The Cowboys need to draft a quarterback -- just not at No. 4

Jiggyfly

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The Cowboys need to draft a quarterback -- just not at No. 4


9:49 AM ET
Jean-Jacques Taylor


IRVING, Texas -- This is not the time for the Dallas Cowboys' quartet of decision-makers to overreact to a season that began with Super Bowl aspirations and ended with embarrassment.

Owner Jerry Jones, vice president Stephen Jones, coach Jason Garrett and scouting director Will McClay must understand they don't have to take a quarterback with the fourth pick of the first round of the 2016 NFL draft.

Seriously.

Life as we know it won’t end if the Cowboys pass on a quarterback in the first round. Dallas' top priority in the first round must be drafting the best player available, a guy who will play a significant role on its team, whether that's next season or a couple of seasons from now.

The quickest way for the Cowboys to screw up the draft is to select a quarterback who’s not worthy of the fourth pick just because Matt Cassel, Brandon Weeden and Kellen Moore combined for a 1-11 record as starters with 11 touchdowns and 15 interceptions.

We've all seen teams reach for quarterbacks over the years -- Blaine Gabbert and Christian Ponder come to mind -- because they needed one, they were picking high in the draft and they felt compelled to take a chance.

That’s a scenario the Cowboys must avoid. You figure Cleveland is going to take the best available quarterback with the second pick, based on what we know today, because Tennessee picks first and doesn't need a quarterback after taking Marcus Mariota in 2014 .


Hue Jackson, hired as head coach by the Cleveland Browns on Wednesday, has reportedly told the Brown's front office that he has zero interest in having quarterback Johnny Manziel on the roster. Jackson, an innovative offensive coach, will need a quarterback.

San Diego, picking third, could have the same thought process as Dallas and covet a quarterback to eventually replace Philip Rivers, though the 34-year-old hasn’t missed nearly as much time as Romo, who turns 36 in April, over the past few seasons.

The NFL scouting combine is next month, and colleges will have their pro days in March and April, but it’s fair to assume, for now, that California's Jared Goff, Memphis’ Paxton Lynch, North Dakota State’s Carson Wentz and Michigan State’s Connor Cook will be the top four quarterbacks in some way, shape or form.

Don't be shocked if the Cowboys pass on a quarterback in the first round. There is talent in the second and third rounds.

The Cowboys will be drafting at the top of the second round, where quality quarterbacks such as Cincinnati’s Andy Dalton, Oakland’s Derek Carr and New Orleans’ Drew Brees were drafted. Perhaps they could get Cook or Mississippi State's Dak Prescott in the second round. Maybe they could take Ohio State's Cardale Jones in the third round.

The uncertainty involving Romo’s availability is real, which is why the Cowboys need a legitimate backup, whether they use a premium draft pick or sign the best available free agent no matter the cost, as they did with Kyle Orton a few years ago.

Romo is a terrific player, easily one of NFL’s top 10 quarterbacks, but the Cowboys can’t count on his health anymore. He had two back surgeries in 2013, and he missed 12 games and parts of two others with broken collarbones this season.

Romo has played 16 games twice since 2009 -- hence the thirst for a replacement. And it feels more urgent here because of the Cowboys’ reluctance to draft quarterbacks.

Since Jerry Jones bought the team in 1989, the Cowboys have drafted just five quarterbacks. No team has drafted fewer -- not even franchises such as Jacksonville and Carolina, which joined the NFL in 1995, or an expansion team such as the Houston Texans, who started playing in 2002.

In that span, 22 teams have drafted at least 10 quarterbacks, including Green Bay, which has taken 17. Reality says the Cowboys will have to take a quarterback with a premium draft pick to get Romo’s eventual successor.

After all, 26 of the league’s 32 starting quarterbacks this season were taken in the first three rounds, including 21 in the first. And of the 31 different quarterbacks to play in the Super Bowl since in 1989, 22 have been taken in the first three rounds, including 14 in the first.

None of that means the Cowboys need to force the issue. They haven’t taken a quarterback in the first round since using a 1989 supplemental pick on Steve Walsh.

Getting the right quarterback is a lot more important than drafting one in the first round.
 

dallen

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This article is stupid and argues against itself
 

BipolarFuk

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Dallas' top priority in the first round must be drafting the best player available, a guy who will play a significant role on its team, whether that's next season or a couple of seasons from now.
Um, a first round QB would have a significant role on the team in a couple of seasons in the best case scenario.
 

Chocolate Lab

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This article is stupid and argues against itself
ns_18taylor-147x156.jpg

Same person who said Garrett should get a ten-year contract extension...
 

