13 Draft needs

[ktuck911]

IMO primary needs ( not in order ): OT, C, DT, S, DB, WR, QB, LB..

On O, we need to build on depth as well as provide way more competition at Doug Free's spot on the OL... Also, it'd be nice to find a true C to solidify that spot... and my annual call for WR in the draft... There's a 'special' guy that we should seriously consider drafting.. We'd be lucky to get him in rd 3, although I don't think he'd last that long... Too good a playmaker.. TAVON AUSTIN! He gives us that WOW Jerry talks about. On special teams.. and you can incorporate him into the main offense over time... He's impact as a return guy immediately though.. Allows Dez to focus on being our #1 WR... Lastly, QB... I know we have depth with Orton backing up Romo, but they're both 30 plus years old... It'd be nice to get a QB higher in the draft for the future... Just sayin... That picking a QB up off the street after the draft... or signing a FA QB just doesn't work in Big D.... Get a guy and groom him to lead... Romo won't be here forever.. and Orton hasn't done diddly squat as a full time starter...


on D, injuries have hurt our push up front... Ratliff's great but only problem is injuries have kept him off the field... Need somebody to groom for the future there...same situation at LB.. our starters, as good as they are, got hurt and are out for the season... need adequate depth there.. and, unfortunately I have to repeat that sentiment for our secondary.. Sensabaugh and Church together was legit, but Church's done for the year and we got who know's what back there now... There are some guys in this upcoming draft to consider, and NOT in the 6th round or lower... We're pretty good at the starters for CB spot but we gotta get some DB depth in the draft ( watch out for Blidi Wrei Wilson - 6'1 190lbs from UCONN... he'd be a solid pick up for us ... that's just one guy.. we need a couple of guys... don't really like the backups we currently have.. maybe grab another via FA)...

Thoughts????

( GOD BLESS SANDY HOOK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL!!!! - NEWTOWN, CT )

[rawz]

my thought is that we need to worry about making the playoffs, and most importantly, the saints....

however, ill play along.. i mean, it is kinda quit/boring right at this exact moment...

IMO, we try and fill all needs in free agency, then take best available in draft. (assuming its not a wr, or qb or something like that.)

IMO, jenkins is gone. free is gone.

i think we need, in order

OT, C, G, DT, S, CB, RB.

I dont view wr has a need. we can plug anyone in that 3rd wr spot and dominate. i actually really love harris. i think he has earned that spot, and will cont. to get better.

Oline, by far is what we need to work on. we could get better at every position.

I think tyron, is a future allpro LT. he will get better by experience, age alone.

everyother position, we could upgrade, or at least see if we could.

big time need RT. that and a good center.

we could always use a good cb, despite having carr and claiborne, and scandrick long term. Seems like we always have injuries at cornerback, and were always thin, no matter how much talent we start out with.

id like a better rotation on the defensive line. i think we are good at ilb. sims, albright, lee, carter, they have all been beastly. spencer should be back..

but, depends on what he wants. i dont know that we can franchise him another year, but if cost will allow, we should. if he wants dware money, and someone else is stupid enough to offer it to him, then we may have a big time need at OLB...

i think its to early to draft a qb and start grooming. romo is probally good 3-4 more years. and a rookie, his contract would be out by then. orton is great backup.

rb, felix might be gone. and even if we retain him, murray, and felix get hurt alot. be nice to have a RB that could step in, and we wouldnt miss a beat if murray did get hurt again.

[france03]

my take on this is that finally (since Red has been there) i think there are guys on the roster that have showed promise and can play.
I think over the years the Cowboys did have players on the practice squad or hardly didnt play at and got cut..
i think the WR looks better than it has in years...(remember Danny, when he got hurt, he was released,,,remember Jimmy Smith,,,got hurt and got released) and Antonio Byrant never panned out,,
With Dez Austin Harris Cole and even Ogletree,,,they look good even to build and get stronger...
-LB unit again,,,with who they have (depth) looks good for years,,,

i think it boils down to developing young players and get them ready to play..
thats the coaching staff's area to do.

when Cole wanted to leave the start of camp,,,they brought him back and hes producing,,when Bruce Carter went down before the season last year,,,they keep him around and worked on him getting back to playing,,,
Finally i say finally the coaching staff has been doing a great job at this,,,

year after year we let players go and they end up torching us back somehow someway...lasted example is Bennett,,,dude couldnt catch a cold in big D and now,,he looks like a pro-bowl TE (joking of course)...

-Biggest positons to fill are at Saftey (FS/SS) ,,,,Hopefully Matt Johnson can get back to where he was and even better,,,this dude was a beast,,(fingers crossed) they keep him

[thedon01]

I don't see Jerry Jones shelling out decent sized contracts to Berny and Livings this past off season to turn around and cut one of them for an incoming rookie draft pick. It would be a knock on his ego and you always have to consider that when discussing Dallas Cowboy decision making.

[rawz]

I don't see Jerry Jones shelling out decent sized contracts to Berny and Livings this past off season to turn around and cut one of them for an incoming rookie draft pick. It would be a knock on his ego and you always have to consider that when discussing Dallas Cowboy decision making.

I dont think they get cut either, but i also dont think there contract is big enough to prohibit them from riding the bench. I think they still try and upgrade that line.

even if they dont do anything at guard, an upgrade at RT and center would be wonderful, IMO. (especially if you believe/hope that tyron will continue to improve drastically.)

[Fred]

you guys and the draft already!

We are still playing meaningful games, you know that right? geez

[rawz]

you guys and the draft already!

We are still playing meaningful games, you know that right? geez

i know dude, your right.. i started my first reply with that...

but, i was soooooo bored, and there wasnt really any other topic being discussed..

