The case for going for Lawrence

[jjktkk]

He is 1 player to the Cowboys.

And if Lawrence lives up to his billing, he will be a Pro Bowl caliber QB, not "1 player" to the Cowboys, or any other NFL team for that matter.[/QUOTE]

Tom Brady is his prime with Belichick as HC could not get this roster to the Super Bowl.

Neither has Dak Prescott.[/QUOTE]

How many #1 overall pick QBs have been as great as fans pre-draft opinions?

Although I have been a Dallas Cowboys fan for 48 years, Trevor Lawrence's draft projection is being projected by NFL draft analysts, not routine fans. [/QUOTE]

None of Brady, Rodgers, Mahomes were #1 overall picks.

True. But there has been quite a few QBs taken #1 overall recently.[/QUOTE]

Was the last one Payton Manning?

Not too many Peyton Manning type QBs were taken #1 overall. There's a reason he's in the HOF. But that doesn't mean you only draft a QB #1 overall only if he is a Peyton Manning type talent. The QB class for the 2021 NFL draft is outstanding. If Dallas is lucky enough to have the #1 overall pick, I'd personally draft Lawrence and don't look back.[/QUOTE]

The draft is all about probabilities and the probability of Lawrence being Payton Manning level great is low based on draft history of #1 overall picks.

Your 'draft a Peyton Manning type talent or bust is a little flawed.[/QUOTE]

The Cowboys have a proven QB that was on an unprecedented pace of offensive production despite 2 udfa OTs.

Teams that have been on the trade down side of big trades up for top 2 QBs in the draft have historically fared better than the teams that traded up for the QB.

The Cowboys do have a proven QB. I personally just want a more talented QB. And this upcoming draft potentially has more talented QBs than Dak Prescott.[/QUOTE]

 

[Diehardblues]

You still think that because everything hasn't gone the way things would be if you were GM that Prescott's career thus far is the reason that the Cowboys haven't won a Super Bowl. The biggest reason is the defense and you can't blame that on Prescott because his 1st 4 years he was on a rookie contract so it didn't stop the Cowboys from getting help on defense.
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We aren’t blaming this on Prescott. We are blaming it on our dysfunctional organization.

 

[stiletto]

My answer to those that say tank it is when teams have tanked it for just the last game or two of the season they have lost their 1st round picks for tanking it. Now what are the chances if the Cowboys tank it for the entire 2nd half of the season that they lose their 1st round pick and because they tanked it for that long they could lose their 2nd round pick too. Tanking it is not worth the risk of losing EXTREMELY valuable draft picks.
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It's hard to tank when you are BELOW the tank in the first place. They are so bad they don't have to really tank per say.

 

[Diehardblues]

It's hard to tank when you are BELOW the tank in the first place. They are so bad they don't have to really tank per say.

Right

Doesn’t look like we are tanking. Looked like we were still fighting and playing hard to win. We just aren’t a very good team right now.

 

[cern]

We aren’t blaming this on Prescott. We are blaming it on our dysfunctional organization.

if it is jerry who hires the coaches, then the fault truly lies at his feet. we have, however, chosen some good talent to put on the field. and with better coaching, this team should have accomplished more than it has. i will never give jerry credit for anything other than screwing the pooch year after year. where we have our differences is our evaluations of stephen. i think he's top notch. i know you don't agree.

 

[CouchCoach]

Let me ask a question here. Does paying a QB, any QB, 35-40M a season with the existing contracts in place and cap implications allow the team to really address the defense?

I admit it, my stance here is tentative because they haven't proven they can build a contention defense regardless of who the QB is or how much they pay him. Hell, the Cowboys had the best QB deal for 4 years since FA came about.

My assumption is that they take a QB in the 1st and pay him over 4 years what they pay Prescott over 1 year allowing them to use that savings on building out the team, mainly the defense. And yes, the old assumption belief applies here.

