CFZ What the lack of urgency in this draft tells us

[Cowboys22]

I find it funny. We as a fan base have been screaming for years to the Cowboys to prioritize the DT position. We finally do in the the first round and now it’s shades of the 2009 draft? That’s insane.

I get what you’re saying but for many it’s about how you address it. Going up to get a top 10 type guy or drafting one when you have that high of a pick is what many are talking about. Taking a consensus 2nd round talent in the late 1st doesn’t really cut it for some.

 

[Shane612]

When my takeaway from an entire draft is to hope for a major contribution from a 6th round gadget role player it does kinda scream 2009 part II, no doubt.

If he even makes the team.
Knowing Jerry he'll make sure the kid makes the team out of favor to the kid's father.

 

[Motorola]

It was not an exciting draft, even the QB picks were nothing special and there were no Hollywood WR's. And the Cowboys treated it as such.

The talking heads could only muster excitement because of trades. It was really a boring draft. Even the NFL realized that and decided they needed a loud and annoying cover band and more drunk fans channeling KISS.

Other than breaking the pattern and going DT in the 1st, which may prove to be the only real difference maker out of this draft. The LB might be something as he is an all over the field player.

But what does the lack of action by the Cowboys tell us? They think they are fine just where they are. No need to add a Hollywood TE, or a stud RB or a stud OL, they like their guys.

In that regard, this is the 2009 draft when they thought all they needed was depth and ST.

In 2022, the Cowboys were in the 3rd position in the NFC and I think they feel nothing has changed, they are still relevant and within striking distance of the Eagles and Niners. Forget the Lions, Giants and Seahawks, they do not matter.

There was much happiness with the moves the Cowboys made in the off season with the acquisitions made, and justifiably so as they usual make no noise. However, that came at a cost. In the GM's mind, that moved the needle so the draft wasn't as critical as usual and going into the season with a thin OL and WR corps doesn't seem to concern him.

This draft illustrated the real difference between a GM that really wants to win because he has to and one that just wants to be relevant and the most covered by the media. The Cowboys went about this as if they've already arrived; the Eagles went about it as if they're not there yet.

All around, it was a pretty lackluster draft and the Cowboys sure played their part in that. Because there is no hurry to get better, they feel they're good enough.

It’s not often you post something that I agree with but this post is spot on. It’s par for the course for this franchise. They have no ability to evaluate their own situation. T

he nfc has been there for the taking for what is coming up on two years now and there is zero urgency to grab the bull by the horns and win it. But we shouldn’t expect anything different. They’ve told us many times, they’re not interesting in pushing their chips into the center of the table and going for it.

With the Cowboys' success over the past two regular seasons, along with their recent measured\slow-moving playoff involvement, the team's heirarchy feels they are on the path to break through and be a true championship contender this upcoming season.

 

[kevm3]

The problem with this draft is that we used the premium picks at positions we were already somewhat stout at while neglecting the huge holes in O line and at runningback. I like the deuce pick but he's not a bell cow back or even someone I feel can split 50/50 with Tony. He's more like a Felix Jones, explosive change of pace guy.

How much better will Schoon really be than what we already have or have had at TE? How much better will he be than what Schultz brought to the table? I can understand taking a guy at a logjam position if they are just elite talent that fell to us, but these guys we took were NOT looked at as elite.

I like the splash plays of Overshown, but whose position is he taking? He's a rather small linebacker at around 224 lbs. I can see maybe moving him back to safety and having him be our Kam, but it seems like they want to use him at LB.

I don't see where Fehoko will get on the field unless they convert him.

The problem with this draft is that we drafted in positions of strength or we're replacing guys that we drafted a few years earlier. We got Ferguson or Hendershot not that long ago. We got Jabril Cox not that long ago. We got Nashon Wright or Bossman Phat not that long ago. Was this draft our FO correcting the mistakes they made with those guys or are those positions we just feel like we need super competition and super depth at?

Is Overshown going to be that much better than Jabril? Or is he going to be a Kearse improvement? Schoon seems like our Dalton Schultz money saving replacement, but what are we going to do in FA with that extra money? History says we will do very little.

