The Cowboys Are Extremely Young

[Risen Star]

The point about the roster being young and likely on the upswing is a legitimate one.

The point RS brings up about the future nevertheless being in jeopardy because of an old and injured QB is also legit.

However, the problem about worrying about Romo's replacement is that elite QBs are hard to find even at the top of the draft. They also almost never hit FA. There are very few QBs who can be groomed into becoming elite no matter how long you stash them on the roster and play them in PS and have them run the scout team.

I would generally say that anytime you think there is a QB out there who can be your future elite starter you grab them. The problem of stashing one though is that you eat up his cheap years sitting on the bench and then he is expensive once he hits the field. One of the great advantages Seattle has had lately is how cheap Russell Wilson is. Indy is benefitting from the same thing with Luck. Compare their situation with most teams with upper echelon QBs paying $18-20M/yr which will buy you 2 Pro Bowlers.

At this point I would certainly think it is worthwhile to grab a QB who falls to us but we cannot trade up for one while we are trying to maximize what we might accomplish in the last 2-3 years of Romo's career.

Completely agree on taking the QB when you can get one. Don't look that gift horse in the mouth. As scarce as they are, to think you're going to find a suitable successor to Romo on your schedule is foolish. Take the player. Deal with all those "terrible" consequences of having great depth at the most important position on the field should it come to that. Who cares? It's a far better situation than trotting out stiffs like Brandon Weeden and hoping the QB fairy arrives and drops one in our lap when we're desperate.

But this thread is about our young core and how fans should be excited about the future. I can't agree with that with the QB situation being what it is. This is a year to year thing with Romo. We're not set up for great things in the future with an old QB with back issues. No matter how much some fans want you to believe that.

 

[Risen Star]

Exactly. Even when I read the title, I thought, "but with no quarterback like Romo it really doesn't matter."

I have high hopes for the Cowboys this year. But conceivably, I could see this team falling short and then using the defeat as a catapult ala the 85 Bears who used a defeat in the NFC Championship Game to propel them to a 15-1 Super Bowl season. But Romo is the key.

Right. I'm not saying they can't have a great 3 year run. Just that it's a huge question mark with the QB. So my view of the future with this team is one of uncertainty.

 

[Toruk_Makto]

It's a pretty obvious reality. We are on borrowed time with Romo. The homers like to present it as at least another 2-3 years. They are guessing. Actually, more like hoping. They have no idea how long he will hold up. Could be years. Could be months. That uncertainty would cause any rational Cowboys fan to question how bright our future is.

Wait people are guessing about the future? No way!!!!!!!

 

[Toruk_Makto]

Right. I'm not saying they can't have a great 3 year run. Just that it's a huge question mark with the QB. So my view of the future with this team is one of uncertainty.

Wait. Your view of the future comes with uncertainty? No way!!!!!!!

 

[pacy]

I didn't know you can be 28.15 years old.

 

[NeonDeion21]

I didn't know you can be 28.15 years old.

The ages are according to PFR.

 

[Toruk_Makto]

I didn't know you can be 28.15 years old.

Do you skip between being 28.14 to 28.16 years old?

 

[waving monkey]

This could be said for a ton of QBs in the NFL.

no no it's only relevant to the Cowboys

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

Even at Romo's age i'm excited about the youth on this team. 34 at the quarterback position has proven to be like 25 or 26 for the running back position. You don't want to assume and just pencil in Romo will be here for the next 4 years but he's already proven everyone wrong thus far. You can never predict what Romo can or will do. The minute he entered this league his career was written out for him. At best a backup quarterback and at worse a arena league football player. Fast forward to 2014 after several great regular seasons and Pro Bowl nods, his story was written once again. His career is over due to his back. Now we sit here at the end of the season and he's having the best year of his career.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

This could be said for a ton of QBs in the NFL.

Right. There's a reason to be optimistic with this youth. Especially with as fast as we got it. This youth only goes back a few years. A draft or two....this team has some great potential.

 

[xwalker]

The point about the roster being young and likely on the upswing is a legitimate one.

The point RS brings up about the future nevertheless being in jeopardy because of an old and injured QB is also legit.

However, the problem about worrying about Romo's replacement is that elite QBs are hard to find even at the top of the draft. They also almost never hit FA. There are very few QBs who can be groomed into becoming elite no matter how long you stash them on the roster and play them in PS and have them run the scout team.

I would generally say that anytime you think there is a QB out there who can be your future elite starter you grab them. The problem of stashing one though is that you eat up his cheap years sitting on the bench and then he is expensive once he hits the field. One of the great advantages Seattle has had lately is how cheap Russell Wilson is. Indy is benefitting from the same thing with Luck. Compare their situation with most teams with upper echelon QBs paying $18-20M/yr which will buy you 2 Pro Bowlers.

