The Cowboys Would Have Drafted Shazier over Martin

[Joe Realist]

Yeah, I believe Aaron Donald and Shazier were the ones the cowboys wanted most (and realistically could have dropped to them)

and they both had all-pro rookie years too.

 

[Craig]

Wow i was sure this thread was going to prove to have been bumped from last summer.

 

[ThreeandOut]

I think that was a positional value issue more than a talent comparison. OG is not at top positional value. Now 4-3 LB is also not normally a top positional value, but in Marinelli's defense his top 2 positions are the 3-tech DT and the WLB.

I'm curious where they had Aaron Donald ranked relative to Shazier.

If they think he could play WLB, it wouldn't surprise me at all to see Dawson as the Cowboy's pick at 27. Although he seems to be viewed as more of a second round pick, I think the Cowboys would rate him higher than most teams just like they rated Shazier higher than where he was generally projected to go.

 

[DenCWBY]

Yes, actually. Martin and Frederick were both fall-back picks.

If we can just keep spiking Jerry's scotch with water, who knows how we'll we can do this year.

 

[xwalker]

If they think he could play WLB, it wouldn't surprise me at all to see Dawson as the Cowboy's pick at 27. Although he seems to be viewed as more of a second round pick, I think the Cowboys would rate him higher than most teams just like they rated Shazier higher than where he was generally projected to go.

Yes, I could see that if his character issues check out.

 

[reddyuta]

This is why I think Lb is still one of our top priority, look for Dawson .He really is my pet cat and i would draft him in a jiffy even though he has been badmouthed by some scouts for being tardy.

 

[Bowdown27]

I thought this was known ? Was said after the draft. We had shazier ready to go on a card and steelers took him. We lucked out imo. Now we have the best line and w mcclain playing how he did and hitchens. It def helped

 

[The Quest for Six]

this is NOT a new nugget, it was well known on draft day

 

[BAT]

I agree with most all of this. I don't care too much about weight at LB anymore. But maybe that's just me. I was a fan of Telvin Smith last year and he played around 229 pounds. I think Shaq's a better player than Telvin.

I think Telvin Smith is a more developed LB than Shaq Thompson. Both may end up as average to good 4-3 OLB, but either could be special at SS.

 

[JoeyBoy718]

I think we have enough guys to have a solid LBing corps. I think the other areas of the defense need much more work. I'd rather not spend a 1st round pick on a guy who needs time to develop when we already have a bunch of guys who have proven to be good starting LBers (Lee, Hitchens, McClain, Carter, Durant).

 

[reddyuta]

I think we have enough guys to have a solid LBing corps. I think the other areas of the defense need much more work. I'd rather not spend a 1st round pick on a guy who needs time to develop when we already have a bunch of guys who have proven to be good starting LBers (Lee, Hitchens, McClain, Carter, Durant).

Lee-he may never be the same again or he may never play again.
Durant-on IR for the last 2 seasons when we needed hmi the most.
Mcclain-assortment of injuries but his consecutive Concussions are more worrying for a LB.
Carter-i really think his time is up in Dallas,he may want to go to a 3-4 team.

This group is so up in the air its scary.

 

[CT Dal Fan]

This isn't news, and it's not relevant now. If the Cowboys knew Anthony Hitchens would have turned out so well, they wouldn't have been considering Shazier in the first round.

Just like how the Patriots took some guy named Adrian Klemm in the first round of the draft that they got Tom Brady with the 199th pick in.

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

I agree with most all of this. I don't care too much about weight at LB anymore. But maybe that's just me. I was a fan of Telvin Smith last year and he played around 229 pounds. I think Shaq's a better player than Telvin.

I don't mind one guy like that playing the W but small guys particularly stubby ones don't stack, shed, or anchor well. When you already play a ton of nickel inserting another small guy in the box makes you susceptible to all manner of games particularly against a mobile offensive line.

 

[Wood]

I knew about Shazier over Martin. Did Broddaus say that Shazier was in the team's top 5 players? I'm sincerely asking. Did he say he was 10 spots ahead of Martin?

yes that is first time he talked about how high up Shazier was on Cowboys board but I think xwalker correctly touched on reason being that Marinelli placed high premium on that LB spot for this defense (and Dallas was defensive minded with that first pick until Steelers snagged Shazier away). I don't think it means there was projected talent gap between Shazier and Martin but rather Shazier would fill more immediate need.

 

[LatinMind]

Yesterday, Bryan Broaddus of dallascowboys.com dropped a little nugget of information on his podcast that I thought was very interesting. Broaddus said that “Shazier was in the (Cowboys) top five plays in the draft” and he mentioned that Shazier graded about “10 spots higher than Martin.”

http://all22breakdown.com/cowboys-would-have-taken-ryan-shazier-over-zack-martin/

Cowboys were on the phone with shaziers agent and his agent even told him its dallas. Stealers stole him lol

 

[skinsscalper]

It seems like this dominant offensive line was built partly due to chance.

Fortunately.

Absolutely. But I don't think we can overlook the fact that even when the draft didn't fall our way, that the FO made the correct picks when they fell to them. It's s easy to panic and when the chips start falling every direction but yours. Level heads have been prevailing these past couple of drafts and it's resulted in some solid football players.

That's why I hope the Cowboys just continue to stick to their board. If Gurley is the best rated player when we pick, take him. Don't just take a defensive guy because he's the next best defensive guy. If your next highest rated player is rated vastly superior to your needs you take him anyway. Expecting some rookie to come in and fix your pass rush is fool's gold. It's been proven over and over that the odds are stacked highly against that scenario bearing out. Get what you can get done in FA and continue to draft solid and ALL of this is going to fall into place.

 

[the_h0wey]

Yesterday, Bryan Broaddus of dallascowboys.com dropped a little nugget of information on his podcast that I thought was very interesting. Broaddus said that “Shazier was in the (Cowboys) top five plays in the draft” and he mentioned that Shazier graded about “10 spots higher than Martin.”

http://all22breakdown.com/cowboys-would-have-taken-ryan-shazier-over-zack-martin/

This has been pretty well known since the day after the draft.

 

[waving monkey]

It seems like this dominant offensive line was built partly due to chance.

Fortunately.

unless you have the #1 pick it's chance

 

[plymkr]

This reminds me how in the 1990 draft, Jimmy Johnson wanted to draft Francis, who bengals drafted, and settled for Emmitt Smith. Nice settlement. Martin is a nice "settlement pick". Sometimes it's good not getting the guy you covet

 

[The Realist]

Yes, actually. Martin and Frederick were both fall-back picks.

As was Emmitt. And 100's of other players over the years.