Simpleton

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The vast majority of NFL writers are idiots who know literally next to nothing about football aside from whatever they are spoon fed by their sources or contacts. The only one that I really respect is Sturm.
 

boozeman

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See lots of writers like JJT saying no QB at 4, but watch these tards endorse signing Robert Griffin.
 

mcnuttz

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Identify the QB you like and get him.

It is time.
 

Carp

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We are either all in or rebuilding...so many times this teams puts themselves in a spot where we have to address a position as opposed to taking the BPA. I realize you can't always can't go BPA, but you can pretty much always look at the roster and figure out where we are going draft wise.
 

jsmith6919

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What a frigging idiot...talks about we have to pick the right QB then brings up Cardale Jones :picard
 

mcnuttz

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What a frigging idiot...talks about we have to pick the right QB then brings up Cardale Jones :picard
1st round - CB
2nd round - TE
3rd round - Cardale Jones, the guy we coveted the whole damn time!
 

Simpleton

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I also love how this idiot suggests taking some fuckhole like Connor Cook with the 34th overall pick, a guy who could never hit 60% completion % in college, is very inconsistent and seems like a gigantic douchebag. As if taking a marginal QB prospect with a still very premium pick is somehow more palatable than spending the 4th pick on your 1st or 2nd ranked QB in the class.

The 34th pick is still extremely valuable, it's basically a late 1st and is only a couple of slots removed from where we took Jones last year, why is it that so many people are so casual about taking a QB there as opposed to taking one at 4?

Is it because people have preconceived notions of what the "4th overall pick" should be and that they can't fathom taking a guy who won't have an impact year 1 because they have visions of HOF'ers dancing in their heads?

Because I know for damn sure it's not because these people have studied guys like Dak Prescott and Connor Cook. To me, taking one of them at 34 is more risky than taking Goff, Lynch or Wentz at 4.

And I don't even want to hear about this fuckboi Cardale Jones, a guy who got demoted and has a career 15 TD's to 7 INT on less than 300 career attempts. Spending the 68th or so pick on this guy is supposed to be palatable?

I'd rather draft Jalen Ramsey at 4 than draft this shithead anytime before the 7th round.
 
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Simpleton

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If we don't take a QB in the first I'd rather just wait until like the 5th and take Brandon Allen or Kevin Hogan.
 

ravidubey

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It's stupid to not take the best possible QB if a slam-dunk prospect is available at 4.

QB's are different than other positions.

If the best available is more like a mid-first rounder, though, then draft the best one in the 2nd round (3rd round at the latest).
 

Simpleton

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It's stupid to not take the best possible QB if a slam-dunk prospect is available at 4.

QB's are different than other positions.

If the best available is more like a mid-first rounder, though, then draft the best one in the 2nd round (3rd round at the latest).
Yea the problem is that to me there is a huge drop off after the top 3. Guys like Connor Cook, Dak Prescott and Christian Hackenberg are not worth the 34th overall pick to me, and neither is a guy like Cardale Jones or Brandon Doughty worth a high 3rd, especially not when compared to taking a guy like Hogan or Allen in the 5th.
 

ravidubey

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Yea the problem is that to me there is a huge drop off after the top 3. Guys like Connor Cook, Dak Prescott and Christian Hackenberg are not worth the 34th overall pick to me, and neither is a guy like Cardale Jones or Brandon Doughty worth a high 3rd, especially not when compared to taking a guy like Hogan or Allen in the 5th.
Underscores the point, sounds like a slam dunk candidate will indeed be there at 4. It's arguable whether Bosa is a better player than Lynch or Goff straight up, and in no universe can he make a bigger impact at DE than a strong QB can.

With Romo turning 36 in April, you've gotta take the elite prospect if you have a chance. The position is just way too important to any franchise.

I love the success of 2nd round prospects, but most of the teams taking those prospects didn't have better available choices in the 1st round. Gabbert, Locker, Ponder-- those guys were serious reaches. But Lynch or Goff in the top 5 wouldn't be criticized by anyone.

If we don't take a QB in the first I'd rather just wait until like the 5th and take Brandon Allen or Kevin Hogan.
This is almost a waste of a pick. In Dallas I guess backups can get reps on Wednesdays, but QB's taken after the 3rd aren't succeeding lately. Just no time to seriously develop them.
 
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Cotton

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Yea the problem is that to me there is a huge drop off after the top 3. Guys like Connor Cook, Dak Prescott and Christian Hackenberg are not worth the 34th overall pick to me, and neither is a guy like Cardale Jones or Brandon Doughty worth a high 3rd, especially not when compared to taking a guy like Hogan or Allen in the 5th.
That would be nice if we had a 5th. We threw that pick away in the trade for Cassel.
 

VA Cowboy

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Cook, Prescott, Cardale :lol

I swear I hadn't even seen this article when I joked about Cook and Cardale earlier...but this guy is serious.
 
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