The defense has been playing well

[Sinister]

Your memory is quite faulty.
The Tyron Smith pick was perhaps the most applauded pick in the last decade.
That was 4 drafts ago.

Every season since OL has been a leading candidate for R1 picks and high picks every year.
DeCastro was easily the top choice of the board and media when he came out and other OL have been in that mix every year.
This year was the first year an OL was somewhat poo-poo'd and then only because the OL was about the only place we didnt badly need help.

What people who looked at the whole picture and didn't fixate on the agenda said was fixing the OL won't guarantee more wins and viola 4 years later they are right.
The OL has gotten progressively better as we've tread water at 8-8.

What are the Cowboys doing? This is the kind of silliness we got over the OL.
So let's recap: They draft DLaw, Sign McClain, Melton, Mincey.

Exactly how much more were they supposed to do?

Melton was signed at a discount because he was injured but McClain and DLaw are just casualties of the game.
They weren't signed so they could tear up pre-season and weren't signed for just one year.

When you whinge from one subject to the next that is absolutely crying.
The OL crying has just transferred to the DL.
And of course it is 2 years too late.
The team has already begun major upgrades there.

Like 30 other teams we are relying upon guys who have yet to play well if at all in this pre-season.
Welcome to the NFL.

OK, lets see:

Yes, Tyron Smith was one of the most applauded picks, but why was that? Oh yeah the Cowboys had not taken an offensive lineman in the 1st round in ten years! Not only that, but that was the year that the Viking destroyed the Cowboys offensive line in that playoff game. Flozell Adams ended up getting cut (salary cap reasons) and we were looking at Columbo and Free as the offensive tackles of course the Tyron Smith pick was applauded.

Do you realize that since 2007 the Cowboys have drafted as many Kickers as Defensive Tackles?

2007 Nick Folk 6th round
2009 David Buehler 5th round
vs.
2010 Sean Lissimore 7th round
2014 Ken Bishop 7th round

Exactly how much more were the Cowboys supposed to do?

There is so much more that the Cowboys could have done, for example and these are just some examples:

• The trade up for Claiborne was a mistake, they could have had Brockers and Wagner.
• Instead of Martin this year how about Mosely
• Why did we switch from the 3-4 to the 4-3 without drafting any defensive lineman?
• How about not drafting a tight end and wide receiver last year?

I could go on, but I think you get the point.

Yes, I hear you, hindsight is 20/20 but for God sakes can't the Cowboys for once, just once, practice a little foresight.

 

[Sinister]

Shoot, I forgot Josh Brent 2010 supplemental 7th round pick, my bad.

HA!

 

[CATCH17]

Are you talking about this year or one of the 10 worst defenses in the history of the league? This could get ugly real quick........

This year.

I just want the defense to not be one of the worst 7-10 in the league.

 

[Dodger12]

This year.

I just want the defense to not be one of the worst 7-10 in the league.

I agree with you but I'm worried we may be one of the worst defenses in Cowboys history (again) or even the NFL for that matter.

 

[CATCH17]

I agree with you but I'm worried we may be one of the worst defenses in Cowboys history (again) or even the NFL for that matter.

By all accounts they should be bad but I think not being one of the worst 7 to 10 defenses in the league is an attainable goal.

We have some players that if they pan out could make us a little better then we are expecting.

Unfortunately they are all sitting in the tub.

 

[jterrell]

OK, lets see:

Yes, Tyron Smith was one of the most applauded picks, but why was that? Oh yeah the Cowboys had not taken an offensive lineman in the 1st round in ten years! Not only that, but that was the year that the Viking destroyed the Cowboys offensive line in that playoff game. Flozell Adams ended up getting cut (salary cap reasons) and we were looking at Columbo and Free as the offensive tackles of course the Tyron Smith pick was applauded.

Do you realize that since 2007 the Cowboys have drafted as many Kickers as Defensive Tackles?

2007 Nick Folk 6th round
2009 David Buehler 5th round
vs.
2010 Sean Lissimore 7th round
2014 Ken Bishop 7th round

Exactly how much more were the Cowboys supposed to do?

