Making the Grade
Posted: April 26, 2005 @ 11:47 pm
Dallas has made the dean’s list. For the first time since Jimmy Johnson left the team in ‘93, Dallas has aced the immediate post season grades from all the major sports news services.
The most appreciated A comes from Dallas Morning News draft analyst Rick Gosselin, who is the hardest grader of front offices. Dallas received one of only three A’s given league wide. This is even more impressive given that only eight teams received grades of B or better. Dallas has four players in Gosselin’s Top 100, a compositive of evaluations from NFL sources. They are Demarcus Ware (11), Marcus Spears (15), Kevin Burnett (45) and Chris Canty (100).
The Cowboys are one of only three teams to ace the draft according to CNNSI scribe Paul Zimmerman. ESPN draft guru Mel Kiper gives Dallas one of his four A’s. (subscription only)
Dallas earned the top overall rating from Fox Sports’ John Czarnecki and CBS Sportsline’s Pete Prisco.
Pro Football Weekly has not released its draft grades to non-subscribers, but if the magazine’s draft book is any guide, Dallas probably came in first in class — all four of the Cowboys top defensive picks are rated in the Top 50, with three earning first round marks. Spears is rated 13th, Ware 19th, Burnett 31st and Canty 41st.
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Yep, that seems to be the verdict. But remember, all these grades really “quantify” is potential–and even then its sort of arbitrary. I love the draft, don’t get me wrong. I’M PLAYING DEVILS ADVOCATE HERE, SO DON’T RIP ON ME FOR THE FOLLOWING COMMENTS (specially since i don’t believe any of them–I’m just throwin them out there):
Ware– Troy is a small program, he didn’t consistently dominate against higher-level competition in college, if he plays end in 4-3 he can only play on left side (meaning Ellis goes to right side) and he has little experience at OLB in 3-4
Spears–yea, I got nothing here, this pick is just too solid and he’s so athletic and consistent and big, barring injury he should be pretty darn good
Burnett–Reconstructive knee surgery couple of seasons ago, but after that I have nothing again–just a great guy who is a really solid 2nd rounder
Barber III–alright, you got me again, in the 4th round this guy is sweet with pedigree and good production and class throughout college
Canty–lost 4th round pick next year, major injury issues (eye surgery combined with rehab for knee make his ability to be ready to play next season a big question) that we are speculating he can recover from-and remember, pro-ball requires players to be in even better shape than when they come out of college.
Bah– at this point, the next few picks are pretty good for late rounders, and BP was much more involved in the scouting process this year, so I’m sure he knows what he was doing.
Looking back–I’d make a miserable skeptic, cause all my counter-points are pretty pathetic. SWEET JOB DALLAS!!! I can barely remember the last time we had a draft this good. course I was only like 6 or 7.
Dan Pompei with Sporting News gives us only a B+. Would have given us an A+ if we had drafted Merriman.
http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=gradingeachteamsdraft&prov=tsn&type=lgns
Give me a break! Merriman is a good prospect but enough to raise the grade of an entire draft a full grade? No way
Oh yea, forgot to mention, all these guys are classy, good kids. Every single one of them has the respect and friendship from their coaches and peers, and they are all described as mature and intelligent. Ware is graduate next month, even through all this hulabaloo of getting drafted, which says a lot about his character. But all these guys are character guys (Burnett two time captain, etc…) We not only got some skilled players, we got guys who will represent the organization well, and will add to the positive team chemistry we are building. BP has a history of being able to do a lot with intelligent, and quality young players. One of the best offseasons we’ve had in a very, very long time.
Sorry–heh, but one more thing
It looks to me like BP is goin to be stickin around past 2006, especially if we have truly dealt with at least some of our needs this offseason. I think JJ (Jerry) will have no choice but to sign him to another contract, because you know he never could have had a draft/offseason like this with anyone else. Unless we play very poorly next season, or some sort of feud develops between them (see JJ (Jimmy) and JJ (Jerry)), BP will be here for a few more seasons.
OK, now I promise to shutup, go to sleep, and let people who probably know a bunch more than I, make some points as well
I like that he got us basically our defense of the future. And I think that this is a 2 year super bowl plan. Next year is WR S and OT and then were set with Drew finally gttinf ebouhg reps to start.
