How Much More Romo Friendly Can the Dallas Cowboys Take?
By Jeff Magnia
The Dallas Cowboys have seem to go out of their way to make sure that Tony Romo is happy even to the point of allowing him to evaluate draft talent. As reported by the Dallas Cowboys team website, the website stated that “that Romo himself came to Valley Ranch to evaluate Gavin Escobar and Terrance Williams ahead of their eventual selections.” There was even an article on the website entitled, “Completion of Draft Shows Clear ‘Romo-friendly’ Approach.”
As much as the team needs the offense to be “Romo-friendly”, I wonder how much the team is overemphasizing the need of the quarterback over the needs of the team. If Romo did have some input on the draft, why didn’t Demarcus Ware have the same type of input? The last time I checked there were three phases of the game: offense, defense, special teams. I also seem to remember that the offense is not the only phase that needed attention.
The jokes for many years have been about how Jerry Jones seems to pull the strings of the head coaches much like a puppet master. I am now curious if Tony Romo is now not the puppet master pulling at Jones.
Looking at the draft, the Cowboys didn’t draft a defensive player until after the 4th pick when they selected S J.J. Wilcox out of Georgia Southern University.
November 17, 2012; Gainesville FL, USA; Florida Gators defensive back Matt Elam (22) gets pumped up against the Jacksonville State Gamecocks during the second half at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. Florida Gators defeated the Jacksonville State Gamecocks 23-0. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
To remind our fans, the Cowboys selected C Travis Frederick, TE Gavin Escobar, and WR Terrance Williams in basically a reloading of the offense. The Cowboys passed on many defensive players that could have helped the team immediately as far as our big need for a safety. I still cannot believe that Matt Elam was there at the 31st pick and the Cowboys passed. I am sure that the Baltimore Ravens camp were doing cart wheels when they saw Elam was there and selected him the very next pick.
Ensuring that the offense will be Romo-friendly may cost this team in the long run. Wilcox was a good pick for the Cowboys but reading his scouting report, I don’t believe he would be a season opening game day starter. The same goes for Escobar as well, he may get the 2nd tight end spot but our needs at the tight end position were not so desperate that we needed to select one with our second pick of the draft.
The biggest surprise of course was the selection of Frederick as the Cowboys number one pick. Many of the analysts from the various media outlets had him pegged as a low 2nd round pick to a high 3rd round pick, certainly not the first round. When we had the 18th pick, we lost out on Eric Reid who went with the 18th pick to the San Francisco 49ers while Shariff Floyd went to the Vikings at number 23. Those were two defensive players the Cowboys could have really utilized and instead we went on the offensive.
And now the big news out of Dallas is how much say Romo is going to have in the offensive game planning and play calling, wanting to mirror what Peyton Manning does. The one thing about Peyton Manning is that he has been doing it his way for a long time and has been successful over a long period time. I am hoping that the Cowboys don’t expect a one season miracle turnaround and expect Manning type numbers from Romo. My opinion is that they should have let him do this year ago when he was younger. Getting the experience of a Peyton Manning isn’t going to happen in one season.
It is one thing to be Romo-friendly but it shouldn’t be at the cost of the rest of team. And knowing that Romo has 6 more years on his contract, how much longer will he be pulling the strings around Valley Ranch?