Group Mock Pick 26.

[Texas_OutLaw7]

32 minutes ago, DaBoys said:

Well, the thing is… it’s a late first. When you have 17-23 players a year with first round grades, getting one at 26 is nice. Now the Cowboys board might have a 1st round grade on Steve Avila. Who knows? 
 

I never want to draft a RB in the top 15 again. But once you get to the 20th pick,  then out passed the 25th pick… idk. If he’s a true Christian McCaffery… why not? 

I hear you. I understand the pick. I do not understand it if we are preparing for life after Pollard. That isn’t a compelling reason. 
 

I’ll argue that I don’t value RBs on a second contract. Which, as a result, makes me completely out on a RB in the first. I completely get why others feel differently. It’s logical. It’s just not how I would operate a team. 1st rounders with limited upside for a second deal just simply are not appealing. 

[CAPJ]

39 minutes ago, Texas_OutLaw7 said:

I hear you. I understand the pick. I do not understand it if we are preparing for life after Pollard. That isn’t a compelling reason. 
 

I’ll argue that I don’t value RBs on a second contract. Which, as a result, makes me completely out on a RB in the first. I completely get why others feel differently. It’s logical. It’s just not how I would operate a team. 1st rounders with limited upside for a second deal just simply are not appealing. 

My comment wasn't just about replacing Pollard. And him being a 4th round pick means nothing.

I'm hoping the board is different and we don't have the opportunity for Bijan because I don't want another RB. However the value at 26 is way too good.

We go back to running the ball. Pollard is coming off a broken ankle. Bijan allows us to ease him back and then cut him loose next year.

[Rtnldave]

Dak's game would get soooo much better. Anyone ever notice that Prescott's game gradually got worse as Elliott's game gradually got worse?

I don't have the numbers but I'd be willing to bet that if our running game began to resemble 2016-17, Dak will have a monster season and cut wayyy down on turnovers.

 

Edited April 5, 2023 by Rtnldave

[The_Slamman]

If the draft really went this way, I don’t think we look the gift horse in the mouth.  We take Robinson and never look back.  No doubt he improves the team.  In fact there’s probably not another player in the draft that would help the team more than him.  
 

 

[Nextyearfordaboyz]

2 hours ago, DaBoys said:

We don’t have a full list but Bijan said he wasn’t scheduled to meet with us formally. I figured word would break pretty quick if they did. 

“INDIANAPOLIS - Texas star Bijan Robinson announced from the podium here at the NFL Scouting Combine that he has not met formally in Indianapolis with the Dallas Cowboys and that he's not scheduled to do so.“

Interesting. I’m sure they had representation at the pro day at least.

I’m not convinced this means much with him. I fully expect they’d take Bijan.

[DaBoys]

Fwiw Will Anderson who is likely to be the 1st defensive player off the board said Bijan was the hardest RB he played against in college football. And he practiced against Jahmyr Gibbs every day. 

[JohnChimpo]

I’m having a hard time picking. Bijan is the only one I remember watching in college other than a few highlights of OL/DL last night, and while he is great, we could probably get a decent RB in the third or fourth round. I’m not sure how great the running game or passing game will be if we have our usual injuries on the OL without another really good player. How good is that OL that was just signed? Potential LG starter or just a depth guy? If he’s not a potential starter, I’d probably draft an OL in the first two rounds. I don’t see how it’s possible to count on Tyron for a whole season at this point. 

 

How good is Anton Harrison? Does he have position flex? Or is Steve Avila good enough to slot in at LG day 1? Then we could have Tyron start at RT until Steele is 100% and make him the swing tackle after that.

 

I will say that I would much rather have Bijan than a TE. First round TE’s usually don’t seem to justify their draft status. While the shelf life of RB is shorter, you at least seem to have more of a chance for a high impact player.

[JohnChimpo]

On 4/4/2023 at 2:54 PM, DaBoys said:

I’m going with Calijah Kancey. Sure Bijan is tempting but there’s guys like Gibbs, Achane, Charbonnet, Izzy Abanikanda, Keaton Mitchell etc… that could be had later. There’s no other Kancey in this draft. He is a true game wrecking DT and will absolutely cause hell up the middle when teams are focused on Parsons, Sam Williams, Armstrong, and Fowler on the edge.
 

To me this is between Bijan, Kancey, and Forbes. All are electric in there own way. Unlike Bijan, I would expect Kancey to be here for 10 years. Unlike Forbes, we don’t have an all pro stop gap in Kanceys spot. Kancey represents an electric player with positional value for a vacant spot in the roster. 

You convinced me to look into Kancey, and that’s who I ended up picking. At first, I was good with a DT if he was a big run stuffer, but Kancey has scary pass rush potential. It’s unfair to compare him to Aaron Donald, but Kancey actually has a higher draft grade on nfl.com. Taking a different DT who is bigger could turn into a Taco > TJ situation. He also has a higher grade on nfl.com than TJ.

As you said, a productive RB can be had later, even if they are less talented than Bijan.

I didn’t see any of these OL being worth the pick, but I would love to have one in round 2 if the value is there.

[Tony7188]

I went Kancey over Bijan. If Kancey wasn’t there, I would take Anton Harrison to shore up our RT spot. Bijan would be third.

Edited April 6, 2023 by Tony7188

[JohnChimpo]

Kancey just went 18 to Detroit in the consensus mock draft in the draft forum here on FF. Bijan is still on the board.

[Dallas94Ware]

On 4/4/2023 at 9:24 PM, CAPJ said:

My comment wasn't just about replacing Pollard. And him being a 4th round pick means nothing.

