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Thinking of how the Cowboys became unbalanced, with an O much stronger than the D and I'm struck at how much better the front office has been at drafting the former than the latter over the last decade. In the past 10 years Dallas has invested 6 first rounders on offense,
either direct picks or used to trade for talent. Here's the list. It's impressive:
'11 - Tyron Smith
'13 - Travis Frederick
'14 - Zack Martin
'16 - Ezekiel Elliot
'19 - Amari Cooper* via trade
'20 - CeeDee Lamb
Six swings, six home runs. Almost all have been to a Pro Bowl or
'11 - Tyron Smith
'13 - Travis Frederick
'14 - Zack Martin
'16 - Ezekiel Elliot
'19 - Amari Cooper* via trade
'20 - CeeDee Lamb
Six swings, six home runs. Almost all have been to a Pro Bowl or
more. Every one of the first five has received a second contract. With good health, CeeDee should earn one too.
Now, to the defense, where it's a very different story:
'12 - Morris Claiborne (cost a 1st & a 2nd)
'15 - Byron Jones
'17 - Taco Charlton
'18 - Leighton Vander Esch
Now, to the defense, where it's a very different story:
'12 - Morris Claiborne (cost a 1st & a 2nd)
'15 - Byron Jones
'17 - Taco Charlton
'18 - Leighton Vander Esch
Two massive misses in Claiborne, whose cost made his failure to hit doubly painful and Charlton. Here again is that nagging tendency to spend high D capital on injured players. Claiborne needed wrist surgery before he ever played a down. LVE had a medical yellow flag (neck)
and he's continued the Cowboys long tradition of brittle high-pick LBs. Dallas made one big hit on D in the '10s with Byron Jones... and then let him walk in free agency. That means no second contracts on defense.
Mike Nolan is a convenient whipping boy for the D's ills,
Mike Nolan is a convenient whipping boy for the D's ills,
but I think we should start the discussion here. Dallas has received maximum draft benefit from premium picks on offense and practically the nothing on defense. If Vander Esch can't regain his rookie form, it's a decade of nothing there. That will drive a fan base crazy.