CFZ The best NFL teams draft QBs even when they have a good starter

[Mac_MaloneV1]

Alex Smith wasn't bad under Reid. Big Andy squeezed every ounce of talent he could out of him. Alex Smith is the ultimate bus driver. Reid knew he wasn't good enough to get you to the big game, so he after Mahomes. Alex Smith held them back, not because he was bad, but because he wasn't good enough. There is a difference. As a starting QB under Reid, he led his team to a 50-30-1. He never had a losing season under Reid. Coaching matters.

There's not a difference in this context. They needed a new QB

 

[Toro9]

Should draft a QB every other year, same with RB

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

Outside of Manziel we have not had the opportunity.

Ideology is great until met with reality.

 

[Bobhaze]

Outside of Manziel we have not had the opportunity.

Ideology is great until met with reality.

Not sure I understand Fuzz. Are you saying the Cowboys haven’t had a chance to draft a good QB since JoHNY Football? Or are you only talking about first round?

Here are a few good QBs that were available in round 2 since 2011 or beyond…Jalen Hurts, Geno Smith, Jimmy Garropolo and Andy Dalton are recent good (not great) QBs who were 2nd round picks. Hurts may end up being great. Hope not at least in Filly, lol.

 

[Cowboys5217]

We had the to opportunity to draft Tom Brady.

 

[rambo2]

Should draft a QB every other year, same with RB

The Cowboys sure are in a good position today and they didn't follow that formula.

 

[CowboysLakerBamaFan]

Most of those QBs were complete wasted picks. Backup QBs always take up very little cap space. There's nothing wrong with taking them, but there's no reason to have an organizational philosophy of consistently drafting QBs. They're no more of a great investment than any other position, and have a lower ceiling if you already have a QB in place.

It's not a great idea to be spending 2nds and 3rds on QBs if you have "THE Guy"...but taking flyers on Day 3 QBs, that can either be cheap backups, OR, that if they play well in preseason and in relief of injured starter you can flip for much higher round picks, it's a great idea.

 

[CowboyRoy]

The QB position is THE hardest to find sustainable, quality talent. It often requires several attempts before finding a QB that has real value. Doesn’t mean you have to use Day one or two draft picks every year, but there is certainly evidence that even after you find a quality starting QB, your team should still be QB shopping in the draft often.

For some reason, our front office does not choose to draft QBs very often. Since JJ bought the team in 1989, the Cowboys have drafted 7 QBs. That’s 7 QBs in 34 years. From 1992-2009, the Cowboys only drafted 2 QBs- Quincy Carter in 2001 and Stephen McGee in 2009. From 2010-23, we have drafted 3 QBs- Dak, Mike White and Ben DiNucci.

Part of this was because of finding Tony Romo as an UFA in 2003 and stumbling upon Dak in round 4 in 2016. But it is still interesting how little the Cowboys have used draft capital to draft a QB. In the combined 19 years of the Cowboys having Romo and Dak under center, the Cowboys have only drafted 4 QBs.

One of the things I’ve noticed is the habit of many of the better NFL organizations is drafting QBs even when they have a quality starter. Look at these three organizations’ approach to drafting QB talent, even when they had a great starter:

• Green Bay- even when Brett Favre was QB, putting together a HOF career, the pack drafted 9 QBs in 13 drafts. In 2005, they drafted Aaron Rodgers in round 1, and went to 5 NFC championships and won a SB with Rodgers, yet in the 18 seasons Rodgers was in GB, the pack still drafted 6 QBs.
  
  
• San Francisco- the niners have played in 6 NFC championships and 2 SBs in this century and they have done that with 4 different starting QBs. Their habit of acquiring QB talent even when they have a great starter goes all the way back to the 80s when they acquired Steve Young in a trade with the Bucs when they already had the great Joe Montana. The niners have drafted 6 QBs in the last 12 drafts, and their draft of Brock Purdy with the last pick of the 2022 draft, even after drafting Trey Lance in round 1 in 2021 paid big dividends last season.
  
  
• New England- in the 20 seasons the GOAT Tom Brady was winning SBs in NE, the pats still drafted 9 QBs. Three of those QBs- Jacoby Brissett, Matt Cassel, and Jimmy Garropolo all were traded for better draft capital than they were originally drafted. New England‘s philosophy of drafting QBs even when they had the greatest QB in NFL history served them well.
  
  
• Kansas City- KC had Alex Smith from 2013-17, and he led the chiefs to the playoffs in 4 of his 5 seasons there. He was certainly seen as a good starter. Yet the chiefs chose to trade up in round 1 to draft Patrick Mahomes in 2017. No one knew Pat Mahomes was going to be what he turned into. And I’m a Texas Tech fan who saw Mahomes play in person 5 times!

Bottom line- IMO the Cowboys would be wise to draft a QB more often. The above teams have drafted QBs even with HOF talent in place. Regardless of what happens with Dak and his future with Dallas, this organization needs to draft a QB more often.

