Syd's First Mock

Sydla

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I won't get into the actual numbers since its really a crap shoot trying to guess all of this but here's what my first roster foray:

- Sign or tag Dak, sign or tag Cooper (one signs, one is tagged)
- Sign Thomas
- Sign Quinn
- Sign Lee (I think he'll be cheap at this point)
- Sign Cobb
- Sign Collins

- See ya to Witten, Crawford, Jones, etc. You probably might need to restructure a guy or two like Martin or Lawrence. Jones was a tough call but typically, CBs seem to get overpaid and while I really like him and think he's a really good CB, I think a remake of the secondary might be in order here.

FAs:

- DJ Reader, NT
- Ha Ha Clinton Dix, FS
- Possibly a cheap vet DE like a Hyder again
- Swing OT, Fleming has to go

Draft (I used Fanspeak's mock simulator and used Bleacher Report's big board)

1st - Fulton, CB, LSU
2nd - Davis, DT, Bama
3rd - Bryant, TE, UW
4th - Blackmon, S, Utah
5th - Johnson, WR, Minn
5th - Quarterman, LB, Miami
7th - Highsmith, DE, Charlotte

Not totally geeked by how the draft went down (I am mixed on taking a CB in the first but he was the best player left on their board factoring in a bit of need).
 

Hawkeye0202

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Rather Tre Boston than Ha Ha.......

Love the Reader addition.....

https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-the-50-best-available-nfl-free-agents-in-2020

23. S TRE BOSTON
Over the last three seasons, Boston has quietly been one of the best pure free safeties in the league, and he’s done it with three different teams. He’s not as versatile as other safeties on the list, as he lines up almost exclusively as a free safety, but with 11 interceptions and 16 pass breakups over the last three years, Boston is a game-changer on the back end. On the other hand, his tackling has been poor, as he’s missed 25 tackles over the last two seasons. While his tackling and lack of versatility drop his value, Boston is a perfect fit in a deep safety role for both single- and two-high safety teams.

21. S HA HA CLINTON-DIX
Potentially heading on to his third team in fewer seasons, Ha Ha Clinton Dix took a short-term ‘prove-it’ deal with the Chicago Bears to try and hit the open market again with improved interest. As a former first-round pick, expectations for his play are high but may need to be adjusted to simply ‘solid’ given what he has shown so far in his NFL career. Clinton-Dix makes plays on the football in coverage, which is the most important aspect of safety play, but he can come up lightweight against power and misses too many tackles to be happy with (eight in each of the last three seasons).
 

Sydla

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I could live with Boston. This franchise can't however, for reasons that have been discussed ad nauseum. I've been mentioning Boston for 2 offseasons now.

I think Clinton-Dix is better than Boston, personally. He also has familiarity with McCarthy. But in the end, I could live with either as a vet upgrade at S.

Reader is my guy. I'd love to see them bring him in. He and Woods are a nice tandem at the 1T/NT. Collins and Hill as the 3Ts and hopefully you bring in a guy like Kinlaw or Davis as a future 3T with upside.

One thing I failed to mention. I ran a lot of Fanspeak mocks to get a decent idea of where guys would fall. The number of mocks that had Kinlaw going 16 to the Falcons was depressing. LOL.
 

dogberry

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Questions, is Redmond our backup center, who plays strong safety, who is the fourth cornerback, and returns kicks?

Given our needs strong safety looks like the only hole.
 

Future

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I like most of these players, particularly after the third round, especially if that's how it shakes out in the first. But this doesn't add any playmakers, and that's what this team needs more than anything.

I also don't get signing Reader and Clinton-Dix when you could just re-sign Woods and Heath (and I guess X Woods?) cheaper and without any noticeable difference in your defense.
 

Sydla

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I like most of these players, particularly after the third round, especially if that's how it shakes out in the first. But this doesn't add any playmakers, and that's what this team needs more than anything.

I also don't get signing Reader and Clinton-Dix when you could just re-sign Woods and Heath (and I guess X Woods?) cheaper and without any noticeable difference in your defense.

I need two 1Ts. Woods is one and is my 2nd 1T/NT. Reader is better IMO and he's the starter.

