This Draft Made Things Clear For Me

[NeonDeion21]

As a draft junkie and a football fan, far too often we focus on each player drafted instead of the final product of a team’s draft. The 2013 draft class for the Dallas Cowboys provided clarity for a team that lacked an identity the last few years. What do I mean by clarity? Let’s look at back a year to see what their plan was going into the 2012 offseason.

In 2012, the team decided that a major influx of talent was needed on the defensive side of the ball, particularly in the secondary. In addition to adding cornerback Brandon Carr in free agency, the team traded up in the first round to draft cornerback Morris Claiborne. They also added versatile defensive lineman Tyrone Crawford in the third round, defensive end Kyle Wilbur, safety Matt Johnson and linebacker Caleb McSurdy to round out the draft. The team hopes that Carr, Claiborne, Crawford, and Johnson will be building blocks for their defense in the future.

The Cowboys’ 2013 draft was all about rebuilding the offense and giving Tony Romo help. And you can say what you want about the team finishing 6th in passing offense and how the Cowboys should have retooled their 31st ranked defense instead their offense, but here are the facts:

-The Dallas Cowboys did not score in the first quarter in nine different games in 2012.

- They averaged only two points a game in the first quarter.

- And what is even more discouraging is that in their eight home games, they've led and had the ball for a total of only 36:36 and 18 of those minutes came against Tampa Bay in their first home game.

- This means that the Cowboys only led for about 18 minutes in their final seven home games when they had possession of the ball. Incredible.

Whether or not the slow starts can be attributed to a bad game plan by Jason Garrett or the lack of a running game, the fact of the matter is, the Dallas Cowboys desperately needed to upgrade their offense.


Check out the rest here: http://thelandryhat.com/2013/05/05/the-2013-draft-for-the-dallas-cowboys-had-a-clear-goal/

 

[Nav22]

Our OL was atrocious and we always waited until the 2nd half (when we were down double-digits) to start going no-huddle.

The 1st half was spent stubbornly trying to run Garrett's conventional offense that we didn't have the personnel to execute properly.

Hence the slow starts and fast finishes.

 

[Idgit]

Our OL was atrocious and we always waited until the 2nd half (when we were down double-digits) to start going no-huddle.

The 1st half was spent stubbornly trying to run Garrett's conventional offense that we didn't have the personnel to execute properly.

Hence the slow starts and fast finishes.

Do people actually believe this is what was going on with the slow starts? They do, don't they?

 

[Tabascocat]

Do people actually believe this is what was going on with the slow starts? They do, don't they?

What's your theory on why the offense was bad for the first half of games?

I believe it is a combination of things and Garrett is part of the problem.

 

[Clove]

As a draft junkie and a football fan, far too often we focus on each player drafted instead of the final product of a team’s draft. The 2013 draft class for the Dallas Cowboys provided clarity for a team that lacked an identity the last few years. What do I mean by clarity? Let’s look at back a year to see what their plan was going into the 2012 offseason.

In 2012, the team decided that a major influx of talent was needed on the defensive side of the ball, particularly in the secondary. In addition to adding cornerback Brandon Carr in free agency, the team traded up in the first round to draft cornerback Morris Claiborne. They also added versatile defensive lineman Tyrone Crawford in the third round, defensive end Kyle Wilbur, safety Matt Johnson and linebacker Caleb McSurdy to round out the draft. The team hopes that Carr, Claiborne, Crawford, and Johnson will be building blocks for their defense in the future.

The Cowboys’ 2013 draft was all about rebuilding the offense and giving Tony Romo help. And you can say what you want about the team finishing 6th in passing offense and how the Cowboys should have retooled their 31st ranked defense instead their offense, but here are the facts:

-The Dallas Cowboys did not score in the first quarter in nine different games in 2012.

- They averaged only two points a game in the first quarter.

- And what is even more discouraging is that in their eight home games, they've led and had the ball for a total of only 36:36 and 18 of those minutes came against Tampa Bay in their first home game.

- This means that the Cowboys only led for about 18 minutes in their final seven home games when they had possession of the ball. Incredible.

