The Cowboys have been rebuilding under Garrett

[dallasfan4lizife]

Precisely, this is how you rebuild in place (note: I am not saying one way or another whether this is working or not). Our small-thinking fan base has been watching far too much NBA and seems to think that you have to completely turn to crap to get "high picks" and then you will magically be a dynasty for ten years. If they had been watching football before 2012 then they would know that 99% of the time all that "strategy" leads to is Jamarcus Russell/David Carr and half a decade more worth of losing records.

However, becoming a good team again is more than just getting young and we still have far too many head-scratching draft picks and far too much money tied up in players that have basically given us zilch this year (Austin, Spencer, Ratliff, etc.). So I have to give Jerry an F for his rebuilding.

yeah it takes 3+ years to rebuild with a "franchise QB"....gimme a break.

I can only agree on one thing in this post, and it's that jerry sucks.

 

[Hoofbite]

Two teams can have a similar talent level; however, the upside can be much better for 1 team than the other.

The following drawing depicts 2 teams with equal talent; however, the average of the players on the first team are on the upside of their career while the average of the players on the 2nd team are on the downside of their careers.

Nice depiction but it's only relevant if Dallas is projecting more wins in the future. I don't imagine anyone would have projected 8 wins in Garrett's 3rd year of his 3 year plan and yet here we are on pace to see 8 wins again. Hell, most people were projecting 10 wins or more back in July. Furthermore, it only really means anything at all if Dallas actually realizes those extra wins. Being able to say you should win more and actually winning more are two different things. Dallas has gained a reputation as a talented team that doesn't meet expectations, which means that projections can be entirely useless.

One problem with projecting wins for Dallas (or any team) is that projections only go as high as you can project the QB to play unless you have a dominant defense and are stacked everywhere else but the QB position. Where is Romo on the career curve? I can't foresee many people would say that he's trending up and he'll be much better in 2017 than he is right now. At best we have to hope he plateaus and sustains his level of play.

Bottom line, this is a parity-driven league and everyone knows it. It doesn't take eons to turn a team around or even realize 1 extra win when transitioning between seasons.

 

[Hoofbite]

Injuries....way more than normal for one unit.

If only the defense was the sole reason for this teams losses.

 

[xwalker]

Nice depiction but it's only relevant if Dallas is projecting more wins in the future. I don't imagine anyone would have projected 8 wins in Garrett's 3rd year of his 3 year plan and yet here we are on pace to see 8 wins again. Hell, most people were projecting 10 wins or more back in July. Furthermore, it only really means anything at all if Dallas actually realizes those extra wins. Being able to say you should win more and actually winning more are two different things. Dallas has gained a reputation as a talented team that doesn't meet expectations, which means that projections can be entirely useless.

One problem with projecting wins for Dallas (or any team) is that projections only go as high as you can project the QB to play unless you have a dominant defense and are stacked everywhere else but the QB position. Where is Romo on the career curve? I can't foresee many people would say that he's trending up and he'll be much better in 2017 than he is right now. At best we have to hope he plateaus and sustains his level of play.

Bottom line, this is a parity-driven league and everyone knows it. It doesn't take eons to turn a team around or even realize 1 extra win when transitioning between seasons.

I don't think I used the word win.

The chart just projects that the talent can have a much higher upside even if the overall talent is similar to some previous year.

The 2010 talent was definitely on the downside with:
Marion Barber
Roy Williams
Leonard Davis
Andre Gurode
Marc Columbo
Bradie James
Igor Olshansky
Keith Brooking
etc..

 

[jobberone]

If only the defense was the sole reason for this teams losses.

It's not the only reason but it is the main reason this year. The offense has been borderline for awhile. I think you almost have to give Garrett another year then make some hard decisions.

 

[dupree89]

If only the defense was the sole reason for this teams losses.

