CFZ This sounds familiar

[Bobhaze]

Remember the 2018 off-season? Our front office decided we didn’t need expensive WRs. We can “develop our own”, and even find some cheap decent receivers in free agency. After releasing Dez Bryant, the Cowboys signed FA Allen Hurns, kept slot receiver Cole Beasley, still had a very diminished Terrance Williams. We drafted Michael Gallup in round three but he was almost a year away from finding himself. It didn’t go well.

Fast forward to mid-season 2018. The Cowboys were struggling offensively with essentially no WR to seriously threaten the defense. With no big receiving threat, DCs stacked the box and made the Cowboys offense crawl into the late October bye with a 3-4 record. So much for not needing any marquee receivers.

So Jerry picked up the phone and acquired talented young receiver Amari Cooper from the Raiders in exchange for the Cowboys 2019 first round pick. (a WR trade? Now that sounds very familiar!) The good news was Cooper was an immediate help and the Cowboys went 7-2 the rest of the season. We made the playoffs and beat the Seahawks in a wild card game that January. Only to get rolled by the rams in the divisional round.

Fast forward to the 2024 off-season. Tony Pollard is gone. The Cowboys chose not to draft a RB. We are in the midst of retooling our OL and made a big effort to address that in the draft with Tyler Guyton and Cooper Bebee. But we have chosen to re-sign the ancient, declined Zeke Elliottt while pretending that Rico Dowdle and Chihuahua sized Deuce Vaughn will be plenty good to build a good running game around. Jerry says Zeke still has “RB1 qualities”. Wow.

So…this 2024 off-season is starting to sound eerily familiar. Is a trade for a RB in the future? Before midseason? Or will we find a decent one in late summer cuts? Just in time for the regular season when the real games that matter begin. SMH. This sounds too familiar.

 

[Rockport]

Remember the 2018 off-season? Our front office decided we didn’t need expensive WRs. We can “develop our own”, and even find some cheap decent receivers in free agency. After releasing Dez Bryant, the Cowboys signed FA Allen Hurns, kept slot receiver Cole Beasley, still had a very diminished Terrance Williams. We drafted Michael Gallup in round three but he was almost a year away from finding himself. It didn’t go well.

Fast forward to mid-season 2018. The Cowboys were struggling offensively with essentially no WR to seriously threaten the defense. With no big receiving threat, DCs stacked the box and made the Cowboys offense crawl into the late October bye with a 3-4 record. So much for not needing any marquee receivers.

So Jerry picked up the phone and acquired talented young receiver Amari Cooper from the Raiders in exchange for the Cowboys 2019 first round pick. (a WR trade? Now that sounds very familiar!) The good news was Cooper was an immediate help and the Cowboys went 7-2 the rest of the season. We made the playoffs and beat the Seahawks in a wild card game that January. Only to get rolled by the rams in the divisional round.

Fast forward to the 2024 off-season. Tony Pollard is gone. The Cowboys chose not to draft a RB. We are in the midst of retooling our OL and made a big effort to address that in the draft with Tyler Guyton and Cooper Bebee. But we have chosen to re-sign the ancient, declined Zeke Elliottt while pretending that Rico Dowdle and Chihuahua sized Deuce Vaughn will be plenty good to build a good running game around. Jerry says Zeke still has “RB1 qualities”. Wow.

So…this 2024 off-season is starting to sound eerily familiar. Is a trade for a RB in the future? Before midseason? Or will we find a decent one in late summer cuts? Just in time for the regular season when the real games that matter begin. SMH. This sounds too familiar.

Bob, it’s May 4th.

 

[GoCowboysGo]

…ongoing spin since 2001? 2002?

At one point, JJ/SJ led their franchise to one playoff win over an 18 year period. Not quite what Tex did for the Cowboys, so yeah, very familiar.

They‘re just gonna go into 2024 unprepared…again, I think the team will struggle to reach five wins, which will force a few options to come to fruition.

1. Cut every veteran player possible and all the coaches (save for players on rookie contracts) at the end of the season, high draft pick incoming.

