CBS Sports: Cowboys Have Five Targets For One Draft Pick, Will They Get Their Man?

With a byline attributed to a group entitled the Sports Xchange, CBSSports.com claims that the Cowboys have narrowed down their draft targets for the number 14 pick to five specific players. Those would be: DE Fletcher Cox from Mississsippi State, DL Michael Brockers from LSU, DT Dontari Poe from Memphis, S Mark Barron from Alabama and the lone offensive player, G David DeCastro from Stanford.

The article makes the above claim as fact, and then injects what seems to be their opinions of how Dallas will whittle down their choices; and I'm not sure how a lot of BTB will feel about one of the final two contestants.

They expect Cox to be gone. They did enough in the offseason to pass on the DeCastro, a guard. This will come down to Brockers vs. Barron. Barron is the sure thing. He is a plug and play guy who will start from day 1. Brockers is a potential beast but needs work. He can play end or tackle and has a huge upside as a redshirt sophomore. He is also huge and could give them much needed size in the middle.

Sorry Quinton Coples fans; no mention of the DE from North Carolina here at all.

Quick question, do we overthink things here at BTB, or do some prognosticators just take the surface arguments? I think the case could definitely be made for both and here's a quick example. In their team needs section, CBS Sports mentions how safety play has been a problem for Dallas, maybe even more than corner back play, to which I can agree. They say that Barron could be the quarterback of the defense; to which I also agree. But why are you mentioning Brodney Pool and his one-year deal as a free safety? Are we the only ones that realize he is a much better solution at FS than Gerald Sensabaugh is? Does it matter in the long run?

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The article also speaks to the Cowboys defensive line difficulties and the need to fill the outside linebacker (edge rusher) issue that is still unsolved with Anthony Spencer yet to sign his franchise tender offer. There is still work to be done at other positions, and as such the article is taking Jerry Jones at his word that the team is only looking to trade in one direction on Thursday night.

"I don't think it's probably in the cards this time that we move up," owner Jerry Jones said. "But if the right guy is not there for the value, we've got to be prepared to move down."

Half of BTB just went into heavy palpitations. There are several people that are worried about Dallas trading down, even though current head scout Tom Ciskowski nor current head coach Jason Garrett has been in his position when Dallas has traded down from a first round pick. Ciskowski took over in 2008, Garrett mid-season 2010.

Somehow, people will blame Ciskowski for selecting Felix Jones in 2008, when he was under instruction from the GM to find the best compliment to Marion Barber, he led a BTB draft poll for preferred pick and other NFL coaches said they had him targeted. Then they blame Ciskowski for trading down from the 2nd round of 2009, pick #51 into the third round. The truth is, those complainers would probably have difficulty finding another 32 serviceable players chosen after Jason Williams in the entire 2009 draft; one of the worst in recent NFL history.

So what will the Cowboys actually do, come pick 14 in 2012? None of us really know, though drafting Barron is currently the clubhouse leader with a half-filled rocks glass and a half-gone stogie. Too bad the stogie stinks of New England clam chowder tradewinds.

Just a little over 72 hours to go folks.