2022 Draft Weekend Chatter Thread...

[Plan9Misfit]

We drafted a lot of angry freak athletes.

I love players who play permanently pissed off. Embrace The Hate, my friend. Embrace The Hate.

 

[Genghis Khan]

He's just consistently an idiot

 

[Cotton]

He's just consistently an idiot

Though, I do agree with him that Tolbert was the best pick.

 

[bbgun]

SI:

Dallas Cowboys
GRADE: C+

• Round 1, Pick 24: Tyler Smith, OT, Tulsa
• Round 2, Pick 56: Sam Williams, OLB, Ole Miss
• Round 3, Pick 88: Jalen Tolbert, WR, South Alabama
• Round 4, Pick 129: Jake Ferguson, TE, Wisconsin
• Round 5, Pick 155 (from Cleveland): Matt Waletzko, OT, North Dakota
• Round 5, Pick 167: DaRon Bland, CB, Fresno State
• Round 5, Pick 176: Damone Clark, LB, LSU
• Round 5, Pick 178: John Ridgeway, DT, Arkansas
• Round 6, Pick 193 (from Cleveland): Devin Harper, LB, Oklahoma State

ANALYSIS: The Cowboys’ draft was fine, but seemed to do nothing to separate them from an NFC East field quickly gaining ground. This was a two-year window in which Dallas had the opportunity to step on the throat of a fledgling division. Instead, the Cowboys exposed some of their most significant weaknesses. Dallas spent their first pick replenishing the offensive line and their off-ball linebacking corps, two units among the best in football for a short time before they aged out. Williams is an attractive chess piece for defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, who has generated new life for his ability to isolate and empower pass rushers. Ferguson eventually could add some pop to Dallas’s offense as a secondary playmaker. Coming from a Wisconsin program where blocking is a necessity, it seemed like a lot of his routes came as he recovered from chipping duties at the line of scrimmage.

 

[p1_]

That’s a pretty gripping analysis.

 

[Plan9Misfit]

SI:

Dallas Cowboys
GRADE: C+

• Round 1, Pick 24: Tyler Smith, OT, Tulsa
• Round 2, Pick 56: Sam Williams, OLB, Ole Miss
• Round 3, Pick 88: Jalen Tolbert, WR, South Alabama
• Round 4, Pick 129: Jake Ferguson, TE, Wisconsin
• Round 5, Pick 155 (from Cleveland): Matt Waletzko, OT, North Dakota
• Round 5, Pick 167: DaRon Bland, CB, Fresno State
• Round 5, Pick 176: Damone Clark, LB, LSU
• Round 5, Pick 178: John Ridgeway, DT, Arkansas
• Round 6, Pick 193 (from Cleveland): Devin Harper, LB, Oklahoma State

ANALYSIS: The Cowboys’ draft was fine, but seemed to do nothing to separate them from an NFC East field quickly gaining ground. This was a two-year window in which Dallas had the opportunity to step on the throat of a fledgling division. Instead, the Cowboys exposed some of their most significant weaknesses. Dallas spent their first pick replenishing the offensive line and their off-ball linebacking corps, two units among the best in football for a short time before they aged out. Williams is an attractive chess piece for defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, who has generated new life for his ability to isolate and empower pass rushers. Ferguson eventually could add some pop to Dallas’s offense as a secondary playmaker. Coming from a Wisconsin program where blocking is a necessity, it seemed like a lot of his routes came as he recovered from chipping duties at the line of scrimmage.

So, they admit that there was benefit to replenishing the failing areas of the team, which were also our blatant areas of weakness, but that didn’t warrant a high grade. In other words, since we didn’t go after the “sexier” picks (read, players whom this guy knew the names of), it clearly means that the other teams - all of whom are missing a QB - improved more than we did. Basically, addressing glaring weaknesses and adding players who will immediately contribute to winning doesn’t matter.

Got it.

 

[Simpleton]

My overall grade for the class would be a very solid B, if it weren't for the fact that they were clearly targeting certain positions come hell or high water it'd be a B+, but they just passed up a little too much value at a few spots to fill their pre-determined needs in my opinion.

For example, I'm 100% convinced that one of the main reasons they passed up Johnson at 24 was because they were locked in on Williams in the 2nd or 3rd. But be that as it may, in a vacuum the class is really solid, could be better of course, but really solid throughout with guys like Clark/Ridgeway late on day 3.

