Sanchez leaving early: Had to do it, or a big mistake?

[Van]

On the one hand conventional wisdom has always been that if you're a Top 10 pick you have to come out early. You're crazy if you don't. That's literally lottery money you might be risking and you never know what may happen to you in college.

-Willis McGahee

There's also the money potentially lost by not striking when the iron's hot. You could come out as a sure thing top pick as a junior, vs coming back just to enjoy the college experience one more year and then shit happens and you find yourself sliding down a little in the draft.

-Matt Leinart

What should Sanchez have done?

First off, no, his draft ranking wasn't going to be all that affected by the decisions of McCoy, Tebow and Bradford. Of those three only Bradford had the potential of affecting Sanchez's draft ranking. Sanchez was always going to go higher than McCoy or Tebow.

So, instead of it coming down to Sanchez, Bradford and Stafford as to who would be the #1 QB chosen it will now come down to only Stafford vs Sanchez.

My first inclination is to think that Sanchez and his people did their homework. They did their due diligence with the NFL draft people. They must be convinced that he's going to be a Top 10 pick, and maybe the #1 QB taken overall. With the Lions picking #1 maybe Sanchez has been led to believe that he might be the #1 pick overall, especially in light of the success enjoyed by Atlanta and Baltimore with their rookie QBs.

If that turns out to be true then of course he has to come out now.

After hearing what Pete had to say though, man, something's not quite right there. Pete is obviously of the opinion that Sanchez won't go that high. Pete never discourages any of his players from jumping ship if they're going to be a high first rounder. Besides the fact that he does have the kid's best interests at heart it's also a huge recruiting tool for him when he sits down on some high school kid's couch and he's able to look the kid in the eye and say, "You'll be an NFL first round draft pick if you come to play for me. You're every bit as good as <fill in the blank player> was at this point and look at him now. I had four guys taken in the first round last year, and ten overall taken in the first two rounds. That will be you too, if you come to USC. That's why I am here talking to you."

Pete wouldn't have said squat had Taylor Mays declared. He would've said he was thrilled for Taylor, same as he said about Sanchez. That's all he would've said though about Taylor because he knows Taylor Mays is a sure fire Top 10 pick who really won't help his draft status any further by playing his senior year at USC.

Pete is probably shocked that Mays is coming back. Mays is probably shocked and more than a little pissed off that Sanchez isn't coming back.

The fact that Pete is this admant about Sanchez making a mistake here tells me he knows more than Sanchez about how this will all play out. I'm not just talking Pete's comment about "success rates for QBs who come out early." No, I'm thinking Pete has it on good authority that Sanchez isn't going to go in the Top 10, which he surely would've had he come back and had a great senior season.

I have zero problem believing that Pete absolutely thinks it would be in Sanchez's best interests to come back next year and improve his skills, and his draft position.

Sanchez may be better than Leinart, who knows, but his situation isn't comparable to Leinart's. Leinart had nowhere to go but down by coming back for his senior year. Sanchez still has considerable room to grow, both as a player and as a marketable, draftable commmodity.

He only played one full season, and he was hurt most of the year. Had he come back next year and played lights out along the way to some Heisman talk and a national title run, including an MVP performance in the title game against a Tebow, Bradford or McCoy...he's #1 in the 2010 draft.

He also cements himself as a god in L.A., especially among the latino community and the USC network. While it would be difficult to quantify what that might mean to him in terms of sheer dollars its overall effect on his life would be immense.

Not saying any of this was guaranteed to happen but the possibility sure existed for it to happen and it wouldn't have been the least bit unlikely.

Instead, now he runs the risk of disappearing into oblivion, with a smaller paycheck than he anticipated.

Dunno. I seriously have to think Leinart's situation scared him. Somebody must have him convinced that he's already at the top of the draft board and sticking around might only cost him $$.

There's always that possibiluty, sure, but overall I think the greater risk comes from coming out too soon and then disappearing.

If he isn't a Top 10 pick then this decision was a failed gamble. Even if he is a Top 10 pick, say, nine or ten, then it still could be considered a bit of a failed gamble. The guy's upside at USC and then the NFL was just immense, had he come back to conquer the world in his senior season...

...and its not like either he or his family are hurting for money either. He's not a hardship case. He doesn't need to come out early in order to be able to financially take care of his sick mother, like a Chilo Rachal.

There's the irony. Sanchez is doing this strictly for the money, yet he doesn't need the money, and in doing this he's potentially risking a lot of money.

