Yahoo: NFL draft Winners and Losers: Did Jerry Jones really need a RB?

Cowboys make early splash, draft Ezekiel Elliott

Ezekiel Elliott is going to be really productive for the Dallas Cowboys. The best running back in the draft class will run behind the NFL's best offensive line and put up some nice numbers.

That said, taking Elliott fourth overall was an impulsive pick by Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, who has been known to make some impulsive picks from time to time.

One of the benefits of building one of the best offensive lines in NFL history is that virtually any back can have success running behind it. It's a stretch to say any back can have success in the Cowboys offense, but it's not a huge stretch.

You don't need to invest in running back with that line. Darren McFadden, who was considered close to finished before last year, rushed for 1,089 yards at 4.6 yards per carry last season. The year before that, DeMarco Murray won NFL offensive player of the year behind that line. Murray went to the Philadelphia Eagles and saw his average fall from 4.7 to 3.6 yards per carry. Presumably a second-round, third-round or fourth-round pick could have been successful in the Cowboys’ offense. Or McFadden and new addition Alfred Morris would have been. And the Cowboys could have had defensive back Jalen Ramsey, maybe the best player in the draft, on top of that.

Here would be the argument for taking Elliott that high: Elliott is a big-time prospect, he can play every down and he’s going to play well as a rookie. And the Cowboys’ successful formula two years ago was to rely heavily on a star running back, keeping their defense off the field and allowing Tony Romo to take on a complementary role. Romo had a career-best 113.2 rating two seasons ago with just 29 attempts per game. The Cowboys were probably going to advance to the NFC championship game that season had Dez Bryant’s catch at Green Bay been upheld on a controversial replay review. Maybe Elliott carrying the load helps keep Romo healthy this season, as well.

But it’s not a debate about whether Elliott will be good. It would be a shock if he isn’t very good. It’s whether Elliott and whoever the Cowboys get in the second round would have been a better combination than, say, Ramsey and Alabama running back Derrick Henry in the second round. There’s a reason running backs are rarely drafted early anymore. A back going fourth overall seems like something that happened in another era, before games were televised. The return on investment for late-round running backs might be better than any other position. That should be especially true for a team with an elite offensive line. Yet the Cowboys passed on Ramsey to take Elliott.

Simply put, you don't pass on a special defensive back like Ramsey to draft a running back. Not in this era of devalued running backs. Especially not with the offensive line the Cowboys have.

Elliott better be incredible for the Cowboys to feel good about that pick. Ramsey had to be tough to pass up. There’s a good reason: It’s almost impossible to find a defensive back that good past the first round. The same can’t be said about running backs.

We passed on every running back last year. We were embarrassed early and often by what we put out on the field at running back. There is a greater percentage chance that the retreads would go bare thin on MacFadden and the rest of the RB in th stable. They decided to just take that care away, can't blame them. We've been burned by early round DB's left and right. Jones was an enigma in last years draft and to be honest, I wasn't exactly thrilled with his performance last year on that defense.

If the a Ravens would have traded up and picked Zeke, they would never question it. Dallas did not have a decent RB on the roster. They had two washed up RBs that are playing on borrowed time.

I still think the decision on Elliott v Ramsey came down to which players was going to impact the entire team more.

And that's Elliott without question, with the way our team I set up. I also think they had to be thinking about which player was more of a sure thing, and that to me was obvious here as well.

lons said:

We passed on every running back last year. We were embarrassed early and often by what we put out on the field at running back. There is a greater percentage chance that the retreads would go bare thin on MacFadden and the rest of the RB in th stable. They decided to just take that care away, can't blame them. We've been burned by early round DB's left and right. Jones was an enigma in last years draft and to be honest, I wasn't exactly thrilled with his performance last year on that defense.

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Also I don't care how athletic Ramsey is I didn't want Safeties drafted in back to back seasons. I know they planned to play Ramsey at CB this year but that's not his natural position. Within 3 years he'd be playing safety full time.

Also factor in that Dallas doesn't have the pass rush Ramsey is going to need to be successful. He'll have success in Jacksonville because they do have a pass rush but not in Dallas.

If they had drafted a RB in the middle rounds the Cowboys wouldn't be able to go back to that ground game they had in 2014. No other back in the draft is as good as Zeke in protection. Also any of those other backs likely wouldn't start over Morris or DMC. They would just be a role player. With Zeke they get a guaranteed day 1 starter. A 3 down back that is excellent in protection. Dude only gave up 1 QB pressure in college. Not 1 sack but 1 PRESSURE. He's going to help Romo from getting killed. There is no doubt that Zeke was the best pick.

lons said:

We passed on every running back last year. .

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That's not true, we never had a chance to take Gurley or Gordon without trading up considerably.

dbair1967 said:

That's not true, we never had a chance to take Gurley or Gordon without trading up considerably.

Keep reading...

he said every RB, which is true. guys like David Johnson, Thomas Rawls, and Matt Jones were there for the taking.

bbgun said:

he said every RB, which is true. guys like David Johnson, Thomas Rawls, and Matt Jones were there for the taking.

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BB are you going ****** on me or something?

