jterrell
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Back in the NFL draft of 2018 DAL decided to take a LB knowing it had no WR1.
Fans badly wanted Calvin Ridley not some hayseed LB who has never seen a parking garage before.
But as can be the case, NFL Teams are smarter than fans and those players went to optimal situations.
Calvin Ridley joined the Falcons which now have the best WR corps(Rams have an argument here but a lot of that is scheme) in football. ATL has fairly poor defense but pass it 65% of the time and pass to win. Ridley's the most polished WR2 type prospect to enter the league in a decade. But you put him with a true WR1 like Julio Jones and all warts are now pluses.
By the same token DAL drafted what felt like a reach in LVE but he was that 3rd LB to play 2 every down spots they wanted to protect versus injury and provide additional freakish athleticism. He has quickly become a top notch LB who can cover, tackles everything in his area and guards against the non-stop injuries that plague smallish Sean Lee. DAL wouldn't be rated as highly on defense without him and they are playing base entirely upon defense winning them games.
So even tho ATL could have used LVE and DAL could have used Ridley, neither would be as impressive had they swapped homes. Both teams excelled out of that draft choice.
The same may very well happen with this Cooper for a 1st trade.
DAL has hit on R1 at an incredible rate and they hoard draft picks in general. Deuces to Anthony Hitchens and Demarco Murray hello comp picks (hopefully in Hitchens case). In those cases DAL very clearly had ap lan to UPGRADE over what seemed to be star level talent. Hitchens is good but LVE looks better. Murray was great but Zeke is even better.
DAL fired Dez after injuries robbed his speed and athleticism emotional distress robbed his focus. But he was never going to be replaced in the draft as there simply wasn't a 6'2" 230 pound guy that catches everything and jumps out of the gym available in the class. So they kick the can a year right? Well it looks like 2019 was also not providing that top 15 type WR. There are some solid prospects but nothing Ring of Honor worthy. Yet that type of WR became available via trade as Gruden wants to totally reshape that OAK team in his own mold. He wants to free up all the cap space and draft his own guys. So a 2 time Pro Bowler becomes available. One who happens to run the same dated 1980 offense we see failing in DAL. So in a lot of ways DAL traded as 2019 1st for a 2018 1st. They are getting the guy 9 games this year at 24 hitting the ground running. He has experience, a proven track record and yes known worries. But he also has the type of size and speed combo you simply weren't getting in the draft. 4.2 40 time and 6'1" 211 pounds. He also has elite quickness in the 3 come and shuffle drills. There is a reason he went 4th overall as a WR. The highest WR selection since he came out in 2015.
OAK on the other hand appreciates Cooper's talent but has no desire to win this year. Gruden wants to totally rebuild that thing in his image. He's the GM and guru there and he wants to go pick out his own groceries. His team is tanking. For him to get what seems like a middle of the draft R1 to add to an insane draft haul already allows him to be build one final dynasty that can stretch as long as his career. He can set himself up for a final 5 or 6 years of excellence.
So for DAL you get the rare talent at WR who can be the Dez replacement and play the X position as the offense calls for it. Dak gets a huge boost as now there is no question. You bring heat and he can hit either Cooper or Beasley. You wanna cheat Earl Thomas over one guy then he goes to other other. You DAk has issues making 3 or 4 receiver reads and thus holds the ball too long. Wanna fix that? How about a guy how is top 15 in the NFL in yards of separation? Now you have Swain, Beasley and Cooper all getting open right now. A stat that isn't often discussed with DAL is how poor they are in yards after catch at WR. Cooper would easily lead the team at 5 yards per catch gained after the catch. That almost doubles Beasley as DAL top after catch gainer. In fact in many ways Cooper is simply a taller, bigger Beasley. He is the same quick twitch guy that is impossible to cover 1v1. And Beasley is the guy Dak chose as his guy. That's the style WR he likes so he isn't asked to take chances that end up as INTs. In fact with Cooper, Beasley and Gallup you now have basically the perfect Dak WR corps. 2 quick twitch get open now players and a rookie with excellent deep ball skills where if you continue to guard him with a CB2 or CB3 he is going to eat you up on big plays.
All in all last year I thought Philly sold out in an attempt to win it all but I begrudgingly had to credit those scumsuckers with setting a tone that said we are here to win. They did and that worked. They ended their lifelong Lombardi drought. DAL in many ways has been too conservative. I mean look both ways then wait 5 more mins, skipping crosswalk signs for all traffic to be totally off the street before you cross conservative.
This changes that. This signals the front office believes in this team. Maybe they are crazy to but I'd have told you were crazier than Nicholson in The Shining had you told me Nick Foles would beat Tom Brady in a Super Bowl. You miss 100% of the shots you don't take. DAL just fired a missle. Now we sit back and wait to see if it hits. OAK likewise has to sit back and wait. An even longer wait but a much better bet.All htos edraf tpicks and all that losing this year should pay off too in 2020 or so. DAL has design son 2018 still, they made this much clear.