[Van]

Sanchez has greater physical tools than either Booty or Leinart. He has a bigger arm than either one of them. He has much better accuracy than Booty, especially on the deep ball. He's more mobile than either one of them. He's just as big as either one of them.

Booty was supposedly faster in the 40 than Sanchez but Sanchez was still more mobile overall.

Sanchez is said to have pre-injury Carson Palmer physical skills, along with a lot more mobility.

He's also a lot more of a leader than Booty.

All that being said, Leinart was obviously the better QB at USC. He started three years though, so it's not a fair comparison. A more accurate comparison would be to compare the season Sanchez just had to Leinart's first year as a starter, which you well remember, 'Spray.

It began with 23-0, in Jordan-Hare.

Leinart was good that year, but he wasn't the Leinart of '04 and '05.

That's what Sanchez is risking. Languishing on some NFL bench, carrying a clipboard, Sanchez may never get to the level Leinart rose to in '04 and '05. Had Sanchez stayed for his senior season he was set up to simply have a monster season.

The entire offense save one underachieving WR is returning. This includes all five starters on the O line. All those running backs, including a hopefully injury free Joe McKnight. USC's best FB in forever, Stanley Havili. Both TEs. All but one receiver...and no Steve Sarkisian as the Mad Scientist OC fucking things up.

This was going to be a thoroughly dominant offense. If USC handles their business Sanchez is playing for a national title and we all know that if USC is playing for a national title and they have a star QB that star QB is going to receive a fuckuva lotta Heisman run. Any slip ups by TeGhandi, Bradford or McCoy and Sanchez would've been right there at the front of the Heisman talk.

In lieu of screwing all this up he better be a high first rounder.

[MuchoBulls]

I think you can answer that he did have to do it and it is a big mistake.

As I mentioned in mtool's thread, Sanchez saw that McCoy, Bradford and Tebow all stayed in school, so this was a great opportunity for him to cash in now, whereas he might not have been in a better position for the NFL draft in 2010.

He is a good QB, but I would take Pete Carroll's side on this in that he would be better served to come back for 1 more season at USC.

[Van]

Mucho, again, Tebow and McCoy were never going to affect Sanchez as an NFL draft pick. Only Bradford and Stafford could possibly impact Sanchez's draft ranking.

Whatever else went into his decision to come out early Tebow and McCoy deciding to stay for their senior years played no role in Sanchez's decision. His decision was based on talks with the NFL and short of an injury mucking things up nobody in the NFL was every going to draft Tebow or McCoy ahead of him.

[MuchoBulls]

Mucho, again, Tebow and McCoy were never going to affect Sanchez as an NFL draft pick. Only Bradford and Stafford could possibly impact Sanchez's draft ranking.

So the potential of being drafted lower (hence less $$$$$$) wouldn't have affected his decision?

Don't get me wrong, I think Sanchez is a very good QB, but I could see Bradford, McCoy, and Stafford all being drafted ahead of him. Not sure where Tebow would go, but he'd be up there.

[Shoalzie]

When opportunity knocked (Bradford not leaving early), he took advantage of it. There were probably no more than 2 first round QBs in this year's draft had it been Stafford and Bradford or Stafford and Sanchez. The opening was there a QB of his ilk to leave early and get a shot at first round money. I can't think of another reason.

[Goober McTuber]

Mucho, again, Tebow and McCoy were never going to affect Sanchez as an NFL draft pick. Only Bradford and Stafford could possibly impact Sanchez's draft ranking.

So the potential of being drafted lower (hence less $$$$$$) wouldn't have affected his decision?

Don't get me wrong, I think Sanchez is a very good QB, but I could see Bradford, McCoy, and Stafford all being drafted ahead of him. Not sure where Tebow would go, but he'd be up there.

The only chance Tebow has of being picked on Day 1 would be someone thought he could be the next Tony Gonzalez.

[MuchoBulls]

The only chance Tebow has of being picked on Day 1 would be someone thought he could be the next Tony Gonzalez.

While I could certainly see that I am not sure why scouts would be so down on him as a QB. He does have a rocket for an arm and he is pretty accurate on deep throws.

[Van]

Mucho, again, Tebow and McCoy were never going to affect Sanchez as an NFL draft pick. Only Bradford and Stafford could possibly impact Sanchez's draft ranking.

So the potential of being drafted lower (hence less $$$$$$) wouldn't have affected his decision?

