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By Tim Cowlishaw
Final Jeopardy answer: “Yes.”
Watson: “Should the Cowboys consider using a draft pick, even their first pick at No. 9 in April, on a quarterback despite having Tony Romo on the roster?”
Even though last week’s Jeopardy-winning computer didn’t produce the above answer, he (or it, I suppose) should have. It’s the correct one.
As a former NFL quarterback — a rare thing among NFL head coaches — Jason Garrett begins NFL combine week with a chance not only to begin meeting, studying and examining draft-eligible quarterbacks but also to figure out whether he should try to persuade owner-general manager Jerry Jones to pursue one.
A lot of people will tell you that answer is an emphatic “no” for two main reasons. One is that Romo is a Pro Bowl quarterback who will be fully healthy whenever the league gets around to having another season.
The other is that as a 6-10 team, the Cowboys have too many needs to go flirting around with quarterbacks, even (or perhaps especially with) Auburn’s Heisman Trophy winner, Cam Newton.
I will tell you why those people are wrong in both cases, although I am not saying this team should do everything it can either at No. 9 or moving up if needed to land Newton.
I’m saying only they should spend hours and days studying Newton … just as Packers general manager Ted Thompson did with Aaron Rodgers in 2005 despite the fact Green Bay had a superstar quarterback in Brett Favre and the 24th pick, which hardly seemed usable on Rodgers.
In case you missed it here recently, the Rodgers pick at 24 proved to be one of the great selections of all time. He sat for three years before finally getting his NFL opportunity and making the most of it.
Newton, with just one season at Auburn behind him, should sit and learn somewhere for a year, maybe two. Why not Dallas if things fall that way in the draft?
If Cowboys scouts and coaches look at Newton, whose first workout was highly impressive to NFL people, and determine that he has a real future, what’s the worst-case scenario that comes with drafting him?
It’s that Romo returns to his Pro Bowl level the next two years and the Cowboys don’t really need Newton.
Well, just how bad is that? If Romo is back on track to the point that there’s no such need, it can only mean that Cowboys victories are piling up once again.
Here are the two real reasons I think the Cowboys have to take a look. One is that Romo is 31 this coming season. Do you want to look at the list of quarterbacks who reached their first conference title games after they had reached Romo’s current age?
Of the 33 quarterbacks to start conference title games since Dallas last played in one (1995 season), six got to their first one at 31 or older. It’s an odd mix and it includes just one Super Bowl winner (but three former Cowboys).
Rich Gannon , Jake Plummer, Chris Chandler , Vinny Testaverde , Randall Cunningham and Brad Johnson — there’s your six late bloomers.
Some ages for others on their first conference title visits: Kurt Warner (29); Drew Brees (28); Peyton Manning , Eli Manning and Aaron Rodgers (27); Donovan McNabb (25); Tom Brady and Michael Vick (24); and Ben Roethlisberger (22).
This doesn’t mean it can’t happen for Romo. It just means he and Cincinnati’s Carson Palmer (also 31) are fighting the odds.
The other thing is that the Cowboys’ talent has gone from highly overvalued (picked for the Super Bowl) to underrated in one year.
It’s just not right to view this as a team with 6-10 talent. If this were a team that was supposed to be 1-7 at midseason, then there was no reason to fire Wade Phillips. He was just getting out of the players what was available.
I don’t think anyone believes that. The fact the team went 5-3 under Garrett probably means it had in the range of 8-8 talent. It has many needs but it isn’t starting from scratch.
The fact that the team actually played better and won more games once Romo was out can be attributed to many factors. But it also tells you that for Garrett, charged with adding to this team’s playoff win total in a hurry, there’s no reason not to look at quarterbacks 10 years younger than the one he’s got.
Final Jeopardy answer: “Yes.”
Watson: “Should the Cowboys consider using a draft pick, even their first pick at No. 9 in April, on a quarterback despite having Tony Romo on the roster?”
Even though last week’s Jeopardy-winning computer didn’t produce the above answer, he (or it, I suppose) should have. It’s the correct one.
As a former NFL quarterback — a rare thing among NFL head coaches — Jason Garrett begins NFL combine week with a chance not only to begin meeting, studying and examining draft-eligible quarterbacks but also to figure out whether he should try to persuade owner-general manager Jerry Jones to pursue one.
A lot of people will tell you that answer is an emphatic “no” for two main reasons. One is that Romo is a Pro Bowl quarterback who will be fully healthy whenever the league gets around to having another season.
The other is that as a 6-10 team, the Cowboys have too many needs to go flirting around with quarterbacks, even (or perhaps especially with) Auburn’s Heisman Trophy winner, Cam Newton.
I will tell you why those people are wrong in both cases, although I am not saying this team should do everything it can either at No. 9 or moving up if needed to land Newton.
I’m saying only they should spend hours and days studying Newton … just as Packers general manager Ted Thompson did with Aaron Rodgers in 2005 despite the fact Green Bay had a superstar quarterback in Brett Favre and the 24th pick, which hardly seemed usable on Rodgers.
In case you missed it here recently, the Rodgers pick at 24 proved to be one of the great selections of all time. He sat for three years before finally getting his NFL opportunity and making the most of it.
Newton, with just one season at Auburn behind him, should sit and learn somewhere for a year, maybe two. Why not Dallas if things fall that way in the draft?
If Cowboys scouts and coaches look at Newton, whose first workout was highly impressive to NFL people, and determine that he has a real future, what’s the worst-case scenario that comes with drafting him?
It’s that Romo returns to his Pro Bowl level the next two years and the Cowboys don’t really need Newton.
Well, just how bad is that? If Romo is back on track to the point that there’s no such need, it can only mean that Cowboys victories are piling up once again.
Here are the two real reasons I think the Cowboys have to take a look. One is that Romo is 31 this coming season. Do you want to look at the list of quarterbacks who reached their first conference title games after they had reached Romo’s current age?
Of the 33 quarterbacks to start conference title games since Dallas last played in one (1995 season), six got to their first one at 31 or older. It’s an odd mix and it includes just one Super Bowl winner (but three former Cowboys).
Rich Gannon , Jake Plummer, Chris Chandler , Vinny Testaverde , Randall Cunningham and Brad Johnson — there’s your six late bloomers.
Some ages for others on their first conference title visits: Kurt Warner (29); Drew Brees (28); Peyton Manning , Eli Manning and Aaron Rodgers (27); Donovan McNabb (25); Tom Brady and Michael Vick (24); and Ben Roethlisberger (22).
This doesn’t mean it can’t happen for Romo. It just means he and Cincinnati’s Carson Palmer (also 31) are fighting the odds.
The other thing is that the Cowboys’ talent has gone from highly overvalued (picked for the Super Bowl) to underrated in one year.
It’s just not right to view this as a team with 6-10 talent. If this were a team that was supposed to be 1-7 at midseason, then there was no reason to fire Wade Phillips. He was just getting out of the players what was available.
I don’t think anyone believes that. The fact the team went 5-3 under Garrett probably means it had in the range of 8-8 talent. It has many needs but it isn’t starting from scratch.
The fact that the team actually played better and won more games once Romo was out can be attributed to many factors. But it also tells you that for Garrett, charged with adding to this team’s playoff win total in a hurry, there’s no reason not to look at quarterbacks 10 years younger than the one he’s got.