There is so much more that the Cowboys could have done, for example and these are just some examples:

• The trade up for Claiborne was a mistake, they could have had Brockers and Wagner.
• Instead of Martin this year how about Mosely
• Why did we switch from the 3-4 to the 4-3 without drafting any defensive lineman?
• How about not drafting a tight end and wide receiver last year?

I could go on, but I think you get the point.

Yes, I hear you, hindsight is 20/20 but for God sakes can't the Cowboys for once, just once, practice a little foresight.

first let's once again focus on correcting factual errors.
the cowboys did draft two kickers... one in 2007 and the other in 2009.
Not exactly sure why you think what happened that far back and under different kicking rules is relevant to the current team with different management but alas that happened.

As to DT that is absolutely untrue.

Dallas drafted Sean Lissemore, Josh Brent, Bishop and Crawford(who is a swing guy).
Part of the reason they drafted so few DT was because they were playing a 3-4 and they had an All Pro NT.
They backed that up with Brent.
They also had Jason Hatcher, Marcus Spears and Chris Canty from the 05, 06 drafts.
This is like Sturm's cry that we didn't draft DL while he counts Spencer, Walden and Ware as LBs.

Dallas has as many DL playing in the league out of draftees and UDFA as any team in football over the past decade.
Guys like Bowen, Weathington, Hatcher, Ratliff, Lissemore, Spears all left here and got NFL jobs elsewhere.
The best value of any position has been the value Dallas has gotten out of undrafted DL.

As to the scheme switch I tend to agree and was against it. I didn't think it fit Ware, Spencer, Lee or Carter.
It obviously didn't fit Carr or Mo either.
But the decision was made and the acquisitions have been coming ever since.

They let Ware walk and brought in 5 new rotational DL in one off-season.
It is fairly ridiculous to ask more than that.

The current projected DL to start week 1 was not on the roster last year:
Crawford(IL)
Melton(FA)
McClain
Mincey(FA)

Selvie is the 5th guy right now.
Hayden probably plays some running downs.
DLaw will be in the rotation once healthy.
That's our 7 and all recent additions. The longstanding player is 3rd year pro Crawford....

As to Mo trade: While it does not look like a good trade for us by any means; from a DL standpoint it is a rather disingenuous complaint. They used the pick after Mo on a DL.

As to this year, again that is bollocks.
The guy we had rated highest where we drafted was DLaw. We traded back up and got him.
We had 3 or four other DL targets but they all went before us.
Martin was option 4 and only because we thought defense was picked over heavily.
I am the least OL minded person in history but when Martin was by far the best player left not even I could be mad they took him there. ---though I definitely would have preferred a trade down.

So to recap the scheme switch did hurt us along the DL.
As did:
1) Our ascending pro bowler suffering as horrendous injury -Spencer.
2) Our All-Pro DL both aging and costing enormous dollars -Ratliff/Ware.
3) Our young highly drafted player missing his entire 2nd season -Crawford.
4) Our impressive young fatty getting drunk and committing manslaughter.

Anyone who thinks you just shrug off that much loss at one positional group is simply not equipped to deal with reality.

And while I agree 99% of the universe is ready to call this 2014 DL garbage I merely posit it makes sense to see them actually play first.
Because call me crazy but I don't think the Selvie, Davon Coleman, Bishop, Boatright DL is going to represent a thing towards our regular season DL.

 

[Sinister]

first let's once again focus on correcting factual errors.
the cowboys did draft two kickers... one in 2007 and the other in 2009.
Not exactly sure why you think what happened that far back and under different kicking rules is relevant to the current team with different management but alas that happened.

As to DT that is absolutely untrue.

Dallas drafted Sean Lissemore, Josh Brent, Bishop and Crawford(who is a swing guy).
Part of the reason they drafted so few DT was because they were playing a 3-4 and they had an All Pro NT.
They backed that up with Brent.
They also had Jason Hatcher, Marcus Spears and Chris Canty from the 05, 06 drafts.
This is like Sturm's cry that we didn't draft DL while he counts Spencer, Walden and Ware as LBs.