Whether or not the slow starts can be attributed to a bad game plan by Jason Garrett or the lack of a running game, the fact of the matter is, the Dallas Cowboys desperately needed to upgrade their offense.


Check out the rest here: http://thelandryhat.com/2013/05/05/the-2013-draft-for-the-dallas-cowboys-had-a-clear-goal/

I can't believe I'm saying this, because I'm very negative towards my boys, but that's a pretty good point.

 

[XxTDxX]

Great post. And I completely agree. Although we think of our offense as a strength I think that we have a lot of room to improve and that is what we are aiming to do.. With the talent we have on this roster we should be scoring points early and often and not just when our backs our against the wall.

 

[Idgit]

What's your theory on why the offense was bad for the first half of games?

I believe it is a combination of things and Garrett is part of the problem.

Maybe I shouldn't have raised the criticism, because I don't have a great theory of my own. It wasn't the game planning, though.

We had a lot of problems with the C early in the year, that got us into 2nd and 3rd and longs early. For whatever reason, we also had trouble with the WRs making their route adjustments early in games there for a bit, too. Those things hurt us early, and it wasn't until later in games that we settled down a bit and Tony and Jason were able to get a better handle on what defenses were doing and get the matchups in the passing game that they wanted. We ended up relying a lot on Witten in those situations, which is why he ended the year with career high in terms of completions.

The fact that we had no running game to speak of to get us into 2nd and 3rd and manageable hurt, too. Basically, we got into situations where we had to scheme adjustments to be able to pass effectively.

By mid-year, too, our defense wasn't able to help us out very much, so we ended up in shoot out types of games too often.

I like the no-huddle for us. But it's not like it was a magic tonic that fixed the lack of a game plan last year. I also didn't see many signs of us abandoning the game play other than specific situations like the CHI and first WAS games where we really got ourselves up a creek early. I think that's mostly a fantasy excuse that plays nicely with the Tony-Romo-good,-Jason-Garrett-bad agenda people want to believe for whatever reasons.

All that said, JG does make his share of game day mistakes. And the execution mistakes, which I think are much more important, are on him as the HC/long-time OC. I don't give him a pass. I just don't blame the game plans.

 

[Tabascocat]

Maybe I shouldn't have raised the criticism, because I don't have a great theory of my own. It wasn't the game planning, though.

We had a lot of problems with the C early in the year, that got us into 2nd and 3rd and longs early. For whatever reason, we also had trouble with the WRs making their route adjustments early in games there for a bit, too. Those things hurt us early, and it wasn't until later in games that we settled down a bit and Tony and Jason were able to get a better handle on what defenses were doing and get the matchups in the passing game that they wanted. We ended up relying a lot on Witten in those situations, which is why he ended the year with career high in terms of completions.

The fact that we had no running game to speak of to get us into 2nd and 3rd and manageable hurt, too. Basically, we got into situations where we had to scheme adjustments to be able to pass effectively.

By mid-year, too, our defense wasn't able to help us out very much, so we ended up in shoot out types of games too often.

I like the no-huddle for us. But it's not like it was a magic tonic that fixed the lack of a game plan last year. I also didn't see many signs of us abandoning the game play other than specific situations like the CHI and first WAS games where we really got ourselves up a creek early. I think that's mostly a fantasy excuse that plays nicely with the Tony-Romo-good,-Jason-Garrett-bad agenda people want to believe for whatever reasons.

All that said, JG does make his share of game day mistakes. And the execution mistakes, which I think are much more important, are on him as the HC/long-time OC. I don't give him a pass. I just don't blame the game plans.

Pretty much what I expected and agree with most of it. The no-huddle thing worked in part due to opposing teams playing prevent D and with a lead. Most NFL teams can/will make comebacks facing those same situations.

My problem is...Garrett should have seen/known this before the game started, especially by week 5 or so. He needed to change game-plans to adjust to this teams weaknesses but he rarely did.

Even then if the pre-plan stayed the same, his in-game adjustments need a lot of work. It seems he was always the last to the party, so to speak. All I'm saying is that if something continues to not work week in and week out, change things up and stop being so predictable.