Random Thoughts:

• Sam Williams isn't as bad against the run as he's billed and the main problem is that Mississippi basically lined him up as a 3-4 DE the majority of the time. Their defense is kind of similar to Oklahoma in that the guys with their hands down are lined up completely within the OT box in a sort of 2-gapping system. Even in clear passing situations they usually only lined up 3 guys with their hands down and would often kind of just mush rush. Williams very rarely pinned his ears back and attacked the OT's upfield shoulder to capture the edge, which is about all he'll be doing here. The fact that he put up so many sacks despite being lined up like this is pretty astounding. In terms of the run, the effort is there, you can see the strength to hold the POA at times, but it'd basically be like if we lined Randy Gregory up as a 3-4 DE, how would that have gone?
• In terms of Williams' "off-field" issues, I'd be more concerned if it were a trend like with Joseph (kicked out of LSU, played like 8 games at Kentucky then sat down for the last few games of the year due to not being bought in or whatever) or if it happened like 3 months ago. But it was a single, isolated, potentially even non-incident that happened 2 years ago. He's played two full seasons since without an issue, so the narrative seems a bit overcooked.
• Damone Clark was pure theft, almost as much as Dean was for the Eagles in the 3rd. If he was healthy I would've been fine with him in the 2nd. 1st team All-SEC, ideal size, ran a sub-4.6, tested well otherwise, team captain, wore the 18. If he comes back healthy we could really have something with him and Cox, with Parsons moving all over.
• After watching Tyler Smith closely and feeling more optimistic about him I went and watched Penning to see if I was losing my mind or just being overly optimistic. Long story short, I don't see a huge difference between the two. Penning is way more consistent with his technique but isn't nearly as light on his feet as Smith, and you see the same thing with Penning that you see with Smith in terms of a ridiculous number of penalties (I think they had roughly the same number of penalties last year), over-aggressiveness causing penalties and so forth. In hindsight, no chance I'd have given up a 3rd (and especially not Tolbert) to get Penning instead of Smith.
• I love that they're carpet-bombing OT with guys like Waltezko even though we have Ball and obviously Tyler Smith, to go along with Tyron Smith/Steele as starters. They're basically doing everything they can short of spending a top 10-15 pick on a guy to plan ahead for Tyron's inevitable retirement in 2 years or so. It's also a hedge against Steele not developing further and kind of just settling in as an average RT.
• I like Ridgeway but I wish they'd look at spending a premium pick on a big fucker at DT. Travis Jones in the 2nd would've been perfect, and we probably could've still finagled a way to get Williams/Tolbert through trading up. I'd happily give up Ferguson, Bland and Ridgeway if it meant getting Jones.
• Tolbert's size/ability to win downfield on the outside is a nice fit since it could keep Lamb primarily in the slot.

 

[Genghis Khan]

Dallas spent their first pick replenishing the offensive line and their off-ball linebacking corps

Do they mean Parsons here? Because A. that's a dumb way of looking at it (off-ball linebacking), and B. last year has nothing to do with this year's grade one way or another.

Also, pretty sure replenishing the OL is really important.

Some of these evaluations are like a race to be the biggest moron.

 

[NoDak]

• I love that they're carpet-bombing OT with guys like Waltezko even though we have Ball and obviously Tyler Smith, to go along with Tyron Smith/Steele as starters. They're basically doing everything they can short of spending a top 10-15 pick on a guy to plan ahead for Tyron's inevitable retirement in 2 years or so. It's also a hedge against Steele not developing further and kind of just settling in as an average RT.

Nice write up. This part especially stuck out to me. This is something we've all complained about for years. How the team is more reactive than proactive when it comes to team building. Wait until a problem is already here, then panic to try and fix it. Guys like Waletzko, Farniok and Ball might not work out. But they each have the measurables and ability to do so. It's nice to see us bring in some young guys with upside to give them time to work into stepping in, instead of just throwing them in the starting lineup and watching them either sink or swim.

Not sure if this is our FO finally figuring it out, or a product of Fat Mike. Either way, it's nice to finally see.

 

[Bill Shatner]

 

[lostxn]

Am I the only one enthusiastic by the FA signing of Texas Tech K Jonathan Garibay?

