Gosselin: Why Cowboys made a mistake drafting DeMarcus Lawrence

[Simpleton]

Lawrence wasn't a reach, he was a guy slated to go in the late 1st to mid 2nd.

 

[ravidubey]

He's heavy and unathletic. He's always going to have too much lead in his ass to get around the edge in the NFL. For a DE to be a plus pass rusher at his size they need to be super athletes like Julius Peppers and Mario Williams. The only time you see those guys outside of the top 5 is when they are considered too raw (JPP and JJ Watt). You can get 5 sacks a year and some good play against the run out of the 4th round in most drafts and that's Ealy's ceiling IMO.

He's a football player. You don't need a once-in-a-draft prospect like Peppers or Williams to play RDE. If Ealy isn't a strong RDE candidate (which nobody knows, BTW), he can definitely be a LDE or 3 technique.

With Lawrence-- if he fails at RDE what do you do with the body? Convert him to LB like the Seahawks did Bruce Irvin? Sorry but the Cowboys don't have strong late round picks or smartly signed free agents to pick up the slack for missing on a high draft pick.

Now because of that trade they have to force Lawrence to be their RDE and say they're done looking.

 

[ravidubey]

Lawrence wasn't a reach, he was a guy slated to go in the late 1st to mid 2nd.

They Kavika'd him. They needed a RDE and forced it when it wasn't there. They're already saying he won't start day one, and that's not what I'd expect from such a high pick.

 

[Simpleton]

They Kavika'd him. They needed a RDE and forced it when it wasn't there. They're already saying he won't start day one, and that's not what I'd expect from such a high pick.

I would expect Barr to play the exact same role that Lawrence is going to play had we got him at 16, would that have made him a reach too?

Lawrence wasn't some 3rd rounder we reached on, he was expected to go somewhere between roughly 25-50 and I'm fairly certain he wouldn't have made it to 47.

 

[NoDak]

They Kavika'd him. They needed a RDE and forced it when it wasn't there. They're already saying he won't start day one, and that's not what I'd expect from such a high pick.

Lawrence wasn't a reach, and now you're trying to compare him to Kavika Pittman?

 

[L.T. Fan]

Lawrence wasn't a reach, and now you're trying to compare him to Kavika Pittman?

Maybe Ravi found the second bottle of cough syrup.

 

[Clay_Allison]

He's a football player. You don't need a once-in-a-draft prospect like Peppers or Williams to play RDE. If Ealy isn't a strong RDE candidate (which nobody knows, BTW), he can definitely be a LDE or 3 technique.

And you can get a role player who holds his own and doesn't get knocked on his ass every play but isn't productive by taking shots late in the draft or picking up cheap Free Agents. And you can get them without the "I'm the best pick in this draft" delusional attitude too.

I'm not comfortable with the trade-up either, I thought there were other guys there that could be pass rush specialists their first year that you wouldn't have to trade up for. Trent Murphy was a guy I liked about as well as Lawrence and he was picked at 47 by the Skins, it'll be interesting to see how the two of them compare in a few years.

 

[boozeman]

Lawrence wasn't a reach, and now you're trying to compare him to Kavika Pittman?

No kidding. He went about where he was pegged. Yeah, hate the fact we gave up a 3rd for him, but that's Jerry desperation for a lousy FA period and cutting Ware. Not a reflection on Lawrence.

 

[ravidubey]

I would expect Barr to play the exact same role that Lawrence is going to play had we got him at 16, would that have made him a reach too?

Lawrence wasn't some 3rd rounder we reached on, he was expected to go somewhere between roughly 25-50 and I'm fairly certain he wouldn't have made it to 47.

I also felt the Barr pick was a reach. I agree Lawrence was picked around where he should have gone, so he wasn't a reach from that perspective, but...

3 - Lawrence gives Dallas no out other than to make him a backup if he fails as the #1 RDE since he fits no other position on the team.
2 - Dallas used a 2nd and 3rd to get him, and Lawrence was not worth that price. From this viewpoint, he was a reach not matching the value spent to take him.
1 - Dallas felt they had to have a RDE no matter what. The team isn't going to win the Superbowl this year, so they should have waited for a better draft or FA class to come to them. Now they are stuck with Lawrence at the most important position on the defense.

 

[ravidubey]

Lawrence wasn't a reach, and now you're trying to compare him to Kavika Pittman?

They felt they had to have a DE. When they foolishly played themselves out of getting Brackens they reached for the next guy on their list with their highest available pick. Lawrence may not be Pittman, but he's not worth what they spent for him.

 

[boozeman]

They felt they had to have a DE. When they foolishly played themselves out of getting Brackens they reached for the next guy on their list with their highest available pick. Lawrence may not be Pittman, but he's not worth what they spent for him.

Neither was Claiborne. It is what we do.