11/26/12: D-FW sports chat with columnist Rick Gosselin

Welcome back to the chat room. Bad weekend for the Cowboys and Mavericks, great weekend for Johnny Manziel and the TCU Horned Frogs. Let's get started...

I received emails aplenty after the Thanksgiving game that the Cowboys need to make major changes. Sounds good, except that the Cowboys will not make a change at general manager, head coach or quarterback. If nothing changes in that triumvirate, I'm not sure what would constitute a franchise-shaking change that could lift the Cowboys from their doldrums. I'vve been saying for years the Cowboys should be drafting quarterbacks -- it didn't matter what round. Just take 'em and have them in the queue, hoping that one or two could develop. As far as drafting one in the first round, the Cowboys are a year late. There isn't a difference-maker in the 2013 draft that would rival Luck, Griffin or even Tannehill.

Dez is at his best when the offense is helter-skelter and Romo is throwing every down. When Romo is throwing 112 passes like he's done the last two weeks, Dez stays focused. He knows the ball could be coming his way on any play. But in a conventional offense with a balanced attack, where Romo may be throwing 25 times a game and handing off another 25 times, Dez gets bored. And therein lies the problem, the more Romo throws -- the better Dez plays. But the more Romo throws, the more vulnerable the Cowboys become. They are now 1-14 the last 15 times Romo has passed 40 times in a game.

The star players -- Romo, Witten and Ware -- are all in their 30s. The trade market deflates with age. The two best commodities the Cowboys have are inside linebackers Sean Lee and Bruce Carter -- but in most defenses those are two-down players. When extra cornerbacks come onto the field, it's the middle and inside linebackers that usually leave. Austin's value has deflated. Dez is an off-the-field risk. Claiborne would have value in a trade -- but you've already given away a second-round choice for the right to select him. I'm not sure who's left on the roster that would attract a team enough to trade a top blocker or pass rusher.

Makes you yearn for that blocking front of the Super Bowl days when the Cowboys lined up five Pro Bowlers, doesn't it? But Larry Allen was a second-rounder and Mark Stepnoski and Erik Williams both threes. You invest high draft picks in your offensive line and the Cowboys have long been reluctant to do that. Tyron Smith was the lone exception. If the Cowboys draft a lineman in just about any round but the first, they don't develop him. The Browns trotted two firsts, a second and two thirds in here on their offensive line. The Redskins pencil in two first-round picks at the tackles and second at guard next season when they make their playoff run. You draft 'em and develop 'em to have a great line. The Cowboys have long been lacking there. Good luck building a dominating blocking front if you're not going to draft them.

I think Garrett has another year no matter how this team finishes. Right now he's a game over .500 in his NFL coaching career.

High expectations? I picked this team to go 8-8. Just because Jerry Jones says every August the Cowboys are a Super Bowl contender doesn't mean they are. This has been and will remain a mediocre team. If Jerry knew how to fix it, he'd have fixed it a decade ago. It's hard to sense any "fan outrage" when 90,000 folks show up on Thanksgiving for the game. The Cowboys will again lead the league in attendance. The only thing that Jerry fears is apathy. If the crowds fall off -- and I'm talking dramatically falling off, into the 40,000s -- he'd be forced to do something drastic. But as long as 90,000 folks are willing to pay $300 for a ticket and $75 to park, why should the owner panic?

I think it will be one of the closest votes ever and there definitely will be some voters who don't want to give it to a freshman. The fact that the other candidate represents Notre Dame also will work against Manziel. The best player on the best team in the nation is a compelling argument -- even if he does play defense. Never sell Notre Dame short -- Paul Hornung won the Heisman playing for a 2-8 Notre Dame team. I'd say it's a toss up.

Yes. Like I've talked about earlier -- the Cowboys have a fear of the unknown. If not Free at right tackle, then who?

Parnell was an undrafted player who played like a young player learning his craft. Mark Tuinei was an undrafted player who went on to become a Pro Bowler. But it was a nine-year process. Giving Parnell help would entail taking Jason Witten and Felix Jones out of pass routes. Romo threw almost a third of his 61 passes on Thanksgiving day at those two players. I think it's an easy call -- max protect Romo and let Miles Austin and Dez Bryant earn their keep by beating defensive backs. But the play caller is an offensive guru who likes to have five receivers in the pattern. So the quarterback gets hits to often and has to run for his life too often.