The hate on Clinton-Dix from this site is weird. He's a much better safety than Heath and likely won't cost more than what he was paid this year, which I think was around $6MM. What's Heath gonna cost? $2MM? I'd pay Dix $6MM everyday of the year over $2MM for Heath. He's that much better IMO. Boston too (and he's probably even cheaper than Dix).

I assume you mean defensive playmakers......... because we certainly wouldn't be short on offensive playmakers.
 

Future

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I need two 1Ts. Woods is one and is my 2nd 1T/NT. Reader is better IMO and he's the starter.

The hate on Clinton-Dix from this site is weird. He's a much better safety than Heath and likely won't cost more than what he was paid this year, which I think was around $6MM. What's Heath gonna cost? $2MM? I'd pay Dix $6MM everyday of the year over $2MM for Heath. He's that much better IMO. Boston too (and he's probably even cheaper than Dix).

I assume you mean defensive playmakers......... because we certainly wouldn't be short on offensive playmakers.
Why two? That's way too much to spend on the 1T when you're in nickel 65% of the time.

I dont hate Clinton-Dix, he's fine. He's just not a difference maker. It's more that this board hates Heath and it has skewed perception of other safeties. There's a reason he's about to be on his 4th team in 3 years, in this scenario.

No I mean offensive playmakers and defensive playmakers. Dallas' offense badly needs outside speed.
 

conner01

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I could live with Boston. This franchise can't however, for reasons that have been discussed ad nauseum. I've been mentioning Boston for 2 offseasons now.

I think Clinton-Dix is better than Boston, personally. He also has familiarity with McCarthy. But in the end, I could live with either as a vet upgrade at S.

Reader is my guy. I'd love to see them bring him in. He and Woods are a nice tandem at the 1T/NT. Collins and Hill as the 3Ts and hopefully you bring in a guy like Kinlaw or Davis as a future 3T with upside.

One thing I failed to mention. I ran a lot of Fanspeak mocks to get a decent idea of where guys would fall. The number of mocks that had Kinlaw going 16 to the Falcons was depressing. LOL.
Reader is under rated
Sacks aside the guy gets pressure a lot
I’ve done 2 fan speak mocks
Once Kinlaw was there, once he wasn’t
I’d sign a couple of FA tackles and if he’s there I’d still take him
But I honestly think he won’t be
 

Sydla

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Why two? That's way too much to spend on the 1T when you're in nickel 65% of the time.

I dont hate Clinton-Dix, he's fine. He's just not a difference maker. It's more that this board hates Heath and it has skewed perception of other safeties. There's a reason he's about to be on his 4th team in 3 years, in this scenario.

No I mean offensive playmakers and defensive playmakers. Dallas' offense badly needs outside speed.

Cooper, Gallup don’t provide playmaking skills on the outside? I am curious as to whom you are looking at for outside speed that is much better than Cooper and Gallup?

Heath is a nice backup S. That's it. The only people who seem to think he's good are a certain subset of Cowboys fans. The rest of the world sees him for what he is........... a backup S. Dix is a better safety. So is Boston. I'd take both over Heath without even blinking.

You need more than one 1T and you can definitely upgrade on Woods, who is a decent, at best DT. Reader would be an upgrade on Woods.
 
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Future

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Cooper, Gallup don’t provide playmaking skills on the outside?

Heath is a backup caliber S. Dix is much better.

You need two 1Ts unless you think that one will never get hurt, nicked up, etc. Are you proposing we just carry one NT and that be Woods? Reader is better than Woods as well.
Sure they are, but neither is fast enough to get over the top with any consistency. You need more than 2 anyways.

You're overstating HaHa. He's slightly better, but Heath is a starter in this league. We saw what backup S play looks like when he got hurt. Swapping one for the other doesn't make any difference.

You don't need to pay backup 1T b/c it's not an impact position. Reader might be slightly better (which, debatable anyways), but like Dix vs. Heath, he doesn't make your defense any better, because he doesn't make any plays. The Chiefs just scored 50 points in a row against the Texans and didn't even try to run the ball. That's where the NFL is going. Paying two players who do nothing but stop the run is a fool's errand.
 

Sydla

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Sure they are, but neither is fast enough to get over the top with any consistency. You need more than 2 anyways.

You're overstating HaHa. He's slightly better, but Heath is a starter in this league. We saw what backup S play looks like when he got hurt. Swapping one for the other doesn't make any difference.

