sbk92
2
- Messages
- 12,134
- Reaction score
- 6
By Randy Galloway
Out at Valley Ranch, the draft week crapshoot appeared to have started well with the first-round selection of Tyron Smith, but what followed next was dicey, at best.
And flat wrong, at worst.
As all devoted draftniks preach, it's not the first round that defines a new class of recruits, but what happens in the second and third rounds, then beyond.
For now, however, let's allow those devoted draftniks to snap-judge the thought process of Jerry and Co. in Day 2 and Day 3, with the early reviews being rather harsh.
Frankly, more research will be required from here in an attempt to fully understand the Valley Ranch love of a Bruce Carter and a DeMarco Murray, the two Friday surprises following Tyron Smith on Thursday.
But a bigger and more troubling story brewed on Friday when the Dallas Cowboys veterans had the 12-hour window to resume full football off-season activity.
The 2011 season, and there will be one, will not be defined by the new draftees. If there is going to be a recovery from the depths of 6-10, it will have to involve much more familiar names.
One of those, of course, is receiver Dez Bryant, he of the troubling off-season.
Dez is among the Cowboys' most treasured talents. Probably top three or four, talent-wise, on the entire roster.
Dez also continues to be the biggest idiot on the team.
Even with me as Dez's No. 1 media pompom boy, starting with the second he was drafted last April, there's no nicer way to say it.
He's an idiot.
On Friday, when the doors at Valley Ranch temporarily swung open for players, the Cowboys' training staff was waiting eagerly on Bryant, mainly to check on the rehab of the broken ankle from last season, a rehab that has gone unsupervised due to the lockout.
We can assume the reports of Dez playing high-end pickup basketball games in Cedar Hill would not be recommended rehab by the trainers.
Dez's new receivers coach is Jimmy Robinson, a guy Bryant has hardly met. Friday would have been a perfect get-together moment. The same goes for new strength and conditioning coach Mike Woicik, one of the NFL's most respected. Woicik surely has some ideas for Dez.
Most of all, a good sit-down with Jerry Jones should have been mandatory on Friday, something Jerry had admitted Thursday. Based on what's gone on with Dez in the off-season, he needs a lecture.
None of this happened, of course, on Friday.
Dez no-showed. And although Jerry tried to alibi for Bryant on Friday, let's be clear here. Dez out-and-out punked Jerry by no-showing.
"I was out of town, in New York for the draft, and just got back," said Bryant's local adviser, David Wells, on Saturday. "I've got a lot of calls on it, but I truly don't know what happened."
Wells sounded frustrated, but attempting to serve as a father figure and friend for Bryant has to be a frustrating process. Jerry also prides himself on being a positive influence for troubled players, but in this situation he came across as an enabler for Dez.
That Friday window of opportunity for veteran players closed quickly, with a court ruling coming down late in the afternoon that allowed the NFL owners to reinstate lockout rules.
For now, Bryant is on the streets and in the malls again, not that he ever left them Friday, not with his no-show.
Jerry is regarded as an ownership hawk in this labor war with the players, and if that's true, he applauded the Friday court ruling. An ownership win would undoubtedly stuff more money in Jones' pocket, but an ownership "win" is also highly doubtful, according to most of the legal experts.
Then again, there's some strange irony involved here.
In the long run, Jones' bottom line will be most influenced by the success of his team on the field.
In that regard, few teams in the NFL are as influenced as negatively as the Cowboys during this lockout that Jerry apparently strongly supports.
A 6-10 club obviously has immense work to do. There's a new defensive coordinator attempting to rebuild after the wreckage of 2010, and Rob Ryan has a system he'd like to be teaching.
And the new receivers coach and strength and conditioning coach have already been mentioned.
But as much as anything, Dez Bryant needs the off-season football structure returned to his life, as opposed to sagging in the malls, running up jewelry bills or slam-dunking in Cedar Hill.
On Friday, however, Dez didn't even care enough to show up at Valley Ranch. One of the Cowboys' very best players was not where he definitely needed to be.
Hitting on draft picks is important, but the continuing immaturity of Dez Bryant is much more troubling than why the Cowboys picked a Bruce Carter or a DeMarco Murray.
