We're still feeling pain from that Claiborne pick

[Zman5]

Carter was bizarre. He played so well his 2nd year in the 3-4 and then just completely fell apart and could never make another team and contribute.

Claiborne was a case of a bad fit when we changed the scheme.

Crawford showed flashes but unless that ankle is really bothering him he just doesn't look to have it anymore.

JJ was clearly a Kiffin/Marinelli pick and he doesn't have the instincts to play the position.

I think Byron is very good. Gregory was a chance we took and amazingly he went hyper-Josh Gordon on us.

I think we've never found that 3-tech. We have basically so-so 3-tech players that can play 1-tech in Rod's system. The Rob Ryan era is still coming back to haunt us, but Rod and company has made their fair share of mistakes with personnel as well. And we are so averse to blitzing and throwing in some wrinkles that we can't make up for our lack of an upper tier 3-tech to go with Lawrence. And we still struggle two quality safeties and a quality cover MIKE.





YR

Yep. There was no clear plan to build the defense. It was like let's try this and draft players and sign(B. Carr) for one system then pull the plug immediate and go with something totally different hoping it will work magically somehow. It wasted time and resources and our defense still sucks. If you spend that much resources, you at least expect some of them will be good enough to keep around.

 

[xwalker]

This is why I laugh when people say JG has done a great job in rebuilding the team. JG has failed miserably when it comes to rebuilding the defense. Here are the high picks used on the defense in JG's era.

Bruce Carter 2nd round no longer with the team
Mo Claiborne 1st and 2nd no longer with the team
Tyron Crawford 3rd round shows flashes
Tank Lawrence 2nd round balling in his last year
JJ Wilcox 3rd round no longer with the team
Byron Jones 1st round TBD
Randy Gregory 2nd round most likely done
Jaylon Smith 2nd round TBD

No pro bowls and 1/2 are no longer with the team

Claiborne, Gregory and Jaylon were all Jerry over-rides of the process.

Carter was Garrett's first year.

Lawrence is good when healthy.

Crawford was a good pick he just hasn't lived up to the contract.

Jones is better than fans think.

Wilcox was not a complete fail for a 3rd round pick.

Hitchen and Wilson in the 4th have been worth it.

Collins has exceeded expectations.

We'll see in a year or two now that they've drafted a significant number of defensive players recently.

 

[Verdict]

We have invested enough capital on the defense that we should see improvement. The DBs are going to be good enough. I'm not worried about that.

We are OK on the DL with Collins, Lawrence and maybe Irving in a rotation. It's not great but serviceable.


We are far to thin at LB. if Jaylon gets back to form we are probably a push at LB because Lee is getting long in the tooth. The biggest thing this team could do for the defense is add another play making linebacker or an impact DL to add to the mix. Any position at LB or DL would be ok as long as he is an impact player.

 

[bark]

Well it's water under the bridge now but I'm with zordon.
Worst gaffe of the Garrett era and one of the worst in cowboys history

 

[big dog cowboy]

Bruce Carter 2nd round no longer with the team
Mo Claiborne 1st and 2nd no longer with the team
Tyron Crawford 3rd round shows flashes
Tank Lawrence 2nd round balling in his last year
JJ Wilcox 3rd round no longer with the team
Byron Jones 1st round TBD
Randy Gregory 2nd round most likely done
Jaylon Smith 2nd round TBD

No pro bowls and 1/2 are no longer with the team

Proof the draft is a crap shoot and no sure thing.

 

[Cowboysfan917]

Honestly, we are feeling the pain of most of the drafts between 2007 and 2011. There were some bright spots like Tyron but for the most part, the front office really crapped the bed. 2 first round picks in 2007 could've, would've should've helped the team to a championship at some point with Romo, Witten and Ware as centerpieces. Throw in the Roy Williams trade that we gave up a 1st for and it really starts to sting...

Some of the decisions the front office has made are insane in hindsight...and trading up for a corner is one of the many dumb mistakes that have kept this franchise from sniffing a title

 

[Hoofbite]

Claiborne, Bruce Carter, Escobar, Randy Gregory. Whole lot of nothing for a lot of quality picks.

 

[Hoofbite]

Proof the draft is a crap shoot and no sure thing.

Which is why taking injury and character gambles early in the draft is a bad route to go.

 

[waving monkey]

Felt it hard today with the way Brockers played. He was in Dak's grill all day creating pressure and deflecting balls. He would have been our 1st rd pick if we didn't trade up for Claiborne.