You don't need to pay backup 1T b/c it's not an impact position. Reader might be slightly better (which, debatable anyways), but like Dix vs. Heath, he doesn't make your defense any better, because he doesn't make any plays. The Chiefs just scored 50 points in a row against the Texans and didn't even try to run the ball. That's where the NFL is going. Paying two players who do nothing but stop the run is a fool's errand.

The defense wasn't all that great when Heath was in there. Just because we had safeties worse than him on the roster that filled in for him doesn't mean, hey, Heath was good. He was not. Dix is a better S and would make our S play better than what Heath gave us.

You also overrate Woods as a NT. He's decent. Reader is much better.
 

Future

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The defense wasn't all that great when Heath was in there. Just because we had safeties worse than him on the roster that filled in for him doesn't mean, hey, Heath was good. He was not. Dix is a better S and would make our S play better than what Heath gave us.

You also overrate Woods as a NT. He's decent. Reader is much better.
What are you basing any of this on? Dix doesn't do anything that Heath doesn't. Dallas' run defense was way better than Houston's even with poor LB play and Woods missing time.

I don't really care whether or not Reader or Dix are better, they aren't so much better that they really change your defense enough to be worth the extra cost, especially since they play the two least impactful positions in the NFL.
 

Sydla

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What are you basing any of this on? Dix doesn't do anything that Heath doesn't. Dallas' run defense was way better than Houston's even with poor LB play and Woods missing time.

I don't really care whether or not Reader or Dix are better, they aren't so much better that they really change your defense enough to be worth the extra cost, especially since they play the two least impactful positions in the NFL.

We just disagree, especially with Dix versus Heath. And the difference in cost won't be as big as you think. Boston is a better S than Heath too and probably will be even cheaper than Dix.
 

Future

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We just disagree, especially with Dix versus Heath. And the difference in cost won't be as big as you think. Boston is a better S than Heath too and probably will be even cheaper than Dix.
Better based on what, and how does that improve this defense?

Tre Boston can't tackle and doesn't play SS at all.
 

stilltheguru

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Fulton is another overrated SEC secondary guy imo. This is one of the deepest cb classes in awhile. If we dont come out with a good one this year it would be a shame.

And I know you love Ha Ha but he had the same pff grade was Xavier Woods just minus the "big name".
 

Fredbeard

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Why two? That's way too much to spend on the 1T when you're in nickel 65% of the time.

I dont hate Clinton-Dix, he's fine. He's just not a difference maker. It's more that this board hates Heath and it has skewed perception of other safeties. There's a reason he's about to be on his 4th team in 3 years, in this scenario.

No I mean offensive playmakers and defensive playmakers. Dallas' offense badly needs outside speed.
I'm sorry to keep bringing this up but drafting Loki futo, whom you've mocked to the cowboys ,would give the cowboys two one techs. It seems to be some sort of cognitive dissonance. I might be wrong but I believe reader has more sacks than woods over the course of his career.I really dont get this need to browbeat anyone who talks about signing another one tech or drafting another one tech.
It is highly unlikely the cowboys would decide future changes to their roster based on anything posted here.
Also the cowboys have looked into a upgrade
At safety last offseason and during their bye week this year
 

Fredbeard

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I liked your mock but I think dj reader might be too expensive for the cowboys
 

dallas72

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Hate the first 2 rounds...Fulton isnt great was targeted by Clemson over & over ...Davis actually got benched by Sabin in the last game. .0 push..hes just fat lol ..he will 100% be a bust 0 heart
 

stilltheguru

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Hate the first 2 rounds...Fulton isnt great was targeted by Clemson over & over ...Davis actually got benched by Sabin in the last game. .0 push..hes just fat lol ..he will 100% be a bust 0 heart
I think people just get overly excited about SEC players too much. Ohio St has two corners better than Fulton.
 

Sydla

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Hate the first 2 rounds...Fulton isnt great was targeted by Clemson over & over ...Davis actually got benched by Sabin in the last game. .0 push..hes just fat lol ..he will 100% be a bust 0 heart

I try not to base draft picks on one game.

And I am not a huge fan of the pick either but based on the draft board from Fanspeak when I used their simulator, he was one of the best on the board at that spot.
 
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