Don't get me wrong, I think Sanchez is a very good QB, but I could see Bradford, McCoy, and Stafford all being drafted ahead of him. Not sure where Tebow would go, but he'd be up there.

Bradford and Stafford, possibly. McCoy? No chance. Tebow? No chance. Harrell? No chance. Chase Daniel? No chance.

Like I said, of the current crop of CF QBs only Bradford's and Stafford's decisions could impact Sanchez. Stafford had already decided to come out so that one was a given. McCoy is nowhere near the NFL QB prospect that Sanchez is, and neither is Tebow. Sanchez didn't need to worry about those two guys.

And that's this year, right now. Give Sanchez another full, healthy year at USC and he blows right by Stafford anyway. If Bradford struggles at all behind a thoroughly rebuilt O line Sanchez may blow past him too.

As it stands now though he's simply banking on the desperation of certain NFL teams combined with a bad year for NFL type college QBs. Those factors may land Sanchez a Top 10 contract, or maybe even a Top 5 contract.

If this should happen then yep, he absolutely made the right decision. If however he falls to the low first round or lower then nope, he blew it. He would have almost certainly enhanced not just his life but his draft status and his bank account had he stuck around for his senior season.

Look at Keith Rivers, Lawrence Jackson, Sedrick Ellis and Sam Baker. Look at Jake Long, among many others. Hell, look at Rey Maualuga and Brian Cushing. CF and the NFL aren't like college hoops and the NBA. In the vast majority of cases CF players only enhance their draft ranking by staying in college as seniors.

Unless you're a Barry Sanders, Adrian Peterson, Reggie Bush or Percy Harvin level talent coming out of college you're nearly always better served in terms of your draft standing by sticking around.

Notice that none of those guys are QBs either. While I'm sure there must be some exception to the rule I'm blanking right now on the names of any successful NFL QBs who came out early...

Drew Brees, maybe? Did he come out early?

Peyton? Nope. Brady? Nope. Carson Palmer?? Nope. Hasselbeck? Nope. Donavan McNabb? Kurt Warner?

Hell, maybe Michael Vick, or Vince Young. Exactly. That's the problem.

[Van]

The only chance Tebow has of being picked on Day 1 would be someone thought he could be the next Tony Gonzalez.

While I could certainly see that I am not sure why scouts would be so down on him as a QB. He does have a rocket for an arm and he is pretty accurate on deep throws.

You can time his delivery with a sun dial and he operates almost exclusively out of the spread. He never operates from under center and he doesn't have the first clue about 3-5-7 step drop footwork or quick read NFL style passing.

Bowling over Mississippi St's safety may work for a college QB. Trying to bowl over Troy Palomalu and Ray Lewis...not so much.

Like a Graham Harrell or Colt Brennan he's the very definition of a "system quarterback."

Look around the NFL. Which types of QBs succeed? "Athletes," or conventional pro style pocket passers?

Last year's Super Bowl pitted Tom Brady vs Eli Manning. This year's will be either Joe Flacco or Ben Roethlisberger vs the ultimate statue, Kurt Warner, or Donovan McNabb. Even Donovan had to learn to be a real QB before he ever achieved any meaningful success in the NFL.

NO "athletes" at QB have ever taken their team anywhere in the modern NFL. Ever. Steve Young came the closest but again he had to learn to become a real QB and to eschew the run at the first sign of trouble before he ever got over the hump.

Tim Tebow has a big body and a reasonably strong arm. He's also a great kid and a great leader, with lots of intangibles. He doesn't have any training though in playing the QB position at the NFL level.

At best he'd be a major project. At worst he'd have no chance of succeeding. He'd be playing a different position or he'd be out of the league within two seasons.

That's just one of many reasons USC is always able to land top flight NFL style QB prospects. Among upper tier CF programs USC is a bit of a rarity in that they operate a pro style offense. Compared to all the other "system QBs" all over the country Pete's QBs are nearly always way ahead of the game in terms of being NFL ready.

Even Sam Bradford will have to relearn a lot of what he's used to doing. Always being in the shotgun and always having ten minutes to pick and choose from among four different wide open receivers doesn't exactly prepare someone to do well at QB for the Detroit Lions.

We've seen this with Jamarcus Russell. Now that he's forced to play an NFL style QB without the luxury of the dominant LSU O line in front of him he's looked positively horrible. He's already got all sorts of learning curve issues with having to make quick reads and quick, accurate throws yet his coaches are often still having to spend time teaching the poor kid just the basics of QB footwork.