Kicked a 62 yard walk off winner in college, in 2021, he went 15-of-16 on field goal attempts and 49-of-50 on PATs after being called upon in 12 games … was a perfect 14-for-14 on each of his attempts within 50 yards.

 

[Rev]

Am I the only one enthusiastic by the FA signing of Texas Tech K Jonathan Garibay?

Kicked a 62 yard walk off winner in college, in 2021, he went 15-of-16 on field goal attempts and 49-of-50 on PATs after being called upon in 12 games … was a perfect 14-for-14 on each of his attempts within 50 yards.

You arent the only one but @boozeman thinks he has a douche vibe going on. That in itself should lead you to love the signing but he is also a very good kicker.

 

[NoDak]

Am I the only one enthusiastic by the FA signing of Texas Tech K Jonathan Garibay?

Nope. I have high hopes that he can come in and take the job running. We certainly need him to.



But saying that, I'm not looking forward to reading RRRAAAAAAIIIIIIIDDDDDDEEEEERRRRRRRR after every extra point and kickoff.



Notice I left the S off, @Iamtdg ?

 

[boozeman]

But saying that, I'm not looking forward to reading RRRAAAAAAIIIIIIIDDDDDDEEEEERRRRRRRR after every extra point and kickoff.

But why? It is like this guy.

 

[Cowboysrock55]

Nope. I have high hopes that he can come in and take the job running. We certainly need him to.



But saying that, I'm not looking forward to reading RRRAAAAAAIIIIIIIDDDDDDEEEEERRRRRRRR after every extra point and kickoff.



Notice I left the S off, @Iamtdg ?

So this is why I don't understand kickers. This guy sounds great. But the LSU kicker was the top guy in the draft, Cade York? The only kicker drafted to be exact. How the hell does one decide who is the best? Why not Dicker the kicker? Iowa's Shudak was great in college. But hell if I know what he will do in the NFL.

 

[Cowboysrock55]

But why? It is like this guy.

Man clearly said Raaaaaaiders

 

[Smitty]

My gut feeling about this draft is that it will end up with significantly more disappointments than what we think as we sit here today.

 

[lostxn]

My gut feeling about this draft is that it will end up with significantly more disappointments than what we think as we sit here today.

That's true of every draft. If we come out of here with a couple starters, couple depth guy and a kicker we're doing well.

 

[NoDak]

That's true of every draft. If we come out of here with a couple starters, couple depth guy and a kicker we're doing well.

Absolutely. But the reason this draft is better than most we've seen around here, is there are no Nahshon Wright's. No WTF picks. Each and every guy chosen has legitimate upside and talent. Will they all make it? Of course not. But at least we can say that they all are actual NFL prospects with a chance to.

 

[boozeman]

This was a strange draft to watch unfold and I hope my initial feelings are true and not just the by-product of a sober fever dream.

Smith will probably be okay. He really needs to be a guard and then just let him go from there. If he grows into a tackle, great. Clean up some technical things and we have a mean left guard.

Williams can be very very good. The way he was used in college didn't do him many favors in terms of his draft stock, but it did expose him to interior work which a lot of edges don't get put into.

I am not into Tolbert all that much. I know some of you like him a lot more than me, but I just don't see an extra gear to him. He can flow around and it lulled people to sleep at his level of competition. I do think he is wired right for a WR, which is a plus.

Ferguson is easily my least favorite draft choice. I don't think he is dogshit, but I doubt he makes it to a second contract.

Waletzko has tremendous upside. I expected him to go much earlier based on his tools. You can't ask for a better frame to pack on some pounds and get yourself a starting tackle.

Bland is eh, okay to me. But this was a bad corner class to begin with. He might have gotten lost playing for Fresno State. If the whispers about switching to FS are true, we got ourselves another Reggie Robinson. Just let him compete at corner. Keep it simple.

Clark is the difference between this group being great or just okay. I really hope Jerry saw the X-rays and approved.

I like the Ridgeway pick a good bit. It is like they went looking for an Urban clone and found one. The method in which he will be used is exciting in comparison to Bohanna, who simply can't move.

Harper is tailor-made for STs, claims he loves it and lives it. Always room for a guy like that.

The UDFA class was pretty strong in comparison to how we looked like we have been mailing it in over the past four years or so.

Lindstrom, Bell, Tafua, Thomas and Fryfogle should be PS guys at least.