One Rule To Rule Them All

When it comes to certain things in life and the approach with respect to how those things are formulated, there is usually one rule. And whatever it is, that rule, once agreed up, supercedes all other rules below it. Everything delineates from that point forward. Take the science of math for instance. Within this science are hard and fastened rules from which all answers and outcomes flow. We know that when you add a negative to a positive you get a negative. Or that  prime numbers are... These are the rules and they govern the empirical process for how things get answered, discovered, or for this particular case, built.

The Dallas Cowboys are facing one such conundrum in the form of a top-five pick (#4 to be exact) in this year's incarnation of the NFL Draft. A team with the potential to compete for the ultimate crown next season, but beset with a myriad of holes to fill in order to make that novelty a reality, the Cowboys are in dire need of creating that one rule for themselves which will supercede all, as they approach the best way to check-off everything on their shopping list.

Should they draft the quarterback they so desperately need as evidenced by last season's debacle? Should they go after the sexy speed rusher at the DE position that has long been a need since they let loose Demarcus Ware a few seasons ago to free-agency as a cap casualty? Or do they address a porous secondary by grabbing a dynamic cover man to A)-Finally get the DB they so desperately need and B)-Possibly select just the best overall talent available in the draft, and at that #4 pick (providing that they do hold onto their current position). Option B obviously serving as the final rule on the list: Drafting the best talent period.

Looking at each scenario based upon each rule for that scenario can and will yield something interesting, no matter the approach. If they decide to go after a quarterback they will choose whomever they feel is the best (or best available) and look for their DE, DB, and WR or RB (they need one of those too) with their subsequent picks. If they decide that an edge rusher is the more pressing concern for the success of defensive-coordinator's Rod Marinelli's defense then they will start there and find their QB and WR later on as well. And finally, if they decide to go with the best player, regardless of need or position, then that is what they will do and the remaining selections which the Cowboys front office will make at that point in time will be evidence of them going in that particular direction, fundamentally speaking. In fact with each approach by the rule that is being adhered to, the evidence of those picks will become to make obvious just which rule the Dallas Cowboys believed in at that time.

So, if Joey Bosa is called you know which rule is in place. If Carson Wentz or Jared Goff are called we know which rule is being employed. And if a player like Jalen Ramsey is selected , a talent which can take care of a few needs in one (best player/DB), then it becomes evident once more just which way the 'Boys are headed. And that is hopefully to the top.

WHERE WE ARE

The beauty of where you are is the ability to look back and see where you were. Only two seasons ago the Cowboys were one Dez Bryant catch away from possibly going to the Super Bowl. One season later they decided against bringing back one-third of their formidable trio of Tony Romo, DeMarco Murray, and Bryant when they chose not to re-sign the aforementioned Murray. A decision which may or may not have come back to haunt them in the form of Romo's left shoulder injury suffered in Week 2, on a play which could have involved the sorely missed running back by the possibility of Murray making a block on the defender who subsequently injured Romo, after a botched blocking assignment by Murray's replacement Joseph Randle, or even the remote possibility that if Murray was there that day that they Cowboys call a running play for him, thus avoiding the Romo injury altogether, and although this is pure speculation and conjecture, it still stands as a possible outcome had Murray still been there.

However everything happens for a reason, and the reason stands in this case that although last year may have seemingly been a lost season (for various reasons as previously discussed), it may have provided the answer for the problem that last season created (and for the forseeable future): the need for a quality, starting-caliber quarterback. Romo's absence and his understudies own version of absence, even while competing on the field, point to a glaring weakness which can be strengthened immediately in this spring's NFL Draft. Whether it be any of the two outstanding prospects currently seated at the top tier of the NFL wish list for teams without quarterbacks, Jared Goff or Carson Wentz, the Cowboys must seriously consider taking one of the two with the pick they currently own at the fourth spot.

Considering their abysmal 1-11 record during Romo's absence, defense and special teams notwithstanding, this was the season of the absent and missed quarterback for the Cowboys. That said, the Cowboys ought not be absent of mind and miss out on the opportunity to draft their next Roger Staubach or Troy Aikman. Heck even, their next Tony Romo. Romo like his idol Favre, could tutor another Cal stud in Goff, similar to the way Favre did for Aaron Rodgers, and we all know how that worked out. The Cowboys owe it to themselves to get the most important position on the field filled. A position which showed and proved to them to be the flash-point for everything they did (and did not do) last season. If the Cowboys are looking forward to something in this year's draft, they need only to look backward at last season.