Cowboys players right now

[Shiningstar]

Are there some players you over hyped and some you under valued and are turning out better than we thought.


For example, i had to much faith in X Woods and Jourdan Lewis.

However Trysten Hill was winning me over, but that might have been more of following the crowd.


your turn

 

[1bigfan13]

Dalton Schultz has obviously surprised. It'll be interesting now to see if he can remain relevant in the offense with Dalton under center.

Practically everyone on defense has underwhelmed but just to name two in particular.....Everson Griffen & Poe. I kind knew what we had in all the returning players but I expected some of these newer faces to have more of an impact than they're having.

Another on offense is Connor McGovern. I was hoping he'd be the real thing and would push for playing time over the other Connor but apparently he's so bad that despite all the OL injuries, he still can't break into the starting rotation.

 

[Simpleton]

Positive Surprises: Dalton Schultz, Tyler Biadasz, Brandon Knight, Aldon Smith, Trysten Hill, Joe Thomas, CeeDee Lamb
Negative Surprises: Basically the entire defense outside of Hill, Smith and Thomas

I might be most excited about Knight since he looks like at least a legitimate long-term swing tackle, and I honestly wouldn't be shocked if he developed into an actual starter (as opposed to an emergency starter). Hill hasn't been great but just the fact that he looks like a usable piece and not a complete washout is positive.

Lamb I knew would be Pro Bowl caliber soon enough but I didn't think it'd be as a rookie.

 

[Rev]

Positive Surprises: Dalton Schultz, Tyler Biadasz, Brandon Knight, Aldon Smith, Trysten Hill, Joe Thomas, CeeDee Lamb
Negative Surprises: Basically the entire defense outside of Hill, Smith and Thomas

I might be most excited about Knight since he looks like at least a legitimate long-term swing tackle, and I honestly wouldn't be shocked if he developed into an actual starter (as opposed to an emergency starter). Hill hasn't been great but just the fact that he looks like a usable piece and not a complete washout is positive.

Lamb I knew would be Pro Bowl caliber soon enough but I didn't think it'd be as a rookie.

Pretty much agree here.

 

[p1_]

 

[Texas Ace]

Positive surprises? Aldon Smith, Schultz, Biadasz, and Joe Thomas.

Negative surprises? The entire defense at every level sans the two players I mentioned.

And speaking of awful defense, what isn't a surprise is how awful our NT and Safety play has been.

So both our safeties and DTs have been terrible? For the umpteenth year in a row?

Noooooo.

How could this be? It's not like we had some sort of warning or sign that both of those positions could be weaknesses.

Here's a crazy idea....

HOW ABOUT WE DRAFT OR SIGN ONE WITH REAL TALENT NEXT SEASON?

Just a thought.

 

[Simpleton]

Next year's safety class should be pretty strong, it lacks top end talent but I think there will be a good amount of guys that go in the 25-50 range.

 

[p1_]

Next year's safety class should be pretty strong, it lacks top end talent but I think there will be a good amount of guys that go in the 25-50 range.

and we wont go near one, god damn it

 

[1bigfan13]

Positive surprises? Aldon Smith, Schultz, Biadasz, and Joe Thomas.

I don't know why I completely forgot about Aldon Smith. He's been the one defensive player who has shown up and played well consistently.

 

[L.T. Fan]

Positive Surprises: Dalton Schultz, Tyler Biadasz, Brandon Knight, Aldon Smith, Trysten Hill, Joe Thomas, CeeDee Lamb
Negative Surprises: Basically the entire defense outside of Hill, Smith and Thomas

I might be most excited about Knight since he looks like at least a legitimate long-term swing tackle, and I honestly wouldn't be shocked if he developed into an actual starter (as opposed to an emergency starter). Hill hasn't been great but just the fact that he looks like a usable piece and not a complete washout is positive.

Lamb I knew would be Pro Bowl caliber soon enough but I didn't think it'd be as a rookie.

Lambs above average entry into the NFL isn’t a surprise to me. I have seen viturally all his performances and I was aware of his conditioning habits. He is a fabulous conditioned athlete. He has had the benefit of having very good passing QBs and I hope that continues but it will be another learning experience he has to deal with to get used to Dalton and vice versa. I expect his production to go down for a couple of games but then get back to his receiving capabilities.

 

[Cowboysrock55]

Positive surprises? Aldon Smith, Schultz, Biadasz, and Joe Thomas.

Negative surprises? The entire defense at every level sans the two players I mentioned.

And speaking of awful defense, what isn't a surprise is how awful our NT and Safety play has been.

So both our safeties and DTs have been terrible? For the umpteenth year in a row?

Noooooo.

How could this be? It's not like we had some sort of warning or sign that both of those positions could be weaknesses.

Here's a crazy idea....

HOW ABOUT WE DRAFT OR SIGN ONE WITH REAL TALENT NEXT SEASON?

Just a thought.

There were a bunch of free agent NT options out there. Instead we opted to sit it out and pick up what was left. Which was Poe, and obviously he was left around for a reason. We just never take the position seriously. I had hoped with Marinelli gone we would but it's like our teams mentality is still the same. And in the new system the lack of a true NT is even that much more glaring because we aren't just shooting gaps like last year. We need that true NT more in this defense and instead we have shit.

 

[Simpleton]

We can get rid of Poe after this year with basically no dead money. I'd go after DJ Jones, Corey Peters or Dalvin Tomlinson in free agency next year, I'd imagine we could get either for not much more than what we're currently paying Poe.

