Post by prossman on Feb 14, 2009 18:15:16 GMT -7
FWST: JFE: Taking a receiver high in draft isn’t in Cowboys’ playbook
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Taking a receiver high in draft isn’t in Cowboys’ playbook
By JENNIFER FLOYD ENGEL
jenfloyd@star-telegram.com
Michael Crabtree is one of those freaks of football nature who is so unbelievably tantalizing, so potentially good that only a group of certified football idiots would pass if he fell to them on draft day.
And I am not including Owner Jones and his Cowboys in that group.
They are not that stupid despite what many see as mounting evidence to the contrary. They would draft Crabtree in a heartbeat, if they were anywhere near the Top 10, which is where he is projected to go in April. And they’d probably take Mizzou’s big-time wideout Jeremy Maclin as well.
They are not anywhere close, though, nor are they usually. So all a wide receiver
like Crabtree does for the Cowboys is jack up their thinking about what qualifies as a draft-worthy receiver.
And what the Cowboys obviously have determined is, if they cannot draft a no-brainer like Crabtree, well, they will just abandon the idea all together. Because that makes so much sense.
They have opted for all or nothing with regard to drafting wide receivers. It is either a slam dunk like Crabtree or a project like Isaiah Stanback.
Maclin or Pat Crayton.
Or Skyler Green or Zuriel Smith or none at all.
The last time the Cowboys used a relatively high pick on a wide receiver was 2002, when they grabbed Antonio Bryant at No. 63. Before him was Kevin Williams. In 1993.
A quick glance at more recent draft-day activities shows a tendency to completely blow off receivers such as, say, Santonio Holmes or DeSean Jackson on Day 1, telling themselves they are not as good as whichever receiver they can sign in free agency or acquire in a trade.
Of course, this argument leaves out a very important qualifier — right now. They are not as good, right now, this very second, which is quite different than pretending they never will be.
Please try to remember this when the Cowboys justify their decision to trade first-, third- and sixth-round picks to Detroit for The Good Roy Williams and a seventh-round pick. Their reasoning is there is not a receiver in the draft as talented as him.
I admit I bought into this when the deal went down, mainly because I believed this would allow the Cowboys to dump T.O.
Now, of course, the word at Valley Ranch is they cannot dump T.O. because there is not another No. 1 receiver on the roster. If that is the case, if The Good Roy Williams is not good enough to replace an aging prima donna, then the Cowboys would have been wise to take their chances finding a receiver in the draft.
I am pretty sure the Cowboys know this but, just in case, every April the NFL does this really cool thing where they let you fill your holes on your roster with young talent. It’s called the NFL Draft. And usually, if you use a first-round pick on a player, you fix your problem.
Like say DeMarcus Ware.
Or Felix Jones.
Or, I don’t know, Troy, Irvin and Emmitt.
Of course, the Cowboys keep trying to get their wide receivers off the project pile or free agency or trades because, well, that has worked so well for them, right?
I know, I know, there is Miles Austin and he’s fabulous. So was Sam Hurd for a while and Crayton for a while. They are good role players.
What the Super Bowl should have showed everybody is championship teams have game-breakers like Arizona’s Larry Fitzgerald and Pittsburgh’s Holmes.
Of course, the Cowboys passed on Holmes, too big of a risk, not ready to be an impact guy right away, not as good as a certain initialed free-agent receiver (and apparently not as good as Bobby Carpenter, either).
And who would you rather have now? T.O.? Or Holmes?
I seem to remember Holmes making a big catch in the Super Bowl. Not so much for T.O. and certainly not in a big game.
As Bill Parcells liked to say (and he was on the clock for the Holmes debacle so he gets dropped in the grease as well): "Young players get better. Old players usually just get older."
Yet free agency, trades and low draft picks are how the Cowboys have decided to approach their wide-receiver issues, which is how Joey Galloway, Keyshawn, Terry Glenn, T.O. and most recently The Good Roy Williams have ended up in Cowboy uniforms masquerading as No. 1 receivers.
There are two problems with this as far as I can see:
1. There is a reason these guys were available — age, attitude, whatever. The Fitzgeralds of the world rarely come free.
2. The best value you get is usually the first contract. So your best players are the ones you draft and bring up, especially at wide receiver.
You see, the draft is not just about stupid and smart decisions. It is sometimes about what you value and what you do not.
By now, it’s become apparent the only time they’ll value Michael Crabtree is three to five years from now.