2. Fire MM after miserable 1 - 5 start (or similar), clean house at the end of the season, high draft pick incoming.

3. The team wins 7 - 9 wins, misses the playoffs, JJ/SJ fires the coaching staff, releases high cost vets,

I think 7 - 9 is the ceiling, and the floor is 3 - 5 wins.

Just because a player might be physically recovered from an injury, doesn’t mean he is mentally recovered.

I am doubtful about the offense again, it’s gonna be one dimensional, and the D will struggle to stop the run for the fifth straight season. You have to at least have the threat of a running game!

 

[America's Cowboy]

BH, I hear you. Cowboys need a legit weapon at RB and a legit WR2.

This is going to be a struggling season, especially after having the hardest schedule out of all 32 teams.

 

[Rockport]

…ongoing spin since 2001? 2002?

At one point, JJ/SJ led their franchise to one playoff win over an 18 year period. Not quite what Tex did for the Cowboys, so yeah, very familiar.

They‘re just gonna go into 2024 unprepared…again, I think the team will struggle to reach five wins, which will force a few options to come to fruition.

1. Cut every veteran player possible and all the coaches (save for players on rookie contracts) at the end of the season, high draft pick incoming.

2. Fire MM after miserable 1 - 5 start (or similar), clean house at the end of the season, high draft pick incoming.

3. The team wins 7 - 9 wins, misses the playoffs, JJ/SJ fires the coaching staff, releases high cost vets,

I think 7 - 9 is the ceiling, and the floor is 3 - 5 wins.

Just because a player might be physically recovered from an injury, doesn’t mean he is mentally recovered.

I am doubtful about the offense again, it’s gonna be one dimensional, and the D will struggle to stop the run for the fifth straight season. You have to at least have the threat of a running game!

Climb off the ledge, it’s only May 4th. Jeez the quitters here.

 

[Flamma]

I actually think we're a 10, possibly 11 win team. Our run game didn't threaten anyone last year. We have a tougher schedule, but the home/away is favorable to us. The one bad game is at 49ers.

The Cowboys did nothing in the offseason to get better results. But I'm not going to predict we'll be totally different from last year unless I get a good reason to believe that.

 

[zekecowboy]

Remember the 2018 off-season? Our front office decided we didn’t need expensive WRs. We can “develop our own”, and even find some cheap decent receivers in free agency. After releasing Dez Bryant, the Cowboys signed FA Allen Hurns, kept slot receiver Cole Beasley, still had a very diminished Terrance Williams. We drafted Michael Gallup in round three but he was almost a year away from finding himself. It didn’t go well.

Fast forward to mid-season 2018. The Cowboys were struggling offensively with essentially no WR to seriously threaten the defense. With no big receiving threat, DCs stacked the box and made the Cowboys offense crawl into the late October bye with a 3-4 record. So much for not needing any marquee receivers.

So Jerry picked up the phone and acquired talented young receiver Amari Cooper from the Raiders in exchange for the Cowboys 2019 first round pick. (a WR trade? Now that sounds very familiar!) The good news was Cooper was an immediate help and the Cowboys went 7-2 the rest of the season. We made the playoffs and beat the Seahawks in a wild card game that January. Only to get rolled by the rams in the divisional round.

Fast forward to the 2024 off-season. Tony Pollard is gone. The Cowboys chose not to draft a RB. We are in the midst of retooling our OL and made a big effort to address that in the draft with Tyler Guyton and Cooper Bebee. But we have chosen to re-sign the ancient, declined Zeke Elliottt while pretending that Rico Dowdle and Chihuahua sized Deuce Vaughn will be plenty good to build a good running game around. Jerry says Zeke still has “RB1 qualities”. Wow.

So…this 2024 off-season is starting to sound eerily familiar. Is a trade for a RB in the future? Before midseason? Or will we find a decent one in late summer cuts? Just in time for the regular season when the real games that matter begin. SMH. This sounds too familiar.

