When was the last time the Cowboys swung for the fences? How about last year trading up for Dez Bryant. Good Lord, man, argue with your head, not your heart.

lol @ Mel Kiper being your big argument for a QB being a super prospect. He's been totally discredited with the payola-esque fiasco with Jimmy Clausen last year. Guy still stands by his "number 1 on the big board" with him.

Clausen is a good example of how hard it is to grade QBs in the draft. My aforementioned buddy was a coach at Carolina last year (went to Denver with Fox) and said they didn't plan to take Clausen but he was way up on their board and they felt he was a steal. Just goes to show that there are no experts who know what these guys will become. The Panthers didn't even want to take him that badly but couldn't resist. It's a multi million dollar crapshoot. The studio experts have the same thing the rest of us have - opinions.

@ marktown/nobody in paticular

dude, youre starting to sound completely ignorant (no offense). Ive used Mel Kiper by name once. I've generally alluded to a concensus by a majority of so called experts ratings on any said player. I dont know what you do for a living, but i'm assuming you are considered an expert or guru in something. At some point your opinion will be valued on some sort of subject.

Same applies here. Look at ANY draft board, mock draft, list, whatever. From espn, to foxsports to SI, to local sports. You will see a general concensus of Blaine Gabbert's draft range from as high as 1st to at some areas as low as 12. The majority of boards had him going to either Buffalo (3rd overall) and almost never getting past the 49ers (7th overall).

And i have to disagree with you about your Clausen big board theory. Again it sounds pretty ignorant. Last year with both Kiper and McShay it was Bradford vs Suh for 1st overall. It was like that all pre-draft. NOBODY had clausen over bradford. (the info is still available on espn.com if you really doubt me that much). QB wise, it was Sam Bradford then a huge dropoff to Tebow, Colt McCoy, and Clausen. And the majority of the country did not have a very high opinion of Clausen. He was all appearance over substance. What's the point of having perfect form, when you have no instincts.

If Kiper in deed had clausen higher than the rest, so be it, that's his opinion. And it certainly wasnt mine. The majority of experts though were not shocked when he fell to the second round and was picked after McCoy.

This year QB ranking wise its been split as follows: pre combine/pro days: Newton, Gabbert, Mallet, possibly Locker to post combine/pro days a toss up between Gabbert and Newton and then there's a giant drop off to Locker, Dalton, Kaepernick, Ponder, etc. The majority of experts would tell you Gabbert is the best prototypical QB in the draft vs all of Newton's intangibles (similar to Vick's draft situation).

My point is, I'm not the only person who has a high opinion of Gabbert and there's obviously other ppl in this world that believes he will be very successful in the NFL.

However it is obvious that I have failed to convince anyone to the contrary (although not my point) I was just wondering if in general anyone esle felt the cowboys passed up a huge opportunity to grab a great QB of the future.

I'm obviously in the minority---- or i could be the only one in Texas. lol

We can all agree to disagree, its fun to debate, but always with respect,

With respect, when I see aggie in your name that tells me all I need to know.

From what I've heard Blaine Gabbert is the next coming of Ryan Leaf, so chew on that a little.

Tyron Smith is not just any other lineman, to win you have to put money and youth into the trenches.

QB is not our biggest problem, you can win a Super Bowl with Romo at QB. I'm not giving any examples because they are too numerous.

It's like saying that the Mavs have no shot with Dirk when he isn't the problem and saying that Rangers have no shot without Cliff Lee, that's just absurd.

I hate the Cowboys' 2nd and 3rd round draft picks.
In the 2nd round, they chose Bruce Carter, ILB. However, they passed on Da'Quan Bowers, consensus top 5 players before teams realized he needs a surgery to fix one of the ligaments in his knee. Bowers had 17 sacks in his junior years. They also passed on Rahim Moore, S but I can sort of forgive them for passing on him as he runs in 4.6s. Furthermore, they passed on Stephen Paea.
In the 3rd round, they chose Demeco Murray, RB. They could have used that pick to continue to improve their offensive line. I would rather have Jernigan than Murray.

could the cowboys draft michael yound and play him at safety?

I keep getting sucked back in... bastards!

Via Si.com

Pick
9

Tyron Smith

T
6-5
307
USC
Player ProfileSI Grade: 3.13

We suppose you can never have too many quality offensive linemen in the NFL. But with that said, drafting an offensive tackle was a bad decision by Dallas. The team surrendered a franchise-worst 436 points in 2010, and despite all the high draft picks and big names on defense, they desperately needed more help from front to back. Last we checked, Dallas averaged 29.1 PPG in eight games under head coach Jason Garrett. Yet they left a dominant defender like Auburn's Nick Fairley sitting on the board.

