2021 Cowboys News and Notes

[Nextyearfordaboyz]

On 12/23/2021 at 1:48 PM, matt79511 said:

I agree with this in principle- but of course the 2020 and 2021 drafts “extended our window.” You have to have blue chippers. This team wouldn’t be half as interesting going forward without Lamb, Diggs and Parsons.

“Windows to win” in the NFL aren’t as obvious or as lasting as in other sports, where rosters are smaller and primes last longer, but they certainly exist. I would liken our potential transition this off-season to what took place between 2016 and 2017. You could’ve very well argued back then (and many did) that between Dak, Zeke and the OL, we were set to contend for years. As it turned out, the ceiling for the ‘17 team was still there, when healthy, but the floor was so much lower absent the depth lost in FA, which took years to replace.

I feel like we are sort of saying the same thing.

You are never “set” to contend for years. One dud offseason can gut a roster. For your example, the 2017 draft really hurt us.

We have an opportunity now, and I hope we take advantage of it. Due to the uncertain nature of the NFL, you never know what will happen in the next season. But I certainly think the opportunity to have success in 2022 and beyond is as open for us as it is for just about any team.

Edited December 25, 2021 by Nextyearfordaboyz

[matt79511]

On 12/24/2021 at 8:19 PM, Nextyearfordaboyz said:

I feel like we are sort of saying the same thing.

You are never “set” to contend for years. One dud offseason can gut a roster. For your example, the 2017 draft really hurt us.

We have an opportunity now, and I hope we take advantage of it. Due to the uncertain nature of the NFL, you never know what will happen in the next season. But I certainly think the opportunity to have success in 2022 and beyond is as open for us as it is for just about any team.

Well, yeah, I think we agree on a lot, lol.

My contention is that it’s undoubtedly easier to tank a draft when you’re picking in the late 20’s than it is from the top half. Hence the cyclical, conveyor belt nature of the league. I guess my thought is that there’s two different types of “windows to win.” There’s the 3-4 ish year cycle teams operate in, before draftees get paid top dollar, potentially exit their primes shortly after, depth is lost to FA and a mini-reload ensues.

... then there’s the “window” to actually, legitimately win the whole damn thing. Not a stupid Eli Giants style run but a year in which a team dominates start to finish, when they’ve built on their strengths to the point where they’re operating on a different level than they had in years prior. Frequently, this is just one year. Some teams capitalize (see 2017 PHI), others don’t (2015 CAR) and the magic never quite returns. So while I agree this team as well set up to “contend” throughout the ‘20s... on some level, this also feels like “the year” for us. Should we capitalize.

[plan9misfit]

6 hours ago, matt79511 said:

Well, yeah, I think we agree on a lot, lol.

My contention is that it’s undoubtedly easier to tank a draft when you’re picking in the late 20’s than it is from the top half. Hence the cyclical, conveyor belt nature of the league. I guess my thought is that there’s two different types of “windows to win.” There’s the 3-4 ish year cycle teams operate in, before draftees get paid top dollar, potentially exit their primes shortly after, depth is lost to FA and a mini-reload ensues.

... then there’s the “window” to actually, legitimately win the whole damn thing. Not a stupid Eli Giants style run but a year in which a team dominates start to finish, when they’ve built on their strengths to the point where they’re operating on a different level than they had in years prior. Frequently, this is just one year. Some teams capitalize (see 2017 PHI), others don’t (2015 CAR) and the magic never quite returns. So while I agree this team as well set up to “contend” throughout the ‘20s... on some level, this also feels like “the year” for us. Should we capitalize.

For the part in bold, tell that to the teams which pick in the top 10 on basically an annual basis. 

[WheatieMan]

Just don’t feel it’s our year. Packers scummed out with the lack of holding or DPI call at the end there while the Browns tried to set up the winning FG. We are going to have to win in Lambeau assuming we win both playoff games. We’ll see how it plays out, but the #2 seed is vital. Don’t see the Pack losing to Minn next week, although who knows?

[eagles suck]

WE ARE OFFICIALLY NFC EAST CHAMPIONS 

Edited December 27, 2021 by eagles suck

[Nextyearfordaboyz]

When Parsons, Diggs, and Zach Martin get All Pro honors this season, this will be Will McClay’s resume since taking over the draft room:

-Made 70 draft picks
-5 of 7 1st round picks will have earned All-Pro honors for Dallas at least once (Decent chance CeeDee Lamb will eventually make that 6/7)
-7 total All-Pros, with 14 combined All-Pro seasons.
-The above does not include home run draft picks like Dak, Gallup, and others.  
-60 of the 70 picks are still in the NFL, including every player from our last 4 drafts.