 

[ravidubey]

We can get rid of Poe after this year with basically no dead money. I'd go after DJ Jones, Corey Peters or Dalvin Tomlinson in free agency next year, I'd imagine we could get either for not much more than what we're currently paying Poe.

Poe and McCoy were the equivalent of cheap prosthetics for two missing limbs.

Poe has too high a center of gravity and without the energy of youth to compensate he's mailing it in and it shows. Some plays he actually does his job, but the real problem is Crawford at 3T. No penetration and getting blown off the line by a single guy more often than not. He needs to be benched, I don't care how badly he feels about it.

Investing in OL, RB, WRs, and QB gets you flashy results, but if you want wins to accompany you have to have guys like Fletcher Cox and the depth to spell them.

 

[Simpleton]

Poe and McCoy were the equivalent of cheap prosthetics for two missing limbs.

Poe has too high a center of gravity and without the energy of youth to compensate he's mailing it in and it shows. Some plays he actually does his job, but the real problem is Crawford at 3T. No penetration and getting blown off the line by a single guy more often than not. He needs to be benched, I don't care how badly he feels about it.

Investing in OL, RB, WRs, and QB gets you flashy results, but if you want wins to accompany you have to have guys like Fletcher Cox and the depth to spell them.

Yea, we're building the depth but we need to find that one interior stud that other guys can revolve around. With that said, in the 1st I'd basically go with the best available OL/DL/LB/S.

I'd consider CB only if they're by far the BPA and a legit ballhawk (Caleb Farley perhaps).

 

[Chocolate Lab]

Just watched the game and tried to focus on the D-line. Poe is horrific. Just stands straight up and holds his guy for a second or two, then gives up. When he gets pushed back, he doesn't even try to run to the ball. You wouldn't lose anything if you cut him. Maybe hold on to him strictly for goal line and short yardage. Woods is far superior to him. (I always thought Woods was more classically decent than most anyway.)

To answer the OP, Schultz is better than I thought. I'd hoped McGovern and Reggie Robinson might add something, but nothing yet even with injuries.

 

[Texas Ace]

There were a bunch of free agent NT options out there. Instead we opted to sit it out and pick up what was left. Which was Poe, and obviously he was left around for a reason. We just never take the position seriously. I had hoped with Marinelli gone we would but it's like our teams mentality is still the same. And in the new system the lack of a true NT is even that much more glaring because we aren't just shooting gaps like last year. We need that true NT more in this defense and instead we have shit.

I don't understand why we've gone so long as not valuing the defensive tackle and safety positions, but like you, I was hoping that was going to change with the new staff but it hasn't.... At least not for year one.

After the Rams playoff loss, I thought for sure they would finally address it after seeing the way they ran all over us. But not even then did the interior of the line raise any concerns.

I'm just not sure what has to happen for them to finally take those areas seriously.

 

[p1_]

I don't understand why we've gone so long as not valuing the defensive tackle and safety positions, but like you, I was hoping that was going to change with the new staff but it hasn't.... At least not for year one.

After the Rams playoff loss, I thought for sure they would finally address it after seeing the way they ran all over us. But not even then did the interior of the line raise any concerns.

I'm just not sure what has to happen for them to finally take those areas seriously.

Im hopeful that the reality of this horrible talent deficiency serves as a wake up call to the new administration. They should have been fully aware coming in the door.

 

[Cowboysrock55]

I don't understand why we've gone so long as not valuing the defensive tackle and safety positions, but like you, I was hoping that was going to change with the new staff but it hasn't.... At least not for year one.

After the Rams playoff loss, I thought for sure they would finally address it after seeing the way they ran all over us. But not even then did the interior of the line raise any concerns.

I'm just not sure what has to happen for them to finally take those areas seriously.

I think a part of the problem is obviously just Nolan. When he came here he didn't have a list of what he wanted. Some defensive coordinators come in and they say, I need a big power DT, or I need a really fast and penetrating DT. Nolan kind of came in and said just give me good football players and I'll fit the scheme to my talent. Which is great but you still need certain things to have a good defense. Maybe in year two it will be a little different where the coaches can kind of start to recognize the type of players and talent they need to fix the problems. It's hard when you're new and bringing in a new system.

 

[shoop]

The only problem with "give me good players and I'll make them fit" is that the players have to be able to comprise some sort of a system. You also have to be able to evaluate talent and see how it interacts. Maybe if Poe and Mccoy had both made it to the season they would have played off of each other but his play has been atrocious. Also you would have thought Griffin would play out of his mind to work for his next contract but it would be generous to call him mediocre. If this D-line ever did anything we would be able to win some games.

Original question: Schultz has stepped up, BIadasz is what we hoped he would be. Ceedee may have exceeded expectations. Diggs is about what we hoped. He needs to improve but he has played fairly well.

D-law has no improvement over last year so far and a lot of us agreed he shouldn't have gotten the extension. Our linebacking core is rough but Joe Thomas has held up pretty well. Griffin, Poe, and Smith have been disappointing.

We have 1 interception and 10 sacks through 5 games. Without Aldon Smith the number would only be 6. Pathetic

 

[Cotton]

Dalton Schultz has obviously surprised. It'll be interesting now to see if he can remain relevant in the offense with Dalton under center.

Practically everyone on defense has underwhelmed but just to name two in particular.....Everson Griffen & Poe. I kind knew what we had in all the returning players but I expected some of these newer faces to have more of an impact than they're having.

Another on offense is Connor McGovern. I was hoping he'd be the real thing and would push for playing time over the other Connor but apparently he's so bad that despite all the OL injuries, he still can't break into the starting rotation.

Dalton to Dalton, baby!