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Dallas' problems start at the draft
Dallas has made some great picks over the years, but it has ignored the offensive line
By Mel Kiper
ESPN Insider
The Dallas offensive line now will be "protecting" Jon Kitna.
Every Friday, Mel takes a look at the NFL through the prism of the draft.
Tony Romo's season may have come to an end on Monday. A crushing hit from Giants linebacker Michael Boley left Romo with a broken clavicle in his left shoulder and the team in disarray. At 1-5, there's no reason to rush back a franchise quarterback. And in the wake of the hit, blame was handed out immediately.
First to take some media shrapnel was undrafted free-agent fullback Chris Gronkowski, who'd left the backfield on a short dump-off pattern, leaving Romo vulnerable to the blitzing Boley. Ironically, Gronkowski is one of the better value pickups Dallas has had, particularly when it involves protection.
Boley didn't just bypass the rookie -- he was also blitzing through a patchwork offensive line further depleted by the absence of Kyle Kosier. And it was a mess even when the season started. So before people continue to tear down Gronkowski -- or anyone else -- consider another culprit: the draft.
Consider the facts:
• Since 2004, the "best" offensive lineman Dallas has drafted is Doug Free, a fourth-rounder in 2007.
• Since 2005, they've drafted 48 players and Free is the most productive lineman of all those picks.
• The best O-lineman Dallas has taken in the last 10 years is Andre Gurode in 2002, whom they got in the second round.
• The Cowboys haven't drafted an offensive lineman within the first two rounds since 2004, when they picked Jacob Rogers out of USC. Rogers got hurt and was quickly out of the league.
• Before Gurode, the last offensive lineman the Cowboys picked who really panned out was the once-great Flozell Adams, who they grabbed in the second round … in 1998.
• They've built a lot of great teams in that time, but the last offensive lineman Dallas drafted in the first round was Howard Richards of Missouri. That was 1981.
What you have right now in Dallas is an organization that, while they've done some decent drafting -- it's true: really good picks and values dot their boards in recent years -- seem married to a philosophy that says an offensive line can be built by a combination of finding late-round steals, scanning free agency, or in the recent acquisition of Alex Barron, dumping future picks.
This has left the Cowboys with an extraordinary set of skill-position talent, a good quarterback and simply not enough blocking to make it all work. And given the relatively low price we've seen some really good WRs and RBs traded for recently (think Randy Moss, Marshawn Lynch, Santonio Holmes and others), even all the good drafting for skill-position players gets undercut by the apparent value of those guys in the trade market.
The bottom line in Dallas is that while they've managed some good picks -- the 2005 draft that netted them DeMarcus Ware, Marcus Spears, Chris Canty, Jay Ratliff, Kevin Burnett and Marion Barber is almost extraordinary in retrospect -- the Cowboys' consistent inability to find offensive linemen late, and unwillingness to take a shot on one early, has clearly caught up to them this year.
Hope for this year?
There are few quarterbacks more adept at dealing with bad protection than Tony Romo, something Dallas perhaps took for granted. His ability to move around and his peculiar comfort with stepping up in (and often through) the pocket is one of those traits that's simply hard to teach.
In his absence, the Cowboys will surely suffer on offense. What's worse is that even with a good passing game to back defenders away from the box, Dallas has shown no stubbornness in running the football. Only the Arizona Cardinals have attempted fewer runs than Dallas, and the Cowboys' top rusher, Felix Jones, is 34th in the NFL with just 264 yards.
But it's not just the running game. The Dallas defense simply hasn't lived up to expectations. Currently 27th in the league in points per game allowed, even if the Dallas offense miraculously got better under Jon Kitna, there's no reason to think the defense would be able to do the same. And the schedule doesn't get any easier.
Draft strategy
I'll say this: I didn't bash the move by Dallas to draft Dez Bryant in April. As a value proposition, I said the team had landed a top-10 talent toward the bottom of the first round, and you can't pile on Jerry Jones and company for that move. That said, the pick of Sean Lee in Round 2, when there were offensive linemen to be had, was a bit puzzling. Lee has a chance to be a fine player and step in for Keith Brooking next year, but if this front office felt the team was close, not getting a guy who could add offensive line depth immediately was a move I questioned then and still do today.
Going forward, this should be the year Dallas bucks tradition and looks hard at offensive tackles in Round 1. Ironically, the Cowboys are a team that could fall all the way into the top 10 in a draft where currently, my top tackles available -- guys like Gabe Carimi, Nate Solder and Derek Sherrod -- are down in the 20s on my current Big Board.
Maybe this will be the year Jerry Jones actually finds himself trading down … but still making the right pick to help his team immediately.
Mel Kiper, who has been covering the NFL draft for ESPN since 1984, can be found year-round at his homepage.
