Overhaulin the Dallas Cowboys

[UK Cowboy]

Agree, but do you think that ever happens again? We need to find a QB.
Yeah we have some holes, but we have a lot of talent too. I bet if Scandrick was around we wouldn't have seen all those late game collapses. Need another corner, keep Jones at FS. Find someone to play the 1 tech that can make some plays. And another receiver. Don't all need to be studs, but just improve a little at those spots. Cut Carr and Hayden who do nothing but hurt us and find somebody young players. So sick of watching those two get PT and do nothing with it. But, which NFC East team doesn't have a list of needs as big as ours? We really are a payer or two from the playoffs and they are already on the team, just need to stay healthy...

This is why there won't be an overhaul. If Romo is healthy, the Cowboys will be legit Super Bowl contenders. Of course, if Romo gets hurt, we are looking at 4-12 again. It will be interesting to see how Jerry plays it in the draft. Does he go after a potential franchise QB with a top 5 pick or try and add a piece that could make an immediate impact and go for a ring? Knowing Jerry, I would bet on the latter, which is why, while I think bringing Johnny Football here is complete nonsense, it may well happen

 

[fordman84]

Here is my offseason wishlist:

1a) Draft a QB in the first if a clear cut Top QB is available
1b) If not, then take the best CB/S if we have one rated that high
1c) trade back to a later 1st if neither of them are there
2) Get a new RB, but not in the 1st round. I don't trust Top 10 RBs, neither does Jerry I don't think. Aim for 3rd or 4th
3) Don't resign Hardy. Let Gregory grow into the spot and get the side show out of here
4) Draft another RB in the 6th or 7th. We need two RB's.
5) If we didn't get a QB in the 1st round, get one in the 2nd round.
6) Which ever 3rd or 4th rounder we don't spend on a RB, spend it on an ILB. Rolando can't be trusted, and Lee can't hold up


Anything else, don't care about. I need to go read up on what our cap looks like to figure out if we can be players in FA. I'd like to see us address NT in FA. We don't want a young kid there, so go find the biggest + fattest + meanest NT on the market and sign him. Overpay if we must. But we need the run stuff and double team drawer. Is BJ Raji free this year?

 

[snookdad]

Here is my offseason wishlist:

1a) Draft a QB in the first if a clear cut Top QB is available
1b) If not, then take the best CB/S if we have one rated that high
1c) trade back to a later 1st if neither of them are there
2) Get a new RB, but not in the 1st round. I don't trust Top 10 RBs, neither does Jerry I don't think. Aim for 3rd or 4th
3) Don't resign Hardy. Let Gregory grow into the spot and get the side show out of here
4) Draft another RB in the 6th or 7th. We need two RB's.
5) If we didn't get a QB in the 1st round, get one in the 2nd round.
6) Which ever 3rd or 4th rounder we don't spend on a RB, spend it on an ILB. Rolando can't be trusted, and Lee can't hold up


Anything else, don't care about. I need to go read up on what our cap looks like to figure out if we can be players in FA. I'd like to see us address NT in FA. We don't want a young kid there, so go find the biggest + fattest + meanest NT on the market and sign him. Overpay if we must. But we need the run stuff and double team drawer. Is BJ Raji free this year?

I like it the only thing I do different is draft a RB in 2nd or 3rd. Would have like post. picky right lol

 

[Bmurph]

Well JJ acknowledges it, but will he do anything about it?

Jerry Jones: Cowboys have more problems than Tony Romo's health
By Jared Dubin | Staff Writer

December 14, 2015 9:25 am ET

For most of this nightmare of a season, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has been singing the same tune: everything would be different if Tony Romo were healthy. He's alternately blamed himself for not properly addressing the backup quarterback situation and the coaching staff for not finding a way to win at least one game without their starter (prior to last Monday's win over Washington; the Cowboys went 0-7 during Romo's initial absence), but the overall message has been largely the same.

After Sunday's 28-7 loss to the Green Bay Packers, Jones finally admitted his team has more issues than just the stabiity of Romo's fragile clavicle. Asked whether Romo's absence was the only thing keeping his team from being in the same class as top NFC seeds Carolina and Arizona, Jerry demurred.

“I don't have the heart to put us in with those clubs right now, because I don't want to -- we've got more work to do than just get Romo healthy,” Jones said, per the team's official web site.