It's a totally different game, playing QB in the NFL vs playing it in Urban Meyer's system at Florida. Tebow's strengths are used to their fullest at Florida. His weaknesses are non issues at Florida.

Sanchez? He's almost the perfect prototype NFL QB. He's the proper size. He's fundamentally sound. He has the footwork down. He has the various drops down. He has a proper throwing motion and a blazing fast release. He's accurate and he has a monster arm. He's mobile in the pocket. He has decent pocket awareness. He's tough. He's exceedingly bright. He's a very hard worker. He's a born leader.

Sounds a whole lot more like Matt Ryan than it sounds like Pat White or Tim Tebow, doesn't it?

[MuchoBulls]

Van, you make great points. I certainly won't disagree that Tebow is a "system" quarterback, but he does line up under center at times. I am sure he could be worked with on his drop back and throwing mechanics because I agree with you when you say he would be a "project". He's a "project" that most team would probably want.

[Vito Corleone]

When you are one of the top 2 players at a position you should leave early. To me it made perfect sense since Bradford decided to come back. Not sure why Pete is making such a big deal about this, it's not like he is being left with zero talent.

BTW Evidently next season it is being reported that Colt is going to spend a lot of time next season under center in a more conventional pro style offense. We might even bring back the elusive fullback in order to get some playing time for our two big backs. Not sure why anyone would overlook Colt as a pro prospect? He is 6'2 215 and has the most accurate arm, no one in college football reads defenses like he does and he has both a great work ethic and is a great leader. He doesn't have the strongest arm but he also proved this year he is very capable of making all the necessary throws needed to be an effective NFL QB.

[peter dragon]

leaving early with only 1 year of success has been a major league detrimental to the success of big name QB's in the NFL... not that Sanchez will have the same trouble but its not usually a good sign

[Van]

Van, you make great points. I certainly won't disagree that Tebow is a "system" quarterback, but he does line up under center at times.

Yeah, primarily in short yardage situations, when one way or the other Florida is going to be running the ball.

How often have you seen Tebow under center, taking the snap, and then doing a conventional five or seven step drop before drilling it in accurately into the teeth of a Tampa 2 defense?

That's life at QB in the NFL and that's not what Florida asks of Tebow.

I am sure he could be worked with on his drop back and throwing mechanics because I agree with you when you say he would be a "project". He's a "project" that most team would probably want.

Of course he can be "worked with." The point is that no NFL team will select that sort of a project ahead of a more finished commodity like a Mark Sanchez.

Nobody intends to pay Top 5 draft pick money on a "project." Top 5 picks are supposed to be immediate impact players or, in the case of QBs, franchise players a year or two down the road.

Besides possibly Matt Stafford and Sam Bradford nobody in today's college game will get drafted higher at the QB position than Mark Sanchez. Certainly not Colt McCoy or Tim Tebow. Looking at all the position rankings that are coming out now it even looks like Sanchez has moved into the consensus #1 spot, ahead of Stafford.

[SoCalTrjn]

Leinart did not have a choice, his elbow was falling off and he would have not had any chance to quiet any doubters off his arm strength before the draft, he had surgery on his elbow the next day.
Also remember that Norm Chow did not decide to leave until 3 weeks after Leinart made his decision, Sanchez knew he was losing Sarkisian.
As for Tebow, Bradford and McCoy... Tebow is going to play what in the NFL? they're not even sure what position heis going to play TE?, I dont think he will fool many NFL defenses with that jump pass. Bradford and McCoy took how many snaps under center? How many 5 and 7 step drops? that spread offense ran by those schools isn't anything new, every high school in California runs it all summer long in the passing leagues, they just drop the flag football offense when they put the pads on you think it's going to work in the NFL.
Mark was healthy for 1 game this season, his knee went bad a week before Virginia and he didnt get a break until after UCLA, when his knee was healthy we saw what he did vs Penn State
Sanchez has his degree in communications, he has been at USC for 4 years and has been a great student, its not like an OJ Mayo thing where he was one and gone, didnt bother attending class, Mark was a great student.
I hate that Mark left, I hate that HCPC hates that he left, perhaps he wasnt ready to go to the league but looking at an all new offensive coaching staff and the fact that the only other QB of worth in this draft is Matt Stafford plus the fact that he already has his degree, I can see why Mark left.
Now we will have to see what Aaron Corp can do this spring and summer and get him ready for the fall.

[Van]

Already given up on Mustain?

