Draft Open Thread

they have Dan Cody falling from the 1 (12) pick all the way out of the 2nd round.

Seems hard to believe that Dallas would grab Clayton as high as 11. The mock has Roddy White sliding all the way to 2 (59) Atlanta.. he’d be a great value pickup in the 2nd round. I’d really expect Dallas to jump on more of a developmental, high ceiling guy like White after the 1st round than grabbing Clayton or Williamson (though if Williamson slips to 20, that would be some serious temptation).

Not so sure about this one.

Braylon Edward, Mike Williams, and Troy Williamson all before the 8th pick?

Does anybody remember these names David Terrel Chicago, Westbrook Redskins or Desmond Howard……….what about the Ismail brothers. All college STUDS………..and in the NFL………..well not all DUDS but none of em were a Michael Irvin or Jerry Rice.

While NFL rules may have changed making the wideout position easier to play, I doubt NFL teams are going to give up so easily on great DE, CBs, LBs that are in this draft. Lovie Smith in Chicago drafting another RB with Jones and Thomas delivering a good running game last year……..come on. He goes for a LB or DE or CB………maybe even a WR to go with Muhhamad.

They change this mock draft every twenty minutes. I would take Antrel Rolle before Mark Clayton. He can play corner, nickel back, or Safety with his speed and size and he brings the WOOD too. Plus he played against some pretty good competition this year in ACC and the last few years in Big East. With the new Pass Rules you need either 3 good Corners or a Free Safety and Strong Saftey that can Cover.

We also lost Coakley………he had a presence for being in the right spot and was a hands guy with interceptions and touchdowns and Coverage. Although Parcells may like James, Thornton and others……..in this era Coakleys coverage might be missed more than his tackling………something else he did well despite being played less and less the last two years.

Cody was treated for Depression in College. One wonders if he did poorly in interviews or if the previous failures of Underwood and others with bipolar mood is hurting his stock.

If medication is taken this is an easily controlled thing. Personally I think a kid that can overcome depression and mood disorder and come back and play at his level is impressive. If he were interviewing with IBM, or Dell they would not even know about it……….but then again this is the NFL. I think he looks like a player to me.

Anybody think Cowboys trade down for two seconds or a Next Year Draft choice? I kinda doubt it this year. With cap space and needs to fill I think they pick the best players available………at WR, CB, DE, DT and LB.

Rumor has it SF want to swap out of top spot……….any chance Dallas trades either 11 or 20 and a late round pick for a top spot to pick Williams or Edwards? Parcells seemed to be interested in Mathis out of Hampton at WR too, he might go in the 3rd or 4th round.

Mike Williams looks the part of NFL WR to me. Big, Strong……….played in a pro style Pass Oriented Offense.

I think with our picks and the talent available Dallas should draft em all. We should be able to go 11-5 possibly 10-6 beating the Giants and Redskins twice each and splitting with the Eagles to win the Division. Oh had we beat the Steelers last year, one has to wonder if our confidence would have risen early in the season and turned us into winners instead of losers.

Wideouts……….

Does anybody know anything about these kids…….

Murphy at Texas A&M

White at UAB

Thorpe at FSU

Gibson and Brown at Georgia

Roby at Indiana

Wiliams at Tulane

Russel at Louisville

Warren and Savoy at UTAH

Bradely at OU

Stovall at FSu

Davis at Marshal………..Randys Alma Mater

or Bragg and Perry from UCLA

or McArthur from CAL…….

those last few look interesting on Size and the pass happy PAC10 all three of those guys have the size of a Michael Irvin.

Are these guys significant dropoffs from Williams, Edwards, Clayton and Williamson………..or just that those guys garnered all the ESPN highlights.

I think with the rules being what they are a Disciplined guy with Hands is your best bet. I would sacrifice a little bit of speed for a guy that will run the routes and put his hands on the ball, if you do that enough the flags alone will make him a threat. Obviously the Utah kids played pitch and catch a lot………so did UCLA. I am surprised to see so many OU WR with Peterson in the backfield……..I forgot they threw the ball at all. I thought it was White to Peterson every time………he is going to be a STUD in the NFL. Already a man among boys in College………if he were availalble I would rate him over Benson, Brown and Williams even with his height he looks like the second coming of Eric Dickerson.

