This was a Jerry, not McClay, draft

[Wizarus]

I wouldn't mind 5 years Prime RB if we were prime everywhere else. When your QB has 3 years at best left in the league, and then we're back to post-Aikman, you're getting dimishing returns from that pick.

 

[BHendri5]

Jerry is not pulling the strings in these drafts now days. He is just running his mouth as usual. Dak is better than Lynch and cook, he will have a better career than both guys

 

[logan]

We had the 4th pick in the first two rounds, and I do not feel like we maximized the value at those picks. I attribute this to Jerry's influence, which seemed to be more prevalent this year than in the last few drafts.

1. In the first round, there was a trade back to be had with Baltimore. We didn't because Jerry did not want to risk losing EE. Even though Baltimore was not taking him. That extra pick from Baltimore could have been key in landing Lynch or Cook, whom we wanted over Dak. Jerry did not maximize the value of the 4th pick. Many will say that the only way to guarantee EE was to pick him at 4 (Baltimore could have been lying all along). That's fine. But it's also fixating on one player to the exclusion of value. But Jerry (and coaches) had to have EE. I like the player, I just don't like the process of getting him.

2. In the late first round, Jerry offered our 2nd and 3rd round picks to Seattle to trade for Lynch. Seattle traded to Denver instead. Jerry couldn't sleep because he thought he should have given more to guarantee he got him. Which affected how he looked at the next pick...

3. The second round was a panic pick. We know this because the original plan was to take Ogbah or Dodd and then trade back up into the 2nd round to take Jaylon Smith. Which means we originally valued Smith at the middle or bottom of the round. When Ogbah and Dodd were taken, we apparently had a deal with Chicago to trade back. But Jerry admitted he did pull the trigger because, again, he feared losing Smith. This was an impulse pick because of where we originally valued Smith and because Jerry couldn't sleep the night before after not giving up a little more to get Lynch. So, instead of sticking to the original valuation, he panicked and took Smith at 34. I'm not debating whether picking a "redshirt" player in the final years of "Romo's window" was the right or wrong move. I'm just saying we did not stick to our original valuation... because of Jerry.

Overall, I do not mind the picks (especially those we took in the later rounds), but this is not the draft I expected with the 4th overall pick. I am not whining, I just thought we'd be in a different place today after sitting out most of free agency.

We really lost a lot of leverage when Jack and Tunsil started plummeting down draft boards and Bosa went 3rd.

Lets say we had traded with Baltimore and they take Ramsey, Jacksonville decides Jack is too risky at 5, so they trade down with Chicago or Miami who take Zeke. Now we're on the clock with no Bosa, no Ramsey and no Zeke.

Can't take Jack because of his knee, can't auction off Tunsil to the Titans because of his weed video, Buckner doesn't fit the scheme, so we're stuck reaching for a second tier prospect like Rankins or Hargreaves at 6th overall.

The risk of a backfire was simply too high for a measly 4th round pick, which it seems is all Baltimore offered.

 

[JoeKing]

Jerry and Stephen gave the 3rd draft day to Will McClay in exchange for the 1st and 2nd day of drafting.

 

[cowboyuptx]

Lots of risk in this draft... Not trading back in the first-round for Elliott, or even drafting Elliott over defense period... Drafting Jaylon Smith, who even if he turns into a beast for us in 2017, will likely do nothing to help us this season, which again is risky with the lack of quality depth throughout the defensive side of the ball... I don't mind taking a flier on a guy like Gathers late in round 6, but still, using a 6th round pick on a guy who hasn't played football since middle-school, that would also qualify as risky...

 

[BHendri5]

Jerry and Stephen gave the 3rd draft day to Will McClay in exchange for the 1st and 2nd day of drafting.

Jerry is not giving anything away!!!! Stephen runs the player personnel, he is the CEO/CFO or whatever they call him. Jerry handles all the team promotional type stuff, he has said that on many occasions. Yes he is the speaker and he loves talking to the press and he loves for people to still think that he is running everything, he is not at least in the way most still think he is.

 

[Clarkson]

the armchair GMs here are amazing.

crazy y'all don't have jobs in the league!

"I know stuff that the cowboys FO doesn't!" - very smart people here, probably

 

[BigStar]

I'd love to know who everyone would've wanted. It would've been great to get a pass rusher but there was none there. This was a terrible year to be bad and need a pass rusher.

This outcry can't be over Ramsey. I would've taken him AS WELL. But understand that move was far riskier and it would've done nothing to take advantage of Romo's prime years he has left.