If they got O'cyrus in the 2nd,I wouldn't have a problem with this draft. I don't want to hear that he doesn't fit the scheme talk. That's what made us pass on TJ Watt. It literally doesn't make sense to draft replacements at positions we are already strong at. I also feel like Schoon could have been had in the 3rd round or a similarly strong TE.

Mazi is the one pick where I can say I see where he actually improves the team. With the other guys, I don't see how this makes us better than where we were last year. Thank God we were able to get Cooks and Gilmore or else I'd have to chalk this up to a rebuild season. We better be active in free agency if we want to compete.

 

[Kwyn]

It was not an exciting draft, even the QB picks were nothing special and there were no Hollywood WR's. And the Cowboys treated it as such.

The talking heads could only muster excitement because of trades. It was really a boring draft. Even the NFL realized that and decided they needed a loud and annoying cover band and more drunk fans channeling KISS.

Other than breaking the pattern and going DT in the 1st, which may prove to be the only real difference maker out of this draft. The LB might be something as he is an all over the field player.

But what does the lack of action by the Cowboys tell us? They think they are fine just where they are. No need to add a Hollywood TE, or a stud RB or a stud OL, they like their guys.

In that regard, this is the 2009 draft when they thought all they needed was depth and ST.

In 2022, the Cowboys were in the 3rd position in the NFC and I think they feel nothing has changed, they are still relevant and within striking distance of the Eagles and Niners. Forget the Lions, Giants and Seahawks, they do not matter.

There was much happiness with the moves the Cowboys made in the off season with the acquisitions made, and justifiably so as they usual make no noise. However, that came at a cost. In the GM's mind, that moved the needle so the draft wasn't as critical as usual and going into the season with a thin OL and WR corps doesn't seem to concern him.

This draft illustrated the real difference between a GM that really wants to win because he has to and one that just wants to be relevant and the most covered by the media. The Cowboys went about this as if they've already arrived; the Eagles went about it as if they're not there yet.

All around, it was a pretty lackluster draft and the Cowboys sure played their part in that. Because there is no hurry to get better, they feel they're good enough.

I seriously disagree.

To get the big splash moves you are expecting, the Cowboys would have had to pay huge amounts of capital.

At every spot where we picked, we had options, but *none* of the other choices would have significantly moved the needle

We can quibble about relative value between these guys, but the dffferences are not significant

We needed DT, OG, RB and TE.

We took one of each at various spots. Saying “we could have taken player X instead of player Y is easy but that would have resulted in people saying “hey, they took this dude a round to late!”

They made choices that addressed all of our top needs and they added a LB, a CB and an Edge on top of it.

Time will tell if the actual players selected are a hit but the strategy seems pretty solid to me.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

Philly improved their team. The Cowboys didn't.

Philly lost more talent than anyone in the division....its funny this is what you think though since Dallas used their draft capital on veterans who have proven themselves. But they somehow got worse while Eagles got better with guys we don't know about. Interesting.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

I seriously disagree.

To get the big splash moves you are expecting, the Cowboys would have had to pay huge amounts of capital.

At every spot where we picked, we had options, but *none* of the other choices would have significantly moved the needle

We can quibble about relative value between these guys, but the dffferences are not significant

We needed DT, OG, RB and TE.

We took one of each at various spots. Saying “we could have taken player X instead of player Y is easy but that would have resulted in people saying “hey, they took this dude a round to late!”

They made choices that addressed all of our top needs and they added a LB, a CB and an Edge on top of it.

Time will tell if the actual players selected are a hit but the strategy seems pretty solid to me.

Agree 100%. I'm amazed at people who didn't ;like this draft. We finally to a legit 1T...what we've complained about for years lol.

 

[Kwyn]

Philly's owner demanded that of his GM. All but two of these GM's were expected to improve their team's rosters.

It's very simple. The Cowboys owner tells the fans look at our stars, our stadium, our cheerleaders, our coverage, our profits and our pizazz but most of all, look at me. It is the ultimate white collar team.

The Eagles owner can only tell their fans look at the team. Like most other owners, for him it's all about what happens on the field and they have always been blue collar.

This seems really personal and opinionated and I’m not seeing the justification for this take.

I don’t recall seeing Lurie publicly commenting on Howie and giving him instruction. Not sure where you saw that.

 

[morat1959]

I find it funny. We as a fan base have been screaming for years to the Cowboys to prioritize the DT position. We finally do in the the first round and now it’s shades of the 2009 draft? That’s insane.

