Tanking would have been the right strategy

[Blitzen]

People talk about it never being helpful to lose on purpose, but we've been struggling to get to 8-8 every year for 15 years. If overcoming adversity to get to middling were actually such a character builder, we would have won many Super Bowls by now.

We're picking 10th. Which is OK. But we could have been picking 3rd or 4th or something in every round. So that's 40-50 spots of surrendered draft capital. And we didn't make the playoffs, so that flurry of wins at the end of the year did nothing but set us back long-term.

Also, signing a veteran backup quarterback - unless you're a serious contender, not a Jerry Jones magical-thinking contender - is a waste of resources. We got Andy Dalton. At the end of the year, our backup quarterback was better than the backup quarterbacks for other teams with injured starters. So we won a few games. It didn't help us. It hurt us. See paragraph 2.

It's impossible for a team to actually tank. But the front office can and should decide whether to be buyers/sellers with regards to trading assets for compensation. The front office's job to evaluate the likelihood of winning a super bowl with the current vote should always be on the forefront.

Trade away Dak, Zeke, DLaw, Tyron (if possible), Amari, Jarwin, etc. Get what you can for the assets with value and begin rebuilding with young cheap talent. Develop a team building strategy and scheme and stick with it.

To be fair any player or coach that squawks over moves like this should find themselves on another team quickly.

 

[Ranching]

Tanking is for losers. It’s never the right “strategy.”

Garrett never tanked. I give him some respect for that.

 

[CowboyRoy]

People talk about it never being helpful to lose on purpose, but we've been struggling to get to 8-8 every year for 15 years. If overcoming adversity to get to middling were actually such a character builder, we would have won many Super Bowls by now.

We're picking 10th. Which is OK. But we could have been picking 3rd or 4th or something in every round. So that's 40-50 spots of surrendered draft capital. And we didn't make the playoffs, so that flurry of wins at the end of the year did nothing but set us back long-term.

Also, signing a veteran backup quarterback - unless you're a serious contender, not a Jerry Jones magical-thinking contender - is a waste of resources. We got Andy Dalton. At the end of the year, our backup quarterback was better than the backup quarterbacks for other teams with injured starters. So we won a few games. It didn't help us. It hurt us. See paragraph 2.

Anyone rooting for meaningless wins against scrub teams the 2nd half of the season isnt a serious Cowboys fan. You simply cant be. And not having the mental capacity to see the benefits of losing for draft position isnt an excuse.

 

[Idgit]

Garrett never tanked. I give him some respect for that.

We can probably move on from the constant Garrett comparisons, but I agree: his teams didn’t rank.

Actual tanking is cheating to steal a draft position you haven’t earned. I hate it when it gets dressed up as “strategy.”

 

[America's Cowboy]

That's goofball talk.
It was far more important to determine the guys they actually are keeping can play if the scheme is known to them.
They rotated in plenty of DL and LB was a wasteland where no one save Jaylon could play two weeks in a row without getting injured.
DAL didn't need to find out known scrubs are scrubs.

No one at all cares about a 6th string guy who won't even be on the roster.

Anyone who was anyone got a shot this year.
There are no hidden gems left.

Ha! How did that work out? Coaching sucked, hence why some got fired, and the starters sucked, hence their horrible performance all season long. Like I said, I would have started the backups and given them some starting experience.

 

[75boyz]

At this point I could care less if it's intentional tanking, or if they lose when legitimately trying.

A team can't overcome poor GM'ing, HC'ing and QB'ing, even with several yrs of high picks.

The Arlington JonesBoys Daksters (aka Dallas Cowboys from long ago)

May you RIP, lol

 

[Jake]

People talk about it never being helpful to lose on purpose, but we've been struggling to get to 8-8 every year for 15 years. If overcoming adversity to get to middling were actually such a character builder, we would have won many Super Bowls by now.

We're picking 10th. Which is OK. But we could have been picking 3rd or 4th or something in every round. So that's 40-50 spots of surrendered draft capital. And we didn't make the playoffs, so that flurry of wins at the end of the year did nothing but set us back long-term.

Also, signing a veteran backup quarterback - unless you're a serious contender, not a Jerry Jones magical-thinking contender - is a waste of resources. We got Andy Dalton. At the end of the year, our backup quarterback was better than the backup quarterbacks for other teams with injured starters. So we won a few games. It didn't help us. It hurt us. See paragraph 2.

Let's face it, coaches and players don't think like fans. It isn't hard to understand why, either.

Coaches and players are concerned about their careers and contracts. They have no reason to care about next year's draft position, since half of them won't be on next year's team.

But I'm sure you knew all of that when you created this thread, eh Rowdy?

 

[America's Cowboy]

If you think any coach, especially a first year HC that is trying to evaluate players and staff as well as trying to earn the players trust and create a winning attitude would ever do this, you are mistaken. Not gonna happen and it should never happen.

Aww, poor coach's feelings gonna get hurt? Maybe, just maybe, the coach stinks at bringing in the correct coaches with him. When the D-Coordinator, who is your buddy, stinks up the joint so bad that he led your defense to a franchise historical worst rating, you as a head coach deserve some criticism. No wonder the Packers fired him 2 years ago and have suddenly made it to back-to-back Conference Championship Games 2 years in a row since McCarthy's firing...all while under a new head coach.

