2022 Draft Weekend Chatter Thread...

[Cowboysrock55]

It's very true. Some great drafts don't look so good a couple years later. We have seen that ourselves.

There are lots of picks in this draft I like but I think Sam Williams is my favorite. Just purely on a talent and skills ability he is the guy I am most excited about. I've been talking about him for awhile. Now draft grades might call him a reach but frankly I don't care. I get not wanting to risk losing him by waiting until the third.

Would I have loved to get him in the third round, of course. But I think he has special abilities that make me say I don't care. If he turns into the player I think he can be, what does it matter of we took him in the first, second or third round? Grade it badly because you think he was a third round pick. That's fine but I think the guy is one of the best pass rushing prospects in the draft. When he turns into a Randy Gregory level pass rusher no one will care that he was drafted in the second round.

The problem with draft grades is they don't seem to judge the players as much as they judge the draft position compared to where they think the player was going to go.

 

[Simpleton]

It's very true. Some great drafts don't look so good a couple years later. We have seen that ourselves.

There are lots of picks in this draft I like but I think Sam Williams is my favorite. Just purely on a talent as skills ability he is the guy I am most excited about. I've been talking about him for awhile. Now draft grades might call him a reach but frankly I don't care. I get not wanting to risk losing him waiting until the third.

Would I have loved to get him in the third round, of course. But I think he has special abilities that make me say I don't care. If he turns into the player I think he can be, what does it matter of we took him in the first, second or third round? Grade it badly because you think he was a third round pick. That's fine but I think the guy is one of the best pass rushing prospects in the draft. When he turns into a Randy Gregory level pass rusher no one will care that he was drafted in the second round.

The big difference is that the national types look at Williams and make snap judgments that he's a slight reach based on the "off-field" stuff and that he isn't good against the run.

But the run stuff is completely overblown because he was misused as a 3-4 DE basically and the off-field stuff is from a few years ago and he's seemingly been clean since.

So I get the surface level doubt but once you dig just a little, and apply a little context that mostly only Cowboys fans/Cowboys-specific media would have, you see that the doubts are overblown.

 

[Cotton]

Brugler's rankings:

16. Dallas Cowboys

RD., PICK	NAME, POS., SCHOOL
1 (24)	Tyler Smith, OT/G, Tulsa
2 (56)	Sam Williams, Edge, Ole Miss
3 (88)	Jalen Tolbert, WR, South Alabama
4 (129)	Jake Ferguson, TE, Wisconsin
5 (155)	Matt Waletzko, OT, North Dakota
5 (167)	DaRon Bland, CB, Fresno State
5 (176)	Damone Clark, LB, LSU
5 (178)	John Ridgeway, DT, Arkansas
6 (193)	Devin Harper, LB, Oklahoma State

Favorite pick:Jalen Tolbert, WR, South Alabama


Tolbert fell almost a full round later than where I had him ranked and goes to a Cowboys offense where he could make an immediate impact. Though he doesn’t have elite breakaway speed, he has terrific tracking and adjustment skills to be a playmaker, not too dissimilar from Michael Gallup, another third-rounder of the Cowboys a few years back.

Day 3 pick who could surprise: John Ridgeway, NT, Arkansas

After four years at the FCS level, Ridgeway transferred to the SEC for the 2021 season and played at a high level vs. the run. A former high school champion wrestler, he is burly, long and strong with the base power to stand up double teams and be a dependable early-down player — exactly what the Cowboys needed on their defensive line.

Dane Brugler’s ranking of his favorite 2022 NFL Draft classes from 1 to 32

The NFL Draft is about amassing top talent, but the best drafts happen when a team maximizes value. Here's how every team did this weekend.

theathletic.com

 

[NoDak]

The problem with draft grades is they don't seem to judge the players as much as they judge the draft position compared to where they think the player was going to go.

And that right there is reason #1 why draft grades are useless, and anybody that tries to use them to bolster an argument instantly loses any credibility in said argument.

 

[Angrymesscan]

The definition of a “reach” is also funny to me. Would he have been available 10 picks later? Probably. But would he have been available on the teams next pick 32 spots later? Not likely, so he was picked as late as that team could pick him. Would the team love to trade down a bit get picks and draft him later sure, but it’s not that easy.