Insanity is….how our GM and FO have run this organization for 25 plus years. This one draft pick doesn’t change anything until the QB position starts to be a priority.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

The problem with this draft is that we used the premium picks at positions we were already somewhat stout at while neglecting the huge holes in O line and at runningback. I like the deuce pick but he's not a bell cow back or even someone I feel can split 50/50 with Tony. He's more like a Felix Jones, explosive change of pace guy.

How much better will Schoon really be than what we already have or have had at TE? How much better will he be than what Schultz brought to the table? I can understand taking a guy at a logjam position if they are just elite talent that fell to us, but these guys we took were NOT looked at as elite.

I like the splash plays of Overshown, but whose position is he taking? He's a rather small linebacker at around 224 lbs. I can see maybe moving him back to safety and having him be our Kam, but it seems like they want to use him at LB.

I don't see where Fehoko will get on the field unless they convert him.

The problem with this draft is that we drafted in positions of strength or we're replacing guys that we drafted a few years earlier. We got Ferguson or Hendershot not that long ago. We got Jabril Cox not that long ago. We got Nashon Wright or Bossman Phat not that long ago. Was this draft our FO correcting the mistakes they made with those guys or are those positions we just feel like we need super competition and super depth at?

Is Overshown going to be that much better than Jabril? Or is he going to be a Kearse improvement? Schoon seems like our Dalton Schultz money saving replacement, but what are we going to do in FA with that extra money? History says we will do very little.

If they got O'cyrus in the 2nd,I wouldn't have a problem with this draft. I don't want to hear that he doesn't fit the scheme talk. That's what made us pass on TJ Watt. It literally doesn't make sense to draft replacements at positions we are already strong at. I also feel like Schoon could have been had in the 3rd round or a similarly strong TE.

Mazi is the one pick where I can say I see where he actually improves the team. With the other guys, I don't see how this makes us better than where we were last year. Thank God we were able to get Cooks and Gilmore or else I'd have to chalk this up to a rebuild season. We better be active in free agency if we want to compete.

I'm just curious though with this draft how many guys did you expect to come right in and contribute for a 12 win team?

Let's be honest about the Cowboys. There's no secret that I'm a Dak fan but however far this team goes will be dependent on him and the defense and mostly him. This draft was not gonna change that. Torrence does not improve Dak this season. Its time for past draft picks to step up because the chances of you getting anything out of guys you picked late in this draft was just slim to none. What you got out of Bland last season is not common.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

Philly's owner demanded that of his GM. All but two of these GM's were expected to improve their team's rosters.

It's very simple. The Cowboys owner tells the fans look at our stars, our stadium, our cheerleaders, our coverage, our profits and our pizazz but most of all, look at me. It is the ultimate white collar team.

The Eagles owner can only tell their fans look at the team. Like most other owners, for him it's all about what happens on the field and they have always been blue collar.

And yet their biggest weakness last season was against the run.....and they still have yet to do anything to fix that aside from losing Hargreaves who benefited their pass rush.

 

[Kwyn]

In fairness, I liked the DT pick.

My post was more about attitude than anything. I think the Eagles took a "hungrier" approach to the draft. Our staff seems complacent to me. No big splashes, no monster trades, no significant moves that suggest, all in... lets win now.

I expect the defense to be good, really good. Helping up front should guarantee that. Our biggest problem wasn't defense. We didn't lose in January because of our defense. I suspect falling short this year won't be because of our defense either.

Umm, what is attitude”?

Seems like what you’re saying is that you’re not satisfied emotionally but don’t have significant issues with the actual human beings we hired.

 

[noshame]

I think they went into the draft thinking next year's head coach and offensive coordinator should be able to pick their own people.
Defense should be as good as anybody so there's half the battle.

 

[bigE79]

Well, I look at it from a different slant.

They are only going to go as far as Dak is going to take them. Let's be real. In the end, as in against SF in the post season the last couple years, Dallas will lose or live for another Sunday largely because of what Dak does or doesn't do. And I think because they are 'stuck' with him, yes they're trying to find the best players, but by the same token they're not being overly aggressive drafting up to get 'the guy to move them over the top' because with Dak at the helm, they're not just one player from being over the top. It's not like Cincy or Philly or Baltimore where they're either still riding on a rookie QB contract or just paid their stud QB.

