Draft Weekend Chatter Thread...

E_D_Guapo said:

I saw at least one profile that compared him to Logan Mankins. If he turns out to be as good as that guy then it will be a hell of a pick. I definitely like it. They tried to trade out but couldn't so they stuck to their board and ended up with a really good OL, even when their biggest needs were on the defensive side of the ball. That has to be looked at as a good sign for the direction of the organization.

Everyone has been screaming at them to get serious about building an strong OL for years and they've actually done it the ideal way...through the draft.

I find myself somewhat confused by what appears to be a smarter, more responsible approach this organization has taken as of late. Unfortunately I don't think it's going to pay big dividends in the Win/Loss column in 2014, but it should in the long run.

I say all this after round 1 though. Still plenty of time for them to get cute and take some WTF? linebacker out of Bejeezus St. in round 2, another TE in round 3, some injury-prone DT in round 4, etc.

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mschmidt64 said:

I woulda thrown a tantrum. Thank you Pittsburgh.

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mschmidt64 said:

I woulda thrown a tantrum. Thank you Pittsburgh.

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Cowboysrock55 said:

Yeah, I'm not a big fan of the Martin pick obviously but I think Shazier will be an outright bust. Martin at worst will be a solid starting O-lineman in my opinion. I just don't see the big upside with him. Shazier on the other hand I wouldn't be surprised to see him bouncing around the NFL a few years from now.

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mschmidt64 said:

If he's Logan Mankins, is that enough upside?

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boozeman said:

Uhhhh. ...yeah.

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boozeman said:

If someone told you in January that Dallas gets who is referred to as one of the safest picks in the whole draft, wouldn't you have been pleased?

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mschmidt64 said:

If he's Logan Mankins, is that enough upside?

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Carp said:

Going golfing...fuck you guys.

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Rev said:

Wondering how you were taking it.

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Now, let me briefly detail why this is a bigger deal to me than most people want to hear: Precisely, I think Pryor is both a better player and at a bigger position of need. I had Pryor ranked in front of Martin, but I also am coming off a season of watching Cowboys football. In that season, we saw free safety Will Allen become JJ Wilcox, then Jakar Hamilton, then Jeff Heath. We saw fantastically poor centerfield play and really it has been a theme for several years running. It costs them the game in Detroit for sure, and countless other scores and issues in a season that statistically was the worst season in defensive Cowboys' history.

The Cowboys had their choice of Calvin Pryor (Jets #18), Haha Clinton-Dix (Packers #21), and Jimmie Ward (49ers #30) to evaluate and select the best centerfield safety in the draft. Now, admittedly, there doesn't appear to be an Ed Reed or Earl Thomas in this draft, but that is purely speculative. The idea that the draft allowed them this solution to a problem since Darren Woodson walked the turf of Texas Stadium does cause me indigestion, especially feeling like the safety ranks are thin and it appears that Wilcox and Matt Johnson must be their internal solutions to what I consider to be a very bad weakness at a very important spot in today's NFL.

Meanwhile, other observations from 2013 tell me that the Cowboys offensive line was actually satisfactory in practically all regards. They pass protected quite well (only 6 teams were sacked less than Dallas) and once Brian Waters went down and was replaced by Mackenzy Bernadeau, the zone running scheme took off and the Cowboys were actually a superb running team after the New Orleans game all the way until the end of the season. In those final 6 games, the Cowboys showed a running ability that we had not seen for years, with 5.36 yards per carry for the 177 rushes they attempted in those games - including dominating and destructive efforts against Green Bay and Chicago where they averaged 7.3 yards per carry.

They had every reason to believe that the 5 OL starters from 2013 were going to be fine in 2014 as well. Tyron Smith-Ron Leary-Travis Frederick-Bernadeau-Doug Free had observers feeling ok about the line. Was there any depth? No. But, there were no glaring needs at the top and they could simply target depth in a deep OL draft to cover for the catastrophe.

Is Zack Martin better than Bernadeau? Of course, he is. Should the Cowboys be a better OL this year than last? Yes. And the youth and ability could actually make this a power line for the first time in years and a laughable upgrade from the rubbish of 2011 and 2012 that nearly got Tony Romo killed. Now, with Parnell and Bernadeau as your reserves, your "game day 7" looks formidable for sure.

But, as I said before the draft, I don't need to feel like guard was a position that screamed for an upgrade. If you have strong tackle and center play, you can survive pretty well with replacement-level guards, especially just one of them. I thought Bernadeau was fine, and replacing him would be fine if you can do it in the 3rd or 4th, but to spend a 1st on a guard is an aggressive move that you might do if you have no other glaring holes. But, man, were are my sacks and safeties?

I have heard from many of you who have been bothered by my long time philosophy of building of the lines being followed, only to hear I am still complaining. All I can tell you is I did not consider guard a real target in Round 1. I think DT, DE, LB, and S were all bigger places to look. If Martin turns out to be a generational talent at that spot and Pryor is just a guy, I will look silly provided that the Cowboys can fix their secondary. But, 2013 tells us that it is a massive hole that they ignored to solidify a spot that in my view did not require this expenditure.

So, is Martin a good player? Sure! Is it a good pick? It is solid - a pure base hit. But, yes, in looking at the macro view and the potential effects of the move, in which they spent their biggest resource to get it done, I might differ with the logic.

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Cowboysrock55 said:

I don't see Logan Mankins type potential in him. When Mankins was drafted he was known as an absolutely brutal and dominant run blocker. I don't see that type of physical blocking potential in Martin.

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Carp said:

Going golfing...fuck you guys.

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So, there is the nuance that I wanted to express on this decision. I am not screaming in disgust, nor cheering in delight. It was a decision that wasn't made for twitter. It required a more measured look.

Combine Martin with something nice on the defensive front in Round 2/3, and I think we have the makings of the start a very solid draft. They did the smart, reasonable, conservative play in Round 1, and while I disagreed with their final choice, I accept it as playing the solid route. And you know, around here, there is nothing wrong with solid. Solid goes a long ways.

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bbgun said:

Sturm is kinda down on the pick.

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BipolarFan said:

Gruden says Martin could be the best OL in the draft. So, uh, there's that.

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