Don't tell that to Bosa fans.

 

[BigStar]

I wouldn't mind 5 years Prime RB if we were prime everywhere else. When your QB has 3 years at best left in the league, and then we're back to post-Aikman, you're getting dimishing returns from that pick.

Wentz went 2 spots ahead of us and we never inquired about trading up; allowing PHI to come into the picture. I would have made the deal after the Senior Bowl. That tells ya where this FO is...All in on Romo until he breaks down completely. Similar to Troy as you referenced. Would have been nice to learn under Romo for a year or two (assuming with GREAT hope that Romo has 2 years left). You don't pick @ 4 until your QB goes down or your team is garbage. Our old and injury prone blue chip QB caused us to go 4-12 and landed us the 4th spot. "5 year plan for this man".

Maybe we can land a talent later in 1st round of next season or Prescott develops, etc.. We could have had a top QB prospect, but went a different direction. Support Elliott now and hope Romo gets some of that Tom Brady/Brett Farve like injections to make it work. I wasn't surprised of that perspective bc of JJ (did same thing w/Aikman), so it's now easier to support the incoming picks to the team.

 

[speedkilz88]

His coach did too. Garrett, on Monday, closed his office door and spent seven hours looking at every snap of Ramsey at Florida State in 2015, and every snap of Elliott at Ohio State in 2016. He liked Ramsey. He loved Elliott. Garrett told the Joneses he favored Elliott. So the group was solid as the clock ran down here for pick number four of the first round of the 2016 draft.

Stephen Jones, one observer noted, picked up the phone and called Baltimore GM Ozzie Newsome. “Hey Oz,” Stephen Jones said. “We probably will pick here, but …” Newsome told Jones to move up from 6 to 4 in the first round he’d give Baltimore’s fourth-rounder, 104 overall. “We need a three to do it,” Stephen Jones told him. “If you change your mind, call me.”

“Two minutes,” someone called out.
Jones asked offensive coordinator Scott Linehan what he thought. “Zeke’s an impact player,” Linehan said.
Quiet in the room, observers said. No one spoke. The Ravens didn’t call. The Joneses wished they would, but now … “One minute.”
It was obvious Baltimore wasn’t bluffing. Eight minutes had passed from the time Stephen Jones told Newsome to call if he changed his mind. It was clear he hadn’t. And Jerry Jones didn’t want to risk losing the player who’d been the team’s preferred target for months.

Jerry Jones, one observer said, said to Garrett right about here: “The question is, can we really afford to lose two good players—good players—and take a guy as a hedge for the future? I think I’d rather give this two and three and have Lynch … or have [Mississippi State quarterback] Dak [Prescott] in the fourth.”
Given his druthers, Garrett was okay settling for Connor Cook or Prescott down the road in the draft, maybe in Round 4 if they lasted that long. With needs on defense, Garrett preferred to take two defensive players in rounds two and three from among this pool: Oklahoma State pass-rusher Emmanuel Ogbah, Notre Dame linebacker Jaylon Smith and Nebraska defensive tackle Maliek Collins. But he also saw the fascination with Lynch, and if Lynch was the guy, Garrett would truly be happy to take him on as a project.

Dallas considered trading down to Indianapolis at 48, but didn’t like the risk. The Cowboys heard—reliably, they thought—that New England was aiming to pick Smith near the end of this round. Remember the Jones/risk story. Trading down 14 slots, already having lost Ogbah? Too much risk, not enough reward.Jerry Jones told his man in Chicago to turn the card in.

http://mmqb.si.com/mmqb/2016/05/01/nfl-draft-dallas-cowboys-war-room-jerry-jones-peter-king

 

[jjktkk]

And it may have been a deciding factor among whispers all was not as it seemed that put Dallas off. I wrote before that EE was a superior player. You can't be unhappy with that pick even if one would have gone another way.

You're right, because Ramsey could be great. But picking at 4, I was apprehensive about a guy that football people weren't sure what his best position is. Most scouts say S, but Dallas wanted him at CB. And like I said previously, the career 3 ints in college was a concern to me. IMO, picking 4th, you should be able have a can't miss prospect.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

Do you care how much shelf life Elliot has if we get ONE Super Bowl? Isn't that what this is about? If we get one ring and only 4 good year from Elliot it would be worth it.

If we don't get a Super Bowl, what happens then?

