Is there a disconnect in the Cowboys' war room?

Carp

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June, 3, 2013

By Calvin Watkins | ESPNDallas.com

The Dallas Cowboys' draft board was revealed vy the website Blogging The Boys last week.

A review confirmed some of the statements or truths coming out of Valley Ranch at the time of the draft. But a closer look also reveals a question: Is there a disconnect in the Cowboys war room between Jerry Jones and the personnel people?

The Cowboys had a chance to draft tight end Tyler Eifert or defensive tackle Sharrif Floyd instead of moving down in the first round in a trade with the San Francisco 49ers. The Cowboys did neither and traded down from No. 18 to No. 31. The 49ers drafted safety Eric Reid with the pick.

Eifert, meanwhile, was considered the best tight end in the draft.

If Eifert was rated so high by the Cowboys' personnel people, why not take him? The Cowboys decided against taking Floyd, who fell in the first round, because of what Jones called "fast twitch muscles."

Really?

It appears Jones sided with the coaches by bypassing Floyd and Eifert and didn't listen to his personnel people. The coaches and the personnel people will always have a variety of opinions regarding the draft, no matter what round. But it seems Jones should have listened to his personnel people over the coaches.

If you didn't take Eifert in the first round, why draft Gavin Escobar in the second round? Eifert was a better player based on how the scouts graded the tight end position. So Jones bypassed a first-round talent to move down in the draft and select a second-round graded player in center/guard Travis Frederick.

This is nothing against Frederick, but he's a second-round player drafted in the first round. It's not his fault and he shouldn't apologize for being drafted where he was.

But the process in which the Cowboys went about getting him seems very flawed and in some ways screams that Jones, the scouts and the coaches are not on the same page.

It certainly didn't appear the Cowboys were on the same page in the first round of the draft.

Afterward it seemed everybody was on point because the Cowboys stayed true to the board. The Cowboys didn't do that in the first round, and for that you have to blame the general manager.

There's only so much Jason Garrett can do in the war room. If he stands on his head against a move, it will be noted, but Jones makes the final call here.

While Jones is respected in the NFL for some of his draft day moves, it's hard not to believe what happened in the first round two months ago will affect the franchise going forward.
 

Cujo

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Afterward it seemed everybody was on point because the Cowboys stayed true to the board. The Cowboys didn't do that in the first round, and for that you have to blame the general manager.

...
 

Genghis Khan

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Yeah, because Watkins is the authority to which I always like to turn.

Truth is, they didn't stay true to their board after the 1st, because they took Escobar over Williams.

All that statement tells me is that Watkins doesn't know what staying true to your board means either.
 

boozeman

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Our dysfunctional franchise has never been on the same page in regards to the draft. This is nothing new.
 

Cowboysrock55

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Truth is, they didn't stay true to their board after the 1st, because they took Escobar over Williams.
They also took a lower rated LBer supposedly in the sixth round then a LBer we got as an undrafted free agent.
 

Cotton

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Yeah, because Watkins is the authority to which I always like to turn.

Truth is, they didn't stay true to their board after the 1st, because they took Escobar over Williams.

All that statement tells me is that Watkins doesn't know what staying true to your board means either.
I think you may have a different opinion about what staying true to your board is.

Or, are you talking in certainties like Smitty does at times?

:tippytoe
 

Carp

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I question Jordan and Mingo being as high as they were too...they were not 4-3 fits at all. Grant, Jordan went to a 4-3 team, but that was a mistake IMO. Maybe the coaches and scouting department ought to sit down and stuff before compiling a draft board.
 

Cotton

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I question Jordan and Mingo being as high as they were too...they were not 4-3 fits at all. Grant, Jordan went to a 4-3 team, but that was a mistake IMO. Maybe the coaches and scouting department ought to sit down and stuff before compiling a draft board.
Ayuh.
 

boozeman

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I question Jordan and Mingo being as high as they were too...they were not 4-3 fits at all. Grant, Jordan went to a 4-3 team, but that was a mistake IMO. Maybe the coaches and scouting department ought to sit down and stuff before compiling a draft board.
Thing is...it looks like we sort of did.

All the true 3-4 NT types were completely off our board. Jesse Williams, Jonathan Hankins and John Jenkins...nowhere to be found.

I guess they didn't have enough time during the week before the draft to get down deep enough to discover the fact Floyd's arms were too short and he lacked a quick twitch.
 

