Graziano: I have no idea what the Cowboys are doing

[bkeavs]

Graziano: I have no idea what the Cowboys are doing


By Dan Graziano | ESPN.com

The one thing I'll say is that I thought the Dallas Cowboys had to make this just about a defense-only draft, and so far they have. They have made four picks, all have been defensive players, and they just wrapped up the fourth round by taking strong safety Matt Johnson from Eastern Washington. I'd love to tell you something interesting about Johnson, but I just don't have anything. Our Scouts Inc. rating service ranked him the No. 72 safety available in this year's draft, and his scouting report page on our site is blank. I found him on Draft Scout, which ranked him the No. 16 strong safety in this draft and says he's been rising on boards this spring. Kid ran a 4.53 in the 40-yard dash at his pro day, which I'm sure opened some eyes. He's 6-foot-1, 212 and made the Big Sky's preseason all-conference team. He was a very productive college player, with 17 interceptions in his career.

So I don't know. The Cowboys have scouts and they have coaches and those guys know what kinds of players they like and look for. There's no reason to take a guy in the fifth round that everybody else likes if you find something you like about a guy much further down the lists. Perhaps Rob Ryan sees something in Johnson that he believes will ultimately make an impact.

My issue is that the Cowboys have drafted three straight head-scratchers. Tyrone Crawford, Kyle Wilber and now Johnson are all guys who appear to be long-range projects if not (in Johnson's case) outright fliers. And they used their first-round and second-round picks on one player, albeit the best defensive player in the draft in cornerback Morris Claiborne. For a team that had as many needs at as many positions as the Cowboys did going into the draft, I'm just not sure they've done anything since early Thursday night to make their 2012 team better. We may look a few years down the road here and say they built a monster championship defense with their quirky picks in this year's draft, but in the instant-analysis period, it's hard to understand what they're up to.

 

[Midswat]

Criticizing Crawford selection shows his ignorance.

 

[wyvrn]

I pretty much agree with him straight up and have been saying this since Thursday.

Crawford needs a lot of refinement and will not contribute much this coming season. He might compete for a starting spot NEXT year, but I'm not sure about him long term. He is a high motor guy but nothing special really. We'd be really lucky if he turns into a Tony Tolbert type, which would make all of us extremely happy as Cowboys fans.

The Cowboys could have had three really solid starters simply by staying put. And once again, they screwed it up. Claiborne better be the next Deion or the Cowboys are really screwed.

 

[Midswat]

Thats like, your opinion man...

~chugs milk from container while standing in bathrobe~

 

[wyvrn]

Thats like, your opinion man...

~chugs milk from container while standing in bathrobe~

Exactly. You expressed yours and I expressed mine. All good, bro.

I'm not worried because I can comfortably sit here and tell you the Cowboys have no chance at a Superbowl in the next few years. Romo's prime will be wasted, which is a shame. He is the Danny White of this era and I think he deserves more.

The Giants are the class of this division and the Cowboys just don't get it.

It's frustrating because I am a die hard life-long Cowboys fan who grew up in Irving and still lives in the area. I just hate it right now.

 

[dbair1967]

Exactly. You expressed yours and I expressed mine. All good, bro.

I'm not worried because I can comfortably sit here and tell you the Cowboys have no chance at a Superbowl in the next few years. Romo's prime will be wasted, which is a shame. He is the Danny White of this era and I think he deserves more.

The Giants are the class of this division and the Cowboys just don't get it.

It's frustrating because I am a die hard life-long Cowboys fan who grew up in Irving and still lives in the area. I just hate it right now.

lollollol

 

[cmd34]

The article pretty much describes how I feel. I just don't understand the Cowboys thinking.

Love Claiborne and agree that he is the best defensive player in the draft but with big money (Carr and Scandrick) and a recent 1st round pick already on the roster, I don't think I would have traded two starters for Claiborne.

Crawford is a good player but I don't think he fits our scheme. He can always bulk up but he risks losing speed if he does that. I feel he was ideal as a strong side 4-3 DE.

Wilber doesn't impress me, felt like he was a bit of a reach and the Eastern Washington safety was a big reach. He's another Strong Safety only. Is he better than Barry Church? I doubt it and I can't stand Church. Again, these are my opinions, I don't pretend to have access to NFL war rooms and boards. Just seems high for him.

Coale? Eh. Try hard kid but not impressive at all. Is he better than Danny Amendola? Oh, he punts.

Hanna was a solid pick and should fit as a 3rd TE. I just get worried when I've watched 8 plus of your games and never saw you do anything. 6th round is ideal for gambling on someone with his kind of physical skills though.

Caleb McSurdy? from Montana? I doubt he beats out Orie Lemon but the good news is he will clear waivers and make our Practice Squad. We took players from Boise State, Eastern Washington, and Montana this year so level of competition was clearly not a concern for us.

 

[Jon88]

Hopefully these guys aren't the "where my check at?" type that we've drafted and signed for years now.

 

[wyvrn]

Hopefully these guys aren't the "where my check at?" type that we've drafted and signed for years now.

Nope, the Cowboys FO suddenly got it this year and even though it looks exactly the same, it's really the best draft they have had in a couple of decades. Promise.

 

[Theebs]

Wow, u guys are really misunderstanding what Crawford will be here and how he and Wilber should be very good fits with ryans odd sets.

Personally I don't think they wanted big 2 gapping ends, I think they want athletes to create packages with that can get pressure.