Dallas has as many DL playing in the league out of draftees and UDFA as any team in football over the past decade.
Guys like Bowen, Weathington, Hatcher, Ratliff, Lissemore, Spears all left here and got NFL jobs elsewhere.
The best value of any position has been the value Dallas has gotten out of undrafted DL.

As to the scheme switch I tend to agree and was against it. I didn't think it fit Ware, Spencer, Lee or Carter.
It obviously didn't fit Carr or Mo either.
But the decision was made and the acquisitions have been coming ever since.

They let Ware walk and brought in 5 new rotational DL in one off-season.
It is fairly ridiculous to ask more than that.

The current projected DL to start week 1 was not on the roster last year:
Crawford(IL)
Melton(FA)
McClain
Mincey(FA)

Selvie is the 5th guy right now.
Hayden probably plays some running downs.
DLaw will be in the rotation once healthy.
That's our 7 and all recent additions. The longstanding player is 3rd year pro Crawford....

As to Mo trade: While it does not look like a good trade for us by any means; from a DL standpoint it is a rather disingenuous complaint. They used the pick after Mo on a DL.

As to this year, again that is bollocks.
The guy we had rated highest where we drafted was DLaw. We traded back up and got him.
We had 3 or four other DL targets but they all went before us.
Martin was option 4 and only because we thought defense was picked over heavily.
I am the least OL minded person in history but when Martin was by far the best player left not even I could be mad they took him there. ---though I definitely would have preferred a trade down.

So to recap the scheme switch did hurt us along the DL.
As did:
1) Our ascending pro bowler suffering as horrendous injury -Spencer.
2) Our All-Pro DL both aging and costing enormous dollars -Ratliff/Ware.
3) Our young highly drafted player missing his entire 2nd season -Crawford.
4) Our impressive young fatty getting drunk and committing manslaughter.

Anyone who thinks you just shrug off that much loss at one positional group is simply not equipped to deal with reality.

And while I agree 99% of the universe is ready to call this 2014 DL garbage I merely posit it makes sense to see them actually play first.
Because call me crazy but I don't think the Selvie, Davon Coleman, Bishop, Boatright DL is going to represent a thing towards our regular season DL.

My Point Is and let me type this clearly. The Cowboys have not shown (since Bill Parcells) a commitment to building this defensive front seven. Yes they bring in tons of UDFA, but for anyone to say "What more do you want them to do?" is ludicrous.

Walden? Weathington? seriously those are the guys you are pitching. Admittedly Walden had a pretty good career with Green Bay but come on he did nothing while here with the Cowboys.

I want the Cowboys to draft better, bringing in 5 rotational DL's for Ware is laughable... Hey let's bring in 5 mediocre guys to replace a Hall of Famer. Sure.

Yes they drafted Crawford in the third round after Mo so what? Crawford was gone an entire year and he still hasn't proven anything. Not only that but Crawford was drafted to fit the 3-4 defense not the 4-3 defense. Yes, I know he played the 4-3 in college, but that was not why he got drafted by the Cowboys at the time.

We again traded up, again losing draft picks and guess what the dlaw gets hurt before he can play a single down in preseason.

There is no depth because of the over-aggressive drafting style that the Cowboys employ.

I'm not upset that Martin was drafted, I just wondering how this organization continues to think the front seven can function without talent.

Spencer did not even play for the last however many games. When he gets back he will not be in football shape. Hey I know maybe they could have drafted some defensive lineman over the last few years?

Ratliff was always an undersized NT that would wear down during the game, you would think that this team would say maybe instead drafting all these tight-ends we maybe could find a player with a little talent to spell Jay every once in a while. Yes Josh Brent was drafted, but they Cowboys knew there were issues with his character. Why else would you be able to get Josh Brent for a 7th round pick. The Cowboys did nothing to cover themselves and the situation spun out of control.

Whose fault is that Josh Brent or the Cowboys for relying on Josh Brent?

Ware was not durable enough for the scheme change, because there was no depth.