 

[JoeKing]

Jerry is not giving anything away!!!! Stephen runs the player personnel, he is the CEO/CFO or whatever they call him. Jerry handles all the team promotional type stuff, he has said that on many occasions. Yes he is the speaker and he loves talking to the press and he loves for people to still think that he is running everything, he is not at least in the way most still think he is.

Jerry and Stephen(to a larger extent) are in charge but they don't just run rough shot over the people they have hired for advice on football matters. The Joneses must have internal peace within their organization so they must find a way that everyone gets input into the final product. If you think they just ignore their advisors and just do what they want then you have no clue how this organization operates. I'm telling you they came to an agreement this year that McClay would get the final vote on the last day of the draft if he agreed to not fight them on the first two days of the draft.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

If we don't get a Super Bowl, what happens then?

Well.....who knows. Probably the same thing that would've happened if we drafted Ramsey and we didn't get a Super Bowl. If we don't win a Super Bowl it probably won't be because of Elliot.

 

[BrAinPaiNt]

http://i18.***BLOCKED***/albums/b133/BrAinPaiNt/coolstorybro_zpsrk6umfgc.jpg

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

Well.....who knows. Probably the same thing that would've happened if we drafted Ramsey and we didn't get a Super Bowl. If we don't win a Super Bowl it probably won't be because of Elliot.

I don't really agree with this. I mean, the fail/pass aspects of this are common to both players, that I think we can all agree on. No matter how great a prospect is graded, they can always bust and you can't know that a lot of times. However, with regards to Elliot or Ramsey, I do think that there is a track record that suggests there will be advantages to one position over the other in terms of actual career span etc. I also think that you have to consider the fact that because of how the game is structured financially, in this day and age, the price for a position player, say CB, is going to be higher. If/When, we have to acquire a CB, it will be expensive, even for an average one. The RB position is cheaper and that's an area that a team will normally be able to find some relief. That is not the case for us because Elliot is going to cost more. Those two things are different going forward IMO. There are cap ramifications and potential long term position value ramifications between the two.

 

[DFWJC]

Sounds like Garrett lobbied hard for Zeke too.

I read that he watched every snap of both Ramsey and Zeke...a 7 hour marathon.
He liked Ramsey a lot but absolutely loved Zeke.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

I don't really agree with this. I mean, the fail/pass aspects of this are common to both players, that I think we can all agree on. No matter how great a prospect is graded, they can always bust and you can't know that a lot of times. However, with regards to Elliot or Ramsey, I do think that there is a track record that suggests there will be advantages to one position over the other in terms of actual career span etc. I also think that you have to consider the fact that because of how the game is structured financially, in this day and age, the price for a position player, say CB, is going to be higher. If/When, we have to acquire a CB, it will be expensive, even for an average one. The RB position is cheaper and that's an area that a team will normally be able to find some relief. That is not the case for us because Elliot is going to cost more. Those two things are different going forward IMO. There are cap ramifications and potential long term position value ramifications between the two.

Well if Ramsey hits he will be expensive regardless at some point. Maybe not now but he will be at some point if he proves to be as good as some think he will. People complain we don't follow our board. They followed their board here. They liked Ramsey but loved Elliott. This team couldn't afford to pass up Elliott for another Mo Claiborne. And I now people will say he's a better prospect than Claiborne but the same risks with Claiborne are here as well.

Its also troubling to me that the best cornerbacks in this league for the most part are late round picks.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

Sounds like Garrett lobbied hard for Zeke too.

I read that he watched every snap of both Ramsey and Zeke...a 7 hour marathon.
He like Ramsey a lot but love Zeke.

So I guess the myth of this being solely a Jerry pick can now die down.

 

[Bowdown27]

How didn't you maximize your value when you got one of the best players in the draft and a position of need?

If you like a guy you don't trade down from him. That's moronic. MAYBE they could've got him in a trade down but then you risk someone trading with Baltimore to get Elliot. It wasn't worth whatever late round pick you would've got.

There was no panic move to get Jaylan. There's no secret the ties he has here. His brother Rod is here. The doctor that did his procedure works for the Cowboys. They didn't just up and decide to take him. They had a plan. If Ogbah or Dodd wasn't there they'd take the next player on their board which was Jaylan.

Let's be honest here. We have NO IDEA who ran this draft. We have no idea what say Garrett had in it. We have no idea what say Stephen had in it. We have no idea what impact McClay had on it or even Jerry himself. Its all pure assumption at this point with nothing to back up that stance.

Perfect post