we only need to draft 5-7 players tops to compete for roster spots.

The problem I see is that the other teams should be sailing the same tack thus reducing our availability to maneuver.

Let’s pack up 5 studs and get the hell out of there.

they run all through March to April 1, when USC has their pro day which should be a real media circus.

OL – Check. Maybe two. Guard is needed. Center would be nice. Tackle is only needed if you don’t think Free or McQ won’t pan out.

DL – Yup, NT is a need. DE became lessened with Olshansky, but Bowen and Spears are UFAs next year. Still, there’s a lot of depth and talent.

LB – I think both ILB and OLB are needs. This year is really deep at LB in the draft. We’ll take two.

DB – You can never have enough. Enough said. We’ll take two.

QB, nope. RB, uh-uh. TE, nein. WR, nyet…wait. OK, we lost T.O. Austin has promise. Hurd and Crayton are just guys. Stanback is …what is he? So maybe we take one. Late.

My first inclination is to say we will not get a WR. You’ll hear it early and often from me. WRs are the single biggest bust position. It’s not even close. Further, GM Jerry has repeated often that WR is best filled in FA.

Yet a 4th or 5th round project with speed and athletic ability (like Stanback) would make sense.

So that’s 7 or 8 “needs”. 11 picks for 7 slots would seem to favor quality over quantity, but not by much. You could add a return specialist and special team demons to that list and easily get to 11 positions that will be available on the 53-man roster.

Tough question.

Jimmy Johnson never made one damn draft pick or draft day trade while he was with the Dallas Cowboys. He was the Head Coach, not the General Manager. Jerry Jones made every one of those moves in the early 1990’s with input from many people in the organization, including significant input Jimmy Johnson. Jerry Jones, as General Manager, assumed the responsibility and authority for player acquisition since he took over the team. Every single player acquisition move since 1990 was his decision. It follows that Jerry should get the credit for the good moves as well as the blame for the bad ones.

Raf, I appreciate all the time and effort you put into composing this post (and all your other great work) and the content is excellent except for the difference noted above. I noticed that in the second part of your post, where you move from the past tense to the present, Wade Phillips’ name is never mentioned. Why is Jimmy lauded but Wade ignored? It is a huge pet peeve of mine when people hang Jerry for bad personnel decisions but conveniently ignore his good ones. His track record is up and down, but he must be given credit for the good as well as blame the bad. For whatever reason, I have made it a small crusade on my part to point out these inconsistencies and inaccuracies.

Anyway, nothing personal, just one of my passionate, lengthily off-season posts

That’s the biggest thing I don’t like about mock drafts. There’s no consideration for that, and they’re can’t be. Others around here have said it, but there’s no way 11 rookies will come in here and make our squad. My only concern is if Jerry plans on moving into the first or not. Cause if he does, then money becomes a bit of an issue…

when Jimmy was here, he DID do a lot of the phone calls to negotiate with other teams. I recall him talking about their first draft and the 2nd round came on. JImmy was on the phone with Al Davis. Oakland wanted guard Steve Wisniewski (sp?). Dallas came on the clock. Al told Jimmy to take Wisniewski and they’d finalize the details later. And thats what happened.

So it was Jimmy, not Jerry, on the phone with Al Davis.

It was Jimmy who evaluated the draft board and tried to figure out where the value was. I recall him telling stories about him talking to other coaches about how to draft. They said, “if you have the 35th pick, then take the best guy on your board when that pick comes up.” Jimmy’s reply was, “Well, what if I don’t like that player at that spot?” This led him to create his Draft Value chart. And they wheeled and dealed to move to the places in the draft where Jimmy felt the real value was.

This story doesnt even address the real issue though. And thats player evaluation. There are/were many reports that Jimmy, with all his contacts with college coaches, was able to get inside info on many, many of the prospects. This was credited with helping a lot of the later-round picks become successful.

This is not to undercut or diminish Jerry. Jerry encouraged all this. He’s a very smart man. And he was more than happy to wheel and deal, I’m sure. Its one of the things he does better than perhaps any other owner or GM. I can tell you, it wasnt too long before other NFL execs realized that Jerry was a darn good deal maker and to watch your proverbial wallet. Jerry and Jimmy came out well ahead on many, many of their early trades. Its a credit to both of them.

Not another Saint Jimmy debate. Please, God, no.

A cut trainee counts against the cap? I don’t like that at all. That’s going to make trading up harder you’d think, especially if you want to trade up significantly. Nobody is going to want all those extra picks in the later rounds. Maybe more so in an uncapped NFL but for this year it’s pretty lame..

Okay, we need a backup ILB, that’s obvious because we only have Carp and that gives me indigestion. IMO we need another tweener outside linebacker. Ellis is old and Spencer is our only relief. We definately need another, sooner than later.

the lack of speed at RB, the fact that a LB is one of the best Def players to pick, and that the QBs are kind of underwhelming makes me think this draft board is weak

…but I thought this Dwight Freeney story was pretty funny:

http://www.indystar.com/article/20090311/SPORTS03/903110365/1058/SPORTS03

As was mentioned on Football Outsiders, you would think that any experiment Dwight Freeney was utilized in would involve spinning.

on the Lunch Break yesterday they were talking about the draft and noting that perhaps RB is the only position (non-special teams) you could say we really couldn’t reasonably use a draft pick on. Every other position there would at least be some need of depth. With some of the major starting holes plugged during FA, what this means is that they can focus on value and pick the best players at that point on the board regardless of position, or trade around to target the players they think are the best fit overall, rather than reaching to fill any particular positional need.

If the year is uncapped, why the cap concerns?

quarterback of the future.

we need to do it every year especially no that we got good depth

Panthers released CB Ken Lucas.
Carolina began the day with $24,042 in cap space. The move saves $2.4M, so GM Marty Hurney can now sign his rookie class. Lucas was nearly traded two weeks ago, so clearly the 30-year-old is going to have a market. Perhaps if he was three years older the Broncos would be a potential suitor.

with our current DBs. Surely we will not begin the season in Sept with our present crop! There’s got to be another DB in free agency or the draft, Please!

Two guys that played a lot of corner last year………….Henry and Jones aren’t even on our roster.

Williams RW1 who played some SS ain’t on the roster.
Keith Davis ain’t on the roster.

There has to be some additons to the DBs. Ball didn’t look bad and maybe he can play.

I think the TO move right, wrong, or indifferent proves Jerry is listening to the people around him. I think the people around him helped him pull off last years draft, I expect Dallas to turn out another quality draft.

Any guesses on who Dallas will face in the 1st game in the new stadium???

Alabama offensive tackle Andre Smith’s campus workout today in front of NFL scouts was a "disaster," according to Tony Pauline of SI.com.

Quoting an unnamed scout, Pauline writes that Smith’s lack of preparation was obvious as he was overweight. One scout called the performance, "one of the worst workouts I’ve ever seen."

Another AFC East scout told Pauline: "He lost millions today." As a league source told us earlier today, Smith ran with his shirt off.

According to Pauline, comments were made about "the flab and the rolls on his body" during Smith’s 40-yard dashes as he posted times between 5.21 and 5.29 seconds.

Per the article, several scouts weren’t happy to travel a long way only to witness a bad workout. And Smith’s trainers were not pleased, either.

http://www.profootballtalk.com/category/rumor-mill/