At this point I would certainly think it is worthwhile to grab a QB who falls to us but we cannot trade up for one while we are trying to maximize what we might accomplish in the last 2-3 years of Romo's career.

The thing to consider with a young QB is that most early draft picks come in to a terrible team and get beat up. The Cowboys have one of the top OLines and 4 out of 5 of them are 25 or younger. A young QB would be setup to succeed with this OLine and Dez. It's not that what poor slobs they have in Tampa Bay trying to find their way with that offense.

 

[NeonDeion21]

The thing to consider with a young QB is that most early draft picks come in to a terrible team and get beat up. The Cowboys have one of the top OLines and 4 out of 5 of them are 25 or younger. A young QB would be setup to succeed with this OLine and Dez. It's not that what poor slobs they have in Tampa Bay trying to find their way with that offense.

And I think that's the way to win in the NFL right now. Build a great team around a QB on his rookie contract. SEA, BAL and SF to a degree have had a lot of success doing this.

 

[Mansta54]

your QB is 34 with back bones like pretzels and your only other viable option is Brandon Weeden, it really tempers the enthusiasm for the foreseeable future.

When you don't have a QB, you don't have anything. You're just one of the have nots of the league.

You always throwing water on things, you must be miserable. Smh!

 

[Eskimo]

The thing to consider with a young QB is that most early draft picks come in to a terrible team and get beat up. The Cowboys have one of the top OLines and 4 out of 5 of them are 25 or younger. A young QB would be setup to succeed with this OLine and Dez. It's not that what poor slobs they have in Tampa Bay trying to find their way with that offense.

I agree that you could put out an okay QB and maybe squeak into the playoffs. I just don't think we would be contenders in this scenario. The reason is that without a great QB you need a dominant defense to win a title and we don't have one. We also don't appear to be on the verge of having one either. We're still trying to become just average at this point.

What I would say is that if we could somehow find an elite QB prospect we would have a better chance at successfully developing him behind a great OL since he wouldn't take quite so much abuse. But you still have to get that tier 1 or tier 2 QB prospect and there is only about one in every other draft and they usually get gobbled up in the top 10. So unless we are tanking (Jerry doesn't like the ding in the profits) or giving up future No. 1's we may still be up **** creek as far as contending for a SB once Romo is done.

 

[Eskimo]

And I think that's the way to win in the NFL right now. Build a great team around a QB on his rookie contract. SEA, BAL and SF to a degree have had a lot of success doing this.

Yes, but you do have to luck out a bit on the QB as those teams did to some extent. But more importantly you need a great defense if you're going to win without elite QB play.

 

[Dday22t]

yeah we get it: Romo won't be around forever, enjoy it while he is here. I think the point of the thread was the rest of the roster around him is young and will only be getting better. Hopefully that mean Romo's last years are good & eventually we he leaves there will still be some good players here while we try and find a replacement.

 

[Eskimo]

yeah we get it: Romo won't be around forever, enjoy it while he is here. I think the point of the thread was the rest of the roster around him is young and will only be getting better. Hopefully that mean Romo's last years are good & eventually we he leaves there will still be some good players here while we try and find a replacement.

Yes, we have a golden opportunity to contend so long as Romo stays healthy. We have the OL in place. We need to re-sign Dez and we need to get the defense just a bit better upfront.

Having said that, with a bit of luck we could win it all this year if Romo continues to play as he has the last month and the defense continues to stiffen when we need them.

 

[NeonDeion21]

Yes, but you do have to luck out a bit on the QB as those teams did to some extent. But more importantly you need a great defense if you're going to win without elite QB play.

That's fair. Overall, I'm encouraged with their youth.

 

[ElGatoGrande]

Apparently RS has his own stalker fan club,,, lol

forget about all the previous dust-ups and hurt feelings and look at the topic at hand,,, yes, we've got an excellent core of young o-linemen and a few good young players scattered about the team, but in this context a "team's core" always implies the QB at the center of the core.

I like the youth and what Garrett has done with the offense but he will have to replace the main player sometime in the next few years. If they strike gold and replace him quickly the new QB will be able to enjoy the current "youth" on this team. And who's to say that Garrett won't keep building up this team with good young players? That's what I'm hoping for. Then when they do find our next star QB he'll have a decent group around him.

 

[Toruk_Makto]

The thing to consider with a young QB is that most early draft picks come in to a terrible team and get beat up. The Cowboys have one of the top OLines and 4 out of 5 of them are 25 or younger. A young QB would be setup to succeed with this OLine and Dez. It's not that what poor slobs they have in Tampa Bay trying to find their way with that offense.

On a team notoriously frugal.

Poor SoBs.