Archer: How the Cowboys were built

Cotton

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How the Cowboys were built

January, 28, 2015

By Todd Archer | ESPNDallas.com


IRVING, Texas -- Jason Garrett has often referred to building a program with the Dallas Cowboys.

That term is normally reserved for college football, not the NFL. Generally, coaches don't have time to build. They need to win and win almost immediately. Garrett is the second-longest tenured coach in the NFC East and only four coaches in the conference have been with their teams longer: Tom Coughlin (2004), Sean Payton (2006), Mike McCarthy (2006) and Pete Carroll (2010).

This week, Field Yates and Mike Sando put together a look at how the New England Patriots andSeattle Seahawks have been built.

It got me to thinking about how the Cowboys have been built.

Below is a chart comparing the Cowboys to the Patriots and Seahawks as well as the league average in 18 categories. Using the 53-man roster going into the divisional-round loss to theGreen Bay Packers, the Cowboys had just 21 of their own draft picks on the roster. The league average was 27.2. They had just five former first-round picks. The league average was nine.

The building has to continue, especially through the draft.

Yates and Sando put together a list of 10 critical moves for the Patriots and Seahawks to be where they are. Here are five the Cowboys have made to get in position to contend for a Super Bowl:

Building the offensive line: Before taking Tyron Smith in the first round of the 2011 draft, the Cowboys last used a first rounder on an offensive lineman in 1981. They have picked an offensive lineman with three of their last four picks with Travis Frederick and Zack Martin joining Smith. To get there, the Cowboys had to go with a mixed-and-matched group, and that played a part in three straight 8-8 finishes.

Patience, patience and more patience: Jerry Jones is not considered a patient owner and general manager but he was patient with Garrett, living through growing pains that could have cost the Cowboys a playoff spot or two. That patience was rewarded in 2014 with a 12-4 finish and a playoff win. Garrett was rewarded with a five-year contract worth $30 million after the season ended.

Hiring Scott Linehan, Rod Marinelli: Garrett could not divorce himself from the offense until he was able to bring Linehan aboard. Because of his past with Linehan, Garrett's trust in what was being done on that side of the ball was unquestioned, unlike in 2013 when Bill Callahan was calling the plays. Garrett also pushed for the ascension of Rod Marinelli to defensive coordinator and the Cowboys' unit was much better than many could have expected.

Cutting the cord: It wasn't easy to part ways with trusted veterans like Leonard Davis, Marc Colombo, Andre Gurode and Kyle Kosier in 2011 and '13, but it had to be done. Just as the Cowboys had to say goodbye to DeMarcus Ware and Miles Austin in the 2014 offseason. Those players were successful and played big parts in the Cowboys' success, but they were on the wrong side of 30 and/or cost a lot against the cap. The Cowboys also didn't attempt to re-sign defensive tackle Jason Hatcher. With Ware's departure, the Cowboys chose to go with numbers at the position rather than tying up too much money in one player.

Smarter signings: In 2012, the Cowboys paid Brandon Carr a five-year, $50 million deal as a free agent. At the time it was considered a good move because of the need at the position, but the cost has not equaled production. Since, the Cowboys have been wiser with their dollars (perhaps because they had to be) and the production has been greater. Jeremy Mincey (two years, $3 million) led the Cowboys with six sacks in 2014. Nick Hayden was a "futures" signing after the 2012 season. George Selvie was signed early in training camp in 2013. Justin Durantreceived just a $400,000 signing bonus in 2013. Henry Melton's big money kicks in this year, but the Cowboys won't pick up the $9 million option.

 

Cotton

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Lots of interesting stuff in that chart.
 

UncleMilti

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Lots of interesting stuff in that chart.
The snaps by players in Rd 4-7 with NE/Seattle and the NFL avg vs Dallas is very telling though.

It pretty much goes with what we've seen...rounds that historically have poor picks and projects by the Cowboys that never really have the talent to make it in the NFL, vs 2 teams with solid FO men who know those rounds can still get NFL caliber starters or at the minimum great rotational depth or the depth to weather injuries.
 
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VA Cowboy

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Rounds 4-7 we either turn it over to special teams or look for raw projects / injured players. We also seem to have fewer players on our board and then target them. That's how you get a 6th round talent in the 4th round, because we're afraid he'll be gone when we pick in the 5th.
 

boozeman

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Rounds 4-7 we either turn it over to special teams or look for raw projects / injured players. We also seem to have fewer players on our board and then target them. That's how you get a 6th round talent in the 4th round, because we're afraid he'll be gone when we pick in the 5th.
That just points out to a lack of thoroughness in the scouting process.

All players should be evaluated in their ability to function in your system, in what you do, not projecting that they would be good ST gunners, a good 3rd down back, nickel slot guy or whatever. W

ould this kid be able to move well enough to block in zone blocking scheme if he had to start? Can he play press man? How are his ball skills in a cover 2?

I have heard Seattle guys talking about no matter what, whatever guy they take, they project how that guy fits with what they do, specifically in their schemes.
 

ravidubey

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I have heard Seattle guys talking about no matter what, whatever guy they take, they project how that guy fits with what they do, specifically in their schemes.
That's all coaches working with the GM and scouts.

To start with, that takes a coaching staff that at least respects its hierarchy if not outright likes each other. Garrett has not had that, though he has a chance now. It also takes GM's willing to honestly listen to their coaches and scouts and coaches and GM that agree on and can communicate and get buy-in to a common blueprint and identity.

With all the egos involved on an NFL front office, all of that is really hard.

No one transforms players to fit their vision better than Belichick and the Patriots, and no coaching staff has been tighter and better led than the Seahawks were when Carroll arrived.