Jennifer Floyd Engel, 817-390-7760
__________________
Cowboy Fan since 1960.......You young-uns stay outta my yard.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Taking a receiver high in draft isn’t in Cowboys’ playbook
By JENNIFER FLOYD ENGEL
jenfloyd@star-telegram.com
Michael Crabtree is one of those freaks of football nature who is so unbelievably tantalizing, so potentially good that only a group of certified football idiots would pass if he fell to them on draft day.
And I am not including Owner Jones and his Cowboys in that group.
They are not that stupid despite what many see as mounting evidence to the contrary. They would draft Crabtree in a heartbeat, if they were anywhere near the Top 10, which is where he is projected to go in April. And they’d probably take Mizzou’s big-time wideout Jeremy Maclin as well.
They are not anywhere close, though, nor are they usually. So all a wide receiver
like Crabtree does for the Cowboys is jack up their thinking about what qualifies as a draft-worthy receiver.
And what the Cowboys obviously have determined is, if they cannot draft a no-brainer like Crabtree, well, they will just abandon the idea all together. Because that makes so much sense.
They have opted for all or nothing with regard to drafting wide receivers. It is either a slam dunk like Crabtree or a project like Isaiah Stanback.
Maclin or Pat Crayton.
Or Skyler Green or Zuriel Smith or none at all.
The last time the Cowboys used a relatively high pick on a wide receiver was 2002, when they grabbed Antonio Bryant at No. 63. Before him was Kevin Williams. In 1993.
A quick glance at more recent draft-day activities shows a tendency to completely blow off receivers such as, say, Santonio Holmes or DeSean Jackson on Day 1, telling themselves they are not as good as whichever receiver they can sign in free agency or acquire in a trade.
Of course, this argument leaves out a very important qualifier — right now. They are not as good, right now, this very second, which is quite different than pretending they never will be.
Please try to remember this when the Cowboys justify their decision to trade first-, third- and sixth-round picks to Detroit for The Good Roy Williams and a seventh-round pick. Their reasoning is there is not a receiver in the draft as talented as him.
I admit I bought into this when the deal went down, mainly because I believed this would allow the Cowboys to dump T.O.
Now, of course, the word at Valley Ranch is they cannot dump T.O. because there is not another No. 1 receiver on the roster. If that is the case, if The Good Roy Williams is not good enough to replace an aging prima donna, then the Cowboys would have been wise to take their chances finding a receiver in the draft.
I am pretty sure the Cowboys know this but, just in case, every April the NFL does this really cool thing where they let you fill your holes on your roster with young talent. It’s called the NFL Draft. And usually, if you use a first-round pick on a player, you fix your problem.
Like say DeMarcus Ware.
Or Felix Jones.
Or, I don’t know, Troy, Irvin and Emmitt.
Of course, the Cowboys keep trying to get their wide receivers off the project pile or free agency or trades because, well, that has worked so well for them, right?
I know, I know, there is Miles Austin and he’s fabulous. So was Sam Hurd for a while and Crayton for a while. They are good role players.
What the Super Bowl should have showed everybody is championship teams have game-breakers like Arizona’s Larry Fitzgerald and Pittsburgh’s Holmes.
Of course, the Cowboys passed on Holmes, too big of a risk, not ready to be an impact guy right away, not as good as a certain initialed free-agent receiver (and apparently not as good as Bobby Carpenter, either).
And who would you rather have now? T.O.? Or Holmes?
I seem to remember Holmes making a big catch in the Super Bowl. Not so much for T.O. and certainly not in a big game.
As Bill Parcells liked to say (and he was on the clock for the Holmes debacle so he gets dropped in the grease as well): "Young players get better. Old players usually just get older."
Yet free agency, trades and low draft picks are how the Cowboys have decided to approach their wide-receiver issues, which is how Joey Galloway, Keyshawn, Terry Glenn, T.O. and most recently The Good Roy Williams have ended up in Cowboy uniforms masquerading as No. 1 receivers.
There are two problems with this as far as I can see:
1. There is a reason these guys were available — age, attitude, whatever. The Fitzgeralds of the world rarely come free.
2. The best value you get is usually the first contract. So your best players are the ones you draft and bring up, especially at wide receiver.
You see, the draft is not just about stupid and smart decisions. It is sometimes about what you value and what you do not.
By now, it’s become apparent the only time they’ll value Michael Crabtree is three to five years from now.
Jennifer Floyd Engel, 817-390-7760
__________________
Cowboy Fan since 1960.......You young-uns stay outta my yard.