Fans badly wanted Calvin Ridley not some hayseed LB who has never seen a parking garage before.
But as can be the case, NFL Teams are smarter than fans and those players went to optimal situations.
Calvin Ridley joined the Falcons which now have the best WR corps(Rams have an argument here but a lot of that is scheme) in football. ATL has fairly poor defense but pass it 65% of the time and pass to win. Ridley's the most polished WR2 type prospect to enter the league in a decade. But you put him with a true WR1 like Julio Jones and all warts are now pluses.
By the same token DAL drafted what felt like a reach in LVE but he was that 3rd LB to play 2 every down spots they wanted to protect versus injury and provide additional freakish athleticism. He has quickly become a top notch LB who can cover, tackles everything in his area and guards against the non-stop injuries that plague smallish Sean Lee. DAL wouldn't be rated as highly on defense without him and they are playing base entirely upon defense winning them games.
So even tho ATL could have used LVE and DAL could have used Ridley, neither would be as impressive had they swapped homes. Both teams excelled out of that draft choice.
The same may very well happen with this Cooper for a 1st trade.
DAL has hit on R1 at an incredible rate and they hoard draft picks in general. Deuces to Anthony Hitchens and Demarco Murray hello comp picks (hopefully in Hitchens case). In those cases DAL very clearly had ap lan to UPGRADE over what seemed to be star level talent. Hitchens is good but LVE looks better. Murray was great but Zeke is even better.
DAL fired Dez after injuries robbed his speed and athleticism emotional distress robbed his focus. But he was never going to be replaced in the draft as there simply wasn't a 6'2" 230 pound guy that catches everything and jumps out of the gym available in the class. So they kick the can a year right? Well it looks like 2019 was also not providing that top 15 type WR. There are some solid prospects but nothing Ring of Honor worthy. Yet that type of WR became available via trade as Gruden wants to totally reshape that OAK team in his own mold. He wants to free up all the cap space and draft his own guys. So a 2 time Pro Bowler becomes available. One who happens to run the same dated 1980 offense we see failing in DAL. So in a lot of ways DAL traded as 2019 1st for a 2018 1st. They are getting the guy 9 games this year at 24 hitting the ground running. He has experience, a proven track record and yes known worries. But he also has the type of size and speed combo you simply weren't getting in the draft. 4.2 40 time and 6'1" 211 pounds. He also has elite quickness in the 3 come and shuffle drills. There is a reason he went 4th overall as a WR. The highest WR selection since he came out in 2015.
OAK on the other hand appreciates Cooper's talent but has no desire to win this year. Gruden wants to totally rebuild that thing in his image. He's the GM and guru there and he wants to go pick out his own groceries. His team is tanking. For him to get what seems like a middle of the draft R1 to add to an insane draft haul already allows him to be build one final dynasty that can stretch as long as his career. He can set himself up for a final 5 or 6 years of excellence.
So for DAL you get the rare talent at WR who can be the Dez replacement and play the X position as the offense calls for it. Dak gets a huge boost as now there is no question. You bring heat and he can hit either Cooper or Beasley. You wanna cheat Earl Thomas over one guy then he goes to other other. You DAk has issues making 3 or 4 receiver reads and thus holds the ball too long. Wanna fix that? How about a guy how is top 15 in the NFL in yards of separation? Now you have Swain, Beasley and Cooper all getting open right now. A stat that isn't often discussed with DAL is how poor they are in yards after catch at WR. Cooper would easily lead the team at 5 yards per catch gained after the catch. That almost doubles Beasley as DAL top after catch gainer. In fact in many ways Cooper is simply a taller, bigger Beasley. He is the same quick twitch guy that is impossible to cover 1v1. And Beasley is the guy Dak chose as his guy. That's the style WR he likes so he isn't asked to take chances that end up as INTs. In fact with Cooper, Beasley and Gallup you now have basically the perfect Dak WR corps. 2 quick twitch get open now players and a rookie with excellent deep ball skills where if you continue to guard him with a CB2 or CB3 he is going to eat you up on big plays.
All in all last year I thought Philly sold out in an attempt to win it all but I begrudgingly had to credit those scumsuckers with setting a tone that said we are here to win. They did and that worked. They ended their lifelong Lombardi drought. DAL in many ways has been too conservative. I mean look both ways then wait 5 more mins, skipping crosswalk signs for all traffic to be totally off the street before you cross conservative.
This changes that. This signals the front office believes in this team. Maybe they are crazy to but I'd have told you were crazier than Nicholson in The Shining had you told me Nick Foles would beat Tom Brady in a Super Bowl. You miss 100% of the shots you don't take. DAL just fired a missle. Now we sit back and wait to see if it hits. OAK likewise has to sit back and wait. An even longer wait but a much better bet.All htos edraf tpicks and all that losing this year should pay off too in 2020 or so. DAL has design son 2018 still, they made this much clear.