Out at Valley Ranch, the draft week crapshoot appeared to have started well with the first-round selection of Tyron Smith, but what followed next was dicey, at best.
And flat wrong, at worst.
As all devoted draftniks preach, it's not the first round that defines a new class of recruits, but what happens in the second and third rounds, then beyond.
For now, however, let's allow those devoted draftniks to snap-judge the thought process of Jerry and Co. in Day 2 and Day 3, with the early reviews being rather harsh.
Frankly, more research will be required from here in an attempt to fully understand the Valley Ranch love of a Bruce Carter and a DeMarco Murray, the two Friday surprises following Tyron Smith on Thursday.
But a bigger and more troubling story brewed on Friday when the Dallas Cowboys veterans had the 12-hour window to resume full football off-season activity.
The 2011 season, and there will be one, will not be defined by the new draftees. If there is going to be a recovery from the depths of 6-10, it will have to involve much more familiar names.
One of those, of course, is receiver Dez Bryant, he of the troubling off-season.
Dez is among the Cowboys' most treasured talents. Probably top three or four, talent-wise, on the entire roster.
Dez also continues to be the biggest idiot on the team.
Even with me as Dez's No. 1 media pompom boy, starting with the second he was drafted last April, there's no nicer way to say it.
He's an idiot.
On Friday, when the doors at Valley Ranch temporarily swung open for players, the Cowboys' training staff was waiting eagerly on Bryant, mainly to check on the rehab of the broken ankle from last season, a rehab that has gone unsupervised due to the lockout.
We can assume the reports of Dez playing high-end pickup basketball games in Cedar Hill would not be recommended rehab by the trainers.
Dez's new receivers coach is Jimmy Robinson, a guy Bryant has hardly met. Friday would have been a perfect get-together moment. The same goes for new strength and conditioning coach Mike Woicik, one of the NFL's most respected. Woicik surely has some ideas for Dez.
Most of all, a good sit-down with Jerry Jones should have been mandatory on Friday, something Jerry had admitted Thursday. Based on what's gone on with Dez in the off-season, he needs a lecture.
None of this happened, of course, on Friday.
Dez no-showed. And although Jerry tried to alibi for Bryant on Friday, let's be clear here. Dez out-and-out punked Jerry by no-showing.
"I was out of town, in New York for the draft, and just got back," said Bryant's local adviser, David Wells, on Saturday. "I've got a lot of calls on it, but I truly don't know what happened."
Wells sounded frustrated, but attempting to serve as a father figure and friend for Bryant has to be a frustrating process. Jerry also prides himself on being a positive influence for troubled players, but in this situation he came across as an enabler for Dez.
That Friday window of opportunity for veteran players closed quickly, with a court ruling coming down late in the afternoon that allowed the NFL owners to reinstate lockout rules.
For now, Bryant is on the streets and in the malls again, not that he ever left them Friday, not with his no-show.
Jerry is regarded as an ownership hawk in this labor war with the players, and if that's true, he applauded the Friday court ruling. An ownership win would undoubtedly stuff more money in Jones' pocket, but an ownership "win" is also highly doubtful, according to most of the legal experts.
Then again, there's some strange irony involved here.
In the long run, Jones' bottom line will be most influenced by the success of his team on the field.
In that regard, few teams in the NFL are as influenced as negatively as the Cowboys during this lockout that Jerry apparently strongly supports.
A 6-10 club obviously has immense work to do. There's a new defensive coordinator attempting to rebuild after the wreckage of 2010, and Rob Ryan has a system he'd like to be teaching.
And the new receivers coach and strength and conditioning coach have already been mentioned.
But as much as anything, Dez Bryant needs the off-season football structure returned to his life, as opposed to sagging in the malls, running up jewelry bills or slam-dunking in Cedar Hill.
On Friday, however, Dez didn't even care enough to show up at Valley Ranch. One of the Cowboys' very best players was not where he definitely needed to be.
Hitting on draft picks is important, but the continuing immaturity of Dez Bryant is much more troubling than why the Cowboys picked a Bruce Carter or a DeMarco Murray.
ancakebunny