It is what it is. Right now it's best to just keep the roster as solid as they can as they ride out these next couple of years of Dak's contract without being overly aggressive. If Burrow was our QB, I'd feel completely different if I were the GM. But I would seriously keep an eye on the QB class of 2024-25-26. Dak's going to get another chance this year, but it's obvious his window is closing.

If we had a QB of that statue,we wouldn't even be having this conversation..what this draft was about,imo,was to make the defense even better than it was last yr,to hopefully overcome daks habits of faltering,same as the ravens did with dilfer..our offense would be good enough as it stands if we had a burrow,Allen, mahomes, Herbert or even hurts but since we don't,we keep trying to upgrade the skill players,and even when we do,dak is still dak.

 

[CouchCoach]

There is a huge difference in the approach and mentality of Booger vs Lurie/Roseman. This isn't the first time Lurie has been damn the torpedoes, he gradually became this owner because I can only imagine how tired he is of hearing it from those fans. They finally win one and want to know when they're going back.

It's the curse of the Optimistic GM and it has been a problem, THE problem, for a couple decades. That and he is part-time and only wants to do the fun stuff.

Roseman is forced to see how far away he is and Booger only wants to see how close he is. It's really simple because a true optimist can sell themselves completely and I don't think he's spinning most of the time, I think he actually believes it. And only a true optimist would ever use the words "moral victory" is a loss in pro sports.

And look at it from his viewpoint, did the Eagles or Niners own them? No, they did not. But are there other teams getting geared up for a run?

The one thing he lacks is that 6th sense of when to stroke the mane and when to use the whip. Instead of pressing when they're close, he backs off and offers praise and it's the worst kind of praise, he praises it forward thinking that's all he needs to get it over the line.

If I was the GM, I would have let it be known how displeased I was with how my QB protected the ball this season and in that playoff game. Then I would have doubled down by taking a QB in the 2nd round, Levis or Hooker, and sent the message that I might be preparing for life without Prescott.

This owner has made this QB too damned comfortable in his job and future. And this is not a Prescott thread but these things are connected with this GM. It is a pattern that fits the true optimists' belief that everything will work out.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

I get what you’re saying but for many it’s about how you address it. Going up to get a top 10 type guy or drafting one when you have that high of a pick is what many are talking about. Taking a consensus 2nd round talent in the late 1st doesn’t really cut it for some.

But do people realize that doesn't typically always work if it all? What happened when we traded up for Mo Claiborne? We are applauding the Eagles but the Eagles never do anything stupid like go from 30 to the 10th pick. This is not how a perennial contender makes moves. Teams that do that are the Texans and Browns.

 

[Gambit]

Philly improved their team. The Cowboys didn't.

So Gilmore and Cooks are not an improvement?

 

[GMO415]

The draft told me the iggles remained dominate and the Cowboys are just contenders.

I think with DQ staying on and the fact that MM wants to keep.the ball out of Dak's hands by running the ball, Dallas hopes to get to the SB via the defense.

 

[Cowboys22]

But do people realize that doesn't typically always work if it all? What happened when we traded up for Mo Claiborne? We are applauding the Eagles but the Eagles never do anything stupid like go from 30 to the 10th pick. This is not how a perennial contender makes moves. Teams that do that are the Texans and Browns.

I didn’t mean going up this year. I’m just saying there were years when they had higher picks and could have addressed it. I think the people complaining simply see DT as a much more important position than Dallas did for many years and wanted it addressed with a high pick. Nothing really wrong with Mazi but it doesn’t completely satisfy what those people have been touting. Kind of a too little too late attitude until he becomes a stud on the field I guess.

 

[CouchCoach]

So Gilmore and Cooks are not an improvement?

I believe they are but do you think that WR corps is solid?

And what about the OL and RB positions. This OL has an injury waiting to happen and what happens then?

Pollard coming off an injury and Jones to back him up. Is that an upgrade?

Now, in all fairness, this is not over. Just because this wasn't addressed in the draft doesn't mean it will not get addressed but this was a deep RB draft and they take an undersized feel good story scat back.

Did they take two players in this draft to make Booger's grandson and a college scout happy?