Why does everyone say we have "the most talent"

[ThreeSportStar80]

Talent doesn't always mean the best team... I also believe Dallas talent has been overrated.

 

[Nirvana]

Regarding Marion Barber, I'll just say this. I am really beginning to wonder if this guy plays softer since he got his big contract. I don't want to throw him under the bus, but his avg yards per carry dropped and what bothered me more was his intensity looked less. Reminds me of what happened to Roy Williams.

 

[big dog cowboy]

Regarding Marion Barber, I'll just say this. I am really beginning to wonder if this guy plays softer since he got his big contract. I don't want to throw him under the bus, but his avg yards per carry dropped and what bothered me more was his intensity looked less. Reminds me of what happened to Roy Williams.

Oh please.

Dude was hurt.

The OL played HORRIBLE.

We have far far bigger issues on this team then to worry about the Barbarian.

 

[BourbonBalz]

Everywhere you look, it seems like everyone says "the cowboys are the most talented team, but...'

You can all *****, moan, whatever about what went wrong last year. But the biggest problem with last year's team was NO RUNNING GAME.

Agreed, the injury to Felix Jones hurt. But Marion Barber is NOT A STARTING RUNNING BACK IN THIS LEAGUE. No way Jose. Yes, he puts forth a good effort, and he is very tough inside the red zone, especially in goal line situations. But he averages about 3.7 yards a carry. Nowhere near good enough, and he is not a starting running back in this league. Nowhere near it.

As a Georgia Tech fan, I've watched Tashard Choice for two years, he is definitely an NFL back, no question. But still, despite a good performance, isn't a proven back yet.

Bottom line, let's assume Felix Jones is good and healthy...Cowboys might be okay. But more than anything, last year's problems stemmed from the lack of a good running game, which snowballed and affected everything else.

Two things:

Until the running game gets established, this team is going nowhere.

Cowboys fans, wake the F....up! Have you EVER THOUGHT PERHAPS ABOUT PUTTING FIRST THINGS FIRST. (One of the seven habits of successful people according to Mr. Covey)

DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT SUPER BOWL. DON'T TALK ABOUT IT. GOAL FOR NEXT YEAR, AND ALL THAT SHOULD BE TALKED ABOUT IS WINNING A PLAYOFF GAME. That should be the goal...for now.

Think about it, and quit with the idiocy of thinking Super Bowl. For a team that has not won a playoff game since the late 90's, winning a super bowl isn't the goal. Just get a playoff win. Then worry about Super Bowl.

And yes, I wish I had saved the scathing letter I sent to the Cowboys front office regarding not drafting DeAngelo Williams...would love to post it.

Get the running game going
Win a playoff game

Then, maybe, one can think about a Super Bowl.

I agree to a point. We HAVE the talent to be a dominant running team. We just haven't embraced that fact. We give up too easy on the run rather than sticking with it. We don't have the nasty attitude running teams need to have. We have the talent, just not the scheme or intelligence. I agree that we won't make it back to the Super Bowl unless the coaching staff realizes they have to emphasize the running game.

 

[MONT17]

I wish the fans thinking about the Super Bowl was the problem! Talent alone doesnt win in the NFL, if so Ryan Leaf would have as many wins than Peyton!

Talent alone is not why ppl love the NFL!


BTW... the original poster said fans should worry about winning a playoff game, first. Under Jerry (minus the Bill and Jimmy years) this team has only made the playoffs a cpl times!

 

[dwmyers]

Until the running game gets established, this team is going nowhere.

When both Felix Jones and MB III were healthy, and the OL was mostly healthy, the running game for this team was dynamite.

The YPC is primarily a function of playing MBIII in 2008 the way we played Julius Jones in 2007. Julius's average of 3.9 YPC compares pretty straightforwardly to MBIII's 3.7. Strange isn't it, when you take a fair to middling running back and run him into the teeth of rested defenses their YPC goes down?

Just an opinion, but it's mine. MBIII needs to be used as a finisher. He was brutally effective in that role. Keep his carries down to 10 or so until the fourth quarter and then you can let him loose.

We have more than enough running backs for the 3.7-3.9 YPC role. Choice and Felix can do that.

David.

 

[Kangaroo]

When both Felix Jones and MB III were healthy, and the OL was mostly healthy, the running game for this team was dynamite.

The YPC is primarily a function of playing MBIII in 2008 the way we played Julius Jones in 2007. Julius's average of 3.9 YPC compares pretty straightforwardly to MBIII's 3.7. Strange isn't it, when you take a fair to middling running back and run him into the teeth of rested defenses their YPC goes down?

Just an opinion, but it's mine. MBIII needs to be used as a finisher. He was brutally effective in that role. Keep his carries down to 10 or so until the fourth quarter and then you can let him loose.

We have more than enough running backs for the 3.7-3.9 YPC role. Choice and Felix can do that.

David.