:sorry:

you are right though... the saints are what we all should be focused on...

darn me, and my inablility to stay focused!!!

[Fred]

trust me, once it is time for the draft, I am about the nerdiest person on earth...but, not when we are still playing football games...I want to get into the bonus round, so it starts with winning on sunday...

[thedon01]

Fred has a point and to add to it, nothing is certain about what we may or may not need. Players can evolve quickly or on the flip side someone could downgrade or get injured and new needs arise.

Now even though he has legitimate points I'm a person who values planning for the future. I think it's wise to identify areas a need before the storm arises, metaphorically speaking. I never like to be in a situation where some sort of planning could have made the present slightly more tolerable. This translates to investigating areas of need now, but leaving a window of variability for the remainder of the season.

To answer the OP in no particular order at this point:
OT/C/QB/G/TE/WR/DT/DE/S(2)/DB/OLB (depending on certain departures and or cuts)

With drafting history I'm betting on 3/11 - 4/11 of these holes being met in the draft. I'd like to see 2-3 holes met via free agency.

Now if I had to take a guess at what happens: I can't see Jerry investing much of his first round picks in the offensive line unless a "can't miss player" is available. This motive also depends on whether or not the G/C/T possession is upgraded via free agency, but my gut tells me he doesn't want to look like a fool for spending good money on Berny and Livings. I'm going to guess that Jones spends the majority of his focus on the defensive line and maybe 1 addition to the offensive line, a center perhaps.

[Fred]

Just when I am out, THEY PULL ME BACK IN!!!

IMO, the FO will see the success in how they built the CB position in one off season and try to emulate that with our other, glaring problem, the offensive line. Thus, I see the following:

1st round: likely an OL. There are always some available at pick #32 so we can get someone that will help the youth movement in the OL; I also see them "fixing" the OL by getting the best free agent available at any of the OL positions, although I see OT as the one that could have the biggest impact immediately (that would facilitate a move of Free to OG) if there is any that JJ could snare (we have talked about the obvious names like Long and Vollmer)

After the first pick, assuming that they have the same team of starters from this year (and healthy), then you actually can go after BPA which is a GREAT position to be in. But, assuming health at ILB, we need to focus on the DL and potentially S. I would love to get a RB to balance with Murray's greatness so that Murray can last a full season. But, I wouldn't draft that guy until the 3rd round or later.

I am also looking to guys like our draftees from last year to get into a situation where they could get playing time...I would love to see the potential of Matt Johnson (i.e.: if he has potential or not)

Bottom line: Health will determine what holes need to be filled. If Lee and Carter are healthy, that is one huge area of non-concern. I kinda expect Ratliff to be gone after the spat with he and JJ, and as much as I would like, nay, LOVE Jenkins to be in Big D's D, he will price himself out of Dallas (and I wouldn't blame him). Thus, my order of preference for the off-season is the following:

1) sign spencer to a 3-year deal...something like 3/$20m...he has been the MVP of the defense
2) hit OL hard in FA - just one, but make it an excellent one - they would have to restructure some contracts to do this
3) restructure Tony to pay the man for the next 4 or 5 years; give him less this particular upcoming season (to save on the 2013 cap) and pay him through 2017 or so; I am more interested in him being here long-term, he has earned it
4) draft order: OL, DL, DL, RB, S, CB...

[Romo2Bryant]

Fred, you bring up a good point when you said "the FO will see the success in how they built the CB position in one off season and try to emulate that with our other, glaring problem, the offensive line."

I could definitely see that happen, but Spencer is not getting a 3yrs, $20 million contract. I actually won't mind using the franchise tag again on Spencer this year. However, if we do end up signing him to a new contract it would be something like 4yrs, $36 million. Hopefully Jerry and Stephen can avoid giving him anything more than 4 years. And Mike Jenkins is probably gonna leave some team is gonna give him starters money.

1. Re-sign Spencer or use the franchise tag again.
2. Sign Andy Levitre (RG). He hasn't missed a game and only 26 years old.
3. Draft needs are: RT, C, NT, DE, S.

[Fred]

I was thinking about a 4 year deal for spencer, with the last year being a "cut" year if he declines over time...thus, the first 3 @ $7m per ain't chicken scratch...if they gave him the 4th year (non-guaranteed), I would expect it to be in the $10m - $12m variety...but, an AAV of $9m over 4 years is really risky...that is top of the heap money for his role....the idea of signing a contract for 3 or 4 years is to get the annual value more affordable for the team and to give stability to the player...if they franchised him again (which could happen), then they are payings $9m-ish anyway...I would think he would take a deal where 3 years are guarnateed, but I am not a player, so who knows...

[Romo2Bryant]

I was thinking about a 4 year deal for spencer, with the last year being a "cut" year if he declines over time...thus, the first 3 @ $7m per ain't chicken scratch...if they gave him the 4th year (non-guaranteed), I would expect it to be in the $10m - $12m variety...but, an AAV of $9m over 4 years is really risky...that is top of the heap money for his role....the idea of signing a contract for 3 or 4 years is to get the annual value more affordable for the team and to give stability to the player...if they franchised him again (which could happen), then they are payings $9m-ish anyway...I would think he would take a deal where 3 years are guarnateed, but I am not a player, so who knows...

Yeah but you also got to factor in that he's probably the best OLB in this free agency class... Teams would just try to outbid the Cowboys for Spencer, similar with the Jaguars signing Laurent Robinson to a ridiculous 5yrs, $35 million contract.

[Fred]

Then much like robinson, I wish him well....

[thedon01]

There are always some available at pick #32 so we can get someone that will help the youth movement in the OL

Nice touch!