab this team. Mainly because of the youth and talent collected over pst few years. It's refreshing to see the FO managing the cap, making solid/sound picks, and besides what some may think, the consistency of our coaching has reaped benefits.. We've won the division title two out of the past three years.. And we all know if Romo wouldn't have went down.. we would have won three in a row. I'd say things are definitely looking up AND we're one of the youngest teams in football...reminiscent of the early 90's. So, if there are fans that can't get excited about what the Boy's are doing, then they're just not having fun.

 

[Stash]

I think a lot of people expected great seasons in 2008,2010, and 2015 following great seasons only to be let down.

No doubt. But anyone not considering a pretty serious injury having something to do with 2015 isn't being honest with themselves. And the injury risk quarterback is no longer the starter.

 

[Stash]

Someone pinch me!

I'll do it!

 

[Stash]

How about marcus smith of the Eagles? 26th pick in the draft..didn't even register a tackle the entire season...couldn't even get on the active roster for the first half of the year..and he wasn't injured

Even if I give you that Marcus Smith = Taco Charlton, where's the other pick that the Eagles had that "added nothing" to be the Charles Tapper in that equation?

 

[JBS]

Even if I give you that Marcus Smith = Taco Charlton, where's the other pick that the Eagles had that "added nothing" to be the Charles Tapper in that equation?

Surely finding two picks from multiple classes that contributed nothing can't be that hard to find..especially considering youd have to give me a mid round player...

 

[SilverStarCowboy]

Yikes...

 

[RS12]

I dont care what else happens this year, the one thing I absolutely do NOT want to see happen is for Dak to regress. The best way to avoid that would be for the O Line to jell quickly. Pressure up the middle would not only affect Dak but the run game.

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

@stasheroo I won't talk you down but there are a couple of things that could derail us.

1) We cannot absorb injuries at a few positions. QB is chief amongst them with noodle arm our only backup. We also could be thin at OG or OT depending on how that shakes out. TFred going down would be a nightmare. S is pretty thin on defense should Jones go down particularly early.

2) We don't have established playmakers on DL. Crawford is perpetually dinged. Irving and Thornton are inconsistent. Collins has to take that next step. The rest of the guys are pretty much unknowns. Huge boom bust potential here. Could be good, bad, or anywhere inbetween.

3) ST coverage took a hit and if Wilber doesn't make the squad it will be that much worse. Church, Wilcox, and Gachkar were mainstays on ST that are now gone. We get little help from the CB, RB, and WR groups in this regard. Keith Smith is the only guy I really can point to right now on coverage. Blocking is similarly troubled. We really need somebody from the aforementioned groups as well as Frazier, Hitchens, Nzeocha, Swaim, Gathers, and the rookies to step up.

4) We play in a tough division. The Commanders really helped themselves on defense and the Eagles and Giants already played us tough. We don't get to feast on the AFC East or NFC West.

You're right though. I can list easily 3 times as many and much more compelling reasons for optimism starting with last years draft and ending with a top notch player development program.

 

[MileyDancer]

http://i287.***BLOCKED***/albums/ll146/synicfan/i.jpg

 

[mattjames2010]

We'll go as far as Dak can take us - all the pieces on offense are in place. Even with a middle of the road defense, we should be able to get 10 wins this season. I have us at 10-6, so we'll either win the division or get a wild card spot.

If Dak regresses, which I think I'm in the minority here who think he will, I see us having a pretty mediocre season 7-9 or 8-8. If Dak regresses and this defense is too young to hold up against relatively good offenses, we could be looking at a 5-11 or 6-10 season.

My optimism is we find our way into playoffs while not living up to what we did last year. But I can't ignore the holes and inexperience on this team, and it's pretty lopsided on the two sides of the ball.

 

[Bohuntr97]

I guess you'd have to show me there first rounders that contribute the "absolutely nothing". Much less two of them in both Charlton and Tapper.

And for every first round "bust" there's a 4th round Dak Prescott. Talent comes from rounds other than the first. And BTW I'm agreeing with you.

 

[CF74]

Growing Pains.. Lots of first timers hitting the field. 9-7 (Or better,) is my expectation with hope for a playoff win...

 

[Bigdog]

The Eagles have God as their qb and we can compete with or so I have been told by people on this board and the media.

 

[mattjames2010]

I'm not trying to "sugar coat" it, but really what did we lose?

These same guys people are now worrying about we're the same names that people wanted to run out of town in 2015.

I give the new coaching arrangement more credit for the success of 2016 than I do these players suddenly "getting it".

And, as "dang good" as they were, nobody got their hands on the football.