Patriots won Three Super Bowls without a superstar at WR……….hmmmm interesting.

from the comfort of my armchair…

(a) don’t overpay for Darren Howard – in either contract or trade value. Get him for a 2nd rd next year or at most the 2nd rd this year or ignore him. My key fear is the contract price and his age/health.
(b) consider trading down from 11 to late teens if a team is eager to pick-up a fallen top 7 pick. Value seems about equal between low teens and high teens. Get at least a low 3rd round or high second for the trade.
© assuming we still have three of the first 50 picks come draft day, aim to select the best value DE/LB, WR, OT that falls to us. I’d take Merriman with my first pick if he’s still on the board. Consider Safety only if a star has fallen to us.
(d) address Safety, big-bruising RB and a RB with soft hands in the remainder of the draft
(e) stop wasting late round picks on unproven small school WRs and kick returners. Focus on real NFL talent or package the late picks for something useful

Tedia,

Trading down looks pretty good in this draft for most of the first two rounds. I would give up either the 11 or 20 for two second round picks this year if we had a taker. I think this year Dallas can get good WR in later rounds than in the past. Not sure anybody out there is going to do it this year though. I wouldn’t trade up in this draft. Number 35 draft almost as good as number 20………nobody seems to be able to figure out the top 10 although I think SF takes Alex Smith………RBs and WRs swapping out daily…….and combines do not mean much anyway………….Emmit Smith was a combine failure in the 40 but we all know how that turned out. He was the second RB taken.

Besides we picked Alvin Harper number 12 overall and although he had a few great years never had the type of consistency that merrited a number 12. DE/DT/LB looks good this draft……..WR looks good this draft……..OT? with Rivera I think we can make a go with Rogers and Gurode either improving or being replaced in later rounds…….and RBs are plentiful as well. There are some quality Big 10 and ACC RBs that are going to be available in late rounds. Not to mention some smaller school players with big time talent. I say draft ( one of these DT, DE, LB) then a WR and OT or CB if Rolle or another star is available with our first three. A RB and some good WR will be available late in the draft.

I am glad Jerry paid up for a corner. Do you know how many picks we have wasted on CB the last 5 years. With Mario Edwards in a later round being the best of the bunch. How is our talent evaluation that bad? I mean just pick a kid from Virginia Tech, Miami or FSU and you should have a starter.

Salma Hayek and Penelope Cruz.

(I have not heard any other team talking about them and I do not see what Jerry Jones could possibly have against them – they will put butts in seats).

That said, Mark Clayton and Roddy White will do fine.

Drafting a safety with our top three picks wouldn’t be smart. We have Hunter and with the addition of Ferguson, our new corner, and possibly Howard I see less need in the safety position than linebacker or right tackle. I think our most glaring need is right tackle…. You don’t know how the Riviera will recover from surgery and he is 33. If he is injury plagued we are screwed.

Think about this the Giants added Burress , Philadelphia has Owens, Santanna Moss at Washington, and we play these guys twice a year. WE NEED A PASS RUSH. Its that simple. DE, LB two most important needs todate. Rumor=== Ravens thinking about trading Pro Bowler Peter Boulerware, what do yall think

I like Howard or Abraham…….Ferguson will help………henry too.

Don’t forget these days we need a decent CB and and Safety that can cover. Maybe Hunter, but I would get a GREAT corner if available…….Rolle……….PacMan……..and WR definitely needs attention.

Burress for 6 years for $25 mil? Perhaps I’m crazy but that does not sound expensive. What’s the down side with Burress? Is he an Alvin Harper or a Mikel Irvin? Chosing between Peterman as my starting guard and Burress, Keyshon and Morgan as my starting WRs vs. Rivera (at 33 y/o, cripple back) as my starting guard and Keyshon, Glenn and Morgan as my WRs… well, its a no brainer. Give me Burress. Plus, the Cowboys have Ben Noll, Tucker and Peterman to try at right guard next year. Bummer.

I think there is more talent at WR in the DRAFT than Burress brings to the table. Although I do not know it, there is talk that is work ethic is lacking. He does have the height and agility. I do not see him as a 1200 yard guy. Maybe I am wrong.