Via Brian Billick:

I have heard others comparing Gabbert to Matt Ryan, but I struggle to crown him franchise ready from Day 1 like Ryan was. I think Gabbert can get there, but there will be much more of a transition period. Specific to this year's draft, I do think he is worthy of consideration for the first overall pick, but I think Carolina would be better off going with a defensive stalwart. To me, Gabbert makes most sense at three overall to Buffalo or five to Arizona.

Via Yahoo Sports:

Conclusion: When Andrew Luck decided to stay at Stanford, Gabbert benefitted more than anyone else. He's closest to success in a pro-style (heavy on the shotgun) offense because he's got command of different types of intermediate throws, and he's got the kind of arm strength that can be honed by the right kind of coaching. Add in his excellent mobility and ability to roll out of the pocket and make every throw with both feet on the ground, and Gabbert looks more and more like an exceptional pro prospect.

He'll have to learn the things spread quarterbacks don't do that often – snaps under center, play-fakes and play-action – but like Flacco before him, Gabbert is far more than a spread offense washout. He's more mobile than Flacco, and Flacco has a better arm, but it's a decent comp for that reason alone.

NFL Comparison: Joe Flacco, Baltimore Ravens

I"m sure you heard he's the next ryan leaf but hell you couldve heard it from anyone. Psss.... i hear cam newton could be the second coming of Randall Cunningham too.... doesnt mean its true... and most likely wont happen.

@usmccowboys fan

first off, thank you for your service. our country is indebted to you. Secondly. Thanks for being a fan of the boys.

Pleasantries aside....

number of playoff series Won with Dirk = 10 series wins, 2 WCF appearances 1 WCF championship, 1 NBA Finals apperance
number of playoff series Won with Cliff Lee/Michal Young (cuz i consider him the captain) = 2, 1 ALCS championship series, and 1 WS appearance
number of playoff series won with Mike Modano (if you wanna consider him the captain)=14 series wins, 3 WCF appearances, 2 WCF championships, 1 Stanley cup
number of playoff games won by Tony Romo=1

i'm sorry man, but do the math, your analogy was a pretty insubstantial one, and NO the cowboys cannot and will not win a SB with Romo as their QB. I hope i eat crow, i'll take one for a boys SB.... but it aint gonna happen.

Thanks for making me look up all that series crap for the Mavs and Stars though... wasnt a b%$# at all. lol

dcaggie

way to accuse marktown of ignorance, then proceed to use baseless claims to illustrate his ignorance (pull t laughed at you for referencing kiper, not marktown - i know, reading is difficult - it isn't for everyone). unless you meant to say, "dude, youre starting to sound completely ignorant" to nobody in particular. the experts SHOULD have been shocked when clausen fell to the 2ND round and was drafted AFTER mccoy, as mccoy was drafted in the 3RD round. (see what i did there? that's sarcasm, because 3 comes after 2 - i know, counting is difficult - it isn't for everyone). also, if you remember the last playoff game the cowboys were in (you may have not been born yet), the biggest reason they lost was colombo gave up 3 sacks to mario edwards and in general he (colombo) played like you post and made edwards look like a HOFer.

*ray edwards

Huge OU fan so I obviously love Murray as a player, but I don't get it. Maybe if the Cowboys cot a CB or safety with their 3d pick and Murray with their 4th (if he fell that far), but you got to address your needs first before experimenting with luxury items

dcaggie -

1. Kiper had Claussen #1 on his "big board", as in the best available player in his opinion. Predicting who *will* be drafted first is a whole other type of list...aka a mock draft.

2. Claussen was drafted about 40 picks BEFORE McCoy....

Can we all agree that the Cowboys biggest area of need is a new GM?

God i love the smell of napalm in the morning....

you are correct i meant pull t on the kiper hit not marktown. and excuse me for not doing my research on Clausen and McCoy; 2 QBs i gave the leasr F*** about in last years draft. hey you'd make mistakes two if you were constantly getting internet prison raped non stop on a forum (i'm filling internet harassment charges on all of you btw... jk) for one man's opinion. I was simply searching to see if anyone else saw a missed opportunity in not taking gabbert. obviously i'm the only one that did; the rest of the forum became an all out personal assault on why i believe the way i do and on my intelligence. no biggie. it happens. everyones an internet bad ass. except for me currently my internet persona is curled in ball in the shower ala elizabeth shue in leaviin las vegas. thanks guys i get, yall shawshanked the hell out of my ass, hopefully time will tell if i'm right or wrong and either way all i truly care about is what's best for the cowboys.

and i believe adam hit the nail on the head.... a new GM

Yea sorry I went a little high on the deuche scale. It was just aimed at that one specific post, not your others. I am not a big fan of romo either, but I am REALLY not a big fan of taking qbs in the first round when u have more pressing needs, they're just too much of a crapshoot. You have to have a great team for rings. Our line was terrible and its old and woulda just gotten way worse if they didn't address it. I apologize for attacking your intelligence.

Why not sign Michael Young and play him at safety?

there was a potential to draft him at safety, however when they told him they would shift him from strong to free... he demanded a trade