BTB's 2012 Writer's Mock Draft: Round Two Conclusion And The Cowboys Have Another Selection

If you've been paying attention to our writer's mock's infrequent posts, you'd know that Dallas is in the midst of of a classic draft. After trading down a whopping 10 spots in the first round, Dallas was still able to land DE Fletcher Cox of Mississippi State. Now remember, this occurred more than a few weeks ago, so whether or not Cox would slip this far at this date is irrelevant (although there are still quite a few mocks that have him in the 20's still).

Under the guidance of Rabblerousr, Dallas was able to secure help for the front seven on two different occasions; selecting fast-riser Shea McClellin out of Boise State to be Anthony Spencer's eventual (immediate?) replacement. Dallas isn't done yet though. The trade down netted Dallas Pittsburgh's second and fifth rounders; with the second falling in this section of our exercise.

So what did Rabble do with the third pick under his watch?

Draft Pick # 56

Team Name: Dallas Cowboys

GM: Rabblerousr

Selection: (OG) Brandon Brooks, University of Miami (Ohio)

After watching their top two targets for the 56th pick--Josh Robinson and Kevin Zeitler--go off the board right before their pick, the Cowboys have to pause and regroup. Looking over their board, they narrow the field to a handful of picks: OC Ben Jones; OG Brandon Brooks; TE Orson Charles; NT Alameda Ta'amu; CB Jamell Fleming; CB/FS Trumaine Johnson and FS Markelle Martin. From this group, Brooks and Fleming emerge as the best options and optimal fits for Dallas' schemes. In looking at the drop-off at these respective positions, they decide that they can find a good corner in round three (where Fleming and Johnson will be joined by Brandon Boykin, Casey Hayward, Josh Norman and Chase Minnifield), but that Brooks represents the last of the elite guards. The huge (6'5", 343 lb), naturally powerful Ohioan will need some coaching help with his footwork, sets and hand use. When he cleans these up, the Dallas warroom believes, they just might have found another Larry Allen--a ridiculously strong small school man with a big-time game. - Rabblerousr

Follow the jump for more analysis of the rest of the two-round exercise.

So there the Cowboys are with:

#14 - DE Fletcher Cox, Miss. State #45 - OLB Shea McClellin, Boise State #56 - OG Brandon Brooks, Miami (OH).

Are you not entertained?

But there was a lot more going on than just the Cowboys selections, even though that's what we were all focused on. A lot of teams had some great drafts as well. When I was on the clock for Philadelphia's last pick of the process I commented to my fellow FPW's that they were making it too easy for me to improve a team I couldn't stand. Here's the haul I managed for Philly:

#15 - CB Dre Kirkpatrick, Alabama #46 - OLB Bobby Wagner, Utah State #51 - RB LaMichael James, Oregon

Now my Philly haul wasn't the only one I was particularly proud of. I was also in charge of New England (I swear, teams were assigned to writers on a seniority basis: OCC pick 1, Rabble pick 2, etc etc) and forced Bill Belicheck to stay put and use all of his early draft picks to the following effect:

#27 - LB Zach Brown, UNC #31 - WR Stephen Hill, Georgia Tech #48 DE Kendell Reyes, Connecticut #62 - CB/S Trumaine Johnson, Montana

That's just disgusting. Yes, it is probably unfair that I have two of the five teams that had three or more selections (Cincy, Cleveland and St. Louis being the others).

Now, the other FPW's did great jobs as well; some with the lesser wiggle room of two picks and some are deserving of special notice.

Here's a look at the complete two-round exercise.