Only difference Jerry can't afford to trade a number 1 2025 draft pick to obtain a #1 running back. Got to save that for potential quarterback, wide receiver or offensive line position. Easier just to accept the retooling year and start over with new coaches in 2025. For all we know, Jerry already has someone in mind already. Just playing out the 2024 script.

 

[ATXSRT]

Bob, it’s May 4th.

Time for some tequila. It's been a long off-season.

 

[Hardline]

There will be some good RBs on the waiver wire and other teams practice squads.

 

[GoCowboysGo]

Climb off the ledge, it’s only May 4th. Jeez the quitters here.

Who said anything about quitting? I’ve been a fan since 1971, nothing’s changing anytime soon, but I’ve heard their spin so many times…it’s old because there’s no accountability in their performance.

It’s May 5th.

 

[Rockport]

Who said anything about quitting? I’ve been a fan since 1971, nothing’s changing anytime soon, but I’ve heard their spin so many times…it’s old because there’s no accountability in their performance.

It’s May 5th.

You did in your following sentence.

 

[Rockport]

Who said anything about quitting? I’ve been a fan since 1971, nothing’s changing anytime soon, but I’ve heard their spin so many times…it’s old because there’s no accountability in their performance.

It’s May 5th.

Still May 4th where I live.

 

[GoCowboysGo]

You did in your following sentence.

You make things up in your mind, I said nothing about quitting for anyone, much less myself.

It’s May 5th in Texas. You know, where the Cowboys play their home games?

 

[Rockport]

You make things up in your mind, I said nothing about quitting for anyone, much less myself.

It’s May 5th in Texas. You know, where the Cowboys play their home games?

No, I have no idea where the Cowboys play their home games. I do know it’s 3:08 am in Texas so you must be drunk.

 

[plymkr]

Remember the 2018 off-season? Our front office decided we didn’t need expensive WRs. We can “develop our own”, and even find some cheap decent receivers in free agency. After releasing Dez Bryant, the Cowboys signed FA Allen Hurns, kept slot receiver Cole Beasley, still had a very diminished Terrance Williams. We drafted Michael Gallup in round three but he was almost a year away from finding himself. It didn’t go well.

Fast forward to mid-season 2018. The Cowboys were struggling offensively with essentially no WR to seriously threaten the defense. With no big receiving threat, DCs stacked the box and made the Cowboys offense crawl into the late October bye with a 3-4 record. So much for not needing any marquee receivers.

So Jerry picked up the phone and acquired talented young receiver Amari Cooper from the Raiders in exchange for the Cowboys 2019 first round pick. (a WR trade? Now that sounds very familiar!) The good news was Cooper was an immediate help and the Cowboys went 7-2 the rest of the season. We made the playoffs and beat the Seahawks in a wild card game that January. Only to get rolled by the rams in the divisional round.

Fast forward to the 2024 off-season. Tony Pollard is gone. The Cowboys chose not to draft a RB. We are in the midst of retooling our OL and made a big effort to address that in the draft with Tyler Guyton and Cooper Bebee. But we have chosen to re-sign the ancient, declined Zeke Elliottt while pretending that Rico Dowdle and Chihuahua sized Deuce Vaughn will be plenty good to build a good running game around. Jerry says Zeke still has “RB1 qualities”. Wow.

So…this 2024 off-season is starting to sound eerily familiar. Is a trade for a RB in the future? Before midseason? Or will we find a decent one in late summer cuts? Just in time for the regular season when the real games that matter begin. SMH. This sounds too familiar.

This does remind me a lot of their failure in 2018 of WR by committee. Now it seems like they’re doing RB by committee. I hope a veteran, who’s better than Zeke, becomes available around TC time and we sign him. Or pick up a guy after June 1 cuts. If they don’t then the RB by committee will blow up like the WR by committee in 2018. I just don’t want to part with a 1st rounder like 2018 when we got Cooper.

 

[RodeoJake]

Still May 4th where I live.

Are you behind the times, or living in the past?

 

[CowboyoWales]

I actually think we're a 10, possibly 11 win team. Our run game didn't threaten anyone last year. We have a tougher schedule, but the home/away is favorable to us. The one bad game is at 49ers.