If Crawford and silber work out, the rotation which was heavy last year will be better. We have a. Umber of quick athletic and competent olb/de types.

Just assuming we needed a big two gapping end is short sighting rob ryans scheme and what he tried to do here last year.

He got positive results out of similar type players in Cleveland with young corners.

I don't even like rob Ryan but it's clear to me we are going to see more linebackers on the field and the olb will play a ton.

I get the worrying, I still feel we needed a second big nose tackle, but I also understand having rat-lissemore-Crawford hatcher out there where all 4 can rush.

Also, none of the supposed draft guru's ever found it necessary to mention nt Josh chapman had acl surgery and that Tammu has a knee issue.

That is why I get a kick out of sturm bad mouthing the cowboys for not taking Tammu, he wanted Dallas to trade back into the second round for a nose tackle with a knee issue who went in the 4th....so where does he get off being critical, that's a completely retarded idea.

Anyway, I still dint think we are a contender but we will get back to respectability this year I think. We have a locker room full of good guys and I think there is going to be big Time camraderie in the locker room, especially on defense where it has been missing for some time.

 

[buckup]

Anyway, I still dint think we are a contender but we will get back to respectability this year I think. We have a locker room full of good guys and I think there is going to be big Time camraderie in the locker room, especially on defense where it has been missing for some time.

I don't understand this part. Do you think there has been discord in the locker room on D and that's why the play has fallen off at the end of the year? And, if so, you think drafting these players will eradicate that?

 

[Theebs]

I don't understand this part. Do you think there has been discord in the locker room on D and that's why the play has fallen off at the end of the year? And, if so, you think drafting these players will eradicate that?

Yes, I think all that finger pointing in the secondary has been a symptom of a bigger issue. That is why the guys on this team who always talk about leadership are on defense. I think campo has been a bad fit for wade and Ryan and it translated over time with increasingly poorer corner play.

For the first time since Zimmer was campo's guy we have a coordinator with his own secondary coach. And they have a very recent history of getting high level play out if young corners.

So Joe baker, Jerome Henderson knowing the scheme and teaching it to Carr and Claiborne and having Poole who knows the scheme is going to be a huge difference.

Rob Ryan and Matt eberflus will have the fronts know there stuff.

So to me having all 3 levels in sync will be a huge difference.

 

[overused]

Mel Kiper said it today - the Cowboys are always picked as the favorites each year

but they have to prove it

what have we won lately

 

[Theebs]

Mel Kiper said it today - the Cowboys are always picked as the favorites each year

but they have to prove it

what have we won lately

Who In the world would make us a favorite to win anything?

 

[Sheik]

Who In the world would make us a favorite to win anything?

lol

Thats what I say. Yeah, we have some nice skill position players, but both lines are shitty. You can't be below average across the lines and expect to win big.

 

[dbair1967]

There's no way we should be the favorite, not after being 0-4 vs the two teams we need to overtake.

That said, we arnt the dreg some here make us out to be either. We were 4 minutes away and a lost ball in the lights to winning the division last year, and eliminating the team that won the championship.

I dont think anyone can look at the team that walked off the field in NY a few months ago and say our team today isnt better than that, on paper anyway.

 

[VA Cowboy]

This draft will rise or fall on Crawford and Wilber, even if Claiborne turns out to be a Deion/Champ/Revis type corner. We need more than one stud CB on this team right now.

As for the selections themselves, most, with the exception of Johnson, went in the area they were projected. Johnson of course was the biggest reach, especially when guys like Chapman, Kelemete or a slew of other guys projected in the 4th-5th round range were still on the board.

As for strategy, I don't really like what we did. No OL help. No interior DL help. After signing a premium CB in FA we package our top two picks for a premium CB in round 1. Then we use our next two picks on guys based more on their potential than production. It's our typical over-valuing workout numbers and potential instead of taking guys that may not have as high a ceiling, but don't have high bust factor either.

One thing just about all of our players have in common after the 1st round is that they had great combine and workout numbers and/or were late risers. The typical boom or bust types that we seem to always want to take a chance on who more than not don't pan out like we hope. I'd much rather have a big school/big production strategy, ala the Steelers, than this boom or bust mentality every year.

Overall I give us a C+, partly on player selection and partly due to strategy.

 

[LAZARUS_LOGAN]

There's no way we should be the favorite, not after being 0-4 vs the two teams we need to overtake.

That said, we arnt the dreg some here make us out to be either. We were 4 minutes away and a lost ball in the lights to winning the division last year, and eliminating the team that won the championship.

I dont think anyone can look at the team that walked off the field in NY a few months ago and say our team today isnt better than that, on paper anyway.

With just these three moves alone: getting rid of Newman, Campoo, and Houck; the team has gotten better. If you take a look at the players we've added in the secondary, the main comment about them is that they are PHYSICAL. And to me that is going to pay dividends. We need some toughness and nastiness back there. No more of this finesse bullshit.

 

[ZeroClub]

I'm disappointed that the Cowboys strategy for the interior OL appears to be to accumulate a bunch of spare parts and then hold "a competition." It is as much a prayer as a plan, IMO.

But I do like Garrett's general philosophy of assembling highly motivated players with requisite talent. It'll pay dividends over the long term.

Also, the emphasis on acquiring defensive players, particularly DBs, who have a knack for manufacturing turnovers. Wade's emphasis on sacks and pressures for their own sake never made much sense to me. You need guys on defense who are opportunistic and who can convert opportunities into turnovers.