Cowboys’ Mediocracy, its Not the Head Coach’s Fault

After getting back to .500 by barely beating the Cleveland Browns, Cowboys fans should realize that its not the head coaches fault and the fact that the team has remained in games and even battled back in other tight games shows that he still has the team.

A Failed GM

So you must be asking who’s to blame, well its a combination of people and players, but in the end its all lands at the feet of management and that begins with Owner/General Manager Jerry Jones. In an interview with Bob Costa’s, Jerry freely admitted that as owner that he would fire himself as GM except he’s not going anywhere.  And even trying to increase the institutional memory of the Cowboys by hiring Dan Reeves in 2009, Jones failed to bring another NFL veteran in the fold.

One of the key failures as GM is that Jones is churning the bottom of the roster to get replacement players because of injuries and not because he is trying to make the team better. This can be seen by the current players CB Vince Agnew, S Eric Frampton, DE Ben Bass being added because of injuries and only minimally helping the team and special teams.

Consider behind Romo there is only Kyle Orton a drop back passer, that with our feable line would not last long and there is not even a 3rd string QB that is on the practice squad. The Cowboys should be developing another mobile QB and even on the practice squad he could hopefully give the team defense better looks when they have to prepare for Vick or RG3.

The weak roster can also be seen by the fact that at some time this year we have carried 2 punters, the drafted Safety Matt Johnson who has never been healthy and just recently put on IR.  Another key element to this is why are we keeping the draft pick David Arkin on the active roster if he is not even going to be active for the games when offensive line is such a strong need.

The lack of depth is why in the past years we have seen Cowboy teams fade in December and the playoffs and most likely while Special Teams have struggled.

Bad Drafts

Drafting has been the Achilles heel of the Dallas Cowboys since Jimmy Johnson left and had control as far as personnel decisions were concerned, though its seems there have been a few bright spots in the last couple of drafts or it may be the fact that the Cowboys are drafting for their system better.

Currently the active 53 man roster only has 24 players that have been drafted by the Cowboys which represents only 45% of the roster, while they also have 13 players that were undrafted rookie free agents for the organization, including Tony Romo, which represents another 26% of the roster. Though the players that the Cowboys have developed equal 70% of the roster the draft failures have a huge impact. Such as in 2009 when the team had 12 picks and only 2 remain on the roster (Victor Butler & John Phillips) and neither has a starting role.

The dismal offensive line can be seen that the Cowboys have only developed 2 starters since the 2007 draft, and that all the players that were meant to push and replace Free never matured into players.  Or the fact that 2 First Round Draft picks from 2008 (Felix Jones & Michael Jenkins) are seen as expendable next year and only have playing time this year because of injury or in limited roles.

Coaches Taking on Too Much Responsibility

This is where blame can finally be put on Jason Garrett because with the Cowboys being his first head coaching job and also just having a few years as coordinator under his belt before this, he needs to learn how to delegate and this could be why he is currently at about .500 for his tenure. If he truly learned from all his previous head coaches he should of seen that the best could delegate and had quality coordinators supporting them, just look at Jimmy Johnson.  Jason needs to give up play calling duties to Callahan and this shouldn’t be seen as a weakness but a strength.  As head coach Garrett can still influence the style of play and may have a better read on how to help his team while better being able to hold the whole team accountable.

Garrett has had some clock management issues at end of games both this year and last, and by focusing on head coaching duties this would a smaller probability of happening.  As coach Garrett also needs to strive to make sure he has the best talent on the field and not play players because of tenure or draft status.  For too long Dez Bryant was returning punts, yet he did not have the mental make up of what the position required and a player, Dwayne Harris, who they drafted to fill this role was left with out a true position and after getting more reps both against the Eagles and Browns was able to show his talent and knack for protecting the ball.

The Cowboys have good players and coaches and an owner willing to do everything but give up control, and the lack of control is why it would be foolish to think a Gruden or Payton would come to Dallas.  If a coach can’t have final say on player personnel then it will never fully be his team. For Jerry to prove that his team can win a championship without Johnson being referenced, he will have to loosen his control and make sure everyone is focused on one thing.

Despite all his Super Bowl optimism Jerry should be focused on taking small steps and of continuing to build talent on the team, giving the coaching staff full control and then those small steps and focus could lead to a quality playoff run, but whether 2012 can become this year remains to be seen.