Dallas has made some great picks over the years, but it has ignored the offensive line
By Mel Kiper
ESPN Insider
The Dallas offensive line now will be "protecting" Jon Kitna.
Every Friday, Mel takes a look at the NFL through the prism of the draft.
Tony Romo's season may have come to an end on Monday. A crushing hit from Giants linebacker Michael Boley left Romo with a broken clavicle in his left shoulder and the team in disarray. At 1-5, there's no reason to rush back a franchise quarterback. And in the wake of the hit, blame was handed out immediately.
First to take some media shrapnel was undrafted free-agent fullback Chris Gronkowski, who'd left the backfield on a short dump-off pattern, leaving Romo vulnerable to the blitzing Boley. Ironically, Gronkowski is one of the better value pickups Dallas has had, particularly when it involves protection.
Boley didn't just bypass the rookie -- he was also blitzing through a patchwork offensive line further depleted by the absence of Kyle Kosier. And it was a mess even when the season started. So before people continue to tear down Gronkowski -- or anyone else -- consider another culprit: the draft.
Consider the facts:
• Since 2004, the "best" offensive lineman Dallas has drafted is Doug Free, a fourth-rounder in 2007.
• Since 2005, they've drafted 48 players and Free is the most productive lineman of all those picks.
• The best O-lineman Dallas has taken in the last 10 years is Andre Gurode in 2002, whom they got in the second round.
• The Cowboys haven't drafted an offensive lineman within the first two rounds since 2004, when they picked Jacob Rogers out of USC. Rogers got hurt and was quickly out of the league.
• Before Gurode, the last offensive lineman the Cowboys picked who really panned out was the once-great Flozell Adams, who they grabbed in the second round … in 1998.
• They've built a lot of great teams in that time, but the last offensive lineman Dallas drafted in the first round was Howard Richards of Missouri. That was 1981.
What you have right now in Dallas is an organization that, while they've done some decent drafting -- it's true: really good picks and values dot their boards in recent years -- seem married to a philosophy that says an offensive line can be built by a combination of finding late-round steals, scanning free agency, or in the recent acquisition of Alex Barron, dumping future picks.
This has left the Cowboys with an extraordinary set of skill-position talent, a good quarterback and simply not enough blocking to make it all work. And given the relatively low price we've seen some really good WRs and RBs traded for recently (think Randy Moss, Marshawn Lynch, Santonio Holmes and others), even all the good drafting for skill-position players gets undercut by the apparent value of those guys in the trade market.
The bottom line in Dallas is that while they've managed some good picks -- the 2005 draft that netted them DeMarcus Ware, Marcus Spears, Chris Canty, Jay Ratliff, Kevin Burnett and Marion Barber is almost extraordinary in retrospect -- the Cowboys' consistent inability to find offensive linemen late, and unwillingness to take a shot on one early, has clearly caught up to them this year.
Hope for this year?
There are few quarterbacks more adept at dealing with bad protection than Tony Romo, something Dallas perhaps took for granted. His ability to move around and his peculiar comfort with stepping up in (and often through) the pocket is one of those traits that's simply hard to teach.
In his absence, the Cowboys will surely suffer on offense. What's worse is that even with a good passing game to back defenders away from the box, Dallas has shown no stubbornness in running the football. Only the Arizona Cardinals have attempted fewer runs than Dallas, and the Cowboys' top rusher, Felix Jones, is 34th in the NFL with just 264 yards.
But it's not just the running game. The Dallas defense simply hasn't lived up to expectations. Currently 27th in the league in points per game allowed, even if the Dallas offense miraculously got better under Jon Kitna, there's no reason to think the defense would be able to do the same. And the schedule doesn't get any easier.
Draft strategy
I'll say this: I didn't bash the move by Dallas to draft Dez Bryant in April. As a value proposition, I said the team had landed a top-10 talent toward the bottom of the first round, and you can't pile on Jerry Jones and company for that move. That said, the pick of Sean Lee in Round 2, when there were offensive linemen to be had, was a bit puzzling. Lee has a chance to be a fine player and step in for Keith Brooking next year, but if this front office felt the team was close, not getting a guy who could add offensive line depth immediately was a move I questioned then and still do today.
Going forward, this should be the year Dallas bucks tradition and looks hard at offensive tackles in Round 1. Ironically, the Cowboys are a team that could fall all the way into the top 10 in a draft where currently, my top tackles available -- guys like Gabe Carimi, Nate Solder and Derek Sherrod -- are down in the 20s on my current Big Board.
Maybe this will be the year Jerry Jones actually finds himself trading down … but still making the right pick to help his team immediately.
Mel Kiper, who has been covering the NFL draft for ESPN since 1984, can be found year-round at his homepage.