The Cowboys did nothing in the offseason to get better results. But I'm not going to predict we'll be totally different from last year unless I get a good reason to believe that.

Yep, too predictable. RB by committee, behind an improved run blocking O-Line.....lets hope we can get a contribution from a blocking TE

 

[IrishAnto]

No, I have no idea where the Cowboys play their home games. I do know it’s 3:08 am in Texas so you must be drunk.

I think you’ll find 3:08 am on the 5th of May, is er the 5th and not the 4th!

 

[plasticman]

I'll say it again:

Jerry Jones absolutely disrespects the position of RB.

I get it, this is a pass dominated league. Quarterback is king and the running game isn't going to get you enough points in the offensive frenzies of the postseason.

However, if you want a healthy quarterback for the majority of a season you have to at least be able to demonstrate the ability to push forward a few times a game.

In the Cowboys "best case" scenario, they are hoping.........hoping for......two rookie starters along the offensive line. A RB with a "home run" capability would have at least forced a degree of respect for the Cowboys running game. Just a small pop in the right place could create extra yards.

It could have at least created a three tenths of a second pause by opponent defensive lines before their rendezvous at "Point Dak".

But no, one dimensional again. In addition, let's simply assume the complete absence of major injury to a member of this deep squad because that always works out perfectly.

The greatest issue with the lack of organizational leadership and structure is that there is no team identity. There is no plan to even develop one. Who is this team? What are the attributes that form this team's chemistry, it's culture?

One year, it's a fast big play defense. Another year, it's a physical running game composed of the type of linemen and RB's needed. This team hasn't been built to any specific blueprint, it's typically NFL fad du jour. There is no innovation, it's just whatever the cool teams are doing.

When Jimmy Johnson came in, he specifically described the kind of team he would build. He then went out and built exactly that. Jimmy said he wanted a very aggressive defense and a line that constantly got after the QB. He developed the defensive line rotation system. maybe he didn';t invent it but he perfected it, NFL style.

Prior to the 90's, the Cowboys had three down starters almost all the time on the defensive line. Occasionally there was the 3rd down pass rusher but 99% of the D-line snaps went to four players.

Jimmy Johnson wanted a bully O-line. He took away a lot of the complex stuff. He also took away any weight restrictions from Nate Newton and gave him equally girthed friends like Erik Williams and then he yelled "Charge!"

Everyone competed. Everyone. Aikman wasn't the Cowboys only rookie QB. Jimmy didn't just draft Emmitt. He also traded for Flagler. Michael Irvin had to compete against a new 1st or 2nd round draft pick every season in his young career. These were guys like 1st round pick Alvin Harper, 2nd round picks Jimmy Smith and Alex Wright.

These days starters are designated by the size of their contract

Those teams also had strong player leadership from guys like Aikman, Irvin, Smith, Bates, Newton and others. that team was close, they had each other's back. If one player had a bad game, then the others stepped up and made it their turn. The Cowboys of today have very talented players but limited player leadership.

Sitting at the top of today's chaos isn't today's version of Jimmy Johnson, Tex Schram, or Tom Landry. Legitimate credentials are replaced with media overexposure. Confidence in this team's ability is substituted with the hope of some merciful gift by the gods of football at the conclusion of the 2024 season.

 

[Hawkeye0202]

There def similarities but we didn't have the massive cap hit from Dak's contract and the motivational off-season free-agent signing was different. Their conservative approach to the off-season is damn near telling everyone this season is more about 2025. Just me, but the W/L record isn't as cleaning up the books and finding which players are worthy of keeping past 2025.

I think they see 2025 as the start of a new 3-5 year run with maybe a new coach, new QB or Dak 3-4 year extension, clean books and plenty of cap space ( Lamb and Parson signed ).

As for the 2018 comparison ........I don't see them panicking and trading a top pick to fix the running game if the season starts going south.

Bottom line.....we are coming out of this season with a bad record, a new QB, and top draft pick OR winning record, and a better Dak Prescott