“Best Center available for team get in first round”
- @l_thatone
I’m going to start this week’s mailbag off with a layup, because the answer here is easy: Iowa’s Tyler Linderbaum.
It’s important to know what you’re getting in Tyler Linderbaum is he is indeed the Cowboys’ pick at 24 this spring.
Linderbaum was listed at 290 while he was at Iowa, and that’s a little light, even for a center. He’s not a mauler. You’re not going to see highlights of him driving 300-pound nose tackles into the dirt.
What you get with Linderbaum is a master technician who never misses an assignment in pass protection, and a nimble athlete who can get to the second level and make crucial blocks to spring your running game.
You can see Linderbaum here in a game from this past season making three blocks on one play:
And again, while he’s not a brute who will bully NFL defensive lineman, he does have a background in wrestling, and even pinned future NFL All-Pro tackle Tristan Wirfs in high school:
Linderbaum was named a first team All-American at center by the Associated Press, and won the 2021 Rimington Trophy as the nation’s top center.
The question isn’t whether Linderbaum would be worth the 24th overall pick, but whether Linderbaum will be available by the time Dallas is on the clock.
“I want to know where the accountability is for not getting the ball to our top playmakers and not giving Tony Pollard more touches. There is no excuse for this level of horrible coaching. Where is the accountability?”
- @Freedomfry2021
This is a very common and very fair question from Cowboys fans recently.
Everyone knew all season that the Rams wanted to get the ball to Cooper Kupp. That didn’t stop Kupp from racking up 145 receptions during the regular season, or finishing with 20 combined catches in two very competitive playoff games against the Bucs and 49ers.
Speaking of the 49ers, they figured out a way to keep their star receiver Deebo Samuel involved at all times this year. In every game where Samuel had five or fewer targets this season, he had at least five carries. Between receiving targets and rushing attempts, the 49ers tried to get the ball to Samuel at least nine times in every single game this season.
By comparison, the Cowboys tried to get the ball to Amari Cooper at least nine times in just four of the 16 games he played in this season.
Tony Pollard was a dynamic player for the Cowboys when he touched the ball, and he was a focal point of the offense in the first half of the season, rushing the ball at least 10 times in five of the Cowboys’ first six games.
When Pollard’s carries and receiving targets totaled up to at least 10, the Cowboys were 9-1. They were 1-5 in the games where that number was in the single digits.
To be honest, I really don’t have a great answer for you here. I don’t know why this was an issue, and it doesn’t appear anyone lost their job over it, so it’s hard to see where the accountability is.
I just want to illustrate that you and several other fans are right to demand answers about this. Jerry and Stephen Jones should be doing the same.
“Knowing that that Jones family will continue to call the shots for the foreseeable future, why should we continue to be hopeful for the future?”
- @KrunkleKris
I know it’s difficult for Cowboys fans to believe sometimes, because the results have been so minimal over the past 26 years, and the changes have at times been even more negligible, but Jerry Jones, Stephen Jones, and the Cowboys front office are genuinely committed to winning another title.
They aren’t content to be terrible like the Houston Texans seem to be right now.
They aren’t refusing to move on from toxic personalities like the Jacksonville Jaguars are doing with Trent Baalke.
They just believe in things like continuity and building through the draft as the way to structure a champion.
I don’t think those concepts are necessarily wrong, but the results for 26 years say that the way they’ve practiced those particular concepts has been wrong.
This is a really talented roster, and they’ve figured out the hardest part of building any Super Bowl team: they’ve got their quarterback. Those two things alone will position them better than two-thirds of the league in any given year.
The problem is that they can’t just be content to be better than two-thirds of the league. They need to figure out how to elevate above the other contenders.
The good news is that they have one of the league’s best scouting staffs to help them continue to add talent. You know the name Will McClay, but they have several other very sharp, very well-respected scouts.
Assistant Director of College Scouting Mitch LaPoint has steadily risen through the organization and been a reliable talent evaluator for the Cowboys. National Scout Drew Fabianich is another strong scout who has a lengthy track record of positive evaluations. Both would have been potential in-house candidates had Will McClay left for another job this offseason.
Their area scouts are some of the best in the NFL. Ross Wuensche, Klein Kubiak, Chris Vaughn, and Sam Garza all have a history of finding high-value picks on days two and three of the draft, not just the top 32. And some of the newer area scouts like Brett Maxie II and Eric Ellingworth are already building similar reputations.
So if you’re looking for reasons to believe in this team, just know that the Jones family’s desire for another Super Bowl isn’t just lip service, the roster is incredibly talented, and the scouting staff is arguably the best in the NFL.