Crawford has not shown that he fits this scheme yet. There are still questions marks about his durability.


I hate to call anyone "garbage", I think this defensive line has some athletic ability, I just don't think they have the talent and the reason this line does not have the talent is because the Cowboys have systematically refused to draft physical defensive lineman and I don't understand why.

 

[Fla Cowpoke]

I think the defense will be ok as long as there are no more key injuries. We need Melton and McClain in the middle of the D line and soon. Just to get Hayden out of there a good bit of the time.

Selvie should be starting over Mincey but that is just my opinion.

I think the three best LB's are McClain, Durant and Carter. Get them on the field. Wilber should be a flex guy between LB and DE. I think our corners for season should be Carr, Claiborne and Patmon. Patmon is better than Webb and younger with more upside over Moore.

 

[jterrell]

My Point Is and let me type this clearly. The Cowboys have not shown (since Bill Parcells) a commitment to building this defensive front seven. Yes they bring in tons of UDFA, but for anyone to say "What more do you want them to do?" is ludicrous.

Let's stop here while/where you are being clear.

The "FRONT 7" argument is bananas.

2007:The first player drafted after BP left was Anthony Spencer.
2008: they drafted only Walden in r6 but he's been a starting 3-4OLB/DE in this league.
The fact he couldn't make it out of camp with Dallas was a testament to our depth at the time.
2009: first pick was a LB(Jason Williams--played in league through last year). also used 2 4th rounders on OLB/DEs.
2010: 2nd pick was Sean Lee, also picked up Lissemore. Added Brent in Supp draft.
2011: 2nd pick was Bruce Carter.
2012: 2nd pick was Crawford, 3rd pick was Wilber
2013 brought only Holloman
2014: used 2nd pick and a 1st rounder on DLaw.

SOOOOOO.. to be CLEAR since BP left Dallas has used it's first or second draft selection on a front 7 player SIX out of the EIGHT years.

As to the moving around, that's almost fair. Except they have traded both up AND down. They hardly have hit on every trade or every pick but the overall haul has not been bad.
The DL arguments have now morphed to whinging about DT which is hilarious because we didn't employ a DT until last year. We used DE and a single NT.
3 years ago with Ratliff backed up by Brent we had arguably the best NT depth chart in football.

 

[Idgit]

first let's once again focus on correcting factual errors.
the cowboys did draft two kickers... one in 2007 and the other in 2009.
Not exactly sure why you think what happened that far back and under different kicking rules is relevant to the current team with different management but alas that happened.

As to DT that is absolutely untrue.

Dallas drafted Sean Lissemore, Josh Brent, Bishop and Crawford(who is a swing guy).
Part of the reason they drafted so few DT was because they were playing a 3-4 and they had an All Pro NT.
They backed that up with Brent.
They also had Jason Hatcher, Marcus Spears and Chris Canty from the 05, 06 drafts.
This is like Sturm's cry that we didn't draft DL while he counts Spencer, Walden and Ware as LBs.

Dallas has as many DL playing in the league out of draftees and UDFA as any team in football over the past decade.
Guys like Bowen, Weathington, Hatcher, Ratliff, Lissemore, Spears all left here and got NFL jobs elsewhere.
The best value of any position has been the value Dallas has gotten out of undrafted DL.

As to the scheme switch I tend to agree and was against it. I didn't think it fit Ware, Spencer, Lee or Carter.
It obviously didn't fit Carr or Mo either.
But the decision was made and the acquisitions have been coming ever since.

They let Ware walk and brought in 5 new rotational DL in one off-season.
It is fairly ridiculous to ask more than that.

The current projected DL to start week 1 was not on the roster last year:
Crawford(IL)
Melton(FA)
McClain
Mincey(FA)

Selvie is the 5th guy right now.
Hayden probably plays some running downs.
DLaw will be in the rotation once healthy.
That's our 7 and all recent additions. The longstanding player is 3rd year pro Crawford....

As to Mo trade: While it does not look like a good trade for us by any means; from a DL standpoint it is a rather disingenuous complaint. They used the pick after Mo on a DL.