As for the pass rush? We have two new faces added to the mix in Charlton and Tapper and no significant loss. That's a plus in my book, even if either or both make only minimal contributions.

Experience, middle of the road players, players who knew the system

"Middle of the road" might seem like a big criticism, but most teams are made up of these guys. Losing them is not a good thing, and losing that many in one offseason certainly isn't a positive. I'm not saying the guys we drafted don't have a higher ceiling, I am saying right out of the gate, they won't be even close to their ceiling.

Losing Church, Wilcox, Carr, Claiborne, and McClain in one offseason is a pretty big deal. We replaced two of them with rookies and one position wasn't addressed until late. Collins seems like he will be able to take on an even bigger role this year, so I don't think McClain will be missed a great deal, but he was a good run stuffer for us.

 

[DejectedFan1996]

Jason Garrett is our head coach.

That should be bout all you need to temper expectations.

Oh and we're going to miss Tony a lot more than you initially expected.

 

[Stash]

Surely finding two picks from multiple classes that contributed nothing can't be that hard to find..especially considering youd have to give me a mid round player...

Back to back? At the same position? I think that would be pretty tough for you. But I'll wait.

 

[mattjames2010]

The Eagles have God as their qb and we can compete with or so I have been told by people on this board and the media.

I don't think Wentz is a god, but I do think if the weapons they put around him come to play he will have a good season. Commanders are no slouch, and I think Giants will have a pretty damn good year even with Eli starting to decline.

Yet again, this division looks like it's right back to being one of the more competitive divisions in the league. I hate it.

 

[Stash]

@stasheroo I won't talk you down but there are a couple of things that could derail us.

1) We cannot absorb injuries at a few positions. QB is chief amongst them with noodle arm our only backup. We also could be thin at OG or OT depending on how that shakes out. TFred going down would be a nightmare. S is pretty thin on defense should Jones go down particularly early.

The more I look at it, the more I think that Romo is the "in case of emergency" option if Prescott were to suffer serious injury. And I defy anyone to say that he's not much less of an injury risk than what we've had.

2) We don't have established playmakers on DL. Crawford is perpetually dinged. Irving and Thornton are inconsistent. Collins has to take that next step. The rest of the guys are pretty much unknowns. Huge boom bust potential here. Could be good, bad, or anywhere inbetween.

Even if those guys are just the same, I think the added talent makes the line better on some level. And I'd again defy people to say that David Irving won't get better on some level.

3) ST coverage took a hit and if Wilber doesn't make the squad it will be that much worse. Church, Wilcox, and Gachkar were mainstays on ST that are now gone. We get little help from the CB, RB, and WR groups in this regard. Keith Smith is the only guy I really can point to right now on coverage. Blocking is similarly troubled. We really need somebody from the aforementioned groups as well as Frazier, Hitchens, Nzeocha, Swaim, Gathers, and the rookies to step up.

Wilber is currently still here. And I'd counter coverage worries with Switzer being an enormous upgrade over Unlucky Whitehead.

4) We play in a tough division. The Commanders really helped themselves on defense and the Eagles and Giants already played us tough. We don't get to feast on the AFC East or NFC West.

The Commanders also lost their top two receivers, and I'm not seeing huge upgrades on their defense, especially when they're picking up Cowboys afterthoughts.

They have to figure out the Giants "bugaboo" for sure, but in my opinion they could have and likely should have won those games. Week 17 didn't count to me, nothing to play for.

You're right though. I can list easily 3 times as many and much more compelling reasons for optimism starting with last years draft and ending with a top notch player development program.

That's my guy!

 

[Stash]

Experience, middle of the road players, players who knew the system

"Middle of the road" might seem like a big criticism, but most teams are made up of these guys. Losing them is not a good thing, and losing that many in one offseason certainly isn't a positive. I'm not saying the guys we drafted don't have a higher ceiling, I am saying right out of the gate, they won't be even close to their ceiling.

I'm confident that they'll be well prepared. Just like Brown was last year, especially considering that he was asked to play inside and outside due to injury.

Losing Church, Wilcox, Carr, Claiborne, and McClain in one offseason is a pretty big deal. We replaced two of them with rookies and one position wasn't addressed until late. Collins seems like he will be able to take on an even bigger role this year, so I don't think McClain will be missed a great deal, but he was a good run stuffer for us.

Do we really want to lament the loss of McClain? Would he even be healthy this year?

 

[Deep_Freeze]

Well its Saturday, you must be high as a kite.

Thanks for the jinx though, now Dak will get hurt in the preseason like another golfer/tv dude/exQB/jessica exbf/clipboard holder/Jerry adopted son/backwards cap wearing/......ok I'm done.

Now all you need to do is give Jessica Dak's number, Mr. Match.com