Moore: What Cowboys did, and didn't, accomplish in NFL draft

boozeman

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Moore: What Cowboys did, and didn't, accomplish in NFL draft


By David Moore Follow @DavidMooreDMN

Staff Writer


Published: 02 May 2015 09:45 PM

Updated: 02 May 2015 11:39 PM



IRVING -- Going into the three-day shopping spree known as the NFL draft, Jerry Jones said the priority was to improve the Cowboys defense, “by hook or crook.’’

That took place.

The Cowboys owner also said he did not consider it a must to upgrade the running back position. Skeptics found that hard to believe.

Not now.

Those convinced the Cowboys needed to find DeMarco Murray’s replacement were sorely disappointed. But the Cowboys did add quality on defense as five of the team’s eight picks landed on that side of the ball.

Throughout the seven rounds, the Cowboys stayed true to their board.

“We tried not to push for a particular need,” executive vice president Stephen Jones said. “We kind of let the draft come to us in a good way and were able to solve a lot of things, take care of a lot of things that we felt like we were short in. I think we really improved our football team.

“At the end of the day, maybe use the term we let the draft come to us. I think the right guys were there for us. Whenever we had a big question mark and started straying away a little bit, we always went back to who was the best player on the board.”

Here’s a look at a few of the things the Cowboys did — and didn’t — accomplish.

The Cowboys stood pat in the second round as Randy Gregory, one of the elite pass rushers in this draft, slid to them at No. 60.

Let’s table for the moment why a player of Gregory’s caliber was available. Think back to last year, when the Cowboys gave up their third-round pick to vault higher in the second round to select defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence.

You can argue there’s a higher risk/reward aspect to drafting Gregory, but you can’t argue which move gives the Cowboys greater value. Gregory is regarded as a better pass rushing talent than Lawrence.

More of a premium was placed on finding a replacement for departed swing tackle Jeremy Parnell than Murray, the league’s rushing champion.

The proof: the Cowboys selected two offensive linemen — Chaz Green in the third and Laurence Gibson in the seventh — and no running backs.

“Running back did not come our way,” Jerry Jones said. “We would have liked to have drafted a running back, but by the same token we didn’t think at any given time we should pass on the player that was there with the running back there.”

The pivot point came in Friday night’s third round. Running backs Tevin Coleman, Duke Johnson and David Johnson were all grabbed in a span of 13 picks from Nos. 73 to 86. When the Cowboys were on the clock at No. 91, they took Green.

The Cowboys never gave serious consideration to selecting a running back for the remainder of the draft.

“We weren’t trying to make a point that we didn’t need Murray,” Jerry Jones said. “That was not the point at all.”

Head coach Jason Garrett takes pride in the discipline the Cowboys showed in this draft. The strongest example of how the club remained true to its board and its priorities is this:

For the first time in franchise history the Cowboys went through an entire draft without selecting a quarterback, running back or wide receiver.

“We were a little queasy about where we were at corner relative to some circumstances that may come up,” Jerry Jones said. “We certainly felt we could have done, if we were able to have a little more firepower against [Aaron] Rodgers in that last ballgame, it didn’t take us going back too far in the season to see that we’d like to help the defense.

“Given something that is totally equal where your preference would be, even though we set a precedent by not taking an offensive skill player, we needed defensive skill players more than we needed offensive skill players.”

The initial overall assessment from club officials is what you would expect.

“When all is said and done, we really feel like we’ve had a great three days,” Stephen Jones said.

Time will tell.
 

dallen

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"Running back did not come our way" ok....
 

boozeman

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"Running back did not come our way" ok....
And of course, the BPA just happened to be a LB, twice.

It's bullshit. They got outwitted at practically every turn, losing out on Dupree to the Steelers, Carl Davis to the Ravens.

The run on the RBs in the third screwed them up and I don't believe for a second that they intended to get Green with that pick.
 

NoDak

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It's bullshit. They got outwitted at practically every turn, losing out on Dupree to the Steelers, Carl Davis to the Ravens.
Oh, come on. I wasn't happy with our late picks either, but this is such an easy comment to make in hindsight. If the team trades up, they're panicking and not letting the draft come to them. If a team right before them takes a player the fans think they should be interested in, they got outwitted.

How convenient.
 

Cowboysrock55

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And of course, the BPA just happened to be a LB, twice.
This is what happens when you always rate certain positions higher then others. We took multiple LBers last year too. Hell we take LBers every year.

I actually get the Minnesota one a little just because Brinkley sucks and two of our starting LBers have a massive chance of getting hurt or going bat shit crazy. Guy could be our starting MLBer a year from now.
 