As to this year, again that is bollocks.
The guy we had rated highest where we drafted was DLaw. We traded back up and got him.
We had 3 or four other DL targets but they all went before us.
Martin was option 4 and only because we thought defense was picked over heavily.
I am the least OL minded person in history but when Martin was by far the best player left not even I could be mad they took him there. ---though I definitely would have preferred a trade down.

So to recap the scheme switch did hurt us along the DL.
As did:
1) Our ascending pro bowler suffering as horrendous injury -Spencer.
2) Our All-Pro DL both aging and costing enormous dollars -Ratliff/Ware.
3) Our young highly drafted player missing his entire 2nd season -Crawford.
4) Our impressive young fatty getting drunk and committing manslaughter.

Anyone who thinks you just shrug off that much loss at one positional group is simply not equipped to deal with reality.

And while I agree 99% of the universe is ready to call this 2014 DL garbage I merely posit it makes sense to see them actually play first.
Because call me crazy but I don't think the Selvie, Davon Coleman, Bishop, Boatright DL is going to represent a thing towards our regular season DL.

It's almost uncanny how often I agree with how you look at things, jterrell. Like, I'm reading your posts and thinking 'he should make this argument...,' and then you do.

Each of the last two seasons, I sat there watching Sheldon Richardson and Aaron Donald get taken a few spots in front of where I believe we would have drafted them. I haven't been unhappy with what we did as a result, but I'd have much preferred we bolstered the DL, and think the Cowboys were leaning that direction in both drafts had the board broken differently.

There's no question we were caught with our pants down on the DL, overall. Ware's drop off in play and Rat's petulance and Brent's awful decision-making on top of Crawford's achilles and Spencer's mircrofracture. We rolled snake eyes. Now, had we managed the team and the cap a little better previously, we might not have been in that vulnerable position to start with, but that is what it is. It's pretty easy to see what odds we were playing. And there's no denying that we really crapped out last year and it cost us the postseason. It sucks, but it doesn't mean we made a bad bet. I'd take that same chance again, anyway.

 

[xwalker]

first let's once again focus on correcting factual errors.
the cowboys did draft two kickers... one in 2007 and the other in 2009.
Not exactly sure why you think what happened that far back and under different kicking rules is relevant to the current team with different management but alas that happened.

As to DT that is absolutely untrue.

Dallas drafted Sean Lissemore, Josh Brent, Bishop and Crawford(who is a swing guy).
Part of the reason they drafted so few DT was because they were playing a 3-4 and they had an All Pro NT.
They backed that up with Brent.
They also had Jason Hatcher, Marcus Spears and Chris Canty from the 05, 06 drafts.
This is like Sturm's cry that we didn't draft DL while he counts Spencer, Walden and Ware as LBs.

Dallas has as many DL playing in the league out of draftees and UDFA as any team in football over the past decade.
Guys like Bowen, Weathington, Hatcher, Ratliff, Lissemore, Spears all left here and got NFL jobs elsewhere.
The best value of any position has been the value Dallas has gotten out of undrafted DL.

As to the scheme switch I tend to agree and was against it. I didn't think it fit Ware, Spencer, Lee or Carter.
It obviously didn't fit Carr or Mo either.
But the decision was made and the acquisitions have been coming ever since.

They let Ware walk and brought in 5 new rotational DL in one off-season.
It is fairly ridiculous to ask more than that.

The current projected DL to start week 1 was not on the roster last year:
Crawford(IL)
Melton(FA)
McClain
Mincey(FA)

Selvie is the 5th guy right now.
Hayden probably plays some running downs.
DLaw will be in the rotation once healthy.
That's our 7 and all recent additions. The longstanding player is 3rd year pro Crawford....

As to Mo trade: While it does not look like a good trade for us by any means; from a DL standpoint it is a rather disingenuous complaint. They used the pick after Mo on a DL.

As to this year, again that is bollocks.
The guy we had rated highest where we drafted was DLaw. We traded back up and got him.
We had 3 or four other DL targets but they all went before us.
Martin was option 4 and only because we thought defense was picked over heavily.
I am the least OL minded person in history but when Martin was by far the best player left not even I could be mad they took him there. ---though I definitely would have preferred a trade down.

