Cowboys Notes: Pre-Draft Visits Include Peter Konz

Hopefully everybody is enjoying the weekend. There's not a whole lot of news going on with the holiday, but late last week the Cowboys held their annual Dallas Day workouts where local prospects were invited for a day at Cowboys Stadium and given the opportunity to impress. Our man O.C.C has done a lot of work in showing that the Cowboys do draft players from the workouts done before the draft, but most of those come from the national invite list, not the Dallas Day workouts. Still, some of these guys could sneak into the Cowboys plans for this year, or some of them may end up as undrafted free agent targets.

For insight into all the pre-draft visits for the Cowboys visit OCC's fantastic tracker.

The Star-Telegram talked to some of the Dallas Day guys about their experience, below the jump I've grabbed some of their quotes and you can follow the links to read the whole thing. But before that, Dallas did make a trek to a private workout for center Peter Konz. Center is still a position of need in most of our eyes; incumbent Phil Costa hasn't solidified his hold on the spot. Konz is expected to be taken somewhere in the latter part of the first round, so Dallas could look for him if they trade back.

Make the jump...

Now a little bit from the Dallas day workouts, courtesy of the Star-Telegram.

The Cowboys went out and got Kyle Orton to backup Tony Romo, and it was generally thought that Stephen McGee would be the number three guy. But recently Dallas claimed Rudy Carpenter off waivers from Tampa Bay. Carpenter started his career in Dallas back in 2009, but didn't make it through the final cut that year.

On top of that, the Cowboys brought in three quarterbacks for the Dallas Day workouts - Nick Stephens, Nathan Dick and G.J. Kinne. It sure sounds like a lot of competition for McGee who might just be on his way out from Dallas. Stephens feels he did well at the workouts, and talks about throwing in front of Jerry Jones.

"It was a fun day, and that's what it comes down is just being loose and relaxed and enjoying the moment without a lot of pressure on yourself," Stephens said. "It's easy to put pressure on yourself, because if you have Jerry Jones standing in front of you and talking to you, you can take it the wrong and put pressure on yourself or you can loosen up and do what you've been doing for a long time. That's what I did, and it worked out well."

For much more on the three QB's, check out rabblerousr's piece:

A while back, Rob Ryan said all he was looking at was defensive backs. One of them he got a look at this past week was Jamell Fleming out of Oklahoma. Here's an article about Fleming and his workout.

Fleming always has been "too slow." He ran only a 4.53 at the NFL Scouting Combine in February. But his 60-yard shuttle (10.75) led all players at his position, and he ranked among the top-five cornerbacks in the three-cone drill (6.81) and the short shuttle (3.97).

Fleming’s stock had been on the rise since the Senior Bowl in January when he showed "good quickness, agility and physicality," according to NFL Draft Scout. Projected as a second-round pick, the 5-11, 206-pounder is ready to make Arlington and OU proud.

"I’m not slow. I’m not small. I’m not weak," Fleming said. "I think if you watched any games you know that."

Finally, a position that we don't expect the Cowboys to draft a player at is running back. Of course, that was the conventional wisdom when Dallas drafted Tashard Choice and DeMarco Murray. Even with Philip Tanner behind DeMarco and Felix, you can't rule it out. Cyrus Gray would like to follow his hero, Emmitt Smith, and play for the 'Boys.

It is unlikely, though, that the Cowboys would draft a running back as high as Gray might go. He is projected as a third-round pick. But it would be a dream come true for him if it happened. "I've been hearing different things like that [that they need another running back]," said Gray, who is from DeSoto. "It would be special to obviously come back and represent Dallas. At the same time, you never know what's going to happen."