Cowboys Pre-Draft Visits - Do NFL Teams Play Games?

by Jim Vance on Apr 21, 2009 1:00 AM CDT Comment 51 comments

Have you taken a look at the players visiting Valley Ranch in the current pre-draft period? Who are the Cowboys really interested in?

Let's take a look in the rear-view mirror to about this time last year. Here is a list of some of the out of town visitors.

UNLV ILB Beau Bell
Texas A&M TE Martellus Bennett
Virginia Tech OT Duane Brown
Texas RB Jamaal Charles
Missouri WR Will Franklin
Indiana WR James Hardy
East Carolina RB Chris Johnson
Arkansas RB Felix Jones
Oklahoma WR Malcolm Kelly
Illinois RB Rashard Mendenhall
USC LB Keith Rivers
Oregon RB Jonathan Stewart

You see Martellus Bennett who was taken by the Cowboys in the second round and of course our first selection in the first round Felix Jones.

Let's focus in on DB's since we may have some insight into the Cowboys actual draft board regarding defensive backs. The Cowboys had visits from the following defensive backfield players before last years draft.

Arizona CB Antoine Cason
Virginia Tech CB Brandon Flowers
Iowa CB Charles Godfrey
Troy CB Leodis Mckelvin
Indiana CB Tracy Porter
Kansas CB Aqib Talib
Colorado CB Terrence Wheatley

It was no secret that the Cowboys were looking for a corner back and a running back early. Felix Jones became our first pick in the first round at #22. Our next pick was at #28 .

When you look at the list of DB's seen on a whiteboard belonging to Brian Stewart that inadvertently ended up on TV. That list appears to be - 1. DRC (Tenn. State), 2. McKelvin (Troy), 3. K. Phillips (Miami), 4. Jenkins (USF), 5. Talib (Kansas), 6. T. Johnson (Ark. State) 7. Godfrey (Iowa).

via img219.imageshack.us

Rodgers-Cromartie, McKelvin and Talib were drafted by the time we got to choose with our first pick #22 (Felix Jones). Our next pick was at #28 and there was only one more of our top three rated CBs on the board.

Fearing that San Diego at (#27) had their eyes on Jenkins, the Cowboys made a move and traded their 1^st, 5^th and 7^th round pick for Seattle's first round pick (#25) doing an end run around the Chargers. Jenkins became a Cowboy.

Did the Cowboys play some games in hiding how high they rated Jenkins? Does anyone remember Mike Jenkins paying a visit to Valley Ranch before the draft ? No? I've Googled in numerous ways and I haven't been able to find any record of Jenkins at Valley Ranch before the draft but he was seen wearing a Cowboys T-shirt at South Florida's pre-draft spring practice! I think the Cowboys had Jenkins rated high enough feeling that he would be a bargain at #28, but feared there would be competition for him there. They didn't want to tip their hand to San Diego who was the most likely suitor.

Sometimes it may be what you don't see that provides the best insight.

Why didn't the Cowboys use the same type of subterfuge with Felix Jones? Why bring him into Dallas for a pre-draft visit and not Mike Jenkins? My theory is that most teams have 18 - 22 players on their board actually rated as true first rounders . The Cowboys also have a very good idea what the other teams needs are, just as the other teams know what the Cowboys needs are.

There were some good running backs in last years draft and I believe the Cowboys had 3 or 4 RBs rated as top tier and knew that one of those would fall to them at "22. The Cowboys had a visit with all of the top RBs except McFadden -correctly assuming that he would be off the boards early.

So, do you share my conspiracy theory that the Cowboys threw a head fake to the Chargers by intentionally not inviting Jenkins?

0 recs | Comment 51 comments | Share

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

Ya

That sounds about right… You always hear teams doing things as a smokescreen to hide who they really want.

I thank God everyday i wasnt born a Eagles fan!!!!!!

by regaberto on Apr 21, 2009 1:11 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Cool....

If thats right we have brought in almost every S in the 2nd to 3rd round range except for one Patrick Chung, is it possible we have our eyes on him?

by nicholas.rodriguez on Apr 21, 2009 1:13 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Chung....

I hope not.

Unlike a Cowboys' season, in life, there may not be a next year.

by Reno Cowboy on Apr 21, 2009 5:47 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

jenkins was sheduled to visit

the only reason he didnt was he had a schedule conflict and could not attend. Its not like they didnt invite him.

if you were paying first round money you’d want to at least meet the person

by cowboydwnunda on Apr 21, 2009 10:05 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Good post.

Yea, I’m sure teams do throw smokescreens pertaining to the visits. It would be stupid not to. I still can’t believe that draft board got leaked! Jerry should have broke out the pliers and the blowtorch on somebody after that one.

