There are pros and cons to promoting a head coach from within. In the case of Brian Schottenheimer, he may be able to identify exactly what the Dallas Cowboys need to do in a given offseason to get better. He was part of Mike McCarthy's staff for a while before succeeding him. The downside to this is he is a first-time head coach and he may not be able to see the forest through the trees in all this.
In recent NFL mock drafts, the Cowboys have regularly been projected to take a running back with the No. 12 overall selection. If it were to be used on Doak Walker winner Ashton Jeanty out of Boise State, I could find a way to get behind that. Should he already be off the board, then it does not serve the Cowboys to grossly reach on Omarion Hampton out of North Carolina with that first-round pick.
Schottenheimer made it a point to say how important running the ball is while at the NFL combine.
“At the end of the day, you have to be able to run the football. We’ve made a commitment that we want to be great on both sides of the line of scrimmage. That’s a huge part of it. The way I say it, ‘When teams know you’re going to run the ball, you have to be able to run the ball and conversely stop the run.’ Again, depending on how the roster is filled and how it’s constructed, we want to be able to feature our guys and what they do well, and we want to be multiple.”
Schottenheimer may know what he wants in a running back, but he is not exactly set on who it is.
“You want a guy that’s got vision. You want a guy that has contact balance. The fronts that we’re seeing, the fronts that we’re facing, require guys to be able to make hidden yards, whether there’s a free safety in the hole or there’s a linebacker or a defensive lineman coming off the point of attack, you’ve got to have a guy who is willing to run through arm tackles."
Keep in mind he is the son of the late, great Marty Schottenheimer, the man who invented Martyball.
"I do believe that you have to have the ability to catch the ball coming out of the backfield. Why do I say that? If a team wants to commit to stopping the run, there’s ways they can try to do that."
When the first two downs while running Martyball are to rush the ball, you can understand its value.
"We don’t want to take an elite runner or a position like that out of the game, so if a team is doing a nice job stopping the running game, you want to be able to get them involved throwing it to them. That doesn’t mean they have to play like a receiver, but they have to be able to run routes coming out of the backfield and have the ability to separate and run after the catch is important.”
My issue is Dallas has plenty of other holes to fill, including several other ones regarding its offense.
Brian Schottenhemier setting Cowboys up for failure with his comments
One of the biggest mistakes a team can make is to reach for players in an NFL Draft. If they work out, then it is somewhat justifiable. You are paying a premium for a player you could have gotten at a discount. Should the player you reach on not work out, then you are down doubly bad. You are then paying a fortune for a player who is not even worth anything close to that. The draft is all about value!
The Cowboys may need to revamp its running back room, but is the No. 12 overall draft pick the right method to go about doing so? You can always try to trade back and recoup more draft capital to augment your investment. Then again, this may be a top priority for the Cowboys under Schottenheimer. He may not see the point of adding a receiver, an edge rusher or an interior lineman.
Ultimately, a head coach or general manager's first draft can define you. It can set you up for success or for failure down the line. Since Jerry Jones largely runs the draft, this pick would stick with Schottenheimer more than most. While I am not ruling out Hampton or Jeanty being stars in this league, the risk vs. reward component from using the No. 12 on either of them is too much for me.
Dallas can address the running back room this offseason, but the Cowboys have to be smart about it.