One of jones worst traits as a GM

 

[Proof]

The team only drafted 2 QBs in the 14 seasons Romo was here.

one of which became the next franchise qb. Also he effectively played 11 seasons and they drafted 3.

As someone else pointed out, you’re applying trends to winning teams vs deriving any meaningful conclusion.

you know who else drafts qbs regularly? terrible teams

 

[CowboyRoy]

Most of those QBs were complete wasted picks. Backup QBs always take up very little cap space. There's nothing wrong with taking them, but there's no reason to have an organizational philosophy of consistently drafting QBs. They're no more of a great investment than any other position, and have a lower ceiling if you already have a QB in place.

Which is exactly why you have to keep drafting and developing.

 

[Proof]

It's not a great idea to be spending 2nds and 3rds on QBs if you have "THE Guy"...but taking flyers on Day 3 QBs, that can either be cheap backups, OR, that if they play well in preseason and in relief of injured starter you can flip for much higher round picks, it's a great idea.

can you give any recent examples of that happening? BRO

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

Not sure I understand Fuzz. Are you saying the Cowboys haven’t had a chance to draft a good QB since JoHNY Football? Or are you only talking about first round?

Here are a few good QBs that were available in round 2 since 2011 or beyond…Jalen Hurts, Geno Smith, Jimmy Garropolo and Andy Dalton are recent good (not great) QBs who were 2nd round picks. Hurts may end up being great. Hope not at least in Filly, lol.

First round and we have picked a couple mid round prospects already.

It is easy to second guess but there is an opportunity cost to selecting a QB. All of those teams had loaded rosters and in the case of two there was no cap. Now sure you can point to various failed second round picks and revise to your preferred outcome but that does not mitigate that we needed a OL, LB, DE, etc more than a QB.

I am fine with ideology as a guide or ideal to aspire to but actual policy should be determined pragmatically as to what is going on at that point in time.

We picked Diggs over Hurts.
Geno Smith was a first round pick and was widely considered a bust before year 8 of his career. We picked Travis Frederick instead.
Garoppolo was passed over for Zack Martin and DLaw.
Tyron Smith was the pick over Dalton.

Drafting a QB is a nice idea but I do not think we should have picked any of those QBs over the players we got.

 

[Bobhaze]

First round and we have picked a couple mid round prospects already.

It is easy to second guess but there is an opportunity cost to selecting a QB. All of those teams had loaded rosters and in the case of two there was no cap. Now sure you can point to various failed second round picks and revise to your preferred outcome but that does not mitigate that we needed a OL, LB, DE, etc more than a QB.

I am fine with ideology as a guide or ideal to aspire to but actual policy should be determined pragmatically as to what is going on at that point in time.

We picked Diggs over Hurts.
Geno Smith was a first round pick and was widely considered a bust before year 8 of his career. We picked Travis Frederick instead.
Garoppolo was passed over for Zack Martin and DLaw.
Tyron Smith was the pick over Dalton.

Drafting a QB is a nice idea but I do not think we should have picked any of those QBs over the players we got.

I agree with you that we didn’t need to pick any of those guys over the guys we did choose. I’m just making the point that there are good QBs available outside round one.

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

When we are winning SB and have most of a roster coming back then it makes sense to draft for backup QBs.

 

[Mac_MaloneV1]

It's not a great idea to be spending 2nds and 3rds on QBs if you have "THE Guy"...but taking flyers on Day 3 QBs, that can either be cheap backups, OR, that if they play well in preseason and in relief of injured starter you can flip for much higher round picks, it's a great idea.

This doesn't happen.

 

[Mac_MaloneV1]

Which is exactly why you have to keep drafting and developing.

What? Churning through developmental QBs is a pointless exercise.

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

I agree with you that we didn’t need to pick any of those guys over the guys we did choose. I’m just making the point that there are good QBs available outside round one.

Sure and you are ignoring the denominator.

https://thedraftnetwork.com/qb-success-rate-by-draft-position-2021-nfl-draft/

As of two years ago round 2+ QBs had a hit rate of ~18%.

 

[Bobhaze]

When we are winning SB and have most of a roster coming back then it makes sense to draft for backup QBs.

I contend you draft 4-5 QBs a decade regardless of who your starter is. You never know if you find a surprise diamond in the rough. Doesn’t happen often of course but it never happens if your team never tries.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

Ask yourself this….who did we miss out on? We had no shot at Burrow, Watson, Herbert, etc. To me it’s a waste of resources to do what the Pats did using draft picks on quarterbacks or the Packers with Jordan Love.

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

I contend you draft 4-5 QBs a decade regardless of who your starter is. You never know if you find a surprise diamond in the rough. Doesn’t happen often of course but it never happens if your team never tries.

I contend that is not reasonable given reality as already demonstrated.