[SoCalTrjn]

he may have done well in the SEC but come on, the best QBs are home grown here in Southern California

[Van]

Not necessarily.

Sincerely,

Joe Montana, Dan Marino, Johnny U, Brett Favre, etc.

Seriously, are you already conceding the starting job to Corp, even though Mustain seemed to be the second string QB last season?

Seems like those two are still neck and neck and it'll come down to whether either one can create any separation in spring practice. If it was anybody but USC Matt Barkley would also be playing a role here but USC never pushes true freshman into the starting gig at QB...or practically any other position, for that matter.

[SoCalTrjn]

Barkley is on campus now, he might push Mustain back to third string by the spring game

those other guys didnt play at USC. USC Quarterbacks come from right here in Orange County and dont say "y'all" in the huddle

[Blueblood]

USC Quarterbacks come from right here in Orange County and dont say "y'all" in the huddle

Sin,

[Van]

[SoCalTrjn]

Who gives a fuck about the NFL? Im talking about USC and USC QBs
Matt Barkley- Costa Mesa, Orange County, CA
Aaron Corp- Anaheim, Orange County, CA
Mark Sanchez- Mission Viejo, Orange County, CA
Matt Leinart- Santa Ana, Orange County, CA
Carson Palmer- Laguna Hills, Orange County, CA
Booty lost to Stanford, should have cost him his LA Privelages
been a good run for the OC and USC

[SoCalTrjn]

he may have done well in the SEC but come on, the best QBs are home grown here in Southern California

At the end of the season:

Buffalo - Trent Edwards (Stanford) West
Miami - Chad Pennington (Marshall) NE
New England - Matt Cassel (USC) West
NY Jets - Brett Favre (Southern Miss) South
Baltimore - Joe Flacco (Delaware) NE
Cincinnati - Ryan Fitzpatrick (Harvard) NE
Cleveland - Bruce Gradkowski (Toledo) Midwest
Pittsburgh - Ben Roethisberger (Miami) Midwest
Houston - Sage Rosenfels (Iowa State) Midwest
Indianapolis - Peyton Manning (Tennessee) South
Jacksonville - David Garrard (East Carolina) South
Tennessee - Kerry Collins (Penn State) NE
Denver - Jay Cutler (Vanderbilt) South
Kansas City - Tyler Thigpen (Coastal Carolina) South
Oakland - JaMarcus Russell (LSU) South
San Diego - Phillip Rivers (NC State) South
Dallas - Tony Romo (Eastern Illinois) Midwest..... From California, not illinois
NY Giants - Eli Manning (Ole Miss) South
Philadelphia - Donovan McNabb (Syracuse) NE
Washington - Jason Campbell (Auburn) South
Chicago - Kyle Orton (Purdue) Midwest
Detroit - Daunte Culpepper (Central Florida) South
Green Bay - Aaron Rodgers (Cal) West
Minnesota - Tarvaris Jackson (Alabama St.) South
Atlanta - Matt Ryan (Boston College) NE
Carolina - Jake Delhomme (Louisiana - Lafayette) South
New Orleans - Drew Brees (Purdue) Midwest
Tampa Bay - Jeff Garcia (Michigan) Midwest ... From California, not michigan
Arizona - Kurt Warner (Northern Iowa) Midwest
St. Louis - Marc Bulger (West Virginia) NE
San Francisco - Shaun Hill (Maryland) NE
Seattle - Seneca Wallace (Iowa St.) Midwest..... From California, not Iowa

Geographically broken down, this would show

Northeast - 8
Midwest - 9
South - 12
West - 3

This turns your flawed theory to shit. Try again. I guess some of the Western QB's do good in college, but I know you don't watch or understand Pro Football (believe it or not - the players are far superior), and it appears that (once again) - you're full of fucking shit.

And one of the "west" QB's is a backup to a Michigan guy.
I see that Iowa State has TWO starters in the NFL and Iowa has none. Who woulda thunk it? Minorthreat, your thoughts? Where the hell is Kyle McCann on that list?

From that list, I dont know if those are the starters or not since I dont watch the NFL, 6 are from California, Fitzpatrick is from Arizona, thats still out west. I know Garrard is from New Jersey but Pennington is from Tennessee. I dont know if any of the other states have 6 QBs on that list, are you comapring one state to another or one state to 15 states?
Doesnt matter for the arguement, for USC, their best QBs have been home grown

[War Wagon]

Doesnt matter for the arguement, for USC, their best QBs have been home grown

You mean to tell me that the flagship football school in the most populous state somehow manages to find their QB's in their own backyard?