 

[Ranching]

Aww, poor coach's feelings gonna get hurt? Maybe, just maybe, the coach stinks at bringing in the correct coaches with him. When the D-Coordinator, who is your buddy, stinks up the joint so bad that he led your defense to a franchise historical worst rating, you as a head coach deserve some criticism. No wonder the Packers fired him 2 years ago and have suddenly made it to back-to-back Conference Championship Games 2 years in a row since McCarthy's firing...all while under a new head coach.

Not gonna happen and it didn't happen. Let it go.

 

[Fizziksman]

players don't tank because what do they care about better draft position of players that are there to take their spots? Jerry would have to purposely call the shot and have a fire sale.

 

[TequilaCowboy]

Not only did tanking work for the jags...it also brought them their new coach. Meyer inherits a team that will probably have five or six new starters just from the draft alone, and then go FA shopping on Rodeo Drive to bring in two or three blue chippers. As opposed to the lower scale dumpsters the Jones clan shop in. I also imagine he will be doing some wheeling and dealing on draft day. I think of him as a JJohnson clone. He knows the collegiate talent very well at this point and will be bringing in some hidden gems even after the draft. The only negative i see with all this is that UM does not have a history of staying too long, as well as his health. But we shall see.

 

[Cowboysheelsreds053]

This isn’t the NBA. One top three pick is not changing the fortune of the franchise and there are more than a few stars in the draft to be had.

Trust the Process!

 

[Jake]

Not only did tanking work for the jags...it also brought them their new coach.

The players and coaches for Jacksonville didn't tank. They almost won their last game of the season.

The notion that players and coaches care about next year's draft position - like fans - is comically stupid.

 

[America's Cowboy]

Not gonna happen and it didn't happen. Let it go.

So why worry about fans that voice their opinion? You got what you want. Enjoy the same results.

 

[Ranching]

So why worry about fans that voice their opinion? You got what you want. Enjoy the same results.

I'm not worried. I really don't give a crap. You wrote a book in the OP so I figured I'd get you all worked up.
I enjoy the game and none of your or my *****ing is gonna change anything. I'd rather enjoy my gamedays with a good meal and a win, than worrying about something I can't control.

 

[PJTHEDOORS]

Anyone rooting for meaningless wins against scrub teams the 2nd half of the season isnt a serious Cowboys fan. You simply cant be. And not having the mental capacity to see the benefits of losing for draft position isnt an excuse.

Nah, those wanting to give up because it's easier to do. Not my ideology.

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

Ha! How did that work out? Coaching sucked, hence why some got fired, and the starters sucked, hence their horrible performance all season long. Like I said, I would have started the backups and given them some starting experience.

And every time you asked a player to try their hardest they would look at that and see that you were a hypocrite.

 

[BigStar]

If we picked in the top 3, we would have had a lot of options, but now that Fields and Lawrence will be off the board, you pretty much have no option but to resign Dak and we'll get to see the likes of Philly potentially snag a guy we want ahead of us. All of that character building stuff NEVER carries over. When we went 8 and 8 a few years ago under Romo, it was followed by 2 more 8 and 8 years. Mediocrity is almost perpetual and 8 and 8 years are more often followed by more 8 and 8 years here.

When we went 4 and 12, we followed that up buy 13 and 3. Just by the coaches we fire, we are a talent dependent organization and the only place we actually grab talent from is the draft. Our FA record is terrible.

Great point on the 4-12 year followed up by 13-3; it obv had no lingering effect. Especially with a team that was missing their starting QB, you're almost getting a mulligan for the year and picking high was an anomaly; sounds very familiar.....

We instead won some meaningless games against other poor teams so we're #10 every round. That #3 pick in the 2nd would also be coveted due to the new structure and the #3 pick could be used as leverage in negotiations with Dak. Nah...not for us lol

Short term thinking is why we're stagnant as a franchise...just good enough to sell tickets/get the TV ratings, but not good enough to win in the playoffs. Feels like fans have been duped to just enjoy and be satisfied with the meaningless wins; when was the last time we beat a team with a winning record?

The Stanford marshmallow experiment was a study on delayed gratification in 1972 led by psychologist Walter Mischel, a professor at Stanford University.[1] In this study, a child was offered a choice between one small but immediate reward, or two small rewards if they waited for a period of time. During this time, the researcher left the room for about 15 minutes and then returned. The reward was either a marshmallow or pretzel stick, depending on the child's preference. In follow-up studies, the researchers found that children who were able to wait longer for the preferred rewards tended to have better life outcomes, as measured by SAT scores,[2] educational attainment,[3] body mass index (BMI),[4] and other life measures.

Sorry for the rant lol

 

[BigStar]

I really want to see how to "tank".

Do you ask the players not to try? Do you ask the coaches put in a terrible game plan? Do you play your backups?

What happens when both teams in a game try to tank? That would make for a fun game. Two teams fumbling on purpose, two coaches putting in their ball boys as quarterback.

Philadelphia did this. Their coach played along and got fired. There was tremendous backlash. Players on the Eagles were angry. Philly may have done itself more harm.

But I go back to my original question. How do you tank?

Start the younger QB for "experience" it happens all the time.

 

[America's Cowboy]

And every time you asked a player to try their hardest they would look at that and see that you were a hypocrite.

Not at all. Those players (starters) were given 3/4ths of the season to try their hardest AND GOT OVERPAID FOR IT, but they failed badly. Benching them the last month to give your backups a chance to see what they have, after one realizes the season is lost, is a better way to find out who is worth keeping and paying.