"I see the door, I just get off on running through the wall." - Young Tripp

by Carl Shelton (GloryDayz88) on Apr 21, 2009 6:01 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

I am suspisious that the leak was on purpose, how many times have that happened?

teams just dont do that

by dcfanz on Apr 21, 2009 11:23 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Interesting Post

I totally agree. I think it’s far, far, more likely they threw a fake than not. Great stuff. It’s fun to guess what was going on behind the scenes!

by Lobsterman on Apr 21, 2009 6:34 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

I dig a good conspiracy, but...

I just don’t see it. I would hope the team has better things to do in the run-up to the draft than engage in a series of premediated head fakes by purposely inviting (or not inviting) certain players for a visit in the hopes that this may or may not alter the psyche of teams drafting ahead of them. Maybe if you’re picking in the top 5 and there is a player you absolutely love then you could do this kind of stuff. But by the time you’re picking at the end of the first round, so many, many things can happen to throw off the board that it just seems highly unlikely to me.

by Boundforbeach on Apr 21, 2009 7:01 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

I would do a fake

draft board every year, and leak it. Make it kind of a joke. Maybe one year have your highest rated punters or something.

When did I become a Cowboy fan? When my mom told me I was.

by GunsUp on Apr 21, 2009 7:28 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Shanahan to Cowboys?

Speaking of head fakes and jokes, it kills me the way that pure unsupported speculation and opinion is picked up and tagged as a possible story. Case in point: Some moron does an opinion blurb on profootballtalk.com that Shanahan could possibly end up with either the Skins or Cowboys next year. In no time at all, Sports Illustrated picks it up and cites it under “Truth and Rumors” with the tag line “Shanahan to Coach Cowboys or Redskins.” It’s just complete nonsense.

www.fannation.com/truth_and_rumors?eref=fromSI

by Boundforbeach on Apr 21, 2009 7:46 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

most

of the media gets their stuff from PFT now. You go to that Truth & Rumors page and sometimes it will just be the PFT front page.

Shanahan is not that far fetched considering if we don’t make the playoffs Wade will be out of here.

by DoomsdayD75 on Apr 21, 2009 10:52 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Why is everyone in love

with Mike Shanahan? Look at his record at Denver since John Elway left. If he had been in Dallas all that time, Cowboys fans wouild be more upset with him than they are with Phillips.

Unlike a Cowboys' season, in life, there may not be a next year.

by Reno Cowboy on Apr 21, 2009 5:52 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I think these tactics go on

They have a whole team of people working on nothing but the draft – I gotta believe that they get pretty sophisticated in their tactics and fake-outs based on who they think might draft who. That being said, there are some players they want to get a closer look at – my guess is they bring in the players they are not quite sure about.

But if that DB Board is right – wouldn’t they have taken Phillips – or just stuck were they were as one of Jenkins or Philips would have likely fallen to them…

"Where's Woody? - We need another Darren Woodson

by BoyfromOz on Apr 21, 2009 7:57 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

To add to your comment, there are NFL teams that have set-up myspace pages to lure in

potential players to see if they can learn any secrets from their lives that will give them a hint of there personality. So I believe that these teams that have to make a serious finacial commitment to an unproven commodity will want to know anything and everything about the players they want to draft.

Ignore the Mainstream Media, EMBRACE THE HATE!!!!

by cowboy78 on Apr 21, 2009 8:03 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

we moved ahead of not just San Diego

But also Houston. If you recall, the Texans moved down from 18 to 26 as Baltimore traded up to get Flacco. Corner was a big need for Houston. They correctly assessed that we’d be taking RB at 22, so they felt safe moving down and still getting their guy at 26. Pitt and Tenn were not likely to go CB at 23 and 24. Seattle had other needs at 25. Philly at 19 (then Carolina), Tampa at 20, and Washington at 21 (then Atlanta) similarly didn’t appear to have many CB needs. Only Tampa took one from the list that was on the board when Houston was on the clock at 18.

The Texans thought they still be getting their CB needs met by dropping down to 26. And Jerry gave his down-state rivals a big middle finger salute by jumping ahead to 25 and scooping Jenkins. It was Jerry at his best.

You can make a case that we deeked the Chargers. A better one can be made about the Texans.

by Ridgelake on Apr 21, 2009 8:09 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Awesome, I am sure he was probably saying as he beat the Texans to the punch:

That was for the Matt Schaub deal, who gives 60 million to an unproven back-up QB from another team; that deal made Romo’s eventual deal much higher.