Jason should not have to have JJ tell him his offense wasn't right, should have noticed it on his own and adjusted without outside influence. Maybe he did and tried, IDK.

This is in regards to offense only........but knowing the defense was banged up, I would have tried to step on the gas from the first snap instead of just hanging in there and waiting to strike.

 

[Eskimo]

I do believe the offense has quite a bit of difficulty with consistent blocking. It seemed as though that group was constantly exploited all year long until we could find a way to counter after halftime adjustments. It seemed like we rarely ran effectively outside of the Baltimore game and when we were effective it was usually misdirection and rarely power. We needed to get stronger and more skilled up the gut as Cook and Bernie are not NFL quality starters. So I think bringing in at least one new premium player was needed and TFred should fit the bill and probably has a very low bust risk attached to him due to his strength, durability and intelligence. I would have like a first round interior player to be a better athlete in space but he was the best one available to us and should be a pillar of strength for us in the middle. He is the dominant point of attack blocker we have been missing since Bigg got lazy in the 2008 season. We should now be able to get the run-game going and that is going to have a beneficial effect in the first half and in short yardage and goal-to-go situations.

I do think the defense was a legitimate issue. I guess the question is how much of the problem was talent and how much was scheme. Well Monte will get to show us how much difference scheme makes as he gets virtually no additions to what was a bad defense: bad against the pass, bad in points allowed and bad in takeaways. I do think he whips these guys into better shape and gets more out of them than Ryan could.

I suspect next year's draft may focus more on defense again, probably more along the DL with Spencer and Hatcher facing FA and Rat facing cap casualty status. It would have been nice to take one of those defenders who slipped into the second and third round. I hope they find some diamonds on the roster out of Crawford, Wilber, Albright, Bass and Price. I think we will have to go FA and draft to fill some of the gaps.

 

[big dog cowboy]

I do think the defense was a legitimate issue. I guess the question is how much of the problem was talent and how much was scheme. Well Monte will get to show us how much difference scheme makes as he gets virtually no additions to what was a bad defense: bad against the pass, bad in points allowed and bad in takeaways. I do think he whips these guys into better shape and gets more out of them than Ryan could.

I don't think we had a bad defense, we had bad luck with injuries which exposed our inferior backups that were forced into more playing time than anyone on the staff could have imagined. The truth is we will never know how good (or bad) our defense really was.

 

[morasp]

What's your theory on why the offense was bad for the first half of games?

I believe it is a combination of things and Garrett is part of the problem.

I always thought the offense at the start of the game was scripted to reveal the defensive game plan. Once they had the defenses game plan figured out they countered it in the second half. Seems like they could have done that by the second quarter though.

 

[Fredd]

If the team is healthy this year on both sides of the ball, we are going to have a great shot at the playoffs where anything can happen

In 2012, the defense DID cause a lot of problems in the 2nd half of the season especially - that was based on the enormous injury bug that bit the team - we almost made the playoffs (played in week 17 for a chance) anyway

In 2013, again, with health, this defensive unit should keep the opponent's point totals down in comparison to 2012..thus, the offense will not have to score as much to win games...that being said, I believe that the offense is a little better as long as they can decide to do with the 2-TE set and also figure out who is starting on the OL and let them play together as a unit (they need continuity)

2013 looks to be a playoff run season...and, once you are in, it is usually the hottest team goes the furthest....

 

[CowboyRoy]

Our OL was atrocious and we always waited until the 2nd half (when we were down double-digits) to start going no-huddle.

The 1st half was spent stubbornly trying to run Garrett's conventional offense that we didn't have the personnel to execute properly.

Hence the slow starts and fast finishes.

You nailed it. Garretts bad gameplans got us down by double digits in nearly half the games. He wouldnt throw his poor gameplans out the window and go to no huddle until he had no choice. Then we would start scoring points.

The strength of this team is the passing game, if it has one. So what did they go out and do? They got more weapons in the passing game. LOL

Most good GMs' would draft to improve the weakneses, not continue to improve strengths.

 

[CATCH17]

The reason we sucked early in games last year?

