Was Taco Charlton the smartest move the Cowboys made this off-season?

[StarBoyz83]

They had to take a de. Next year they need to take at least 2 more.

 

[QT]

I'm more excited about Switzer. I think getting him in the 4th was a smart move.

 

[xwalker]

Only time will tell, it could just as easy be thier dumbest move. Taco was procectef as a high second. We reached a tad for need.

Taco was BPA. The only player they had rated higher that was available was a RB.

 

[Toruk_Makto]

Yeah, I hate need based drafts, but under these circumstances I can agree with what they did.

The overhaul of the secondary in a DB heavy draft was by far their smartest move at the moment, just hope they work out.

Giving up proven vets for rookies is a risk, so hopefully we picked the right guys.

Every player they took... Certainly in the early rounds either was appropriate or excess value based on consensus heading into the draft.

 

[Sarge]

Remind me again of who the Patriots defensive "war daddy" has been this whole time during their SB runs? This is not about having one guy with skill that you over pay for. It's about having a team full of guys that play well together, and feed off of eachother, that don't put you in cap hell EVERY year.

The Pats go out a rent a guy for their system every couple years and then kick him to the curb before the cost gets too high. And they still have the cap to do pretty much whatever they need to. The Boyz are FINALLY learning this and if they stick with it they'll have a damn good team for many years to come. It's just too bad Jerry wasted the past 20+ years and Romo's career before figuring it out.....

Or maybe having the best coach and quarterback in the history of the game helps to not have (or need) a war daddy.

 

[Bullflop]

http://cowboyswire.usatoday.com/201...ox-chidobe-awuzie-jourdan-lewis-xavier-woods/

The cap-crunched Dallas Cowboys didn’t have the financial flexibility to do much during free agency. Their little wiggle room against the cap led to the departures of several key defenders, including defensive backs Brandon Carr, Morris Claiborne, Barry Church and J.J. Wilcox.

That stung, but the Cowboys’ draft priority still lay up front with their 13th-ranked pass rush. Which is why defensive end Taco Charlton’s name was called with the 28th overall pick.

Charlton is fresh off a season with 10 sacks and 13.5 tackles for a loss during his final year with the Michigan Wolverines. That production was fueled by his quick burst off the line of scrimmage and daunting length at 6’6″ and 277 pounds allowing him to turn the corner.”

Drafting Charlton was definitely a safe move by the Cowboys, but perhaps not their smartest.

I'm sure we're about to find out how smart that move was or wasn't, given time for him to develop. It's been reported by many that his upside is generally considered one of the highest of all the pass rushers that were drafted this year. Of course, there are always going to be detractors that will swear to just the opposite. I think we answered a desperate need quite well.

Like most of us, I'm extremely anxious to see exactly what we'll have in Charlton, although his development is bound to be an ongoing process for at least a year and very possibly more. My fervent hope is that we'll all be very patient, knowing that first year DEs are extemely seldom destined to become instant hits. I don't realistically expect more than five or six sacks out of most rookie DEs in year one.

 

[Risen Star]

Russell Maryland was a quality player.

People want to claim not resigning the secondary players was the smartest move but that seems more out of necessity. Thanks to the fine work of Stephen Jones this team never has any cap space. You don't get any atta boys when you simply can't afford to make that mistake.

Dumbest move by far was allowing Leary to walk. That's one player where you do create the room to tag for a year. If you think you can compete for a title then why not make that move and strengthen what is already the team strength? Smith Leary Frederick Martin Collins with a 2nd year Zeke? That's going all out to win. Instead we're left to hope schlubs like Cooper, Green or Bell can be mediocre. Makes no sense.

 

[Hardline]

I would have taken either Reuben Foster or Ryan Ramczyk in the first

or even Tyus Bowser with a trade back

then Tarell Basham

This^^^^^
Passed up two elite players for a 2nd tier pass rusher.
Which means they reached for need .

 

[Hardline]

I think passing on Foster was an endorsement of faith in Jaylon. A healthy Jaylon > Foster.

You don't pass up an elite player because you have another potential one. There's room for both players.