Ignore the Mainstream Media, EMBRACE THE HATE!!!!

by cowboy78 on Apr 21, 2009 8:17 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Sadly

Jacque Reeves ended up playing better than Mike Jenkins did last year. Oh the horror! and the Texans ended up with their future left tackle, while ours should be in a retirement home.

Not so sure we got the best of that move.

by DoomsdayD75 on Apr 21, 2009 10:58 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Well that is an opinion I cannot subscribe to, considering how much they paid Jacque to be

a starting corner, you should check out the battle red blog to see how unhappy they were with him. I would weigh what the texan fans who saw him play every week tell me how well he did, Henry was replaced by jenkins because he was better, if Jacque was that good then he would have been given an offer from dallas.

Ignore the Mainstream Media, EMBRACE THE HATE!!!!

by cowboy78 on Apr 21, 2009 11:07 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Well...

Reeves should have played better than Jenkins last year.

He’s a veteran and Jenkins is a rookie.

They've done studies, you know. 60% of the time it works, every time.

by AirforceBat on Apr 21, 2009 11:07 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah but we should both agree that Jacque did not play better nor will he be a better player

than jenkins.

Ignore the Mainstream Media, EMBRACE THE HATE!!!!

by cowboy78 on Apr 21, 2009 11:09 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I thought Jenkins did well next year

obviously I wasn’t too pleased with his tackling, but he did well in coverage and was able to recover well when he did misstep. Maybe you can explain yourself as to what in particular you were upset about in regards to Jenkins ability to cover.

by quincyyyyy on Apr 21, 2009 11:10 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I meant "I thought Jenkins did well LAST year" not "next year"

by quincyyyyy on Apr 21, 2009 11:11 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Check out this stuff on Jacque

http://www.battleredblog.com/2008/11/26/673372/you-re-not-fooling-me-stat

Ignore the Mainstream Media, EMBRACE THE HATE!!!!

by cowboy78 on Apr 21, 2009 11:17 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Huh?

Duane Brown is a stiff. I’d take a one-armed Flozell over him any time.

I’d put Jenkins ‘08 up against Reeves’. Jenkins is also going to improve. Reeves isn’t.

by Rafael Vela on Apr 21, 2009 12:56 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Just like the 49ers did to the Cowboys

when they jumped ahead of Dallas to take Jerry Rice so many years ago. And, as they say, the rest is history.

Unlike a Cowboys' season, in life, there may not be a next year.

by Reno Cowboy on Apr 21, 2009 5:57 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

sort of OT: I'm getting anxious about the draft

I feel like Eric Cartman when he froze himself so he wouldn’t have to wait for the Nintendo Wii to come out. Waiting is the hardest part.

by quincyyyyy on Apr 21, 2009 8:29 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

I know it

the closer it gets, the harder the wait becomes. AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!

by sublimezg on Apr 21, 2009 8:52 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

No, I don't

the reason Jenkins didn’t come was simple.

Dallas never thought they would have the chance to get him. Remember, a lot of OTs rated in the 2nd round went really high when the run started. Guys like Gosder Cherilus, Sam Baker and Duane Brown went anywhere from 10 to 20 spots higher than they were rated.

This pushed several players down. One of them was Jenkins. I spoke to somebody who knew Dallas draft prep and was told they held dozens of different pre-draft mocks, each with a different scenario, and not once did Jenkins slip.

It was one of those happy accidents

by Rafael Vela on Apr 21, 2009 8:42 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

McKelvin?

Raf – then why did they invite McKelvin who was generally ranked above Jenkins?

I remember being very frustrated at the way the Cowboys handled their two first round picks. When Jenkins was still there at 22 I was ecstatic. To me it looked like they could have waited until 28 to get a running back, because both Mendenhall and Jones were still available. When they called out Jones name, I had to leave the room. Things worked out well and Jones turned out much better than I expected, but I still think they could have kept the two late round picks they gave up had they chosen Jenkins at 22.

by doomsdayreturns on Apr 21, 2009 10:25 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

not true

both Jones and Medenhall would have gone by #28, Titans had their sights on Jones, then opted for CJ.

In Romo we Trust

by Terry on Apr 21, 2009 10:47 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I wrote about this right after the draft

Jones was rated higher on their board, which is why they took him first.

And Pittsburgh and Tennessee took RBs right after them. They wanted Felix Jones. They got him.
They also got Jenkins.

There’s nothing to rip about their 1st round moves. They got who they wanted and they got value.
Both those guys had top 15 grades.

by Rafael Vela on Apr 21, 2009 12:59 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I felt the same way

Actually, I was upset that they chose Jones rather than Mendenhall. And I also agree that if they had selected Jenkins with the first pick, Jones would have still been there with their second pick, just staying where they were. But, as you say, things worked out well.