I'm hoping the board is different and we don't have the opportunity for Bijan because I don't want another RB. However the value at 26 is way too good.

We go back to running the ball. Pollard is coming off a broken ankle. Bijan allows us to ease him back and then cut him loose next year.

Bijan is an otherworldly level of potential, though. At a position that historically has the easiest transition from D1 college to NFL. For a team ready to make a real push at a title, having Bijan for just five years with zero expectations of ever giving him a second deal (though there are situations where these guys end up with longevity and become a team cornerstone for longer than 1 contract), literally picking him knowing you have him just five short seasons.... It is STILL worth it.

Perhaps not so much if you're picking in the top 5 or top 10 because your team sucks. But if you are there.because your QB went down but your team really is built to win now, Bijan is a great pick. And once you are in that 15, 20, 25 pick range - where if he lasts that late it's a true crime, this kid is going to make the league pay for making him wait - (or dare I say it, available at Dallas' pick) he becomes a tremendous value pick based on his potential, joining a team that is not going to waste 3 or 4 years of that 5 seasons (or call it 6 with a tag year) trying to build a contender.

This is the mistake the Steelers made with Harris, they hoped it would give Ben one last chance, but now, they will end up wasting almost all if not all of their star running backs prime pro years trying to build the team again. If you go that route, then picking the RB was a terrible idea. Harris will be bruised up, winding down, and likely losing interest in staying in Pittsburgh by the team his team is ready to make best use of his ability. This also was the issue with the Giants. Picking Barkley, no matter how good, with five question marks at OL, a question mark at QB, and a defense that couldn't stop that rookie udfa from garnering almost 200, yards from scrimmage and there's a recipe for disaster, having wasted year after year after year (yes I know he also got hurt) of their RBs prime time to shine.

But if you're someone like...Buffalo, or yes, Dallas, who has the team to compete. Adding a top tier talent at RB, even in the top 10, is 100% worth it. Because they are stepping into a situation to immediately turn the tide more heavily into that teams favor. A team like that, could see that five year contract as increasing the size of their window, a window which was already open, for five years. 

 

[Nextyearfordaboyz]

17 hours ago, Dallas94Ware said:

Bijan is an otherworldly level of potential, though. At a position that historically has the easiest transition from D1 college to NFL. For a team ready to make a real push at a title, having Bijan for just five years with zero expectations of ever giving him a second deal (though there are situations where these guys end up with longevity and become a team cornerstone for longer than 1 contract), literally picking him knowing you have him just five short seasons.... It is STILL worth it.

Is it worth it if he decides to hold out after three seasons and then you have to give him a $90 million contract to get him back in the building? Asking for a friend.

[JohnChimpo]

7 hours ago, Nextyearfordaboyz said:

Is it worth it if he decides to hold out after three seasons and then you have to give him a $90 million contract to get him back in the building? Asking for a friend.

Out of curiosity, do you think we could have gotten a first round pick out of Zeke if we had traded him at that point?

[DaBoys]

19 minutes ago, JohnChimpo said:

Out of curiosity, do you think we could have gotten a first round pick out of Zeke if we had traded him at that point?

Maybe a 2nd. Trading Team would have had to offer him a new deal as well as trade compensation to us. It’s not like if we traded him he was going to play out his rookie contract with his new team. He would still want a big contract and obviously willing to hold out until it happened. Likely that would scare away most teams. We would have to nerf our expected trade compensation for a team to be willing to take on his new contract. Likely a 5th-7th. 
 

Having said that we had Pollard waiting in the wings and he certainly was showing signs of his potential back then, prompting Jerry to wear a “Zeke Who?” Shirt. A bit of a risk to trust the rookie, but it’s pretty obvious now that Pollard had the juice and we wouldn’t have regretted the decision to let him cook.

But alas, everyone makes a big deal about Zekes contract but it never really hurt us. The first 3 years of his deal he was playing at an elite level and his highest cap hit during those year was $10M. 2/3 of those years he was single digit millions a year. Last year his Cap hit ballooned to $18 million and his play dropped off. But he still had 12 TDs, and this year we saved $11 million from cutting him. Other than last season I really don’t have a problem with his deal. People act like it set us back as a franchise for ages. 
 

It’s not like his cap hit is scheduled to be $59 Million in 2024 like some other guys that may have fallen off. 

[Dallas94Ware]

13 hours ago, Nextyearfordaboyz said:

Is it worth it if he decides to hold out after three seasons and then you have to give him a $90 million contract to get him back in the building? Asking for a friend.

Thanks for the laugh man.

For the record, I'd have tried to call Zeke's bluff back then if I were Jerry and Stephen. But they were, in a sense, with their proverbial scrotum in a vice. The team looked to be on the verge of something truly special, he just led the league in rushing for the second time in two years, and the offense ran through him - had he not been bluffing, it could have cost the team that season. No matter what they would have done, it was a tremendous risk.

That's on Zeke though. And to be fair for him, he was right to make the attempt to get paid - those touches were adding up quickly since Ohio State, and he probably felt it in his knees that he wasn't going to be the Zeke we all loved for all that much longer. And he wanted that big payday before it happened.

In short though, to answer your question, absolutely not. Not with two years still left on their contract. But much like the Dak situation...no matter the choice it was going to be a gamble. And gambling on the player continuing to improve or produce at a superior level as they had was certainly the better gamble to risking a losing season with a roster capable of stacking up a win any given week. Sucks, truly sucks, that both of these contracts played out as they did. But it was still better than the alternative of surrendering possibly several seasons while we try to reshape the team.