Bingo! Most of us expected the defense to be bad- though obviously not this bad. I don't think many people expected the offense to be so challenged. The offense has had strecthes where it has been totally inept. I posted about a week ago a stat showing that something like two teams have had more 3 and outs than Dallas' offense. If we are to believe that we have an offensive genius in Garrett, a franchise QB, one of the best playmakers in the game (Dez), a HOF TE, etc etc....then our offense cannot have the 3rd most 3 and outs in the NFL.

 

[Coy]

Rebuilding means getting better each and every year, kind of what Dallas did from 89 - 92.
Maybe he is rebuilding but he ain't getting the job done that's for sure.

 

[TrailBlazer]

I agree and disagree.

I agree that they should move on from Ware, Austin and Hatcher. I would always put the roster together with a focus on the following year, not the current season (i.e. this offseason I would focus on building for 2015). The exception would be if the team wins some playoff games. If a team has won playoff games, then it can be justified to keep or acquire some older and/or expensive players.

I disagree on Romo. He looks the same physically to me. It appears that the coaches have made him a low risk type QB and the play calling and game planning have gotten worse, not better. I reviewed the Denver game this week to see what was different about the Cowboys offense. For some unknown reason, they have quit doing many of the things that were successful in that game.

I wouldn't draft a QB early. They can't cut Romo for 2 or 3 years due to the contract. With the new CBA, you can't afford to have a 1st round QB sit on the bench for 2 or 3 years.

I would make the top priority the OLine and running game. If that requires a new offense or offensive coordinator, then so be it.

Add 1 great OL and find the right play caller and this offense could be great, IMO.

Marinelli has done a good job with castoffs. I think he can build a good DL with some draft picks and possibly a couple of mid-level free agents. I don't think he requires multiple 8 to 12 million dollar per year players. He just needs to make it through a complete training camp with the players that started training camp. There is only so much you can do with players acquired during the season.

Well, maybe you're right about romo. But realistically how many more years can he produce at relatively high level. And will that be good enough for the team to be a contender? By the time 2015 comes around as you mentioned in your post, I don't know if tony will still be playing at a high level. That's why I'd draft a qb and let him sit one year. But I guess that's not possible with Romo's contract. I did not know under the new CBA a team couldn't afford to let a first round pick sit the bench for a year or at most 2 years. I thought there were rules to prevent rookies from making huge contracts.?

Are you saying we need to find someone else to try to call plays from JG's outdated playbook? Please no! We've been doing that for seven years. Lets do something new, and creative, it'll be fun.

 

[Picksix]

This is a very good question and one that I have brought up on another site.

If Dallas has been rebuilding and Garrett has done a good job of building the team, that implies that the 2011 team is worse than the team we see today and yet the results have not changed.

If Garrett got 8 wins out of a crappy 2011 team and he's since built the team then why is the 2013 team set to go 8-8 only this time the 8-8 record comes on the back of playing in one of the worst divisions out there?

Your premise is definitely a valid one. I would counter with two possibilities. One, things tend to get worse before they get better. The team in 2011 was an 8-8 team, on its way down. Hopefully, this team is 8-8 on the way up. Two, Garrett may very well be doing a great job of "rebuilding" the team. However (and I admit this is hard for me to accept), he may not be the one to lead them.

Again, just throwing these out as possibilities. Not making definite statements.

 

[Hoofbite]

It's not the only reason but it is the main reason this year. The offense has been borderline for awhile. I think you almost have to give Garrett another year then make some hard decisions.

It's the main reason right now. Certainly wasn't the main reason Dallas lost against KC and regardless of how many yards they gave up Detroit loses if Dallas doesn't provide them the means with which to get the ball back on the last drive.

And more than just wins or losses, the offense hasn't been hit with injuries like the defense has and yet the offense has been struggling.

I don't think you have to give him anything. The very reason I thought that he earned the job was because he got more from a group of guys than I would have expected. Without Romo and with a defense that was awful, he got them to win. Since that time I can't say that he's gotten more from this group than would be expected.

