FanPost

A Look Back at the 2014 Draft

When a player gets selected in the first round of the NFL draft the expectation is that they will compete for a starting position in their rookie year. When the player that gets selected becomes a day one starter it is usually considered a good pick. When the player becomes an All-Pro rookie and solidifies what was arguably the best offensive line in the league you have a homerun on your hands.

That’s what happened when the Dallas Cowboys selected Zack Martin 16th overall out of Notre Dame. Martin was just the third Cowboys rookie to earn the honors after Bob Hayes (1965) and Calvin Hill (1969). Despite the massive success Martin enjoyed as a rookie, he wasn’t the guy the Cowboys really wanted. Heck, he likely wasn’t even in their top three in terms of draft day targets.

Heading into the draft there was no secret about where the Cowboys wanted to improve. After giving up a league-worst 6,645 yards on defense many pegged the Cowboys to select defense early and often.

The main area that needed attention was the defensive line, as evidenced by the list of 30 pre-draft player visits to Valley Ranch. The Cowboys brought in Anthony Barr, Aaron Donald, Timmy Jernigan, Kony Ealy, Scott Crichton and DeMarcus Lawrence. Those six defensive line prospects comprised two thirds of the nine top-50 (according to CBS rank) players brought in by the Cowboys. Of those six both Barr and Donald seemed to be fits for the Cowboys at the 16th spot.

As the draft unfolded Barr was the first to come off the board as he went to Minnesota with the ninth overall pick. Donald followed close behind landing in St. Louis with the 13th overall selection. The Cowboys were determined to get the next best defensive player on their board in Ryan Shazier. But he too was taken as the Pittsburgh Steelers snatched the athletic linebacker one pick before the Cowboys.

But what if the Cowboys got the defensive player they coveted? Would they have been better off? For this alternative reality Barr falls to the Cowboys at their original pick 16th overall. With an edge rusher already drafted the Cowboys don’t trade the 47th and 78th picks to Washington for the 34th pick to draft DeMarcus Lawrence.

Instead the Cowboys would choose from Trent Murphy, who the Redskins selected, Jernigan and possibly consider Ealy. Considering Murphy is more suited for a 3-4 scheme and the fact that both Jernigan and Ealy visited the Cowboys I’ll assume we can eliminate Murphy. Jernigan played in 12 games (three starts) for the Ravens last year registering 23 tackles and four sacks. Ealy picked up 12 tackles and four sacks in 15 appearances (no starts). Based on positional need I’ll give the nod to Jernigan. In our alternate universe the Cowboys select Timmy Jernigan with the 47th overall pick.

The third round saw five offensive guards selected 78th or later. Spencer Long, Gabe Jackson, Chris Watt, Trai Turner and Brandon Linder would all be considered. Out of these five Long saw action in five games (no starts), Jackson got into 13 games (12 starts), Watt played in 12 (five starts), Turner appeared in 13 games (nine starts) and Linder started all 15 games he saw action in. Based on the Cowboys recent track record of evaluating offensive line talent I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt here. Once again the player Washington took with the Cowboys pick is the first to be eliminated. Long simply couldn’t crack the starting lineup on a team with a mediocre line. Next I eliminated Linder. Starting 15 games is impressive until you consider that it was for Jacksonville and they had a brutal year in regards to offensive line play. The other three choices seem fairly similar but Turner stands out the most as he helped revitalize the Panthers’ line down the stretch. In our alternate universe the Cowboys select Trai Turner with the 78th overall pick.

So if you had the opportunity to trade Zack Martin and DeMarcus Lawrence for Anthony Barr, Timmy Jernigan and Trai Turner would you make the swap?

Comparing Lawrence to Barr is difficult. Both sustained injuries in their rookie year with Lawrence going down during training camp and Barr missing the final four games of the season. Barr came in and was a day one starter for the Vikings amassing 70 tackles and four sacks. Lawrence took some time to get going and finished with just nine tackles before notching his first two sacks in the playoffs. While Barr certainly had a more impactful rookie year, I don’t think the gap between the two is as large as some may think. Lawrence really turned it on at the end of the year and it will be interesting to see how he does with a full training camp.

The Martin to Turner comparison seems a lot more lopsided. Like Barr, Martin came in and started from day one. Unlike any of the other players mentioned here, Martin developed into one of the best at his position, eventually finishing as the second best guard in the league. While Turner had a nice rookie season, there is simply no way he could compare to the impact Martin made.

I would say that Barr is better than Lawrence but Martin is leaps and bounds better than Turner. So essentially what this comes down to is whether or not Jernigan is enough to sweeten the pot. For me, I’ll stick with the guys the Cowboys ended up with.

What do you think? Would you make the trade? Let me know on twitter @jordang_45

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