Where I could be wrong is that taking that QB in this draft not only doesn't strengthen the defense but they end up with a QB not as effective with this team. Because for whatever the reason, Dak Prescott seems to be the only QB that can manage this team. He gets the best out of them.

So, I could easily be wrong about this, fortunately, that would be the first time. The fact is no one knows how well any of these top 5 QB's, Lawrence, Fields, Lance, Trask or Wilson will do in the NFL or with this team. Dak is that devil we know.

And that devil is good enough to get this team there providing the team is built right and that is the gist of this thread. It's not about Prescott vs one of the rooks, it's about trying to help a FO that is just not great at evaluating talent, paying them or finding talent to replace them. Might have done that with Diggs after letting Jones walk so there is always hope.

When hope is in your wheelhouse as a fan as much as it is this one, you don't think like normal fans.

 

[Diehardblues]

if it is jerry who hires the coaches, then the fault truly lies at his feet. we have, however chosen some good talent to put on the field. and with better coaching, this team should have accomplished more than it has. i will never give jerry credit for anything other than screwing the pooch year after year. where we have our differences is our evaluations of stephen. i think he's top notch. i know you don't agree.

The results speak for themselves .

Stephen might at least be a tougher negotiator which could be argued and he appears to manage the cap well enough but if the measurement is ultimately success on the field then he’s no better than Daddy.

The talent is over hyped by our organization and fans. Again , results matter.

And if we are holding coaching totally responsible then he has to take some responsibility as well for not influencing better decisions. It all intertwines.

We can’t pick and choose who we want to credit for better decisions and blame others for the poorer ones. Ultimately there’s one measurement. On the field!

 

[Big_D]

Not when you’re in “win now” mode every year. But never actually win anything.

 

[G2]

Yes and no. There will be a couple of contracts from released players that will be added to the dead cap money for next year. Also the owners waved the 5% max carryover on the cap because of how everything unfolded this season with that virus so I'm thinking that the surplus on the cap is part of Jones plan to not have Prescott's contract not hit next years cap as hard.
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What I was getting at is that there are a lot of fans who think we can't sign Prescott and get good players because there's no money.

 

[gjkoeppen]

Look at this Dak groupie touting them meaningless numbers. Old numbers and stats nobody give an expletive about (most ints thrown by a rookie lol) from eons ago in football years and numbers that lead us out of the playoffs. Yeah awesome numbers. This is how you know you’re dealing with a Dak stan and not a Dallas Cowboys fan.

Here's what I like. I like the fact that many in the sports world who actually get paid for their assessments, think Prescott is a top 5-6 QB so if it makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside by saying Prescott isn't any good then knock you socks off. You're just showing your Prescott hatred and we all know how much that means in the football world.
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[gjkoeppen]

We aren’t blaming this on Prescott. We are blaming it on our dysfunctional organization.

Last time I checked Jones has THREE RINGS. That's three more than you.
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[PAPPYDOG]

Can anyone answer me what our QB Mr.Prescott is doing when teams jump out to 15+ point leads on a weekly basis?
Unless the game has changed our offense does get the ball when the opposing team scores, where is Dak in these time frames?
NOWHERE!!!
He starts producing when the battle has been lost and he's facing defense who simply lay back in prevent and wait for the game to finish!!
QB's first priority in the draft without any doubts!

 

[Runwildboys]

there is but one hyper hypothetical question worth entertaining imo regarding trevor lawrence. and the odds of this occurring are infinitismally small.. what if, when the cowboys make their first round selection, trevor lawrence, like lambo, is still on the boards. do we take him? i can't imagine any scenario where we wouldn't. just like lambo.

And let him sit and learn for a couple of years, the way it's supposed to work? I wouldn't be opposed to that, assuming we could still improve our defense.

 

[CouchCoach]

Last time I checked Jones has THREE RINGS. That's three more than you.
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And that's the most empty argument on here.

 

[gjkoeppen]

What I was getting at is that there are a lot of fans who think we can't sign Prescott and get good players because there's no money.

