I don't count players drafted past the 4th round since they are by definition longshots to make a team and Dallas, in particular, has a terrible track record in these rounds (Rat was a long time ago). We did not address our needs even when arguably the BPA fit one of this team's needs perfectly. That's ok if you take BPA's. But despite all the arguments to the contrary, it is hard to argue that any of our early picks were top values that were mysteriously falling down the board (Nobody was asking "Why hasn't anybody drafted Carter yet?"). Most were picked a round early, not a round late.
That said:
1. This team has one of the worst right Guards in the league. This draft proved that Jerrah does not believe he is a problem. Investing a 1st in a Tackle was a start. But we did NOT address the O-Line in this draft. The 2 late rounders sound an awful lot like the throwaway picks we used to address the line at the end of the 2006 draft (especially true given Houck's proven lack of ability to coach players up). Expect another year of Linebackers and Tackles sprinting unmolested through Davis's gap into Romo's Face.
And, as Gil Brandt said last night, after the draft, there will be lots of talented Running Backs out there available. But there won't be many offensive or defensive linemen.
2. This team had the worst Free Safety play in the league last year. With the top FS in the draft available, we passed, attaching all our hopes to the same free agents every other team plans to use. Welcome to the bidding war, Jerrah.
3. Ditto the strong safety play (though that was merely bottom 5 rather than THE worst). The team chose not to address this which dumps us into the bidding war for Huff.
4. The team has below average defensive ends who are poorly suited to Ryan's style of defense (where guys like Kris Jenkins and Jason Taylor thrive). The team did not see the need to address this position in the deepest draft in a long time at the position.
5. This team had one of the worst corners in the league last year: Mike Jenkins (THE worst in the league in run support). Some expect him to improve after a good 2009 season. But he definitely has potential to go either way. We did not buy any insurance should he stay at his 2010 level. And, I will note, that we did not even replace the worst DB coach in the league since he is one of Jerrah's guys. This puts us into the Asamough sweepstakes.
6. While his play is adequate, this team has one of the oldest starting corners in the league opposite Jenk. This means that even if we won the Asamough sweepstakes, we would have a glaring need at the other corner - one we chose not to address in the draft.
7. MOST IMPORTANTLY, the Cowboys were the least physical, least hard-hitting team in the league last year. Who do we draft in the 2nd round? A linebacker who would rather have a pillow fight with Brandon Jacobs than knock his a** out. How many times does this team need to draft athletic linebackers who can't hit before it learns this is a poor template. What other team in the league would rank a contact-shy linebacker so high?
This was a 6-10 team last year folks, we have major weaknesses at several starting positions (not to mention depth). Jerry grabbed 1 starter in this draft. This suggests he thinks we are 1 or 2 players away from contending for the championship. This puts him in Al Davis territory, IMO. Even if he understood all our needs, it would be unlikely we could afford to bring in:
2 Center/Guards
2 Starting Safeties
1 or 2 Starting Corners
2 Defensive Ends
1 or 2 Intimidating LB's
These needs are what the draft is for. Arguably, a player at each position was the BPA when we were picking. But we ignored this and went with Jerrah's random-drunken board. That just doesn't work. His track record is very, very poor and he doesn't deserve the benefit of the doubt as some here seem willing to give him.
