Twitter: We forget, selecting Zeke 4th overall was more about Romo, not Dak

[Rockport]

It was a NOW pick. It made perfect sense at the time, and he wasn't a typical back. I supported it.

However.....in most draft, there are very good backs drafted in the later rounds.

Not in 2016 though. Other than Zeke and Henry, that was a weak running back draft.

I find it very difficult to believe you supported the Zeke pick since you haven’t supported anything the Cowboys do. Maybe you were drunk and had an epiphany.

 

[CowboysFaninHouston]

They didn’t consider Bosa though. It was always Zeke or Ramsey

we will never know. if Bosa was available at 4...would we have? they were pretty high on Bosa, but didn't think he would drop to them.

 

[aikemirv]

Romo couldn't do anything when he WAS healthy and he had opportunities. It is what it is. These "what if" scenarios are pointless.

Just the highest QB rating ever to lose a playoff game.....

 

[G2]

Just the highest QB rating ever to lose a playoff game.....

What a legend!

Listen, I was a huge fan and supportive, but for some reason AFTER he retired he became deserving of a statue to some fans. I don't care about A stat. I care about the opportunities he had to move forward, starting with his first year as a starter.

 

[Howboutdemcowboys31]

we will never know. if Bosa was available at 4...would we have? they were pretty high on Bosa, but didn't think he would drop to them.

Mcclay indicated it on one of the DC shows

 

[buybuydandavis]

Kinda forgot about that until reading this tweet from Helman. Ideally, he was going be a younger, cheaper, more extended version of 2014 DeMarco Murray. Making life easier for Romo.....

I didn't forget. Lots of people considered Zeke a Romo Window pick, myself included.

Zeke was an nfl ready RB from day one. That was a big selling if you're trying to make the most of the Romo Window. Optimistically, Romo might have had 2-3 years left. (Turns out that was very overly optimistic.) Picking Zeke meant we could be confident RB wouldn't hold us back for a year or two for that limited time left.

 

[Diehardblues]

I was surprised that they didn’t give Romo the team back. My guess is that the last injury was worse than we knew. Or it happened so easy that he wouldn’t have made it the rest of the year. Would love to have the trophy but not of Rome ends up in a wheelchair over it.

I’m not sure the decision was based on his injury issues.

My thoughts were Jerry was afraid to go against the Winning Wave with Dak and the enormous public support. Jerry was better off publicly losing with Dak than taking a chance of losing with Romo after benching Dak.

Then once you make that decision Romo was the odd man out. There was no turning back for Jerry. He was moving forward with Dak regardless not even giving Romo an opportunity to compete for his job back the following season as Jerry didn’t want any QB controversy.

As much as Jerry didn’t want to bench Romo or possibly even thought Romo might have provided the better opportunity to win if he could stay healthy he went against it because of the heat he would have taken. It was easier cause Romo hadn’t ever had much success in playoffs so was very little at risk for him other than costing us a better chance of winning.

And why Jerry wearing both the owners and GM hat has created a conflict of interest at times. A real GM would have gone with provided best opportunity to win . But an owner who isn’t held accountable for football decisions can risk the team’s success to remain popular with the fan base. And staying with Dak was the popular decision. One that he won with despite losing.

 

[JayFord]

Of course

Elliott was the Romo insurance policy

Dak was never intended to play let alone be the franchise QB.....I have no doubt they would have lived and died with Moore as the QB in 2016 had not he gotten hurt

 

[America's Cowboy]

Once Romo went down then all bets were off.

Not sure but pretty sure that if Romo was healthy in 2016 that we would have won the SB. This team was stacked in Romo favor. From the line to WR. All players that Romo loves working with and we’re familiar. And had another star RB that would have made his job easy. The swan song drive at the end of that year from him looked so effortless for him to execute. Imagine that kind of play all season. Or in the playoffs.

Romo was finished since the 2015 season. His body had been breaking down every season since 2010. In 2015, Romo's body was finished. 2016 should have been no surprise to those who had paid attention to Romo's body's failing him repeatedly leading up to 2016. His body was finished. When Romo broke his back in Preseason 2016, and Dak lit it up every week since Week 1, everyone should have known by the end of October that Romo's time in Dallas was over. Jerry, Stephen, Garrett and staff had no other choice than to move on past Tony.

 

[HungryLion]

If your QB is old and coming off major injuries, it makes perfect sense to strengthen the running game by adding an elite RB if you can.

Not just “for” Romo to try and win a title. Although that was part of the equation.

But if you have a QB you expect to retire within a few years. Having an elite RB and OL also helps with the QB transition. There is no better friend to helping a young QB develop, than giving them a stud to hand the ball off to and a line to keep them clean.

 

[gimmesix]

Once Romo went down then all bets were off.

Not sure but pretty sure that if Romo was healthy in 2016 that we would have won the SB. This team was stacked in Romo favor. From the line to WR. All players that Romo loves working with and we’re familiar. And had another star RB that would have made his job easy. The swan song drive at the end of that year from him looked so effortless for him to execute. Imagine that kind of play all season. Or in the playoffs.

Not sure even Romo could have overcome Garrett's handcuffs and another defensive meltdown.