Lotuseater

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I don't see what all the fuss is about Floyd. He isn't that special. After the shitty line we have had here, derailing seasons more than any one factor, I'm really happy to get a solid smart player to Anchor this line, even if he was a slight reach over a player like Floyd or eifert for that matter.

Think God Jerry made this "stupid" call. Nobody will care where he was drafted when he's able to stop the defense from gut blitzing a falling down Ryan cook over and over and over, watching Romo turn to instant playground mode.....

If he was a mistake to draft in the first round, at least its on the oline and its a solid highly ranked player.
 

Carp

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I don't see what all the fuss is about Floyd. He isn't that special. After the shitty line we have had here, derailing seasons more than any one factor, I'm really happy to get a solid smart player to Anchor this line, even if he was a slight reach over a player like Floyd or eifert for that matter.

Think God Jerry made this "stupid" call. Nobody will care where he was drafted when he's able to stop the defense from gut blitzing a falling down Ryan cook over and over and over, watching Romo turn to instant playground mode.....

If he was a mistake to draft in the first round, at least its on the oline and its a solid highly ranked player.
It's not even about the player, it is about having your 5th best prospect available to you and passing on him for a weak trade down. You are too busy trying to spin this into sunshines and rainbows to understand.
 

Genghis Khan

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I think you may have a different opinion about what staying true to your board is.

Or, are you talking in certainties like Smitty does at times?

:tippytoe

Some things are certainties. As long as we aren't talking about opinions. If I am trying to explain to you that 2 + 2 = 4, then yeah, I'm going to talk in certainties.

Staying true to your board has a particular definition and you are either right or wrong about it.
 

Cotton

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Some things are certainties. As long as we aren't talking about opinions. If I am trying to explain to you that 2 + 2 = 4, then yeah, I'm going to talk in certainties.

Staying true to your board has a particular definition and you are either right or wrong about it.
I disagree with your definition of it.
 

boozeman

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It's not even about the player, it is about having your 5th best prospect available to you and passing on him for a weak trade down. You are too busy trying to spin this into sunshines and rainbows to understand.
Correct. I don't happen to think Floyd is going to be a terror. Hell, he might even be the second coming of Marcus Spears for all we know.

But when you rank a guy as the fifth best guy? Someone in that scouting department thought he was pretty good.
 

Smitty

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It's not even about the player, it is about having your 5th best prospect available to you and passing on him for a weak trade down. You are too busy trying to spin this into sunshines and rainbows to understand.
:lol

So true.

I'm actually rather happy that we landed Frederick. He was a reach but he's the kind of plus second round player that could easily overplay his 2nd round draft stock and end up looking like a great value pick. So I'm not disappointed in him at all.

What I'm disappointed in is that our draft process is a clusterfrick and reduces hope of getting it right time and again in the future.
 

Smitty

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Some things are certainties. As long as we aren't talking about opinions. If I am trying to explain to you that 2 + 2 = 4, then yeah, I'm going to talk in certainties.

Staying true to your board has a particular definition and you are either right or wrong about it.
That sounds to me like an opinion. :unsure
 

ravidubey

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Some things are certainties. As long as we aren't talking about opinions. If I am trying to explain to you that 2 + 2 = 4, then yeah, I'm going to talk in certainties.

Staying true to your board has a particular definition and you are either right or wrong about it.
If you define it this way, then no NFL team stays true to their board. All teams are vulnerable to sways of emotion, fixating on specific players and positions, and reacting to moves they just never anticipated. If teams always remained perfectly true to their boards, there wouldn't be such a thing as a "run" on a position. These are human beings with livelihoods at stake and things can change in the heat of the moment.
 

Cowboysrock55

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:lol

So true.

I'm actually rather happy that we landed Frederick. He was a reach but he's the kind of plus second round player that could easily overplay his 2nd round draft stock and end up looking like a great value pick. So I'm not disappointed in him at all.

What I'm disappointed in is that our draft process is a clusterfrick and reduces hope of getting it right time and again in the future.
It wasn't a secret I wasn't very high on Floyd so ultimately I am happy with not taking him and trading down. I agree though, our draft board is a mess and I think our scouting directors head should be on the chopping block.
 

Carp

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Damn...ravidubey is really tapping into human emotions here. Thanks Dr Phil.
 
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