Unlike a Cowboys' season, in life, there may not be a next year.

by Reno Cowboy on Apr 21, 2009 6:10 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I disagree

Titans would have gobbled him up instead of CJ.

In Romo we Trust

by Terry on Apr 22, 2009 4:10 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

It's all....

Hindsight.

They've done studies, you know. 60% of the time it works, every time.

by AirforceBat on Apr 22, 2009 4:19 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

thats bull****

it wasnt they did not expect to get him. He was actually coveted the whole time he is the guy they wanted.

He did not come to valley ranch due to scheduling conflict. He was invited and scheduled to attend.

there was no foxying around as has been discussed. Maybe they did leak the photo to throw everyone off jenkins but the visit issue is irrelevant

by cowboydwnunda on Apr 21, 2009 10:11 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

10 to 20 spots higher than rated in the public draft books, I should say

by Rafael Vela on Apr 21, 2009 8:43 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

What we did last year is what we should do this year

we selected players like Jenkins, Choice, and Scandrick who fell on draft day. We need to select players who fall and not worry about need, as we don’t have many holes besides some depth issues at a few positions.

by quincyyyyy on Apr 21, 2009 8:55 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yep

Only three positions I wouldn’t pick at round 2 just based on talent would be runningback,tightend, and qb

They've done studies, you know. 60% of the time it works, every time.

by AirforceBat on Apr 21, 2009 9:07 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Double Yep.

Unlike a Cowboys' season, in life, there may not be a next year.

by Reno Cowboy on Apr 21, 2009 6:12 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

my understanding was

that Jenkins was invited to visit the ranch but had to pull out at the last moment due to a scheduling conflict. Given Raf’s info, his scheduled visit could have been a smokescreen…

by rabblerousr on Apr 21, 2009 9:56 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Leodis Mckelvin and DRC came in. I doubt their pre-draft scenarios covered them sliping to 22 or lower either.

I think a team has more to gain from a visit then they do from a fake unless they really know all they need to know about a player. Teams frequently bring in players who they are sure will be gone by the time they pick. Leave no stone unturned, that includes shinny things that may sting you. It is possible that after a private workout that a coach or GM can become enamored with a player such they would be willing to make the expensive move up.

by Trey, on Apr 21, 2009 10:20 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Awesome stuff.

I thought that Anthony Henry befriended Jenkins prior to the draft. That friendship might have provided the Cowboys enough insight into the player to not invite him to The Ranch.

Draft Nick Reed. Draft Nick Reed. Draft Nick Reed. Say that fast, five times!

by Aaron Novinger on Apr 21, 2009 10:29 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Ha. Alot of good that did Henry.

He got traded to the pitiful Lions while the kid gets to man his spot on the corner…

by Boundforbeach on Apr 21, 2009 10:35 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Draft Subterfuge

I think Raf had a post along the same vein last year. I seem to remember the Cowboys having a history of drafting guys they didn’t actually bring in for a visit. There might be some decoys or head fakes but more than likely, i think it’s un-intentional.
1. I thnk they have their board and as the draft flows, if a guy they like is there or has dropped, visit or not, they take him.
2. I think they bring in guys of interest that they project to be available in their “pick range” and whom either they are unsure about, need to get some questions answered about OR somebody on the staff REALLY likes and wants the rest of the coaches/draft staff to fall in love with.
Accept in the case of potential undrafted free agents, which are certainly invited as “recruits”, this is not college. They don’t bring potential draftees in to recruit or sell them on being a Cowboy. They simply may not have any reason to bring certain guys in. Maybe all their questions were answered by film study, combine #‘s, combine visits, their pro-day, visits with his coaches and other evaluation.
3. As an unpredictable “living event” you have to be able to call an audible during the draft…which I’m sure happens all the time.

Jim. Love the aricle, but please finish it. Tell us what signficant prospects at the positions of high interest for Dallas have not been brought in for a visit this year.

by Gmunny on Apr 21, 2009 10:39 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Gmunny

As soon as they put their draft boards on TV this year, I’ll give it a shot.

"He has a peculiar felicity of expression." John Adams

by Jim Vance on Apr 21, 2009 8:58 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I think

we should focus on being smart, as opposed to outsmarting people… if that makes any sense. I mean, it was cute that we jumped the Chargers and Texans for Jenkins, but was it necessary? The guys that went after him, Kenny Philips and Duane Brown, might have helped our team more in the long run.

by DoomsdayD75 on Apr 21, 2009 11:04 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs