[alby]

We all know the ending to the season. 8-8. No playoffs.

Let's rewind a little bit and focus on the Jason Garrett era:

In the 2010 regular season, the Cowboys ranked 23rd in total defense (30th in total points given up). As a result, our genius front office proceeded to draft 3 offensive guys in the first 4 rounds. Tyron Smith in the 1st, Bruce Carter in the 2nd, Demarco Murray in the 3rd, and David Arkin in the 4th. Admittedly, Tyron Smith played extremely well his rookie year especially considering his age. His physical gifts/tools can potentially help him to become one of the greats IF he continues to work hard. Carter was drafted with the intentions of sitting out his entire first year (a la Sean Lee). Murray was drafted because of his value in the third round (which turned out to be a steal). And Arkin was drafted because we were letting go of Flozell, Leonard, and Gurode. I wasn't completely happy with the draft but whatever.

In the 2011 regular season, it was glaringly obvious that the secondary couldn't cover anybody. And part of that reason is because our front seven wasn't able to apply any pressure on opposing quarterbacks. We are currently slated to have the 14th overall pick. Because we haven't made any moves involving draft picks, this means the Cowboys will have the 14th, 46th, 78th, and 110th picks in the first four rounds barring any trades. I want to see who you guys think we should target.

My board - target players:
1st round
- Dre Kirkpatrick (CB from Alabama)
- Mark Baron (S from Alabama)
- Courtney Upshaw (OLB from Alabama)
- Quinton Coples (DE from North Carolina)
- Devon Still (DT from Penn State)

Also in my opinion, these are the guys on defense that play a significant role who need to go. I'm focusing this post on the defensive side of the ball because I feel like we basically skipped a year of drafting/acquiring/developing guys on defense so the front office should make a concerted effort to do so during this upcoming offseason.
- Terrence Newman
- Alan Ball
- Bradie James
- Keith Brooking
- Abram Elam

Here is the list of free agents:
Unrestricted free agents
Alan Ball
Martellus Bennett
Keith Brooking
Derrick Dockery
Abram Elam
Montrae Holland
Jon Kitna
Daniel Loper
Mat McBriar
Sammy Morris
Laurent Robinson
Anthony Spencer
Frank Walker
Bradie James

Restricted free agents
Kevin Ogletree
Tony Fiammetta
Chauncey Washington

Exclusive rights free agents
Clifton Geathers
Jermey Parnell
Jesse Holley