So to recap the scheme switch did hurt us along the DL.
As did:
1) Our ascending pro bowler suffering as horrendous injury -Spencer.
2) Our All-Pro DL both aging and costing enormous dollars -Ratliff/Ware.
3) Our young highly drafted player missing his entire 2nd season -Crawford.
4) Our impressive young fatty getting drunk and committing manslaughter.

Anyone who thinks you just shrug off that much loss at one positional group is simply not equipped to deal with reality.

And while I agree 99% of the universe is ready to call this 2014 DL garbage I merely posit it makes sense to see them actually play first.
Because call me crazy but I don't think the Selvie, Davon Coleman, Bishop, Boatright DL is going to represent a thing towards our regular season DL.

You're crushing it with facts these days. Keep up the good work.

 

[Bluestang]

Wait, what?

Managed the team and cap better?

I could have sworn someone told me that we don't have cap issues because we can just restructure it all into future years.

 

[Frozen700]

What-no replies yet? Must be a "sky is NOT falling post".

Fans here only leach onto panic.

It's more fun to panic, and when the season starts to be the guy who said "I told you so"...."I should be GM"

 

[jterrell]

It's almost uncanny how often I agree with how you look at things, jterrell. Like, I'm reading your posts and thinking 'he should make this argument...,' and then you do.

Each of the last two seasons, I sat there watching Sheldon Richardson and Aaron Donald get taken a few spots in front of where I believe we would have drafted them. I haven't been unhappy with what we did as a result, but I'd have much preferred we bolstered the DL, and think the Cowboys were leaning that direction in both drafts had the board broken differently.

There's no question we were caught with our pants down on the DL, overall. Ware's drop off in play and Rat's petulance and Brent's awful decision-making on top of Crawford's achilles and Spencer's mircrofracture. We rolled snake eyes. Now, had we managed the team and the cap a little better previously, we might not have been in that vulnerable position to start with, but that is what it is. It's pretty easy to see what odds we were playing. And there's no denying that we really crapped out last year and it cost us the postseason. It sucks, but it doesn't mean we made a bad bet. I'd take that same chance again, anyway.

Sheldon Richardson and Aaron Donald were my pet cats each draft.
I loved those guys so much it challenged my manhood....

But we've finished below 8 wins only once since BP left. It's hard to get elite DL that low in a draft.

We've made missteps without doubt as has every NFL team. Seattle's move for Percy Harvin looks absurd.
San Fran is having all sorts of issues with Aldon Smith.
No one is totally immune.

The last 5 first draft picks for Dallas have been:
Zach Martin --walk in starter at least
TFred --walk in plus starter
Mo --walk in starter tho has lost that job
Tyron --arguably most coveted OT in football
Dez --arguably most coveted WR in football.

Sometimes things just are what they are and your team doesn't catch the breaks to win.
When you do get some bad luck every thing else you if magnified.

I think the Cowboys handling of the cap has been poor.
I think the drafting has been slightly above average.
I think the injury woes have been fairly devastating the past couple seasons.
I think the decision to rebuild on the fly and win 5 games after Wade left was horrid.
That team badly needed an infusion of talent and a cap clearing.

 

[Idgit]

Wait, what?

Managed the team and cap better?

I could have sworn someone told me that we don't have cap issues because we can just restructure it all into future years.

Someone probably did. I didn't, though.

Overall, I think the caterwauling about how we manage the cap aggressively tends to be way overblown. We try to toe the line because the way the organization is run, the owner gets a good return on making aggressive moves to keep the brand image high. That leads to more dead money and some big swing-and-a-misses. So be it. But there's no denying that the CBA constrained the cap for a few years, and that we weren't structured to weather that well. There's also no denying that the bogus censure for the Austin contract made that process even harder. It's a testament to how well Jerry plays ball with the league that we took the medicine without much of a fuss.