Now, Randy for a Draft pick and a linebacker……….no brainer for Oakland what a steal. Still wishing the Cowboys had taken a chance, I think Irvins off the field problems kept them from Drafting Moss. Glad to see Michael has turned things around.

Morgan might develop he was hurt and in a new system. I hope he does. Copper looked Pretty good to me. Seemed to have pretty good hands. Seems like we have had nothing but guys with potential, and never showing on the field at WR for a while now. I think the Cowboys can draft two WR in the draft with one being a starter. Maybe a later round guy that could be fourth or fifth reciever. Glenn and Keyshawn are both getting up there. Hats off to Johnson last year though he made a lot of tough catches across the middle and was more of leader than a distraction. I thought he was a head case, but maybe it was just personal with him and Gruden.

Just a wild hair, but if hunter does not cut it at safety can he play WR? 6’2" good speed……….

I think we spent enough in FA unless we can find a proven DE. Parcells can draft, let’s let him. Troy Brown was one of his picks in a late round. So were a few other of the veterans on the Patriots. The Jets are still full of his picks. The Hall of Fame has a few guys he chose.

I like Bill buying the groceries. Hope he sticks around to see us back to a Super Bowl Victory!!!!

I’m a little concerned about Parcells and his grocery buying. What happened last year??? Maybe we got a good pick with our first, but what happened with our next two picks? Jacob Rogers didn’t even play last year and we needed help so badly on that right side. Who knows about Peterman. If our 2nd and 3rd pick of this years draft doesn’t play then Jerry Jones should hire me to pick our draft picks.

I do think Parcells has done exceptional in FA this year. I just hope we get it right this year.

i said in an ealier round he seems to better in the later rounds………..Rogers certainly looks the part but………it took Al Johnson a year or two and coming back from injury to decide he wants to be an NFL starter and he looks pretty solid at C……….maybe Rogers will develop.

I think the Draft failure are due to two big factors. Media one. College Coaches two. The media loves the highlight and the big hits and big names that give them RATINGS. Ever notice how many times sportscenter dangles a Cowboys upcoming segment or a Parcells newsbite……they know the number of fans of Americas Team. The do it with the Raiders also. It is about ratings. What do most of the ESPN analyst know, &*$! about the prospects. Yet Kiper is hailed as an expert.

Second the College Coaches ride the success of their players. The look to put as many players in the First and Second Round of the NFL DRAFT. It is a HUGE plus on their recruiting resume. Hey I am Frank Beamer and yeah you know that guy Vick…………well he played at Virginia Tech……so did this guy and that guy……..and yeah first pick overall. High School Prospects Pupils Dialate at the thought of being the next Vick and sign on for four years. Many good and even great players go unheralded and even undrafted because they did not get the media and coaches hype. The Coaches are almost like agents for these young men. They want NFL players. They want more potential College Players. It is a win win for the program. Coach hypes the player, press hypes the player. Pretty soon we are seeing guys like Katzenmoyer on the highlights. Bosworth, Leaf, Mandrich the muscle bound lineman, never mind whether these kids were good students. Any character issues, or other items. It made money and recruits for the program and the Coach. The bigger the hype, the All American, the Heisman, the Playboy thing, the SI, the ESPN the better for both the Player, the Coach and the Program. Then these overhyped overrated players come to the bigs. At college, even elite colleges they were men among boys. But at the NFL, they are no longer the fastest guy on the field. Hech they aren’t even the fastest Linebacker anymore. Offensive lineman have 40 times that can rival them. The workout they did in college that impressed the chicks, is over by 7 am for the Veterans who continue on to a lifting program for a RB that would rival most LB and DE in college. All of a sudden the strength and speed advantage they had in college are no longer their.

The next thing you know a kid named Bo Jackson is making you look like a NFL EUROPE player on Monday Night Football no less and you are making B movies and listening to the Boss sing “Glory Day.”