As for that 2nd rd pick we gave up to move up......consider our incredibly thin linebacker unit. Have you looked at some of the linebackers that were selected in the 2nd round of that '12 draft? Bobby Wagner (supposedly would have been our pick), Mychal Kendricks, Zach Brown, Lavonte David. Sickening how one mistake can still sting so much years later.

I liked the Claiborne pick

 

[StylisticS]

I am still trying to forget about Claiborne. Worse, the club stuck with him for years when it was obvious he couldn't stay healthy.

Never liked the pick. Always felt it was a reactionary pick from losing out on Patrick Peterson the year before.

 

[haleyrules]

Never liked the pick. Always felt it was a reactionary pick from losing out on Patrick Peterson the year before.

Maybe so. I never liked it either especially when there were so many outstanding players taken after Claiborne.

 

[visionary]

That pick definitely screwed us. When you make that move to draft Claiborne, you expect him to be a franchise CB and definitely still be on the team at this point as one of the faces of the defense. Considering how the team has ignored drafting premium DL talent during that span until recent years, it shows now.

But hey, we have a ton of 1st round DBs and the best OL in football!!

Before Jerry and Garrett homies jump in with their usual rubbish, many of us were against this pick the day of the draft so this is not hindsight

Drafting 101: you NEVER trade up into the top 10 for anybody except a franchise QB or a generational DE

The best part is that the Cowboys never met with him

Never met with him yet traded up in the top 10 to pick him

This FO is so inept it's not funny

 

[cej757]

Felt it hard today with the way Brockers played. He was in Dak's grill all day creating pressure and deflecting balls. He would have been our 1st rd pick if we didn't trade up for Claiborne.

As for that 2nd rd pick we gave up to move up......consider our incredibly thin linebacker unit. Have you looked at some of the linebackers that were selected in the 2nd round of that '12 draft? Bobby Wagner (supposedly would have been our pick), Mychal Kendricks, Zach Brown, Lavonte David. Sickening how one mistake can still sting so much years later.

I remember shaking my head when I saw the Cowboys were on the clock at that pick. I really didn't think we were going after Claiborne. I thought Fletcher Cox was the target but Jerry thought Claiborne was the best defensive player in the draft.

 

[Yakuza Rich]

Yep. There was no clear plan to build the defense. It was like let's try this and draft players and sign(B. Carr) for one system then pull the plug immediate and go with something totally different hoping it will work magically somehow. It wasted time and resources and our defense still sucks. If you spend that much resources, you at least expect some of them will be good enough to keep around.

I think there was a plan, they just realized soon after that Rob Ryan wasn't the guy and they scrapped the plans.

But, this is part of the issue with paying big $$$ for FA and trading up and giving away picks to get a higher pick. If you choose to go in a different direction then it puts you behind the 8-ball because you're stuck with those guys you spent a lot of money on and they may not fit your new scheme.

We probably would have been better off finding a new D-Coordinator that uses a 3-4 scheme...although I think the bigger issue was more about the coverages...going from press man to playing more off and playing more zone.





YR

 

[MRV52]

Tyrone Crawford shows flashes ?

Replay the Arizona game and watch Crawford. He had a great game.

 

[MRV52]

People wake up we all knew that we were going to have growing pains at beginning of the season. Talk to me in the stretch of the season. We are going to be very dangerous. I am more excited about this season than last season because I think we have a team that can go further once they start gelling. The defense will be better than last year if we can stay healthy. I have been watching for 47 years something about this team is sending me good vibes I haven't had in a long time.

 

[MarionBarberThe4th]

And we could have that qb Brady with 5 SB rings. I mean we 6 chances to pull the trigger but we never did. What we're we thinking. Obviously we weren't.

Why do people get salty when fans like to discuss roster building ? What are we allowed to do? Only say " yay "after a win?

 

[Section446]

Worst pick in Cowboys history (when you consider what we gave up for him).

 

[BrAinPaiNt]

Will McClay. ~head bowed~

Your hate for McClay...or your Hate for those who like McClay...is lame. Almost as lame as the Wentz shtick.

 

[SDCowboy]

Felt it hard today with the way Brockers played. He was in Dak's grill all day creating pressure and deflecting balls. He would have been our 1st rd pick if we didn't trade up for Claiborne.

As for that 2nd rd pick we gave up to move up......consider our incredibly thin linebacker unit. Have you looked at some of the linebackers that were selected in the 2nd round of that '12 draft? Bobby Wagner (supposedly would have been our pick), Mychal Kendricks, Zach Brown, Lavonte David. Sickening how one mistake can still sting so much years later.

I could not agree more with you, Zordon.