“We've got a lot of work. I want you know that there's some things that we have to do better for us to have a healthy Romo and have an effective Dez Bryant,” he continued. “There's some things we've got to really address and do better as we look over these last few games and the future. We need to do them.”










Dallas' problems go beyond Tony Romo. (USATSI)








Just off the top of my head, a few areas of concern: rush defense, pass coverage, pass catching, special teams, and in-game management of the score and the clock.

Dallas allowed Eddie Lacy and James Starks to carry the ball 35 times for 195 yards and two touchdowns on Sunday. The Cowboys are allowing 113.8 rushing yards per game, which is in the bottom half of the league. They've yielded 13 rushing touchdowns, fourth-most in the NFL. They came into the game 21st in Football Outsiders' Adjusted Line Yards against (which assigns credit in the running game based on a percentage of yards gained on each run), 30th in Power Success (the percentage of time that, on 3rd or 4th down with 2 or fewer yards to go, a team allows a conversion for a first down or more), and 27th in 2nd Level Yards per attempt (yards gained per run between 5 and 10 yards beyond the line of scrimmage). Those numbers highlight the issues at every level of the run defense.

The Cowboys have allowed the fourth-fewest passing yards in the league this season, but they have also faced the seventh-fewest number of pass attempts thanks to their ball control offense and the fact that they've been losing most of the time they've been on the field this year. They're 21st in completion percentage allowed and 19th in yards per attempt. Brandon Carr has been better this season than his first few in Dallas but has still not nearly played up to the level of his contract. Morris Claiborne has once again been one of the NFL's worst cornerbacks. And all of Dallas' safeties have been routinely victimized in the passing game.

Dez Bryant and Jason Witten are the Cowboys' only above-average passing game weapons with Romo out, and Bryant has been dreadful this season -- even accounting for his injury. He dropped three passes against Green Bay on Sunday, finishing with just one catch for nine yards. Cole Beasley's role has all but disappeared without Romo around, and the same is true of Terrance Williams. Gavin Escobar has been a complete non-factor in the passing game pretty much since he's been drafted. Beyond Bryant, there is almost no explosion factor in this group.

Kicker Dan Bailey has again been excellent, and punter Chris Jones has had a nice season as well, but Dallas' return and return coverage units have left much to be desired.

And that's all before we get into talking about head coach Jason Garrett's various clock, play call, and management issues, which would honestly take a dedicated post to really dig into. The point here, as Jerry finally said: this is a team that has a whole lot of things to fix by the time next season starts, beyond just getting their starting quarterback healthy.

 

[fordman84]

We aren't any one player away from a legit contender. We are going to need to address QB depth, RB and RB depth, and then depth at every defensive position.

Just hope Jerry doesn't look at it that way and draft for special teams again.

 

[tylerTX88]

Rest of season play the other QBs find out what they are. Grab a run stuffer, draft a QB if one is there but for gods sake don't reach and don't bring in manziel. Lose Hardy. Need DB, LB, RB..
But really just losing Romo, Scandrick and Dunbar would have been enough to screw this season. Sadly I agree with the earlier post that the defense broke this week, it looks like they did.
Mostly I hope jerry lets this season go ( what is the point of thinking we aren't eliminated yet. They would do nothing if they got there) and starts to find out what he has on the roster and what we need.
Have to say as good as romo is I never thought this team would be soooo bad without him.

 

[UK Cowboy]

Big offseason for the Cowboys. Pass rushers and cover guys have to be the priority on D. The lack of sacks and lack of picks is the difference between this D being pretty good and really good. On offense, it's simple, give Romo a bell cow RB and the offense is Super Bowl worthy. So DE, CB, RB and QB, and lots of them....

 

[Eastbay]

Its simple take BPA @ every pick. This team has holes everywhere & needs an influx of talent....

 

[PhoenixEagles1]

This is why there won't be an overhaul. If Romo is healthy, the Cowboys will be legit Super Bowl contenders. Of course, if Romo gets hurt, we are looking at 4-12 again. It will be interesting to see how Jerry plays it in the draft. Does he go after a potential franchise QB with a top 5 pick or try and add a piece that could make an immediate impact and go for a ring? Knowing Jerry, I would bet on the latter, which is why, while I think bringing Johnny Football here is complete nonsense, it may well happen

Really? THe only difference between the Cowboys and the Cards/Carolina/Seattle/Patriots/Steelers is a 36 year old Tony Romo. I would have agreed with you in the start of the season but this team has proven it has a lot of holes. The issues run deeper than an injured stud QB IMO.

