The truth? OLine is the Cowboys biggest need

because only politicians are that wishy washy. Take a stand a tell us what YOU think is the greatest need. When I read something on this site (whether i agree or not with the content) I want to here someones opinion, not if its _ ? Great.

I think judging by the fact that we finished top 10 in most offensive catergories and near the bottom in a lot of defensive catergories as well as the fact that are QB sacks and QB pressures were way down this year that we need to go defense with #9 and since there isnt a safety worth that pick and if Petersen or Miller wont fall then (if we stay at #9) we need to go DE.

Yes OL does need to be addressed earlier than rd 3 or 4 this year but not #9. The only OL position that can justify a top 10 pick is LT and that is the one position that we should be good at for the next 6 years.

but this offense on its last breath scored the 3rd most points since 1994 mostly with a backup QB and the D gave up 431 points. What kind of break did the offense need to give them? Did they score to quickly? Did they tire Tererence Newman out when he kept getting beat? Did they send it extra blockers for the other team when they couldnt pressure the QB? Did they get in the way when Michael Jenkins tried to make a tackle? Did they confuse Alan Ball in coverage and cause him to be out of position? Is the offense the reason B James and K Brooking looked old? Yes Oline needs to be addressed but there are a ton of holes on Defense.

you look at week 1 and i will look at the season as a whole. Also never said ignore the oline. I said #9 overall is to high for an olineman other than LT (which assuming Free is resigned) we are set at. Also the d needed to hold NO just once on 3 occasions and failed. Yes Williams fumbled but NO started that drive at their own 10 yard line.

is the fact that you have here either a superb defenses that are creative with low predictability factors or offenses that have the weapons to run multiple formations and personnel groupings creatively to force defenses into declaring and being dictated to. Our creative factor is sorely lacking on both sides! Fortunately, I view the Rob Ryan acquisition as kind of like already receiving a 1st rd draft choice. Defensive creativity?…Solved. Offensively?…we’ll have to see. Having said that, I’m not dismissing the need for better Oline play at all. Obviously, you can’t have Colombo stammering around or the interior being gutted all to frequently, but a little superior chess play obviously helps less than stellar on the field talent. So much so, that maybe a Willie Smith, a James Carpenter, or a Ray Dominguez more than gets the job done and you can address other needs in a trade down scenario, rather than just hitch yourself to Tyron, Gabe, etc ( which still wouldn’t make me mad). Also,…..I’m not implying Ryan is all we need defensively, btw.

Our track record for drafting OL is abysmal. That’s why many of us want to start addressing the OL in the first. Maybe, just maybe we can solve some of their problems. We’re not saying don’t draft OL after the 1st, we need 2-3 OL in this draft. The DL prospects are deeper and we need a DE, which can be found in the later part of the 1st if we trade down and then back up or in the second at #40, or go DE 1st and OT with the trade back up . Worst case scenario, we resign Spears and Bowen and let RR do his thing. All we need is an injury to Free or one of the other aging big uglies and we’re postmortem for another season with the current roster depth.

We all are anxiously sitting before our boob tubes, computers armed and ready to blog, waiting for the draft to start. Goodell ambles up to the podium, goes through his cursory intros and proclaims " The Carolina Panthers are on the clock". We sit and fidget, some of us pacing back and forth, happy at times as the draft proceeds, Newton and Gabbert are picked before we go on the clock, sad when both Miller and Peterson are gone before we can even contemplate trading up to get them. Finally the Boys turn comes, God, they’re using every precious second they have, are they frantically dealing with one or even better 2 or 3 teams in a trade down scenario? Then Goodell comes back to the podium and announces that with the ninth pick in the draft the Dallas Cowboys choose JJ Watt. Some of us are ecstatic, some mildly upset, I, for one, feel he’s a nice pick, a quality pick, definitely will start now that Spears is gone for sure in FA, but still feel that while he’s somewhat of an upgrade over Spears, because of our system, his impact will be minimal to moderate, but I won’t complain because I like the guy. Then, since there’s no trade down for extra picks, we wonder whether or not to switch channels or continue watching, the light bulb explodes, are you kidding, this is only a once a year deal and you never know what JJ has up his sleeve. I’m not goin’ anywhere. Goodell announces Washington is on the clock. After a few minutes and without hesitation, the card is handed in and Goodell announces, " With the 10th pick in the draft the Washington Redskins select Aldon Smith."

This is where my dream turns into a nightmare. Can you imagine Orakpo and Smith coming at Romo from both sides in passing situations? I can’t even concentrate on the rest of the draft. I keep it on, but keep living that pick over and over and my nightmare continues in a perpetual instant replay.

thats all I have to say; we have good picks now don’t need more to get less. I’m not going to argue; you want another player fine, you think we can trade back, pick up an extra pick and get another OT thats just as good or an equally good player at another position, well your just wrong.

We need defensive help, but short of Von Miller or Marcell Dareus, Patrick Peterson no impact player is there,.

Sorry I feel people are getting lost here lately!

1) If you look at the leaked draft board from last year, which OL did our scouts correctly project after the first round?
1-4 Russell Okung, 6’6’’, 305 lbs.
1-5 Trent Williams, 6’5’’, 306 lbs.
1-13 Bryan Bulaga, 6’5’’, 310 lbs.
3-42 Anthony Davis, 6’5’’, 325 lbs.
3-58 Roger Saffold, 6’4’’, 312 lbs.
4-74 Vladimir Ducasse?, 6’4’’, 326 lbs.
5-103 Sam Young, 6’7’’, 305 lbs.
6-118 Jared Veldheer, 6’8’’, 321 lbs.
We had Okung, Williams, and Bulaga slotted as first round talents. Davis went in the first but really struggled. I’ll give our scouts a pass on this one. After that we were off on everyone else. Our scouts had Saffold, Ducasse, and Veldheer about 2 rounds too low from where they were picked. Who knows if Sam Young will be anything other than a backup RT.

2) Everyone but Free is over 31 years. Colombo is done, Davis could give one more year as a starting caliber guard at a reduced salary (which is debatable to some), Kosier is an injury prone guard who is also free agent over 32, Gurode has might be able to play another two seasons. What this tells me, other than we should have address the OL better last draft, is that if we are to contend this year or next we can’t spend draft picks on projects. We need lineman that can play NOW!

3) Which free agent RT would you sign? And if you signed one how much money would you pay him? Doug Free is also in need of a new contract and will want more money than whoever we bring in. How does any of this get your team younger at the OL? Does this help out this teams cap situation? No.

So what should we do?
9. T Tyron Smith
40. BPA defense (DE C. Hayward, CB B. Harris, NT/DE K. Ellis, DB A. Williams, etc.)
71. G Jason Pinkston, Will Rackley, M. Cannon
or
9 for 14 & 78
14. JJ Watt
Package 78 with 40 to take D. Sherrod or Carimi at pick 28
71. BPA OL

Either way lets go and get some meat and potatoes players.

That i didnt know much about Tyron, but after watching highlights and Chia’s analysis, this kid looks like the real deal. Guys like him are the future of the NFL tackle, with more teams converting to 3-4 defenses. RT is just as important as the LT because teams are trying to get to the QB anyway they can. They are also going after the weakest link on the line (see Orakpo vs Barron). With Tyron and Free, we can have the best bookends in the league over the next 5 years. So please get er done Jerrah!!