AMERICAS_FAN
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If you look at the last two years, one area that Dallas has glaringly struggled at was on special teams. We all know it, and Dallas has a new special teams coach to show for it. And when people hear "the draft pick has to at least contribute on special teams" many assume that that means as kickoff or punt returner.
But when you analyze the Cowboys, the return game was fine (not great, but not sub-par either) the last two years, and Dallas already has players in place to fill those roles if need be, between the likes of Felix Jones, Miles Austin, Patrick Crayton, and Isaac Stanback, just to name a few. And if you really want to see where they struggled, look no further than the kickoff and punt coverage ranks. Yes, for any field-position that Dallas' returners got, the return-defense units gave much more away, netting in poor overall-special-teams performances.
So in this draft, I don't want to hear we drafted this guy or that guy in the later rounds because he's a stout returner; what I want to hear is that we drafted a guy that forced loss-of-yardage on returns, or outperformed other special teamers in return yards allowed.
So the REAL sleepers in this draft are those guys - the ones who can contribute on special teams to finally bolster the return-coverage units. Basically, if there's a Bill Bates, or Keith Davis type out there, then that's the sleeper I want the Cowboys to draft. I'm just not sure who in the draft fits that mold, and if any of you “draftnicks” out there know someone please post about them in this thread - who he is and what he can contribute as a coverage-specialist.
Thanks!
But when you analyze the Cowboys, the return game was fine (not great, but not sub-par either) the last two years, and Dallas already has players in place to fill those roles if need be, between the likes of Felix Jones, Miles Austin, Patrick Crayton, and Isaac Stanback, just to name a few. And if you really want to see where they struggled, look no further than the kickoff and punt coverage ranks. Yes, for any field-position that Dallas' returners got, the return-defense units gave much more away, netting in poor overall-special-teams performances.
So in this draft, I don't want to hear we drafted this guy or that guy in the later rounds because he's a stout returner; what I want to hear is that we drafted a guy that forced loss-of-yardage on returns, or outperformed other special teamers in return yards allowed.
So the REAL sleepers in this draft are those guys - the ones who can contribute on special teams to finally bolster the return-coverage units. Basically, if there's a Bill Bates, or Keith Davis type out there, then that's the sleeper I want the Cowboys to draft. I'm just not sure who in the draft fits that mold, and if any of you “draftnicks” out there know someone please post about them in this thread - who he is and what he can contribute as a coverage-specialist.
Thanks!