Shocking.

[SoCalTrjn]

dont give me that most populous shit 25 million peoople in this state are from other countries and have no idea what football is, theyd rather play that faggoty soccer stuff. Then there are 5-10 million seniors who have moved here for the weather.

out of state USC QBs that have started off the op of my head have been Booty, Rodney Peete and maybe Brad Otton but Im not sure if he was from washington or just went to college there before his mission, the last 30 years, nearly every QB has been homegrown, can Missouri say the same thing?


John Fox, Corona, California
Kyle Wacholtz, Norco California
Mike Van Raphorst, El Cajon, California
Rob Johnson, Mission Viejo, California
Todd Marinovich, San Juan Capistrano, California
Sean Salisbury, Escondido, California

dont remember where John Mazur was from, I think he prepped in California

[MgoBlue-LightSpecial]

Am I missing something here? Are we REALLY supposed to be impressed that your team can recruit from its own state?

[War Wagon]

Not just any recruits, but 5 star QB's

Who gives a fuck about the NFL? Im talking about USC and USC QBs
Matt Barkley- Costa Mesa, Orange County, CA
Aaron Corp- Anaheim, Orange County, CA
Mark Sanchez- Mission Viejo, Orange County, CA
Matt Leinart- Santa Ana, Orange County, CA
Carson Palmer- Laguna Hills, Orange County, CA

We get it, OC_BallSuckingHomer.

[Screw_Michigan]

John Fox sucked and Jeff Garcia didn't play at Michigan, he played at SJ ST.

[SoCalTrjn]

Fox suffered under the coaching of He Whose Nam We Dont Mention

[Screw_Michigan]

Shut the fuck up, idiot.

[Van]

Am I missing something here? Are we REALLY supposed to be impressed that your team can recruit from its own state?

"Germans?"

"Forget it, he's rolling."

[Goober McTuber]

Dallas - Tony Romo (Eastern Illinois) Midwest..... From California, not illinois

[wikipedia]Romo was born in San Diego, California while his father was serving in the United States Navy. His family returned to its home in Burlington, Wisconsin when he was 24 months old. Playing quarterback for the Burlington Demons his junior and senior year of high school, he was unable to lead the team to a winning record, though he did make the All-Racine County football team.[/wikipedia]

He’s from God’s Country, you fucking tard. Wisconsin.

[Van]

Ahhh, he's from God's Country. That explains his failure to ever win a big game.

It's all becoming very clear now...

[Goober McTuber]

Ahhh, he's from God's Country. That explains his failure to ever win a big game.

It's all becoming very clear now...

You have to remember that he's currently in the employ of Satan himself.

[Van]

True, and I can't stand the guy either, but Satan did manage to already win three rings and Satan has managed to put together a very talented group of minions around the Wisconsinite Romo. Romo simply hasn't led them anywhere, same as he apparently never led his high school or college teams anywhere...

In other words it's not all Satan's fault.




Oh, and lest this go any further, I'm only joking about the Wisconsin thing. While it may explain Romo's love for vacuous bubble headed blondes it has nothing to do with his failure to ever win a big game.

[Goober McTuber]

True, and I can't stand the guy either, but Satan did manage to already win three rings and Satan has managed to put together a very talented group of minions around the Wisconsinite Romo. Romo simply hasn't led them anywhere, same as he apparently never led his high school or college teams anywhere...

In other words it's not all Satan's fault.

I’ll defer to any Dallas honk here for the details, but I’d guess that credit for putting together the Cowboys’ Super Bowl champs goes to the GMs prior to 1989 and to Jimmy Johnson. Since Jimmy left, and Switzer won a championship with Jimmy’s players, the Cowboys haven’t accomplished a lot.

I’d say Jerry Jones’ skills as a GM are mediocre, at best. The Wade Phillips hire, bringing in known locker-room cancers like T.O and PacMan, way over-paying to get Roy Williams. I’d say the Cowboys succeeded despite Jerry Jones.

Sorry to dumb down the CFB forum with all this NFL talk.

[Van]

I’d say Jerry Jones’ skills as a GM are mediocre, at best. The Wade Phillips hire, bringing in known locker-room cancers like T.O and PacMan, way over-paying to get Roy Williams.

Man, and don't you just love it too? Seeing Dallas fail due to JJ's self inflicted wounds is the best thing about this whole thing.