Mailbag: Is This Already One Of Most Successful Drafts?

[boozeman]

Mailbag: Is This Already One Of Most Successful Drafts?

Posted 6 hours ago


GREGG RADLEY
WESTMINSTER, CO
This has to be one of the most successful drafts the Cowboys have had in quite some time already, right?

Nick:Way too early to call. I’ve seen this before where it looks that way and it all changes. But if Wilcox and Frederick continue to start as expected, then it’s a good sign. There’s a good chance four of these rookies will be competing for starting jobs by next year’s camp, along with Holloman and Terrance Williams. So far it looks good.





David: The early returns are encouraging, but let’s not be too hasty. Travis Frederick has been serviceable through three games, Gavin Escobar caught his first career touchdown and J.J. Wilcox looks set to be a starter at safety from here on out. But the jury is still out on those guys, and they have made sizable contributions at a quick rate. What does that say about the other four picks? DeVonte Holloman has a fumble recovery, and Terrance Williams has 60 receiving yards, but that’s about it. It’s going to take a while before we know exactly what the Cowboys found with these seven guys. But the future looks pretty bright.

DEON WHITNER
JACKSONVILLE, NC
How do you think Barry Church is doing this season so far? I believe he has been the most underrated player on this defense; he has forced fumbles, broken up pass plays, and stuffed runs for short and no gains.

Nick:I can’t really argue with you there. As for as being

underrated, I think you’re right. He is a good player and around the ball a lot. We haven’t seen this team tested much by quarterbacks. Eli Manning had a huge day stat-wise, and then Alex Smith and Sam Bradford followed that. If we get past Denver and still like what we’ve seen from Church, that’s a big deal.

David: I don’t know if Barry Church will ever be that Ed Reed-type of safety who pops out of nowhere to intercept the ball and embarrass the opposing quarterback seven or eight times per season. But he’s got two traits that I really admire in a safety: firstly, he’s always around the ball, and secondly, he hits people – hard. It doesn’t seem to matter if the play is on his man or to an opposite side of the field, Church seems to always find his way to be around the ball. Once he gets there, he either lays some wood or he finds a way to get involved. Check out his fumble return touchdown against New York. He came in after the tackle had been made, but he still found a way to make a play.

 

[Carp]

Very happy with the draft...even Escobar and Webb.

 

[dallen]

Given that the bar is so low, yes it is one of more successful recent drafts

 

[Cotton]

Given that the bar is so low, yes it is one of more successful recent drafts

Sad, but true.

 

[Smitty]

Way too early, though.

The 2002 draft looked great early on.... Roy Williams, Andre Gurode, Antonio Bryant, Derek Ross, Jamar Martin, Pete Hunter, Tyson Walter.

Thought we had 4 or 5 starters and 2 or 3 quality contributors there.

All fell apart. Within 2 years, most of it was gone and Williams was in decline already.

 

[ravidubey]

Way too early, though.

The 2002 draft looked great early on.... Roy Williams, Andre Gurode, Antonio Bryant, Derek Ross, Jamar Martin, Pete Hunter, Tyson Walter.

Thought we had 4 or 5 starters and 2 or 3 quality contributors there.

All fell apart. Within 2 years, most of it was gone and Williams was in decline already.

Williams was special for a while as was Gurode. Bryant flashed brilliance then would head-case out and alienate himself. Overall he had an average NFL career and played for most of the decade of the 00's.

Dallas' problem is they take too many chances on head cases like Bryant and Ross and always reach for guys like Hunter when they should grab solid value instead. Because they did that all the time in the early 2000's, they never build the stable environment those "head-case" players need to really excel.

Even Billichick knows to avoid too many head-cases at once. Jerry Jones never understood that, though I think Jason Garrett might.

 

[Simpleton]

Way too early, though.

The 2002 draft looked great early on.... Roy Williams, Andre Gurode, Antonio Bryant, Derek Ross, Jamar Martin, Pete Hunter, Tyson Walter.

Thought we had 4 or 5 starters and 2 or 3 quality contributors there.

All fell apart. Within 2 years, most of it was gone and Williams was in decline already.

Yea but as ravid points out I don't think we have any headcases in this group like we obviously did in that one. If Ross and Bryant had the demeanor of the guys in this years class they probably would have been long term starters, but they were basically idiots so that's what you get.

As for this class, I think Frederick and Wilcox will be long term starters, perhaps even Pro Bowlers but I think it's premature to be too thrilled with the rest of the guys.

Escobar has flashed that he could be a weapon in the pass game but we all know how this 2 TE stuff works with us. Williams has been outplayed by Harris and has seemingly only played due to his draft status, although I do like his long term potential as a number 2 behind Bryant. Webb and Randle have been invisible and Holloman is basically just a special teamer, although I like him as a potential starter in year 2 or 3.

All in all, this is a solid class as I don't think we have any Jamar Wall's or Caleb McSurdy's who are completely useless but it's too early to start up with how great of a class it is so far.

 

[Smitty]

I am not down on Williams at all. Being outplayed by a talented third year WR (even though that WR was a 6th round pick) is no shame when you are a rookie third rounder.

Williams will be a solid starter someday, I'd bet.

 

[UncleMilti]

I think Fredrick and Wilcox will be solid....not sure about Williams and definitely not sold on Escobar.

 

[BipolarFuk]

2013 will live in infamy.

It is the year that brought the Dallas Cowboys Black Wiener and Golden Cock.

 

[ravidubey]

Williams looks lean and tall and has shown a dimension of deep speed we've been missing for some time. Even still he's not a burner, but it looks like he translates whatever his track speed is well onto the field.

His lankiness might give him the ability to turn and separate better in tight spaces, but the flips side is it also makes it hard to break tackles though. So I see him playing on the outside only.

If only Tony Romo knew how to throw regular fade patterns, I think this kid would go get them. Back shoulder at the sidelines though should be money for this guy.