If the Patriots had better scouting, they might have won seven Superbowls with Brady.
 

boozeman

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If the Patriots had better scouting, they might have won seven Superbowls with Brady.
Well, a lot of that got busted up with guys like Pioli, Vitale, Dimitroff etc. left to do their own thing.
 

Angrymesscan

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At first I was surprised by the low number of UDFA, but then I saw the number of snaps we got out of them, it's not that we get a ton of UDFA, it's that the ones we get do play a lot!
 

Cotton

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At first I was surprised by the low number of UDFA, but then I saw the number of snaps we got out of them, it's not that we get a ton of UDFA, it's that the ones we get do play a lot!
I think that may be more of an indication of what we had depth wise more than us having some keen eye for hidden UDFAs.
 

boozeman

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I think that may be more of an indication of what we had depth wise more than us having some keen eye for hidden UDFAs.
That's what has always cracked me up when some people look at the UDFAs.

Well, hurrrr...dat shows we know what we were doin'!

No, actually, it shows that our scouts did their jobs but the effing braintrust didn't listen and took some other bozo.
 

fortsbest

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I agree. It shows what happens when your constantly picking folk in the earlier rounds that aren't on your team after their first contract runs out or even sooner.
 

ravidubey

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I agree. It shows what happens when your constantly picking folk in the earlier rounds that aren't on your team after their first contract runs out or even sooner.
Yep. Not only do those flame outs waste everyone's time they also keep better players off the roster, so all we're forced to play UDFA's.

2011 bringing Harris, Murray, Smith, and Carter really turned the corner for us. But even then Carter, Harris, and Murray might all be gone. I'd like to see all of them return.

2012 reminded us again how badly Jerry can fuck things up (Claiborne for Brockers and Wagner) but we still managed to find Crawford and Hanna out of that hot mess.

We are 12-4 because 2013 (Fred, Williams, Wilcox) and 2014 (Martin, Lawrence, Hitchens) didn't totally suck. I think Wilber, Street, Escobar, and Randle are all going to be very limited role players for us-- not even to the level of Hanna who I think could be asked to play up on any given game a lot like Donny Warren all those years in Washington.

We can only pray 2012 was truly the last of Jerry.
 

Cowboysrock55

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The snaps by players in Rd 4-7 with NE/Seattle and the NFL avg vs Dallas is very telling though.

It pretty much goes with what we've seen...rounds that historically have poor picks and projects by the Cowboys that never really have the talent to make it in the NFL, vs 2 teams with solid FO men who know those rounds can still get NFL caliber starters or at the minimum great rotational depth or the depth to weather injuries.
You have to keep in mind the Patriots have a lot more snaps in general. They are an older team. That's why their snaps in every round and snaps by undrafted free agents are all larger then the Cowboys.
 

Angrymesscan

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You have to keep in mind the Patriots have a lot more snaps in general. They are an older team. That's why their snaps in every round and snaps by undrafted free agents are all larger then the Cowboys.
Huh? NSIS...
 

ravidubey

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You have to keep in mind the Patriots have a lot more snaps in general.
This is a good point. And the Cowboys' offensive identity is based on running fewer and more time-consuming snaps.

But even if you tracked playing time as minutes instead of snaps this chart is mostly a bunch of meaningless, random diarrhea.

A 4th rounder might only be in the lineup because his team's position depth sucks or he might be a bonafide stud. A first round pick might be awful but still forced to start by the GM. Five UDFA's might all play better than five 1st rounders on the other team.

The interesting numbers to me:

1) Dallas has 23 coaches to the Pats 15-- harder to get more coaches on the same page. Pats are all about more with less, even with their coaches. Awesome.
2) The average NFL team has 9 pro-bowlers (I imagine current and former) on it?
3) Dallas is seriously underspending on defense. Not a surprise, but damn.
4) Seattle is spending a lot on offense even with Wilson still on his rookie deal.
 

Clay_Allison

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Rounds 4-7 we either turn it over to special teams or look for raw projects / injured players. We also seem to have fewer players on our board and then target them. That's how you get a 6th round talent in the 4th round, because we're afraid he'll be gone when we pick in the 5th.
Are we still complaining about Hitchens? The guy turned out to be a pretty good 4th round pick.
 

Genghis Khan

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The good news is that usually under Jerry if wehad 11/12/13 wins, it's like "the roster is set! Draft backups and special teams!"

I can't imagine them feeling that way this year.
 

ravidubey

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Are we still complaining about Hitchens? The guy turned out to be a pretty good 4th round pick.
Hitchens is a case where the Cowboys were far better informed than the Kipers of the world. That's the way it should be.

Unfortunately throughout most of Jerry's ownership the Cowboys are usually the ones reaching for bizarre gamble-type picks, guys who've slipped because they are hurt, ex-addicts, head cases, or flat out bipolar. Or worse, like Kavika Pittman, "better" because Jerry desperately needs them to be.
 

L.T. Fan

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Hitchens is a case where the Cowboys were far better informed than the Kipers of the world. That's the way it should be.

Unfortunately throughout most of Jerry's ownership the Cowboys are usually the ones reaching for bizarre gamble-type picks, guys who've slipped because they are hurt, ex-addicts, head cases, or flat out bipolar. Or worse, like Kavika Pittman, "better" because Jerry desperately needs them to be.
You are dreging up some pretty old cases. The draft over the past 3 or 4 years has been pretty decent.
 

ravidubey

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You are dreging up some pretty old cases. The draft over the past 3 or 4 years has been pretty decent.
As I posted elsewhere, the 2013 and 2014 drafts are two huge reasons we went 12-4.

But 2012 and 2009 are proof that Crazy Jerry still rules the roost, and serious gambling on injured players in the second round in both 2010 and 2011 has helped make our defense the inconsistent mess it is.
 
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