The defense needs at least 3 or 4 really good players and if Prescott isn't signed there still won't be enough cap space to sign that many really good defensive players. The really good ones are going to want somewhere in the 18-20 mil a year range. Now here's something that many that are opposed to signing Prescott either don't know or are unaware of is for just this season the owners approved to let teams carry unlimited amount of cap space to carryover to next year because of the virus. Normally teams are allowed to carryover only 5%. The Cowboys will be carrying over about 23 mil and my guess the reason is to apply that to signing Prescott so it won't be as big of a hit on next year's cap.
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[gjkoeppen]

And that's the most empty argument on here.

I know it's tough for you to have a comeback for that because it's true. Jones has three rings and you have zero.
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[CouchCoach]

What I was getting at is that there are a lot of fans who think we can't sign Prescott and get good players because there's no money.

I think that and some do not think he's worthy of that contract and just flat out don't want him.

There are some fans that don't like the fact he doesn't have that 1st round pedigree. He's like the blue collar guy marrying into the rich family, ewwwww, he's not up to our breeding and standard.

There is no assurance that if they let him walk and draft one of these rooks that they will get good players with the money. They've had the same money as everyone else, and a lot better at QB for 4 years, what was their excuse then?

 

[RonnieT24]

When someone finds me the QB who has led his team to the Super Bowl with a defense giving up over 30 points a game I will agree with them that the great Trevor Lawrence might be able to carry this squad to the promised land.

I went back through the last 20 Super Bowl winners looking for their scoring defense numbers..

Check this out. These are the 10 worst defenses to win a Super Bowl in the last 20 years.

2011 Giants 25.0/game
2006 Colts 22.5
2007 Giants 21.9
2012 Ravens 21.5
2009 Saints 21.3
2018 Patriots 20.3
2014 Patriots 19.6
2019 Chiefs 19.3
2015 Broncos 18.5
2017 Eagles 18.4


So that's 6 teams in the last 20 years who have won it with defenses giving up 20 or more points.. And two of those were the Giants whose defense turned it up several notches in the playoffs. The 2011 Giants gave up 14 points per game in the playoffs.. The 2007 team gave up 16.3 per game. The 2006 Colts also got Bob Sanders back for their playoff run which made a huge difference for them in the playoffs as well.

Now fast forward to our defense and it's 32.2 points per game ledger this year.. Dak is "not good enough" because he cannot do something which has literally never been done in the history of football. Which is win a championship with a defense that gives up more than 30 points a game. And the front office has failed to construct a good enough defense in 25 years but if we just draft Trevor Lawrence they will magically figure it out. OR maybe HE will become the first QB to lead his team to a championship with a defense giving up 30 points a game. I will never get behind that kind of logic. Mainly because it's not logical at all.

 

[CouchCoach]

I know it's tough for you to have a comeback for that because it's true. Jones has three rings and you have zero.
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And do you think he is the one responsible for that? He was the GM in title, his HC was the real football operation GM unless you want to ignore the last 25 years?

Kraft and Rooney have 6 rings, what does that have to do with this?

If your best defense of Booger is 3 rings 25 years ago, that's not really a good defense. The only defense that works for him is he owns it and can do whatever the hell he wants with it.

 

[G2]

I think that and some do not think he's worthy of that contract and just flat out don't want him.

There are some fans that don't like the fact he doesn't have that 1st round pedigree. He's like the blue collar guy marrying into the rich family, ewwwww, he's not up to our breeding and standard.

There is no assurance that if they let him walk and draft one of these rooks that they will get good players with the money. They've had the same money as everyone else, and a lot better at QB for 4 years, what was their excuse then?

That's what I've been debating. All of a sudden, NOW they will be able to build a defense within the rookie contract span? That's not a smart move and then suggesting that simply putting all of your eggs in the 1st pick basket. Some fans just have unrealistic standards. Prescott is good enough to build a team around and it's possible if you sign him, it all comes down to talent.