Cowboys third round pick history

2010-Pick traded
2009-Jason Williams LB 69th pick Robert Brewster OT 75th pick
2008-Pick traded
2007-James Marten OT 67th pick
2006-Jason Hatcher DE 92nd pick
2005-Pick traded
2004-Stephen Peterman OG 83rd pick
2003-Jason Witten TE 69th pick
2002-Derek Ross CB Ohio State 75th pick
2001-Willie Blade DT 93rd pick
2000-Pick traded

With the 71st pick in the 2011 NFL Draft The Dallas Cowboys select........DeMarco Murray running back Oklahoma.

Many, including myself, did not see this pick coming. I thought the Cowboys would take Martez Wilson or Mason Foster here, but we had just selected linebacker Bruce Carter in the previous round. So I thought possibly Kenrick Ellis would be the pick, but there is too much of a divide on the character we are looking for now. Stevan Ridley was on the board, a power running back from LSU. I think the Cowboys went with the better overall running back. Offensive guards John Moffitt and Will Rackley were also a major possibility with the 71st pick. There were cornerbacks Johnny Patrick, Curtis Marsh, Shareece Wright and Curtis Brown available as well.

As soon as this pick was announced, I started to a little Chia dance across my friends living room into his kitchen. My friend asked me "Who did you get"? I said "We got DeMarco Murray", he replied "Damn he is pretty good". I was surrounded by a room full of Giants fans and one Dolphins fan. I was pretty excited with this pick because whenever I did watch the Sam Bradford led Sooners or the Landry Jones led Sooners, this kid stood out. DeMarco Murray is an exciting football player to watch. He can do everything a running back and a wide receiver can do, wrapped up into one player. I believe this is the end of the Cowboys third round curse.

I listed the Cowboys third round picks dating back to 2000. Jason Witten was a clear cut diamond but the great Bill Parcells was lucky for Witten to fall to him after passing on him for center Al Johnson in the previous round. Jason Hatcher has been a productive player but he is far from a great draft pick. The Cowboys third round pick is littered with busts and underachievers. In many cases the pick was traded away. For whatever reason, the Cowboys have had miserable success drafting in the third round. I think DeMarco Murray is going to break that trend.

DeMarco Murray has all the talent in the world to be a successful player in the NFL for the Dallas Cowboys. Go put on a highlight reel of this kid and you can see what I am talking about. Murray owns the career all purpose yards record at Oklahoma with 6,718 yards. DeMarco also owns the career touchdown record at Oklahoma with 65 touchdowns. He also owns the career receiving yards record by a running back at Oklahoma with 1,512 yards. He owns 13 100 yard rushing games for his career. He finished with a career yards per carry of 4.9 and yards per reception of 10.0. This isn't some small school project. This kid has faced some of the best competition in college football. He remained productive behind great running backs at Oklahoma until he finally got his chance to shine. Just last season this kid had 20 touchdowns, 1,214 yards rushing, 15 rushing touchdowns, 71 receptions, 594 yards receiving and 5 receiving touchdowns. Murray was an electrifying running back who had big time production at a big time school.

Murray was the #1 rated running back coming out high school in the Las Vegas area. This kid has always been a blue chip player. He graduated from Oklahoma and received his degree. He has been described as a great young man who loves the game of football. This is exactly why DeMarco Murray was drafted by Jason Garrett. Garrett is looking for hard working players who love the game of football. So throw out all the stats and accomplishments that DeMarco has achieved on the field, the man he is off the field played into a major reason why this was the running back the Cowboys went after in the draft. I love this kid already for what he can do on the field, and off it.
A major reason I believe the Cowboys drafted a running back this early is because nobody has stepped up and taken the job. Now I love Felix Jones, I think he is a home run threat every time we get the ball into his hands. Felix has been hampered by injuries and inconsistency, but I still believe in Felix the Cat. Now is the time for Felix to step up and play his best football. Felix has been a great player for us, but he hasn't put it all together for a full season yet but I think that time is coming.

Tashard Choice appears to be in the doghouse. Something is going on behind the scenes we don't know about, so I am not going to elaborate on that. What I will say is that when Choice has started he has produced. Regardless, I guess he hasn't done enough to take over the starting job, for whatever reason. Choice is a guy I would love to keep around because I think he can start for us at running back. But we must remember, this is the same guy who fumbled on a pointless play in the season opener. This is the guy who walked over to Michael Vick after a gut wrenching loss and asked for his autograph on national television. I love TC but maybe this is the beginning of the end for him.

Marion Barber will not be returning to this team. He is washed up and offers us nothing on the field. We saw a flash of the past on Christmas night in Arizona, but the rest of his season was garbage. It is time to move on, thank him for when he was a great running back but that's about it. The celebrations were meaningless after a one yard gain. He also had quite a few rumblings with our new head coach. Barber is overpaid and doesn't respect what Garrett is trying to establish here. Good riddance, this will be one of the best off-season moves in a long time.

Now none of our running backs have stepped up and taken the starting job. Call me crazy but I see no doubts that if DeMarco Murray has a great training camp that he cannot take the starting job that moment. I am telling you this kid is extremely talented. He reminds me a lot of Reggie Bush but in a bigger body at 6'0 214. He also reminds me a lot of Darren McFadden, a running back Jerry loves. I also see some Adrian Peterson in DeMarco, I have seen other people say that also. DeMarco is a threat running the ball on tosses and sweeps, and that is going to be some of our bread and butter running plays this season with our newly stocked offensive line. He is also a threat catching the ball out of the backfield. I think Garrett loved both of those facts including that Murray is a great third down back. Murray prides himself in pass protection.

I wouldn't say I am one to drink the kool aid. I try to keep it real and there are times where I over hype things. But I feel very strongly about this kid at running back. I have seen him play too many times in college and he is just amazing to watch. He has been timed at 4.3, but his time was a 4.4. Regardless Murray can run in the 4.3 range and that is serious speed. He has amazing hops too. He has this burst that I love watching through the hole and his vision is really good. If not for some of the injuries in college, DeMarco would easily have been a high 2nd round pick, maybe earlier. I am going to make a bold prediction here, but I think DeMarco is going to be a exciting player this season and make a big impact on the offense.

The third round has not been friendly to the Cowboys recently. We seem to have success in the other rounds but this round has been our Achilles heel over the past ten years, possibly longer. It is time for this streak to end. I am calling it now, DeMarco Murray will be a great player for us. I think Murray is going to be the answer at running back for a long time to come. The third round failures end now.

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