 

[SWG9]

Your premise is definitely a valid one. I would counter with two possibilities. One, things tend to get worse before they get better. The team in 2011 was an 8-8 team, on its way down. Hopefully, this team is 8-8 on the way up. Two, Garrett may very well be doing a great job of "rebuilding" the team. However (and I admit this is hard for me to accept), he may not be the one to lead them.

Again, just throwing these out as possibilities. Not making definite statements.

The other possibility is that Garrett or Jones or Larry Lacewell or the liquor store guy or whoever else has a hand in this simply isn't doing a good job of "rebuilding".

The team is definitely younger, but not necessarily better.

 

[visionary]

It's not the only reason but it is the main reason this year. The offense has been borderline for awhile. I think you almost have to give Garrett another year then make some hard decisions.

Wow!

 

[slomoxn]

I too agree with the OP that Garrett is rebuilding, problem is that Jerry doesn't realize that or is in denial that this should and has to happen and is making moves (romo 100m) that are not conducive to doing so. I don't know if Garrett is the guy to get us another Lombardi but I know he has a vision and he is trying to implement it and has someone controlling the purse strings that has a different vision.

 

[Hoofbite]

I too agree with the OP that Garrett is rebuilding, problem is that Jerry doesn't realize that or is in denial that this should and has to happen and is making moves (romo 100m) that are not conducive to doing so. I don't know if Garrett is the guy to get us another Lombardi but I know he has a vision and he is trying to implement it and has someone controlling the purse strings that has a different vision.

That's because Jerry won't commit to the idea of rebuilding. If he would, he likely wouldn't have signed Carr to a $50M contract and he wouldn't have traded a 1st and a 2nd for Claiborne. If you're a team that is truly rebuilding you need all the help you can get at multiple different positions and you don't get that help by trading away picks.

 

[diehard2294]

It worked in Denver.

So your saying Romo is on the same level as P. Manning???

 

[Beast_from_East]

Agreed. And lets be honest, it's not like he didn't have a hand in building the roster of 2010.

Exactly

Opie didn't just show up out of the blue.

 

[Dodger12]

Absolutely ridiculous comment.

I agree but I give him credit for thinking outside the box because that's a new excuse we hadn't heard before........you gotta really dig deep to come up with that one.

 

[DOUBLE WING]

Garrett shouldn't get credit for trying to rebuild. It's nice that he's TRYING, but there's a difference between TRYING and actually being successful at it.

You want to see a successful rebuild? Look at Pete Carroll in Seattle. Then look at how directionless our "rebuild" looks in comparison? What kind of team is Garrett trying to build here? What is his philosophy on offense and defense? What is the core of our team? Does he know? Does anyone know?

 

[Hoofbite]

Garrett shouldn't get credit for trying to rebuild. It's nice that he's TRYING, but there's a difference between TRYING and actually being successful at it.

You want to see a successful rebuild? Look at Pete Carroll in Seattle. Then look at how directionless our "rebuild" looks in comparison? What kind of team is Garrett trying to build here? What is his philosophy on offense and defense? What is the core of our team? Does he know? Does anyone know?

Ron Rivera took a 2-14 team without a QB and with a horrid defense and got 6 wins out of them his first season. Defense dropped 1 rank from 26th to 27 in points allowed in his first season. 2nd year he won 7 games and his defense was 10th in the league in points. This year, they've already won 7 games and his defense is #1 in the NFL in points allowed.

That's direction. Steady improvement for a couple of years until finally you put it together and start playing some solid football and winning games.

 

[dupree89]

That's direction. Steady improvement for a couple of years until finally you put it together and start playing some solid football and winning games.

Yes sir. Totally agree. And there isnt much to add from a Dallas perspective. The Cowboys have no distinct plan. They make decisions, then scrap them because immediate success isnt there. Its just a vicious cycle.
But hey, Jerry is doing his best work right now. LOL What a clown he is. I dont care how successful he has been in life and I dont care how much money he has. As an NFL Executive he is a purebred loser. A total zero.