So, we have an aggressive approach to the cap. We got burned. It stinks. It was our fault for not handling it better or having a sufficient contingency plan in place. It's hurt us the last two/three seasons in doing what we might otherwise want to do with the roster. So it goes. Overall, I still prefer the aggressive approach, I just wish we were capable of being smarter about it.

 

[Bluestang]

As far the Claiborne deal, they really didn't do their pre draft research on him like they usually do. The deal presented itself and whoever agreed to that got caught up in the deal making process rather than really looking at what kind of player they are bringing in.

This is what people have issues with. The organization doesn't have someone playing devils advocate asking the tough questions in the war room and instead just awkwardly sitting there smiling when they are passing on good talent.

 

[Idgit]

As far the Claiborne deal, they really didn't do their pre draft research on him like they usually do. The deal presented itself and whoever agreed to that got caught up in the deal making process rather than really looking at what kind of player they are bringing in.

This is what people have issues with. The organization doesn't have someone playing devils advocate asking the tough questions in the war room and instead just awkwardly sitting there smiling when they are passing on good talent.

What makes you say that? I don't doubt there were surprised to find the deal there for them at a relatively good value, but haven't seen anything to indicate that they hadn't scouted the guy sufficiently. Sometimes you just miss on a guy. Sometimes, he's hurt (but we know now they knew about that in advance), has a CBA shortened offseason, you change schemes the next offseason, and he ends up taking more time to develop than anybody planned. That doesn't indicate that somebody didn't do their homework, or that somebody got cute in the draft room.

 

[jterrell]

What makes you say that? I don't doubt there were surprised to find the deal there for them at a relatively good value, but haven't seen anything to indicate that they hadn't scouted the guy sufficiently. Sometimes you just miss on a guy. Sometimes, he's hurt (but we know now they knew about that in advance), has a CBA shortened offseason, you change schemes the next offseason, and he ends up taking more time to develop than anybody planned. That doesn't indicate that somebody didn't do their homework, or that somebody got cute in the draft room.

Now you are reading my mind.

This makes almost no sense to me.
Les Miles actually worked for the Cowboys and is still close with Jerry. --he tried to pay him to go to Arkansas.

Mo has been underwhelming but he is hardly done and there really hasn't been any great unknown facts come to light.
He's been injured which everyone knew he was coming into the league.
He's needed to add 10-15 pounds of muscle which was acknowledged day 1.
He's a man press corner who plays the ball which is why he was drafted....
We already know he was scouted because we have the infamous best cover guy since Deion quotes....
Not sure why there is such shock that he isn't a great tackler at 180 pounds or that he struggled with a scheme switch to playing off where the hips and quickness to turn and run are negated.

I think the kid is on target. Get bigger, stronger and smarter. He isn't Revis but he could be a poor man's version one day.
He probably won't ever be Ronde Barber because that is a very different body type.

 

[Bluestang]

http://m.espn.go.com/general/blogs/...lascowboys&id=4692165&city=dallas&src=desktop

The Cowboys hadn't spent much time with Claiborne during predraft workouts because, as executive vice president Stephen Jones said Thursday night, they "didn't think it was realistic" the team would be able to draft him from the No. 14 position.

Only assistant secondary coach Joe Baker and a few scouts had spoken to Claiborne. Baker talked to Claiborne at the scouting combine in Indianapolis.

It was widely publicized after the draft that the Cowboys didn't put much scouting into him. They took their second highest rated player on the board that is true, but only e few scouts and the asst secondary coach - not Jerome Henderson talked to him at the Combine.

 

[Idgit]

http://m.espn.go.com/general/blogs/...lascowboys&id=4692165&city=dallas&src=desktop



It was widely publicized after the draft that the Cowboys didn't put much scouting into him. They took their second highest rated player on the board that is true, but only e few scouts and the asst secondary coach - not Jerome Henderson talked to him at the Combine.

There's a gulf between 'not spending much time with him' and 'not scouting him.' Given where he was projected to be drafted, it'd have been surprising if they'd spent a lot of time with him personally. That doesn't mean you don't move up for a guy you thought was unlikely to be there when you have a trade at good value on the board.