 

[NoDak]

Would he have been available 10 picks later? Probably.

In this particular case, I'm not so sure. There have been reports there were other teams interested, and in fact, we were working a trade down with Tennessee at that spot until we found out they would have taken him themselves.

 

[Simpleton]

The definition of a “reach” is also funny to me. Would he have been available 10 picks later? Probably. But would he have been available on the teams next pick 32 spots later? Not likely, so he was picked as late as that team could pick him. Would the team love to trade down a bit get picks and draft him later sure, but it’s not that easy.

Smith seemingly wouldn't have lasted more than a few more picks. Williams may have been around for another 15 or so picks, maybe even all the way to our 3rd, but if we had went elsewhere in the 2nd I would've been trying to trade up to make sure we got Williams.

 

[NoDak]

Smith seemingly wouldn't have lasted more than a few more picks. Williams may have been around for another 15 or so picks, maybe even all the way to our 3rd, but if we had went elsewhere in the 2nd I would've been trying to trade up to make sure we got Williams.

If we had taken Tolbert with our 2nd where he was projected to go, then traded up for Williams most people would have been ok with that.

Strange sometimes how shit works out.

 

[bbgun]

The Ravens were stymied for once? Good.

 

[Cowboysrock55]

If we had taken Tolbert with our 2nd where he was projected to go, then traded up for Williams most people would have been ok with that.

Strange sometimes how shit works out.

I don't necessarily agree with the Cowboys strategy in this aspect but that's the sort of stuff they think about on draft day. They look at Williams and Tolbert and sort of say, well which guy do we have a better shot at getting in the third round. If it's Tolbert for example then they take Williams and wait on Tolbert. I think that can be getting a little too cute for my taste though. Because if it doesn't work out then arguably you get the worse player in the second round and are scrambling in the third. Luckily it worked out here.

 

[Bipo]

That's true but I don't see how that has anything to do with this draft.

Cuz everyone was talking about this guy could be a 2 and this other guy could be a 3 like we definitely had a 1. IMO, we don't know that Lamb can be that guy. He drops easy catches, and his ability to run the correct route on option routes is fucking awful. How many times did we say DAK SUCKS cuz Lamb picked the wrong way and made the QB look like a retard?

 

[Genghis Khan]

Cuz everyone was talking about this guy could be a 2 and this other guy could be a 3 like we definitely had a 1. IMO, we don't know that Lamb can be that guy. He drops easy catches, and his ability to run the correct route on option routes is fucking awful. How many times did we say DAK SUCKS cuz Lamb picked the wrong way and made the QB look like a retard?

I don't think anyone is saying to intentionally take a #2 or #3 due to already having a #1. You can only take who's there.

 

[p1_]

 

[Cowboysrock55]

I don't think anyone is saying to intentionally take a #2 or #3 due to already having a #1. You can only take who's there.

I would have traded up for Pickens but I also don't know the guys personality well. I love Tolbert's personality.

 

[Clff15701]

The big difference is that the national types look at Williams and make snap judgments that he's a slight reach based on the "off-field" stuff and that he isn't good against the run.

But the run stuff is completely overblown because he was misused as a 3-4 DE basically and the off-field stuff is from a few years ago and he's seemingly been clean since.

So I get the surface level doubt but once you dig just a little, and apply a little context that mostly only Cowboys fans/Cowboys-specific media would have, you see that the doubts are overblown.

Yea the Cowboys have proven they usually draft well. They may suck at FA and we get killed in trades but McClay has drafting down to a science.

 

[boozeman]

Yea the Cowboys have proven they usually draft well. They may suck at FA and we get killed in trades but McClay has drafting down to a science.

He does the best he can with the cards that are dealt.

McClay has no special eye for talent.

 

[Bipo]

 

[Cotton]

So did Texas Tech basketball. Marcos Santos-Silva signed with the Browns.

 

[Angrymesscan]

So not even a UFA out of UT has signed with a NFL team?
Sheeeeeeeet

 

[Cowboysrock55]

So not even a UFA out of UT has signed with a NFL team?
Sheeeeeeeet

Some top recruits have gone to that school. It's a little sad to think of those players and their careers if they had gone somewhere else.