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How Dallas got its Groove back, the 2011 Draft

February 30th, 2012

April 28th, 2011...was a day for the ages. It became part of Cowboy lore, similar to when Dallas drafted Dez Bryant at 24, and the "Dirty Dozen". On this date the Cowboys returned to their Dynasty ways and built the team that that we see today. A proud champion that destroyed all comers. Let's look back at this date and follow it through to the start of this historical season.

The previous year seems like a bad dream now. Our beloved Cowboys went from Super Bowl favorites to owners of the #9 pick in the 2011 draft. But like a few have said about that year, "To get the pot of Gold, it has to rain to make a Rainbow". Man it rained that year...not only did the Cowboys start 1-7, but Romo got hurt, Dez Bryant suffered multiple ankle injuries, and the defense ... well, there is no need to reopen newly closed wounds.

However, we saw the rainbow that year. Jason Garrett was made the head coach, and piloted the 'boys to a 5-3 record to close out the season. Rob Ryan was brought in as the defensive coordinator, and while most thought that it was a good hire, nobody expected what we got. We caught glimmers of the gold when Jerry proclaimed, "There won't be a player on the team that Jason Garrett doesn't want". Again we got much more than expected.

Draft day...the air was filled with excitement. Everyone was wondering who would go #1. Would it be Nick Fairly, the beastly DT? Or maybe one of the QB's that had blown up the Combine? Maybe AJ Green, considered the next Larry Fitzgerald? The League watched as Goodell spoke. "With the first pick in the 2011 NFL draft, the Carolina Panthers select Nick Fairley, DT, Alabama." Denver quickly sent in its card, Patrick Peterson. Now, as we all know, for some reason everybody ahead of us went defense crazy. In fact not a single offensive player was taken before Dallas picked. It was astounding. So there was Dallas, with AJ Green AND Julio Jones, both considered top 5 picks sitting there at Number 9. Now we don't know if it was Jason or Jerry who made the call, but as Goodell came to the podium, Cowboys fans collectively held their breath.

"The Dallas Cowboy have traded the Number 9 pick to the St Louis Rams. With the Number nine pick..." the words were drowned out as a million Cowboys fans breathed a sigh of relief. While some had thought for a moment how insane it would have been to have Green, Dez and Austin on the field with Romo, they were quickly banished. Now, in moving down Dallas gained the 14th pick plus the 46th and the 142nd pick, but had to give up the 73rd pick.

So Dallas now had the 14th, 41st, 46th, 105th, 137th,142nd, 169th and the 210th. But Dallas wasn't through dealing yet.

With the 14th pick Dallas selected Tyron Smith, OT,USC. This was the pick that nobody saw coming. Jerry had proclaimed that he wanted "immediate impact" from the first round Pick. Tyron, though considered an elite player, was seen by many to be 2 years from starting at LT, and didn't Dallas have a really good LT in Doug Free? Yet the pick was made and Cowboy fans rejoiced. Finally a first round O-Line! No more "development players" Dallas wanted to take him at #9 but when St. Louis called, they hoped that he would still be there at 14. But still Dallas wasn't done.

In the second round Dallas traded up to 37th using the 41st, 142nd and 210th to grab Prince Amukamara, CB, Nebraska. Dallas felt that he could pair with Akwasi Owusu-Ansah to form a fearsome safety duo, and provide a little more CB depth. Naturally, I will be exploring what happened in a later post. At 46, Dallas took Stephen Paea, DT, Oregon St. Finally Dallas had a player that could not only spell Ratliff for more than 10 plays a game, but would allow Dallas to move Ratliff to DE in some formations.

Having used the third rounder in the trade with St Louis, Dallas used its final two draft picks, the 105th and the 137th to move back into the third round where they took Ahmad Black at 95th. Dallas liked his playmaking ability and hopes that he will compete for the safety position in the future.

Final Draft Class:

#14- Tyron Smith, OT, USC

#37- Prince Amukamara, CB, Nebraska

#46- Stephen Paea, DT, Oregon St.

#95 Ahmad Black, SS, Florida

Well that was the draft folks. While a little light quantity wise, Dallas got two full fledged starters plus two solid rotation guys. While the number of draftees changed, considering we got two starters out of the deal this means in my opinion that Dallas receives an A+ for this past draft class. Here's hoping that it happens again.

In case you were wondering this was a work of fiction. While the names are the same, the events are made up. Any similarity to actual events is purely coincidental, and will result in me buying a lottery ticket. I hope you enjoyed this, and if you want I will give my take on the 2011 Training Camp using these players. POLL TIME!!

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