Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett was interviewed by Shan and RJ yesterday on 105.3 The Fan in Dallas and talked about a variety of subjects like the draft day experience in the war room, having the draft before free agency, the impact Rob Ryan has had and will continue to have as well as many other topics.
After the break, we've transcribed parts of the interview in which Coach Garrett touches on what the team needs are, how the Cowboys will follow a BPA strategy, what the best position in this year's draft is as well as his thoughts on the top five offensive linemen.
Listen to the full interview here.
Q: Where is this team from a need standpoint? Are you guys at a point where you are trying to stockpile young talent or are you just adding some final pieces to a contend-now roster?
Jason Garrett: "We feel good about the talent on our football team but we have needs throughout our team and a lot of those needs have something to do with whether in fact a veteran player is signed, whether he’s a free agent. The money part of the NFL is significant and we have to understand that, how it relates to our roster and obviously, age is a factor when you’re looking at the draft and if you’re older at the position, maybe you address that, maybe a little bit more than you would otherwise. So, those things factor into it. Hopefully, you want to take the best players throughout the draft just to make our team better."
Q: What are some of the specific areas of need that you guys will address throughout this draft?
Jason Garrett: "Again, I think we’ll always err on the side of taking the best player available. I think that’s an important thing to do whenever you’re approaching any draft. But we have some areas on the offensive line, we have some areas in the secondary, linebackers. We have some contract situations on the defensive line. You can go on and on. Really, at any position, we can take a guy for a different reason. Again, we need to be nimble during the draft to find our way, to address some of those needs and more importantly, pick the best players throughout the draft."
Q: What's the best position in this draft, is it defensive line, is it offensive line, secondary?
Jason Garrett: "Well it's interesting there are a number of defensive lineman who are first round pick guys. I mean five or six guys you could say are really sure fire first rounders, top of the second rounds guys. You look at different parts of the board and say, "Oh boy, there’s a lot of guys up there, boy there's a lot of guys up here." I think there is depth in the offensive line position and one of the things that doesn't leap out at you is that there aren't many safeties in the draft. You wouldn't say that that's a position where the talent is stockpiled, so you have to try find value there and value at some of the other positions as well throughout the draft."
Q: What’s the biggest difference you’ve seen between Tyron Smith and the other tackles, Castonzo in particular?
Jason Garrett: "The top guys that we are talking about, Smith, Castonzo, Solder, Sherrod and Carimi, they’re all really talented guys. I think anybody around the league looks at these guys as potential first round picks. They each have different strengths, they’re all big school guys who’ve played against big competition. They all have the measurables to be really good players at either the left tackle or the right tackle position. They all have the size, the arm length, quickness, the power. It really comes down to who do you like better, their mentality, the system they played in: some of those things will creep into your evaluation. But all those guys are legit first round picks and everybody in the league sees them as such."