And then what ensues is our super bowl run. maybe a in or two, but definetely an appearance
There are alot of injury issues w some of the players this draft, but i think thats ok cause if we use all of what we now have on d, only a couple of guys(glover,spears?) will play the whole game. The depththat this offseason has brought to our d is so impressive, I dont think anyone could have predicted how smart these guys are thinking until we saw it with our own eyes. They built the foundation for one of the best ds in the nfl this year. It might take a few years, but this d will be one of the best out there. Also, mark my words, spears will be a superstar very soon. hes the perfect fit for us, and were the perfect fit for him.
Chris Canty is a phenomenal talent. I’m so anxious for him to hit the gridiron and for all Cowboys fans to witness what UVA/ACC fans already have. I wish I could put words to it. He’ll be a force to reckon with and he has the potential to be the guy, not to slight Ware or Spears, who sets the benchmark in expectations for generations of fans. In fact, this entire draft may be the one by which all others are gauged.
David
This is more in line with the topic of Rafael’s previous thread, but you hit on it here and I agree with you and Rafael about Parcells’ tenure with the Cowboys. I think he is a lock to finish out his contract, if for no other reason than in defiance of all those in the media who said the relationship between he and Jerry would never work. He just seems stubborn that way. Whatever insight ESPN’s Chris Mortensen enjoys on their relationship, he seems at his sagacious best whenever the subject is brought up, like he alone knows the answer to the riddle and quietly asserts that, health allowing, Bill will stay the course. Legitimate concerns notwithstanding, but are “health issues†really a euphemism for “clashes-with-ownership issuesâ€Â?
Like you, I wouldn’t be surprised if Parcells actually extends his stay. He may not only if doing so puts the organization at risk of losing a valued potential successor. And then, he just might move up, not out.
is canty really that good? I havent seen him in action. You think hell be better than spears? I agree w you about this draft. It wasnt quite what anyone expected, but it was nothing short of amazing.
About parcells though, I wouldnt die of a heart attack if he left. He has a long history of building good teams and walking away from them. Lets face it, the patriots and jets are still living large in the in the house that parcells built. Jones and Parcells have both proven that they will part ways with people when things are going very well, just because theyre not happy with someone pesonally. Thats not a knock on them, but history is what it is. I just hope they continue getting along.
this draft was great I didn’t think we would be able to land spears and a linebacker in the first round but when detroit took mike williams i almost passed out. There was alot of luck involved in getting spears at 20 maybe somethings are meant to be. I’ve said it before in other threads but all of these guys should get quality playing time. marion barber was a steal in the 4th. i got to see him on espn a couple of times last year and i liked what i saw. he’ll fit nicely into the rb rotation. with jj, marion and politte we could even room some two back sets like i saw auburn do last year.(i know barber is not ronny brown) put as many weapons on the field as possible. pressure offense. beriault and petitti could end up starters. beriault needs to work on his deep cover skills and petitti on his physical conditioning. on the injury front i think they are in a position to let him take as along as possible to heal we now have enough depth that we won’t have to press him into service. we may not see much of him until around thanksgiving. if he doesn’t play a down this year i wouldn’t be mad. we should have him 100% by next year with a couple of pounds added it would be like an extra draft pick next year. spears rehab is going well. I can see why so many people gave them an A. almost all of these players will have an immediate impact.
Does anyone know when and where training camp is going to be held?
back in California………Landry’s old Choice………Bill said last year “He knew what he was doing”…..by Going to California.
I think June or July. Preseason is August and Regular Season Sept…….not sure on exact dates.
Hey, Ron Mexico,
Having any success selling jerseys? I hear the NFL banned your shirt!
Great article on Dallas Cowboys site for a realistic view on what to expect this year. This should temper everyone to set expectations correctly.
http://www.dallascowboys.com/news_800.cfm?id=8106B6EE-A252-C9B1-441BEED7393461EE
Don S.,
Already said here at this site!! …… But don’t be fooled either, there just may be a shocker at the end of training camp, or maybe even before that. I don’t think it will be Ellis, and you would have to get a heck of a lot for Glover, so I doubt that too. But don’t be suprised if one of the LBs we expect to make the cut gets bounced or traded. Also if Andre Gurode doesn’t show improvement mentally this year, he just may loose Parcells’ trust. I mean you can’t just throw a guy into a big spot, when all he does is make stupid little mistakes like moving early. One thing for sure there will be a heck of a lot of competition this year in Oxnard … and that’s a good thing.
Oh about our grades …. who cares what these “draft gurus” think. Look no further than last year when Parcells got ridiculed all over these sporting magazines for trading away the 22nd overall pick. How did that work out? Need I say that Tony Mandrich was rated as the highest player in 1989 by most of the “experts”, in front of Barry, Deion, DT, and Troy.
