Zeke is third overall in rushing

[Sydla]

You can't criticize a move made after the fact using facts that you currently possess that the team didn't have when a draft selection was made. Everyone knew Gregory was a risk at the time he was drafted. I think it is fair to level some degree of criticism for the pick, but we now know that Gregory is unlikely to work out (it still isn't a certainty).

The team weighed the risk/reward and pulled the trigger. Not all picks work out. But selecting Gregory WAS an attempt to fix the defense. Doing something that doesn't work out isn't the same as doing nothing at all.

If Gregory doesn't work out I think it is fair to say that it was, in hindsight, a poor decision. But to be fair, they didn't have the benefit of hindsight when the selection as made. But a failure doesn't help the team win. There is also risk in selecting a solid player with little upside. The team just has to do what they think is best and hopefully they guess right more often than they guess wrong.

You clearly aren't reading what I am writing. You are just firing off rants to rebut me without actually reading what I am saying. For example, I very clearly said taking Gregory wasn't necessarily a bad decision. What I said was a bad decision was after knowing he had a drug issue, they still counted on him to be a big factor at DE and didn't insure themselves by bringing in some capable vets in case he slipped, which of course he did. That was the bad decision. That was the massive risk they took. They counted on Gregory when the odds and facts at the time suggested that was probably not a wise move to base the needed improvement in their pass rush on a guy who was in the NFL drug protocol.

 

[Sydla]

I guess we will have to agree to disagree on that one. We haven't built a very good offense, and potentially the best offensive line in football by making poor decisions. We are filling holes on defense. It is just taking a bit longer than anyone would prefer it take. Resigning Mo to a team friendly deal looks like a very good decision that has made us better ..... on defense.

Again, do you even read what people say to you?

 

[Sydla]

And the risk/reward equation wasn't a Rico Gathers type of decision. The upside was getting a top ten pick that turns into a All Pro. The downside was giving up a very late 2nd rounder. I don't count on ever getting anything from Gregory but I don't write him off either, but it was one of those decisions that was understandable.

I don't play the lottery but if there was a five dollar ticket that had a 30% chance of paying 500, I would buy it every time.

And yet, that's not the point I made. I didn't say taking Gregory was a mistake. In fact, I've said previously I would do it again (and why I thought they should look at Spence in the draft).

The point I am making is that the Cowboys compounded what might be a wasted draft pick by then building an offseason plan to fix the DE and pass rush around a guy in Gregory who they knew had a drug problem and was in the NFL drug protocol. In February of this year, they knew he was facing a four game suspension for drugs. And yet they put faith in him that it would be the only issue he'd have and basically built a DE depth chart acting like he'd be there for much of the season. That's their mistake. That's the unnecessary risk they took. They banked on a guy in the NFL drug protocol being able to keep himself clean and be able to play 12 games this season for them when the prudent move would have been to try to fix your biggest defensive weakness without him being a factor and if he's clean, then you get an added bonus.

 

[slotshot]

I'm with you but it's still early and he can still prove us wrong.

Being a top guy statistically in rushing is just something almost anyone could do in our backfield.


I'm expecting Ladanian Thomlinson / Edgerrin James type of special from him.

He was drafted top 5 and getting shoe string tackled over and over and just get what is blocked is not what we signed up for.

I just checked...LT averaged 3.7 YPC during his rookie year in the league. He had a good amount of carries and wound up with 1236 rushing yards.

 

[CATCH17]

I just checked...LT averaged 3.7 YPC during his rookie year in the league. He had a good amount of carries and wound up with 1236 rushing yards.

But unlike Zeke he didn't walk into the best situation in the league to run the football in.

 

[Nightman]

I just checked...LT averaged 3.7 YPC during his rookie year in the league. He had a good amount of carries and wound up with 1236 rushing yards.

Emmitt averaged 3.9 and only finished with 937.......EE is on pace for 1460 and 11 TDs

 

[Verdict]

Emmitt averaged 3.9 and only finished with 937.......EE is on pace for 1460 and 11 TDs

I think if Zeke stays healthy he will exceed that total. His YPC will likely increase some as he learns to run behind this line.

 

[Nightman]

I think if Zeke stays healthy he will exceed that total. His YPC will likely increase some as he learns to run behind this line.

He got better every game by a lot...the sky is the limit

 

[Solution]

But unlike Zeke he didn't walk into the best situation in the league to run the football in.

Since when is a rookie QB the best situation for him? Tony Romo would have been the best situation for him.

 

[Nightman]

Since when is a rookie QB the best situation for him? Tony Romo would have been the best situation for him.

and missing his LT and LG for his best game

 

[Thomas82]

I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up being the rushing leader this year.

He would be the 1st rookie to do it since Edgerrin James in 1999.