I personally know a player that is getting looked at under radar from a Division School II only because his coach moved up to the pros. Otherwise he would not be getting a second look. Yet he has all the skills and ability to be an Offensive Lineman in the NFL. There are lots of NUGGETS in their but you got to pan a lot of water to find the Gold. Any major injury to any of the dop 35 guys taken and his career can be cut. I would rather draft a guy with heart, that has to work for it……..and struggled a bit at times………and was perhaps overlooked…….maybe it bothers him a bit gives something to prove……..I think Emmit Smith had that chip on his shoulder. How many times did we hear he was not big enough, not fast enough, and Barry was better. Yet he just kept running. Scoring Touchdowns and racking up Super Bowl rings. It takes a special guy to recognize that fire and that desire in a football player. Not to mention the money, these guys are going from a dorm room shared with another player and community bathroom to a 5000 sq ft house and a BMW or H2. The girlfriends get prettier………..the tastes higher and the temptations………..well tempting. Finding a character kid that can overcome the Lottery Mentality, the difficult grind of the NFL, and perform at his best is a difficult job. I have hired many many people. Many times the ones I thought would do best did the worst, other times a guy or gal I did not think much of really surprised me. It is hard, somewhere down deep inside they have to have that No QUIT Clause like Tiger, Jordan, Armstrong, Emmit, Rice and Payton.

The talent and potential are one thing. The mentality and discipline is something that is the key to success at any level.

forget taking a wr in the 1st round wait and pick up fred gibson later on. if derrick johnson is still on the board at #11 i say grab him. with the other first round pick i say trade it away for someone else’s first round next year and try and get leinart.

I’ve been wondering that if we take Howard and we ship the 2nd rounder of this year and possibly a next year choice, that with 5 picks for this year we have nearly the double of holes to fill. So, trade down the 11th selection with Kansas (they take Merriman before Houston could nab him, I don’t think that he’s going to be as succesful as an OLB in a 4-3 scheme than what he could be in a 3-4, and the Cowboys will play a 4-3) take the Chiefs 15th and the Chiefs 4th rounder, with the 15th take Williamson at WR or Thomas Davis at LB instead of S. And then trade down the 20th with Philly at 31st (in that position they could draft any of the big name wides left Clayton or White) and take their second 2nd rounder (63) and second 3rd rounder (94). That way they could satisfy almost every need. Your thoughts?

I like your idea. I have mentioned before That I think we need a right tackle more than a reciever. So I would use our second pick or the 31st pick you are refering to and take the tackle from OU. As said before, if Riveira is ever hurt or can’t recover we are screwed. The reciever wouldn’t be helpfull if he can’t catch a ball because the quarterback is being sacked. I don’t think we need to reach for him but..I think our biggest need. After we take the tackle then I would take a reciever and I would take Roddy White if available.

I wouldn’t take a tackle in the first 2 rounds, they already have Jacob Rogers. If he doesn’t develop as a RT, he can change positions with Flozell. Also, behind Rivera is Gurode, and behind Gurode there’s Peterman, and look for Peterman he could return just like Al Johnson came, good. I would love to see Clayton in a Cowboy uniform, he’s exactly what the Cowboys lack, a very fast playmaker, he’s short, but he compensates that with good route running and soft hands.

I (again) say trade our second pick for a second rounder this year and a first rounder next year to maybe trade up so we can get Leinhart (if we can find another team willing). With this draft being relatively level for the first round and a half we should jump on it if we get the chance. The Cowboys without a premier QB just doesn’t seem right.

It sounds like you have givin up on Drew Henson. I can understand Parcells logic. Many quarterbacks sit on the bench a year or so learning about NFL football and that’s with playing four years of college ball. I wouldn’t give up on Hensen yet. He may take more time but he may well be worth it. Remember….Roger Staubach sat on the bench several years before he ever started.

An excellent point Boon, I hope he does develop this year; that way we could use the extra pick next year for another position. But, for the cost of a few spots in the draft this year (especially considering this year’s talent pool) the move, if we can find another team to do it, could provide the team with a backup plan for a franchise QB.

This is just thinking out loud…but after thinking about it, I’d keep doing the same thing every year if I could. You’d get and extra second rounder every year (plus whatever other odds and ends you can pick up). I think you might eventually run out of takers though.

I do not see many Great OT or Guards in this draft. The guy at FSU seems to have improved at the combines and workouts. But if we can put a playmaker on the field let’s do it.

If Glenn or Keyshawn get hurt……….we got Morgan, Copper, and Crayton at wideout? Witten and Jones are good in the open field, but we still need a WR.