Reasons:

Lack of urgency

Penalties / self inflicted mistakes

No ability to impose our will on teams because of a poor Oline

Romo being more conservative early in games.



We pretty much look like a poorly coached team in most games and we don't get going until Romo starts buying time and playing more of a streetball style of football.

For some reason Rob Ryan got all of the blame for this and the fans bought it lol.

 

[NeonDeion21]

You nailed it. Garretts bad gameplans got us down by double digits in nearly half the games. He wouldnt throw his poor gameplans out the window and go to no huddle until he had no choice. Then we would start scoring points.

The strength of this team is the passing game, if it has one. So what did they go out and do? They got more weapons in the passing game. LOL

Most good GMs' would draft to improve the weakneses, not continue to improve strengths.

I disagree with this. When the Packers won a SB on the back of Aaron Rodgers, they didn't go out and try to improve their defense. They drafted a ton of offense players. Sherrord, Randall Cobb, D.J. Williams, Buluga, Eddie Lacy, Jonathan Franklin, etc.

 

[CATCH17]

I disagree with this. When the Packers won a SB on the back of Aaron Rodgers, they didn't go out and try to improve their defense. They drafted a ton of offense players. Sherrord, Randall Cobb, D.J. Williams, Buluga, Eddie Lacy, Jonathan Franklin, etc.

They try to outscore teams and rush the passer. They put fear in QB's with their pass rush the year they won the Superbowl.

Their defense may not be great but if you get behind against Green Bay than the wheels may fall off quickly.

 

[visionary]

Last I looked, if you get outscored in the NFL, it could the fault of offense or defense

To just look at the offense and then to ignore the real issues around OL, game planning, play calling, and poor running game (largely because of the afore-mentioned) is laughable at best

the critical needs on this team were OL (marginally improved), DL (status quo), and safety (marginally improved....maybe)

we did little to address these issues, in a draft deep at and littered with value picks at all of those positions, and went full bore to drafting a pass catching TE and WR

people keep trotting out the example of GB, GB has a real OC, real HC and possibly the best QB in the NFL and have PROVEN that they know how to utilize those weapons effectively
we have done none of that

just throwing more resources in hopes of solving the problems has little chance of succeeding

 

[CATCH17]

Last I looked, if you get outscored in the NFL, it could the fault of offense or defense

To just look at the offense and then to ignore the real issues around OL, game planning, play calling, and poor running game (largely because of the afore-mentioned) is laughable at best

the critical needs on this team were OL (marginally improved), DL (status quo), and safety (marginally improved....maybe)

we did little to address these issues, in a draft deep at and littered with value picks at all of those positions, and went full bore to drafting a pass catching TE and WR

Yep.

I'd rather have a weakness at 4th corner, 2nd TE, and 3rd/4th receiver than starting Oline and Dline.


I actually like what we did at Safety.

It's a gamble but at least we have legit talent as options.

 

[op124]

I disagree with this. When the Packers won a SB on the back of Aaron Rodgers, they didn't go out and try to improve their defense. They drafted a ton of offense players. Sherrord, Randall Cobb, D.J. Williams, Buluga, Eddie Lacy, Jonathan Franklin, etc.

The draft after the SB, they went BPA but the D wasn't an issue that year and the O had oline problems.

So Nick Perry, Casey Hayward, J. Worthy in 2012 wasn't an attempt to improve the D? I believe their draft was D heavy in 2012 because of what happened in 2011.

They didn't have a running game in 2012 they drafted RBs and O line men to help their running game. They drafted a defensive linemen and dbacks

 

[brymatt94]

You nailed it. Garretts bad gameplans got us down by double digits in nearly half the games. He wouldnt throw his poor gameplans out the window and go to no huddle until he had no choice. Then we would start scoring points.

The strength of this team is the passing game, if it has one. So what did they go out and do? They got more weapons in the passing game. LOL

Most good GMs' would draft to improve the weakneses, not continue to improve strengths.

Well the cowboys also just drafted a lineman who can help the run game, as well as a pretty good running back. Doesn't look like they're not trying to improve on a weakness.