This off-season, Different is better than the Same

In my opinion, as we enter the draft phase of the off-season, the Cowboys front office needs to think differently than in past off-seasons. In some ways they already have with the Gilmore and Cooks moves. Because let’s be honest- “going back to what we did” in any year since 1995 hasn’t given us much in playoff success. Assuming of course that playoff success is the bottom line, which it should be.

Because different is better than the same if we are talking about getting better results.

The FO and coaching staff deserve some credit- we have certainly improved and performed well of late- back to back playoff seasons and back to back 12 win seasons. That’s good. But what has it translated to in the post season?. One WC playoff win. In the last 28 years, our Cowboys have only made the playoffs 12 times. That’s making the playoffs about 42% of the time. Better than some. But again, 12 playoff seasons with zero conference championship games, zero divisional round wins and only 5 WC wins. That’s better than Detroit but it should never be good enough here.

So here’s my big point: We need to approach the final phases of this off-season (draft and late FA) differently than the past if we want to get better results.

Here are some ”different ways of thinking” I would like to see:

• Draft some powerful, impactful IDL in the first 2 rounds IF one falls to you. We haven’t drafted an Interior DL in the first round in how long?How long has stopping the run been a problem here? Too long.
• I would avoid drafting a RB in round one. Because good RBs are not that hard to find. Yes, we need some help at RB, but we can get get a good one on Day 2. Remember DeMarco Murray was a 3rd rounder and Tony Pollard a 4th rounder. First round picks are a premium that shouldn’t be spent on a guy you get 5 good years from.
• Remember- as good as Zeke was early in his career, he was only a major weapon for 4-5 years. And having Zeke as a major weapon translated into 2 wild card wins. He was the 4th pick in the draft, so as good as he was early in his career, was it a great long term investment?
• We need to continue to be aggressive in the remaining off season time we have. Take some chances. This team is as close to being competitive for a championship as any time the last decade.

When you haven’t done much in the playoff for 3 decades, getting back to what we were in 2014 or 2016 should not be the standard. Yes, this team has been good the last two years. But good is not enough if we want to be GREAT.

We need to be different in our approach to this coming season. We already have in some ways with the Gilmore and Cooks acquisitions. But we need more. This team still needs lots of improvements. Time to finish this off-season with a great draft and continued bold moves in FA. Time to go for it!