There may be some luck involved, but luck happens when opportunity meets preparation. What an absolute beast. Easily the second most irreplaceable person in the building after Dak.

Edited December 27, 2021 by Nextyearfordaboyz

[WizardHawk]

2 hours ago, Nextyearfordaboyz said:

When Parsons, Diggs, and Zach Martin get All Pro honors this season, this will be Will McClay’s resume since taking over the draft room:

-Made 70 draft picks
-5 of 7 1st round picks will have earned All-Pro honors for Dallas at least once (Decent chance CeeDee Lamb will eventually make that 6/7)
-7 total All-Pros, with 14 combined All-Pro seasons.
-The above does not include home run draft picks like Dak, Gallup, and others.  
-60 of the 70 picks are still in the NFL, including every player from our last 4 drafts.

There may be some luck involved, but luck happens when opportunity meets preparation. What an absolute beast. Easily the second most irreplaceable person in the building after Dak.

I’d say this makes a pretty strong case that he is the most irreplaceable member of this organization.
Would be interesting to see how others stack up against his success rate.
The most impressive number there imo, is the 85% still active in NFL. That seems like an astounding number. I can’t imagine the list of GMs with that success rate being very long.

[HDsportsfan]

16 minutes ago, WizardHawk said:

I’d say this makes a pretty strong case that he is the most irreplaceable member of this organization.
Would be interesting to see how others stack up against his success rate.
The most impressive number there imo, is the 85% still active in NFL. That seems like an astounding number. I can’t imagine the list of GMs with that success rate being very long.

Problem is.....it hasn't translated onto to the field of play tho. From an overall team standpoint. Multiple reasons for that, but still.

[WizardHawk]

1 hour ago, HDsportsfan said:

Problem is.....it hasn't translated onto to the field of play tho. From an overall team standpoint. Multiple reasons for that, but still.

Can’t blame him for that. I wonder if McClay would have held on to Redball like Jerry did? I’m guessing no. Sucks being handcuffed to a situation like that.

[Nextyearfordaboyz]

1 hour ago, HDsportsfan said:

Problem is.....it hasn't translated onto to the field of play tho. From an overall team standpoint. Multiple reasons for that, but still.

Might as well blame him for the Covid pandemic, while you’re at it.

I know the expectation we all want is to have some playoff success. But to say the talent he’s put together hasn’t translated into on field success is not accurate. They’ve won the NFCE in 4 of 8 seasons. They’ve had a winning record in 5 of 6 seasons where their starting QB didn’t get injured. They have won at a 66% clip with Romo or Dak since McClay took over, which equates to more than 11 wins per 17 game season.

[cromagnum]

I like what I saw from Kelvin Joseph last night.

[HDsportsfan]

1 hour ago, WizardHawk said:

Can’t blame him for that. I wonder if McClay would have held on to Redball like Jerry did? I’m guessing no. Sucks being handcuffed to a situation like that.

 

1 hour ago, Nextyearfordaboyz said:

Might as well blame him for the Covid pandemic, while you’re at it.

I know the expectation we all want is to have some playoff success. But to say the talent he’s put together hasn’t translated into on field success is not accurate. They’ve won the NFCE in 4 of 8 seasons. They’ve had a winning record in 5 of 6 seasons where their starting QB didn’t get injured. They have won at a 66% clip with Romo or Dak since McClay took over, which equates to more than 11 wins per 17 game season.

MMmmm......take it easy fellas. Never said it was McClay's fault....hence the "multiple reasons" portion of my reply.

Valid arguments can be made for the definition of "success on the field". I'd like to think after all these years of my rudimentary posting I'm not necessarrily a negative guy. However, the ultimate goal is playoff success and of course SB's. And we really haven't been doing much of that. Sure, lots of individual success and Redball was around for years longer than he should have been.

But all that set aside, I love the players McClay has brought in. Not blaming him at all actually, he's not on the field. He's doing his part, now up to everybody else.

Edited December 28, 2021 by HDsportsfan

[WizardHawk]

And so it begins…..

 

Edited December 28, 2021 by WizardHawk

[HDsportsfan]

1 minute ago, WizardHawk said:

And so it begins…..

 

Sigh....come on JJ.....just throw a bunch of money at him.

[WizardHawk]

1 minute ago, HDsportsfan said:

Sigh....come on JJ.....just throw a bunch of money at him.

Them….. updated post. They’re interviewing KM and DQ