I think DE, CB, and WR are glaring……..but take the best player available at LB or Lineman or CB or WR. If a great impact player is on the board lets get him. Pac Man, Rolle……….lots of impact defenders in the draft, even if Hunter fills the Safety Shoes we still need a good nickel Back……..i think Dallas Glaring holes last year was PASS RUSH and PASS Coverage………although they missed plenty of tackles on the Run too. Hoping Ferguson can fill that. Maybe Howard or Abraham help too.

I think the Defense in this draft is stonger than Offense, except maybe RB and WR. Henry will help out our safety postions and nickel back, but I still say a great CB if available add em to the roster.

I think we can fill our needs in the draft ok this year whether we use em all or trade a few away. I like our postions for WR, CB, LB or DE…….a few DT in there worth consideration. Cowboys have drafted DE so poorly I am almost tempted to let em pay up for Howard or Abraham……we got Haley cause he pissed in a coachs car window or something off the field and they were tired of him. He was a model citizen in Dallas.

Oh well………..either way we gotta improve from this year. Any of our new guys got a nasty attitude. We had no nastiness on Defense last year. Even Roy Williams bringing the wood hardly fired up our D, we need some good old fashioned nastiness on the D-Line. Glover, Ellis, Ferguson and the yet to be named other player could help a lot. If James, Thornton, and the other young LBs can develop and tackle a lot better maybe we can improve. We missed simple assignments last year at LB that cost us first downs on D. We gotta make stops and get the ball back so Jones can do his thing………

Defesnive holes must be filled first before we address any just in cases on offense. We lost the teams all-time leading tackler and defensive leader last year when Darren Woodson was injured. You could see there was a loss of intensity on the defensive side of the ball. We’ve lost even more veteran leadership now that Coakley is gone.We have to draft a legitimate playmaker on defense and leader in the huddle to fire those boys up. Roy Williams is a great player but he seems to lead by example. The last time T.O. tried a stunt on the star he got laid out by Teague, and we were losing that game also. What happened to that fire this past season?
 
A legitimate pass rush is going to help out our secondary so we need to address that. I think the Boys were 17th in the league in sacks and only 3 teams had fewer sacks in the NFC. Glover had eight sacks but I think that he can get a lot more with another pass rushing threat on the line or even a big DE like Marcus Spears who could attract some double teams and allow Glover some one on one match ups. BUT since this is a deep draft @ DE I think we should make a move for Derrick Johnson (if necessary) to fill the hole that Coakley left, and then see what might fall to us at the 20th pick as far as DE goes, which would still be a talented player. Then a safety or OL in the second.

I’m not worried about wideout, with a consitent running game Witten and Glenn will be able to handle the load. Keyshawn as a third option isn’t bad at all. The less Bledsoe has to throw the better, he hasn’t looked good to me in awhile.

Ricky —

You might feel worried about a wideout, but the last time he spoke to the press Parcells expressed the need to get a “catalytic player” at the wideout
position. He might be blowing smoke, but I would be very surprised if one of those first picks isn’t used on a WR. Dallas hasn’t spent a high pick on a receiver since Alvin Harper. Oh wait, there was the Joey Galloway trade. OTOH, forget that!

I think we need catalytic players on both sides of the ball.

I like Witten and Jones. They have spark and look like future NFL stars, I would personally like to see a great WR in the Draft. We have not had that since Irvin went down on the carpet at the Vet………Galloway, Ismail, Bryant……….we been tryin with no success. Johson and Glenn are by far the best we have had in a long time. I just think with their age and injuries last year we need to address the WR. We had Jimmy Smith on our team for three years………what is up with us not recognizing his talent. Did we quit to early on him.

I think the three picks we have can address, DE, WR, and either a OLB or CB/ FS. I think Rolle could be a good FS, or corner. Hopefully Ferguson and Henry will be big help on our D. Who knows maybe we get Howard or Abraham………at DE……..but we need more sacks and better pass coverage. If we can get to the QB the corners and safeties can take more chances with picks. We need TURNOVERS. We did not do a good job of creating any of those last year.

I like Merriman or Derrick Johson is available. I think Parcells wants to give Drew (either one) another big target across the middle. Dan Campbell coming back is huge, he will give Julius another 250 yards just with his blocking alone……he can also catch……..but we need some speed at WR. With the rules they way they are, a real threat draws FLAGS and double coverages. Which makes our Running and Play action all the more powerful.