 

[gimmesix]

This logic is hilarious. Romo had shown zero up to that point that he could lead a team even close to a Super Bowl but so many just pencil it in as Romo would easily win it.

Tell me, how much better would Romo have played in the Packers playoff game? Dallas got the #1 seed. Romo could not have did better than that (obviously). Dak's playoff game against GB was magnificent, especially for a rookie. He only made one single mistake and brought this team back from 21-3 to tie the game and could have won it had Garrett not played for the tie at the end and spiking the ball. Also, that defense was horrendous. Romo has never shown he can overcome a terrible defense to take a team anywhere.

But yall can have the fairty tale Super Bowl people love to give Romo for 2016....

The only criticism I had of Dak in that game is that he got off to a poor start. I can't say that (a healthy) Romo would have done any better during the early part of the game, but I've got reason to believe that he would. Still, that doesn't mean we would have won the game.

As I've said before, this team cannot outgun other teams with good offenses because Garrett's offensive system keeps the offense from being elite, even with elite players. Either the defense needs to be elite so we don't end up having to outrace a team like the Packers or the system needs to be tweaked. Hopefully, we'll see some of both this season.

 

[beware_d-ware]

I agree that Elliott was an attempt to give Romo a Murray 2.0 before his time ran out, but Zeke certainly didn't hurt Dak's development either. That's the nice thing about drafting talented players...

 

[StarBoyz83]

Too bad they didnt care about getting romo an oline , rb or defense earlier.

 

[ItzKelz]

Once Romo went down then all bets were off.

Not sure but pretty sure that if Romo was healthy in 2016 that we would have won the SB. This team was stacked in Romo favor. From the line to WR. All players that Romo loves working with and we’re familiar. And had another star RB that would have made his job easy. The swan song drive at the end of that year from him looked so effortless for him to execute. Imagine that kind of play all season. Or in the playoffs.

Once Romo went down....again it changed everything. Sure we got lucky with Dak but because we had Romo still on the books we could not fully take advantage of Dak's rookie contract.

Yes we drafted Zeke and most of our OL for Romo. The problem was Romo was not always available.

 

[Diehardblues]

Too bad they didnt care about getting romo an oline , rb or defense earlier.

If we had the offensive talent we have today surrounding Romo in his prime consistently along with a top 10 defense there’s a much greater possibility for success.

I’m really taken aback now that we have fans that truly see this lowly ranked offense and passing attack should be having more team success.

It sure isn’t the rule to be playing for championships without a #1 defense, Elite QB or top 10 offense.

But yet we have fans that think this team is talented enough? Sounds like they are playing off of our ownerships hype to sell.

 

[Diehardblues]

Once Romo went down....again it changed everything. Sure we got lucky with Dak but because we had Romo still on the books we could not fully take advantage of Dak's rookie contract.

Yes we drafted Zeke and most of our OL for Romo. The problem was Romo was not always available.

Unfortunately the best team arguably we had surrounding Romo on offense was in 2014 which we never fielded again. That was the most effective offense in the Romo era.

I’ve even called that offense in 2014 the closet we’ve had to a championship caliber offense. I sure liked our chances if we could have kept it together a few years while continuing to build this defense.

But letting Murray go and Romo’s injury changed our course. And we eventually had to retool our team again. 2014 IMO was the culmination of Garretts first team he helped shape in his image. And only had one shot to go further in playoffs with it. It ended with the catch that wasn’t.

 

[Diehardblues]

Of course

Elliott was the Romo insurance policy

Dak was never intended to play let alone be the franchise QB.....I have no doubt they would have lived and died with Moore as the QB in 2016 had not he gotten hurt

Elliott was more a reaction to letting Murray go.

Initially we were so arrogant of our OL we thought a RB by Committee would be enough.

 

[Sarge]

Romo couldn't do anything when he WAS healthy and he had opportunities. It is what it is. These "what if" scenarios are pointless.

It's amazing how many Super Bowls Romo has won since retiring.

 

[DallasEast]

lol.

The scenario. Romo is reinstated for the playoff run. On one hand, Romo is made of tissue paper like faux anatomy experts say and goes down trotting onto the field. Game over. Wait. No. There is another option. Put Prescott back in.

On the other hand, Romo survives paralysis that pseudo medical veterans know for certain would happen, boosts offensive output a TAD bit more, and helps overcome the defense’s inability to stop the opponent from regularly driving the field.

nah. Who am I kidding? The reality is Romo is always one moment away from becoming a quadraplegic. One day, he will tee off the third hole and that torque force will break his spine in two. It will happen on live tv. On CBS. Jim Nantz will shed a tear.

I am really surprised any what if Romo returned for the playoff comments have resurfaced. Such commentary was deemed outlandish at the time it only mattered. Not surprised the general understanding for physics and human anatomy remains where it has been before.

In the end, a rookie quarterback did not help accomplish (not surprising to some observers of the sport) what the veteran quarterback had never helped accomplish either before his successor’s arrival. It is the one thing both men had in common by the conclusion of the 2016 season.

Thanks Jerry Jones. Thanks Jason Garrett. Go Cowboys.