I knew the Supplemental Draft was going on today, but I didn't really expect the Cowboys to pick anyone. Last thing I thought we needed was another fringe/depth guy, and if we needed one anywhere, I would've said OL and not DL. But that said, we have selected this Price-Brent fellow from Illinois in the 7th round of the Supplemental Draft. Here's the lowdown on him from a Shutdown Corner piece quoting Rob Rang:
It's not just the academics - about a year ago, he spent 30 days in jail for a DUI. So, this is one of those guys where there is some off-field stuff as well. Teams will want to do their due diligence to make sure they're not taking too much of a chance. But he is a talented player - measures in at just a shade under 6-foot-2, 318 pounds at the recent private workout he had for clubs. 18 teams were present at the workout, and several sent their directors of player personnel. He has the size to hold up inside, but he doesn't have great strength - he only had 21 reps at the 225-pound bench press at his private workout, and that would have been the worst of any defensive tackle over 295 pounds that was invited to this year's scouting combine.
But you see some athletic ability and some "want-to" on the field. He's a productive player - not a superstar, but a guy who makes you think he's coming around to being something special. He's moving up on a lot of charts, because he's an established player in the Big 10, and a lot of teams are starting to warm up to him. He's probably the safest of the four players.
Then later:
[Being limited as a one-technique specialist] is the concern I have for him. He's not a natural pass-rusher and he doesn't have the lateral quickness to make it as a three-technique tackle. I see him in a 4-3, but not as a true nose tackle. He's a one-gap player; he just doesn't have the strength to be a two-gap guy at this point. He can contribute even as a rookie as a rotational player, but I don't know if he'll ever be a standout.
The author of the Shutdown Corner article, Doug Farrar, says that Rang mentioned to him that he doesn't see Price-Brent projecting as a 3-4 DE. And that's really what has me puzzled. If he's not a NT and he's not a 3-4 DE, then why would we draft him? I guess the only answer is that our scouts disagree with Rob about that.
And hey, at least we didn't use a 1st-rounder in the Supplemental Draft on this guy.