There is one issue when you are paying a guy like an LT then we have issues because that should not be a worry unless he has a foot injury. What we need to look at is before the injury last year Barber was nothing special and coughed up the ball several times at bad times. The issue comes Barber is now expected to be a top 10 back in the league in Yards; yards per carry and touchdowns because he is getting paid like a top 10 RB he was not anywhere close that pre-injury. That was once again Jerry Overpaying for the player. I like MBIII I just never understood why Jerry and other people ever bieleved he was a guy that as a top 10 back. He is a very good rb but he is not a 7 year 45million back and I never saw him as a rb of that caliber.

 

[dwmyers]

There is one issue when you are paying a guy like an LT then we have issues because that should not be a worry unless he has a foot injury. What we need to look at is before the injury last year Barber was nothing special and coughed up the ball several times at bad times. The issue comes Barber is now expected to be a top 10 back in the league in Yards; yards per carry and touchdowns because he is getting paid like a top 10 RB he was not anywhere close that pre-injury. That was once again Jerry Overpaying for the player. I like MBIII I just never understood why Jerry and other people ever bieleved he was a guy that as a top 10 back. He is a very good rb but he is not a 7 year 45million back and I never saw him as a rb of that caliber.

In some ways I agree with you. But if MBIII is healthy and rested in the fourth quarter he can take over games and win them. That's worth a lot, actually.

If this club could think of running backs in football the way baseball teams think of pitchers.. then they might figure out that you can use running backs in roles much like they do in baseball. You can have a starter and the starter is valuable, but MBIII is really a reliever, whose job it is to close out games and win them.

What we did instead was run MBIII into the ground. Our player management skills were missing a bit last year.

David.

 

[superonyx]

.

And yes, I wish I had saved the scathing letter I sent to the Cowboys front office regarding not drafting DeAngelo Williams...would love to post it.
.

Please please find this letter you mailed the cowboys. I'm sorry i meant this "scathing" letter.

I would love to read the words of a fan that actually waste the money on a stamp and the time it takes to send a letter to a team about not drafting a player. Come on.. find it. It would make my monday.

 

[ryanbabs]

....9-7

So was Arizona. Difference there was they picked it up when they had to, and we tanked it.

 

[FLCowboyFan]

I think the fact that 8 of our 11 starters on offense have been to a probowl might have something to do with the idea that we have the most talent in the league.

8/11 is dam close to a freaking all-star team and yet we were middle of the pack in points scored this year (18th).

With our talent, we should have been 1st or 2nd at the worst. That is why everybody is so upset with Garrett.

We played below our talent level and that is usually due to bad coaching 9 times out of 10.

You do realize that the Pro Bowl is a popularity contest and isn't a true meauring stick to use for how good someone is..right?

People believe you are good, elect you to the pro bowl (even if you don't deserve it) and then say but you have 13 pro bowlers on the roster. You ever think that might not mean they are really 13 of the best players in the leauge and instead maybe they went because they were on the Cowboys roster which is perceived as talented. Vicious circle.

 

[sonnyboy]

Because we do.

OK you can split hairs and argue that one or two have more, but the Cowboys are in this discussion.

And its not so much the entire roster or even the top 30 that see most of the playing time, it's the key spots.

QB Romo, RB Barber/Jones, WR Owens, TE Witten, LOT Adams, ROG Davis, LOLB Ware, DL Ratliff, CB Newman.

Each of these players can and often do occupy a top 5 spot on most objective talent lists.

Now you can argue Adams as many here have, but he is a dominant talent even at age 33. For all his mistakes, it's amazing how often he shuts down top talent. Although we lack a true singular star at RB, few teams wouldn't trade for our stable.

Just think about this. 9 out of 22 starters are in the very very good to elite category. That's one hell of a starting point.

Outside of those we have a number of players knocking on that door.

MLB James - easily had his best season and looked awesome at times.
OC Gurode - falls into the Flozell category, but is still a physical presence. Do we ever hear of him being dominated by anyone?
WR Williams - We'll see how he pans out next year, but you can't deny the talent he's flashed.
CB Scandrick - I thinks he's the best looking rookie Cowboys CB since Walls.
TE Bennett - This guy has it. He's tall with long arms, fast and strong. Blocked real well and didn't drop a pass. I predict he's huge for us next year.
WR Austin jury's still out due to injury shorten season, but I like what I saw.
ROLB Spencer - Ditto Austin. I know he hurt us against the Ravens, but he's demonstarted to me he has all the physical tools. Still young enough to excuse his mistakes.

It's easy to be negative after yet another late season collapse. And I'll be the first to admit that this team MUST change the way it operates, to utilize this talent.
Unless we start doing the right things. I.E. discipline, work ethic, practice schedule and intensity. It wont lead us to where we want to go.

That's the bad news. The good news is that that is easier to do then filling a roster with as much talent as we have. So there's hope.