MacMahon: Claiborne's role murky with Scandrick back

Cotton

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Claiborne's role murky with Scandrick back
September, 17, 2014

By Tim MacMahon | ESPNDallas.com

IRVING, Texas – The Dallas Cowboys believed they added a superstar when they drafted Morris Claiborne.

That’s why they eagerly shipped their top two picks to the St. Louis Rams for the right to move up eight spots and select Claiborne at No. 6 overall. He wasn’t just the top defensive player on Dallas’ draft board. The Cowboys' scouts gave him a higher grade than any cornerback in a draft since Deion Sanders, as owner and general manager Jerry Jones shouted from the Valley Ranch mountaintops that night in 2012.

At this point, it’s humorous to even hear Claiborne’s name in the same sentence as Sanders. Claiborne hasn’t come close to living up to that lofty billing.

“You’ve got to be careful about expectations,” head coach Jason Garrett said. “We want to bring good football players in, and we obviously thought Mo was someone who was one of the better players in that draft at a position that we had a real need to try to address. Mo’s done a lot of good things for us so far. He’s had a battle with some injuries the first couple of years of his career, but we really believe that he’s a developing player and he’s getting better and better and better, the kind of guy at a really critical position in your team we think can play here for a long, long time.

“To reflect back and say, ‘We had these expectations. This is what he’s done,’ I’m not sure that’s a really healthy thing to do. The biggest thing is to come to work every day and get better. He’s certainly tried to do that.”

It’s ridiculous to even ponder where Claiborne ranks among the league’s cornerbacks. The relevant question at Valley Ranch: Is Claiborne is one of the Cowboys’ top three corners?

As usual, Garrett will keep personnel decisions as private as possible, but it’s reasonable to assume that Orlando Scandrick will regain his starting job after being officially reinstated Wednesday. Brandon Carr, coming off perhaps his best game in a Cowboys uniform, is a lock as the other starter.

Who should be the third corner in the Cowboys’ nickel package? If it’s purely about merit, Sterling Moore would be on the field, not Claiborne.

“Sterling Moore’s done a nice job,” Garrett said. “He showed up in the game [Sunday], made a lot of good plays on the ball, was in coverage, made some tackles in the run game, so he’s certainly earned a role on this football team.”

That’s classic Garrett vagueness. The coaches must decide which combination is best for them. Scandrick has always played the slot in the nickel, but are the Cowboys better off leaving him outside and letting Moore stay in that role? Or should they plug Scandrick in the slot and keeping Claiborne outside, as they did last season?

“To be honest with you, I don’t know what’s going to happen when he gets back, how much I’ll play,” said Moore, who graded out at 72 after the coaches’ film review of Sunday’s win, compared to 40 for Claiborne. “I just hope I’ve done enough to tell them I deserve a spot out there; I deserve to get some plays out there and just capitalize on those opportunities when they come.”

Garrett has stressed the staff’s commitment to evaluating players on performance, not pedigree. In other words, Claiborne’s draft stock and the fact that Moore was undrafted and unemployed early last season shouldn’t be part of this conversation.

But business tends to tilt the playing field in these kinds of internal competitions. The Cowboys have an awful lot invested in Claiborne to just leave him on the sideline.
 

jootep

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Claiborne should be 4th on the depth chart.

Nothing murky about that.
 

mcnuttz

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They need to test these CBs at safety and find a centerfielder.
 

Genghis Khan

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Garrett said Claiborne played a position that was a "real need we were trying to address."

REALLY? So a position that at the time had Carr, Scandrick, and even Jenkins required a first and second rounder to address? Are they seriously this stupid?
 

Cotton

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Garrett said Claiborne played a position that was a "real need we were trying to address."

REALLY? So a position that at the time had Carr, Scandrick, and even Jenkins required a first and second rounder to address? Are they seriously this stupid?
Yes.
 

Genghis Khan

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sadly, that's probably true. I'd rather they say something like, oh he's a talent that we just couldn't pass up. I'd rather they just completely miss on the talen evaluation. plenty of teams had him ranked that high that year. it happens.

but it is completely retarded to make a move like that to impact the team and greatly is that move did, simply because you seeing need on your team that absolutely is obviously not there.
 

Jiggyfly

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Garrett said Claiborne played a position that was a "real need we were trying to address."

REALLY? So a position that at the time had Carr, Scandrick, and even Jenkins required a first and second rounder to address? Are they seriously this stupid?
You could not and still cannot count on Jenkins, Scandrick was a very average cb ( He has improved
immensely) It was a need and everybody forgets how weak that draft was.

I understand the thought process they were looking to lock up the CB position with 2 young guys in Claiborne and Carr and keep Scrandrick as the nickel, it was trying to have some foresight just has not worked out as planned.
 

Smitty

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I understand the thought process too, it was just an idiotic one.

You don't prioritize DB over DL and you don't draft Corners that high.

Maybe we'll eventually take a look at the successful defenses in history and get it.
 

Smitty

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On Talkin' Cowboys they were saying Sterling Moore may play some FS now that Scandrick is back. That's interesting.
 
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Deuce

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I understand the thought process too, it was just an idiotic one.

You don't prioritize DB over DL and you don't draft Corners that high.

Maybe we'll eventually take a look at the successful defenses in history and get it.
The 2000 Ravens had McAllister whom they took 10th overall. That worked out pretty well.
 

boozeman

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The 2000 Ravens had McAllister whom they took 10th overall. That worked out pretty well.
Sometimes you get McAllister when you take one that high.

You are more likely to get a Newman or Springs, good players who just aren't difference makers.

All in all, I don't think it is ever worth it.

Corners are just not impact players that get the bang for the buck.

If I take a guy in the top half of the draft, the idea is that they are a cornerstone player.
 

mcnuttz

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The 2000 Ravens had McAllister whom they took 10th overall. That worked out pretty well.
When you historically only hit on high draft picks, you don't blow your load on DBs.

Baltimore knew how to build a team and already had most pieces of the defense in place.
 

townsend

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When you historically only hit on high draft picks, you don't blow your load on DBs.

Baltimore knew how to build a team and already had most pieces of the defense in place.
Jerry had a defensive lineman phase in the late 90s. It wasn't until 2002 that we became DB sluts.

I think we should have learned not to draft out of LSU.
 

Genghis Khan

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You could not and still cannot count on Jenkins, Scandrick was a very average cb ( He has improved
immensely) It was a need and everybody forgets how weak that draft was.

I understand the thought process they were looking to lock up the CB position with 2 young guys in Claiborne and Carr and keep Scrandrick as the nickel, it was trying to have some foresight just has not worked out as planned.

If you think we had a need at CB at the time such that they were justified in trading away an extra premium pick to get Claiborne, I don't know what to tell you. Other than you are just as retarded as they are.

And this is not revisionist history; I hated that trade immediately.
 
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