Right, he said EVERY RB. Unless I somehow missed us picking some player in lieu of Gurley and Gordon (who were far and away the two highest rated RB's) then the statement he made is wrong.

Gregory being available at #60 definitely changed a pick we may have made otherwise, and Johnson was picked by the Cards in the 3rd rd ahead of where we selected.

I don't care about Matt Jones. He proved to be a JAG, which is what I thought he'd be. Johnson appears to be a damn good prospect. Most of the other RB's picked last yr had mediocre to poor years, some even were benched for poor performance or fumbling problems. Some teams who picked those RB's also drafted RB's this year as well.

dbair1967 said:

BB are you going ****** on me or something?

Right, he said EVERY RB. Unless I somehow missed us picking some player in lieu of Gurley and Gordon (who were far and away the two highest rated RB's) then the statement he made is wrong.

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da fuk?

He said we passed on every RB last year. You concede that we drafted no RBs last year. So how is his statement incorrect?

bbgun said:

da fuk?

He said we passed on every RB last year. You concede that we drafted no RBs last year. So how is his statement incorrect?

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Quincy would proud of whatever kind of grass you are smoking now BB.

"We passed" = we picked other players instead of any of the RB's

That is not true. We did not pass on Todd Gurley or Melvin Gordon. We made our 1st selection well after both those guys got picked.

Had we had the 4th pick of the draft LAST yr, its a virtual certainty we'd have picked Todd Gurley.

dbair1967 said:

Quincy would proud of whatever kind of grass you are smoking now BB.

"We passed" = we picked other players instead of any of the RB's

That is not true. We did not pass on Todd Gurley or Melvin Gordon. We made our 1st selection well after both those guys got picked.

Had we had the 4th pick of the draft LAST yr, its a virtual certainty we'd have picked Todd Gurley.

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Why are you singling out Gordon and Gurley? There were other promising RBs to be had in rounds 2-7. That's his point. But because we were too lazy or incompetent to unearth them, we had to draft one insanely high three days ago. Duh.

bbgun said:

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Why are you singling out Gordon and Gurley? There were other promising RBs to be had in rounds 2-7. That's his point. But because we were too lazy or incompetent to unearth them, we had to draft one insanely high three days ago. Duh.

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Well if that was HIS POINT, he shouldn't have said "PASSED ON EVERY RB" then correct? He should have said "passed on almost every RB" and I probably wouldn't have responded.

And they knew all about all these RB's, they brought a ton of them in for formal visits, and worked out most of them either at prodays or privately. Basically you and him seem to be condoning the idea of "reaching" for needs rather than drafting guys where they have them slotted. They said Gregory was a top-10 guy on their board and at 60, felt the reward outweighed the risk of his baggage there. We'd have probably selected Tevin Coleman there had Gregory not been available, and Coleman was a disappointment for the Falcons (he wasn't picked until #74 by the way). Several Cowboy writers said they were going to take David Johnson in the 3rd, but Arizona got him 5 or 6 picks earlier.

None of the other RB's drafted amounted to much of anything. Rawls went undrafted due to off field stuff IIRC.

The bigger mistake was not having a better evaluation internally on Randle and whether or not he could truly be counted on anymore.

bbgun said:

he said every RB, which is true. guys like David Johnson, Thomas Rawls, and Matt Jones were there for the taking.

Keep reading...

From what I was reading today the Cowboys actually had an agreement with Rawls but at the last minute he changed him mind and signed with the Seahawks. That's why they drafted Jackson. They liked him but didn't think he would sign in Dallas because of Elliott.

Well if that was HIS POINT, he shouldn't have said "PASSED ON EVERY RB" then correct? He should have said "passed on almost every RB" and I probably wouldn't have responded.

And they knew all about all these RB's, they brought a ton of them in for formal visits, and worked out most of them either at prodays or privately. Basically you and him seem to be condoning the idea of "reaching" for needs rather than drafting guys where they have them slotted. They said Gregory was a top-10 guy on their board and at 60, felt the reward outweighed the risk of his baggage there. We'd have probably selected Tevin Coleman there had Gregory not been available, and Coleman was a disappointment for the Falcons (he wasn't picked until #74 by the way). Several Cowboy writers said they were going to take David Johnson in the 3rd, but Arizona got him 5 or 6 picks earlier.

None of the other RB's drafted amounted to much of anything. Rawls went undrafted due to off field stuff IIRC.

The bigger mistake was not having a better evaluation internally on Randle and whether or not he could truly be counted on anymore.

Keep reading...

oic. because we didn't "technically" pass on Gordon and Gurley, that's supposed to obscure his main point that no RBs were drafted at all. And the fact that every single rookie RB last year didn't set the world on fire doesn't impress me either. More than a few did succeed, and might have done even better behind our line.

bbgun said:

oic. because we didn't "technically" pass on Gordon and Gurley, that's supposed to obscure his main point that no RBs were drafted at all.

And the fact that every single rookie RB last year didn't set the world on fire doesn't impress me either. More than a few did succeed, and might have done even better behind our line.

Keep reading...

Eh....I'll move on