 

[Deep_Freeze]

Every player they took... Certainly in the early rounds either was appropriate or excess value based on consensus heading into the draft.

Consensus is always relative, but I don't have a problem with anyone we picked as far as where we picked them.

Football is changing, alot of the guys we have, we don't know what position they will play. In rotation it will help, but right now before even TC, we don't know what will happen.

 

[Texas_Pete]

I believe Taco played a good hunk of his last season at Michigan with a high ankle sprain...and really started coming on near the end of the season.

This is true. He would have had better numbers without that high ankle sprain. I'm impressed that he played through it. It shows me he has heart.

 

[Deep_Freeze]

Russell Maryland was a quality player.

People want to claim not resigning the secondary players was the smartest move but that seems more out of necessity. Thanks to the fine work of Stephen Jones this team never has any cap space. You don't get any atta boys when you simply can't afford to make that mistake.

Dumbest move by far was allowing Leary to walk. That's one player where you do create the room to tag for a year. If you think you can compete for a title then why not make that move and strengthen what is already the team strength? Smith Leary Frederick Martin Collins with a 2nd year Zeke? That's going all out to win. Instead we're left to hope schlubs like Cooper, Green or Bell can be mediocre. Makes no sense.

Dose of reality there, just can't spend on everyone. We will lose some good players, and with the tradeable comp picks next year, it will happen alot more.

As it should. They went cheap this year, so be it. Expect a guard high next year if they don't succeed this year with what they have.

 

[visionary]

Remind me again of who the Patriots defensive "war daddy" has been this whole time during their SB runs? This is not about having one guy with skill that you over pay for. It's about having a team full of guys that play well together, and feed off of eachother, that don't put you in cap hell EVERY year.

The Pats go out a rent a guy for their system every couple years and then kick him to the curb before the cost gets too high. And they still have the cap to do pretty much whatever they need to. The Boyz are FINALLY learning this and if they stick with it they'll have a damn good team for many years to come. It's just too bad Jerry wasted the past 20+ years and Romo's career before figuring it out.....

But then you have to be able to coach those players

 

[Techsass]

This^^^^^
Passed up two elite players for a 2nd tier pass rusher.
Which means they reached for need .

I get your point & have read many posts railing against drafting for need. I don't know if I'm completely on board with that. Somebody earlier said the only guy they had rated higher than Taco was a RB. If that's true I'd pass on him & fill a need. Likewise a good LB is always a plus, but we will probably be a better team with a good DE than if we picked a LB.

 

[Hardline]

I get your point & have read many posts railing against drafting for need. I don't know if I'm completely on board with that. Somebody earlier said the only guy they had rated higher than Taco was a RB. If that's true I'd pass on him & fill a need. Likewise a good LB is always a plus, but we will probably be a better team with a good DE than if we picked a LB.

Getting a great linebacker would've benefited this defense as much as a DE would.

 

[Techsass]

Not sure. We run the 2 LB scheme a lot. Maybe Jaylon isn't up to it yet. If he is do you really want to sit your #1 pick that much?

I'll just add that I think we're in a multi year rebuild on defense.

 

[Texas_Pete]

You don't pass up an elite player because you have another potential one. There's room for both players.

Have you ever considered why he dropped so far in the draft? Character issues is what I read about. We don't need any more headache players. You can't make any tackles while on suspension.

 

[big dog cowboy]

We should have traded up to get the pass rusher we really wanted.

The only one worth trading up for was Garrett and there was no way the Cowboys would give up what it took to get the first overall pick all the way from 28.

 

[Trouty]

The only one worth trading up for was Garrett and there was no way the Cowboys would give up what it took to get the first overall pick all the way from 28.

 

[Toruk_Makto]

Taco was BPA. The only player they had rated higher that was available was a RB.

That's not exactly true. We just know they only had one other player with a 1st round grades. Of their 2nd rounders we don't know where Taco slotted in or even if he was in the next tier.

What we rightfully understood was what was the available talent left in the draft. There were much more secondary players than lineman so we took the lineman. This is smart.