Genghis Khan

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We continually take LBs because we place way too much value on special teams in every draft.
 

p1_

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Oh, come on. I wasn't happy with our late picks either, but this is such an easy comment to make in hindsight. If the team trades up, they're panicking and not letting the draft come to them. If a team right before them takes a player the fans think they should be interested in, they got outwitted.

How convenient.
You have some good points. It's easy to go armchair analyst on this deal. But when you're actually executing it, it's a different story.
 

Cowboysrock55

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Oh, come on. I wasn't happy with our late picks either, but this is such an easy comment to make in hindsight. If the team trades up, they're panicking and not letting the draft come to them. If a team right before them takes a player the fans think they should be interested in, they got outwitted.

How convenient.
Teams didn't outsmart us, they just picked higher then us.

If teams were trading right in front of us to take the player we want I might say we were outsmarted. Because that would show me that teams knew who we wanted and moved in front of us to make sure they got them. That wasn't really the case.
 

Jiggyfly

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Not trying to be a Homer but I liked our draft, the team is continuing to show some foresight with the drafting of OL especially considering Free's injury history.

Wilson does not seem the massive reach that many were freaking out about and after Johnson I really don't think there was a difference making back in the draft.

If we had moved up in the 5th for Ajayi I would give this draft a A+.

That VT Tackle is really intriguing he sounds like with the right coaching he could be something.
 
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Cotton

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God, the more the homers try to justify this draft, the more I hate it. Still just so fucking pissed about both the 3rd and 4th round picks I can't even seem to gather the energy to "watch the film".
 

Jiggyfly

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God, the more the homers try to justify this draft, the more I hate it. Still just so fucking pissed about both the 3rd and 4th round picks I can't even seem to gather the energy to "watch the film".
The gall.

There is no bigger homer on here than you.:lol
 

Cotton

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The gall.

There is no bigger homer on here than you.:lol
I will admit last year was a good feeling. Having some hope did bring out the homer in me. But that draft suppressed it right back down to where it was.
 

Cowboysrock55

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God, the more the homers try to justify this draft, the more I hate it. Still just so fucking pissed about both the 3rd and 4th round picks I can't even seem to gather the energy to "watch the film".
:lol

If we had drafted Ajayi at any point in this draft you'd be in full homer mode right now. Do you hate the draft or do you just hate that we didn't draft a RB that you love?
 

townsend

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So honestly, is there anyone who thinks the Eagles, Giants, or Redskins are better than this team? Even if we screwed up all the picks post 2nd round (which I think we might have) this team is going to be good, especially facing all the other bad teams in the division.
 

jsmith6919

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So honestly, is there anyone who thinks the Eagles, Giants, or Redskins are better than this team? Even if we screwed up all the picks post 2nd round (which I think we might have) this team is going to be good, especially facing all the other bad teams in the division.
I think we should aim a bit higher than being the shiniest turd in the punch bowl.
 

Cotton

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:lol

If we had drafted Ajayi at any point in this draft you'd be in full homer mode right now. Do you hate the draft or do you just hate that we didn't draft a RB that you love?
I hate that we skipped out on RB period. For a swing tackle and LB depth.
 

NoDak

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God, the more the homers try to justify this draft, the more I hate it. Still just so fucking pissed about both the 3rd and 4th round picks I can't even seem to gather the energy to "watch the film".
:lol

Nice
 

townsend

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I think we should aim a bit higher than being the shiniest turd in the punch bowl.
Feh. Teams like the Colts, and Patriots get infinite accolades because they play in shitty divisions. I'm not saying we couldn't do better, but this My Super Sweet 16 style meltdown is beyond juvenile. You'd think we hadn't lucked out and pulled in the top pass rusher with a late 2nd.
You'd think we weren't talking about a team with the best rated passer of all time, the best receiving core, best Oline, excellent coordinators, great Linebackers, and an easy 2015 schedule.

Be disappointed sure. But how can anyone not be optimistic about a 12-4 team with all but one of its best players returning, that had made at least 3 significant upgrades to the defense.
 

Jiggyfly

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Feh. Teams like the Colts, and Patriots get infinite accolades because they play in shitty divisions. I'm not saying we couldn't do better, but this My Super Sweet 16 style meltdown is beyond juvenile. You'd think we hadn't lucked out and pulled in the top pass rusher with a late 2nd.
You'd think we weren't talking about a team with the best rated passer of all time, the best receiving core, best Oline, excellent coordinators, great Linebackers, and an easy 2015 schedule.

Be disappointed sure. But how can anyone not be optimistic about a 12-4 team with all but one of its best players returning, that had made at least 3 significant upgrades to the defense.
Yep.
 
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