 

[UK Cowboy]

Really? THe only difference between the Cowboys and the Cards/Carolina/Seattle/Patriots/Steelers is a 36 year old Tony Romo. I would have agreed with you in the start of the season but this team has proven it has a lot of holes. The issues run deeper than an injured stud QB IMO.

No it doesn't. Look at the losses Dallas has this year with Weeden/Cassel at QB. 4th quarter leads in 4-5 losses, and you don't think a healthy Romo changes that? This squad is 4-9, but Romo has only lost one game he started, and that was against an undefeated Carolina team on 3 days rest when it was obvious he wasn't all the way back when he was hurt again in that game. If Romo were healthy all year, this team would be 10-3 or 9-4 and already Division Champs.

 

[fordman84]

Its simple take BPA @ every pick. This team has holes everywhere & needs an influx of talent....

I'd agree with most picks, but we do have specific needs. Even if the BPA isn't a QB or RB at a certain pick, we need to get at least one of each.

 

[ArlingtonCowboys100]

What I find sad is the 89 cowboys defense could occasionally get a pick from the secondary . At this point I question whether jerrah keeps this coaching staff intact.

 

[fordman84]

I really don't want to see our coaches shaken up. Sure there are some teams that catch lightning in a bottle and win in their first 1 or 2 years together, but you gotta give a staff a chance to get used to each other and get their players in. I REALLY hope Jerry gives this staff another year at least to see if they have anything.

But it would be about right to get a new DC in here and decide to go back to the 3-4

 

[ArlingtonCowboys100]

Here is my offseason wishlist:

1a) Draft a QB in the first if a clear cut Top QB is available
1b) If not, then take the best CB/S if we have one rated that high
1c) trade back to a later 1st if neither of them are there
2) Get a new RB, but not in the 1st round. I don't trust Top 10 RBs, neither does Jerry I don't think. Aim for 3rd or 4th
3) Don't resign Hardy. Let Gregory grow into the spot and get the side show out of here
4) Draft another RB in the 6th or 7th. We need two RB's.
5) If we didn't get a QB in the 1st round, get one in the 2nd round.
6) Which ever 3rd or 4th rounder we don't spend on a RB, spend it on an ILB. Rolando can't be trusted, and Lee can't hold up


Anything else, don't care about. I need to go read up on what our cap looks like to figure out if we can be players in FA. I'd like to see us address NT in FA. We don't want a young kid there, so go find the biggest + fattest + meanest NT on the market and sign him. Overpay if we must. But we need the run stuff and double team drawer. Is BJ Raji free this year?

I agree with you on hardy. His production does not match the contract and really looks like he is not into the game. Time to move on and it could be before the season ends

 

[fordman84]

I agree with you on hardy. His production does not match the contract and really looks like he is not into the game. Time to move on and it could be before the season ends

Question for the NFL gurus here...if we don't resign him this year and someone else does, are we eligible for a comp pick?

 

[jarntt]

Question for the NFL gurus here...if we don't resign him this year and someone else does, are we eligible for a comp pick?

Depends on the entire picture of who we sign versus who we lose.

 

[fordman84]

Depends on the entire picture of who we sign versus who we lose.

yeah I knew the whole picture was taken into account, but I didn't know if he would even count towards the compensation system. I guess what I meant was do you credit for losing a player you only had one year? I think we would, but like baseball you can't make a qualifying offer to someone you pick up midseason, didn't know if there were time limits on how long you had to have a player to be eligible for comp.

 

[UK Cowboy]

What I find sad is the 89 cowboys defense could occasionally get a pick from the secondary . At this point I question whether jerrah keeps this coaching staff intact.

I wouldn't be surprised if Red is here 20 years from now. He's a good coach and ge gives Jerry respect. You can't fire a coach because he couldn't win with a 2nd and 3rd
string QB

 

[ROMOTOOWENS]

Somebody will fall on the sword

 

[Manster7588]

Somebody will fall on the sword

My guess is Linehan, or the ST coach.