Eric,
Regarding Mandarich — I’ll never forget Joe “he’s not a genius, Norman Einstein, now there’s a genius,” Theismann going on and on before, during and after the Cowboys picked Aikman about how the better player was Mandarich, because you can always find a QB, but if you took the juice machine from Michigan State, your left tackle problems would be solved for ten years!!
And they wonder why we call them mediots.
The folks on the Blog should be commended for the coutesy that they treat each other. It’s breath of fresh air to read informative sports talk without cursing or character assassination. Great Job all!!!
Did anybody see the Sunday night ESPN game where they retired NYG Lawrence Taylors Number.
Joe Theisman was an announcer. He asked LT a question.
All LT said was “Joe I BROKE YOU JOE…….I BROKE YOU JOE!!!”
Joe started stammering in the boothe still afraid of LT after all those years. Funny………..LT later said he was high as a kite……but it was hilarious.
Aikman is 1000 times better announcer than Joe too!!!!! I cannot stand Theisman.
i didn’t like him as a qb either. that is just like jaws. i don’t like him as an announcer nor a qb.
Rafael,
Yeah its pretty bad when 3 other players in the same draft are commonly known to sports fans on a first name basis. And its like … Tony Mandrich? Who is he? … Boy I wished ESPN would pay me for my analysis.
ericp
IMO (and not mine alone) yes, Canty is that good as evidenced in part by the Cowboys trading up to get him. Jerry was quoted as saying he had problems not taking him with the eighth pick in the round. But, interestingly he was “overruled” and Barber was selected.
I’m not degrading the potential value of either Ware or Spears but they certainly have higher expectations being first-round picks. If they bust, it’s a huge bust. Canty, on the other hand, has an advantage to sneak out of fourth-round expectations and blow everyone away with first-round caliber play. Much in the way he’ll be treating QBs around the league! And much in the way people now regard Julius Jones (who was a breath away from attending UVA, if not for the presence of his big brother looming there).
Canty was huge loss to the ‘Hoos last season, more importantly his injury was a huge blow to his own financial future. He was poised to showcase his abundant talent throughout his senior campaign and had the injury not occurred, who knows for one, how UVA finishes or two, how this draft would have shaken out with Ware, Spears and Canty all sitting there in the first? As it turns out, the only party to have seemingly benefited from the injury, is the Cowboys by allowing them to take all three.
So, we have to wait a little longer for Canty’s value to materialize but I trust the wait will be worth it.
i think this is the first draft that i “didn’t” say. “what the hell are they doing”. and at least we didn’t get merriman and/or derrick johnson. i think they will be the two biggest bust in the draft.
i am also glad that we didn’t go after howard, or pryce. what does everyone else think about not getting howard/pryce now.
What can you say about this draft in combination with the FAs we have obtained this year. I can truly say this is the first year in the past 6 that I can be psyched for the season. This is a great building year and we should see 9 victories, at least.
We got some steals in the later rounds with Canty, and Barber.
Does anybody know what the cap situation is after signing Glenn today?
Best info I have on the remaining cap space AFTER Glenn is around 8-9 million.
5-6 million of which will probably get used up by our draft picks.
And they all gave us BAD GRADES LAST YEAR…….
But look at what it gave us this year and Last………Bills got Losman.
We got Julius Jones, Sean Ryan, and now Marcus Spears………..the mediots are just jumping on the bandwagon before we win the Super Bowl……..none of them had Julius Jones on the radar and called it a terrible pick to pass on Steven Jackson………..watch as Jones has a 1600 yard year and Jackson continues to struggle with Marshal Marshal Marshal having to save the Rams rushing attack!
Go Cowboys!!!!! Way to go Bill Parcells……..in the War Room was the First Smile I have seen on Bill’s face since we lost our first ball game last year. I think he had fun buying the groceries………and I think he is looking forward to cooking the next 32 + Playoff Meals. Nobody thougth Jones and Parcells would last, and yet Bill is handling things perfectly. Building our future and making us competitive today with FAs……..we are going to the playoffs ladies and gents. Lets Go Cowboys.
Don’t forget about Justin Beriault. Watch out for this guy. He may start at Free Safety this year for The Boys. I have heard a few draft “gurus” and scouts say that he (along with Canty) may be the surprise steal of the draft. He’ll make my year if he takes the head off that crying punk T.O. “don’t call me B.O. or I’ll rip your sign down” Owens.