Cowboys Draft Day News & Notes: "Painful, But Worth It" To Move Up For Demarcus Lawrence

Big Board Day 2 - Bob's Blog
We'll open this morning's news roundup with a statement from Bob Sturm that perfectly encapsulates the situation Cowboys fans face this morning, where in a world that is dominated by shades of gray, the discussion is increasingly reduced to black and white:

The morning after a significant sports move in this market, we have found that most people want a short, declarative opinion on one's feelings about the move. Generally, the masses would really enjoy one of the following reviews: "I loved it! This is the best move ever!" or "Horrible move, Jerry needs to sell the team before he destroys it."

The truth is that most moves don't measure as either extreme, and that nuance is required to sift through the move, the process, and most importantly, the resulted effects that will be felt.

Sturm goes on to talk about the Zack Martin pick, but his point holds just as much for the Demarcus Lawrence pick - or any other topic, for that matter.

Tell us: Thumbs up or down on Cowboys' trade up for Boise State DE Demarcus Lawrence? | DMN
As I am writing this, 66% of the DMN readers give the trade for Demarcus Lawrence a thumbs up. In a poll on BTB 70% of voters gave the pick a A or B grade, though the 41% of the voters with a B grade think the Cowboys "should have tried to get him a little cheaper."

Stephen Jones says it was painful, but worth it, to give up third-round pick to get DeMarcus Lawrence - Carlos Mendez, Star-Telegram
On Thursday night, the Cowboys started working on their plan to move up for Demarcus Lawrence, and moved up as far as they did because they believed the best pass rushers available were going to go quickly.

"It’s always painful to give up a pick. I mean, you don’t like it. I don’t like it," Jones said in a conversation with reporters at Valley Ranch. "But you know, you also got to look at reality – a little bit between not having a ton of cap space for free agency and then, you know, having a limited number of right ends. And, you know, we a little bit felt motivated to go get the guy we liked."

"He fit right in. I mean, in terms of where we had him, he fits perfectly. But in terms of having to give up an extra pick, that part is a little tougher. But we felt like it was worth it. Especially a pass rusher."

Dallas Cowboys paid premium for Demarcus Lawrence - Tim MacMahon, ESPN Dallas
The trade value charts agree that the Redskins got the better end of the deal yesterday, and the Cowboys are not denying that.

"We really felt like we wanted to help the defense, and we knew that we might have to give up a little more than the charts read out," Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones said. "As we all know, that can happen sometimes when you want some guy, and we really wanted this guy."

"The biggest thing was we wanted to get up there at the top [of the second round] because we thought he could go because of his unique ability. We didn't want to take a chance on losing him."

Why they drafted him: Demarcus Lawrence - Calvin Watkins, ESPN Dallas
Once the hyperventilating over the price of the trade cools down a little, the discussion may eventually turn to why the Cowboys were so high on Lawrence. Watkins valiantly attempts to put the "why" in words, but doesn't come up with much beyond this:

Last season Lawrence picked up 20.5 tackles for loss and 10.5 sacks. In two seasons at Boise State, Lawrence had 34 tackles for loss, 20 sacks, seven forced fumbles and three blocked kicks. This is a player who makes plays on the ball and pressures the quarterback.

Behind Clowney, Barr, Cowboys Had Lawrence As Next-Best DE - Nick Eatman, DallasCowboys.com
The Cowboys had DeMarcus Lawrence as the third pass-rusher on their board behind Jadeveon Clowney and Anthony Barr, Eatman writes. Other sources confirm that Lawrence had a first-round grade on the Cowboys' board.

"He was the last guy we really had in terms of the right-end spot," Stephen Jones said. "We knew we might have to give up a little more than maybe the charts read out. That happens sometimes when you want a guy and we really wanted this guy. We didn’t want to lose him. We worked through the deal. We sweetened the pot a little bit and got the deal done."

Jason Garrett says Demarcus Lawrence, who had 3 one-game suspensions at Boise State, is 'right kind of guy' | Brandon George, DMN
The RKG moniker may be one of the most misunderstood labels in use in Cowboys Nation, so I'll use George's headline as an opportunity to reflect on the term a little (none of this appears in the article this links to).

Passion. Emotion. Enthusiasm. That's a mantra that we've heard Garrett use again and again over the course of his tenure as a head coach, and those are the terms that best encapsulate his idea of the "Right Kind of Guy." What we haven't heard from Garrett is that a RKG is a guy who has a spotless attendance record at Sunday School. Or a guy who regularly volunteers at the homeless shelter, gives generously to charity and drives an environmentally friendly car. Don't get me wrong, all of this is laudable - it's just not a prerequisite for being a RKG.

Garrett said the Cowboys’ staff did their homework on Lawrence and feel like his maturity issues are behind him.

"We talked it all through," Garrett said, "and he is the kind of guy we want to bring to this football team."

Jerry Jones: ‘Manziel was probably the highest player on the board at the time’ Cowboys drafted Zack Martin | Rainer Sabin, DMN
Again, I'll use this headline to launch off into a different train of thought that you won't find by reading the article:

Enterprising minds shouldn't find it too hard to re-build the Cowboys first-round draft board. We know the Cowboys had 20 players with a first-round grade. We know that Anthony Barr, Aaron Donald, Zack Martin, and Ryan Shazier had the same first-round grade. We also know that the Cowboys had a first-round grade on Demarcus Lawrence, we know that Blake Bortles was the top QB on the board, and now we learn that Manziel also had a first-round grade. Filling in the remaining 13 players should not be a Herculean task.

Dallas Cowboys pick Lawrence trying to be his own Demarcus - ESPN Dallas
The fact that Ware and Lawrence have the same first name will inevitably draw some lazy comparisons.

"I'm my own Demarcus," Lawrence said. "I don't like this trying to be nobody else. I'm going to be me. I'm going to do it well."

Dallas Cowboys' draft pick Zack Martin an Olin Kreutz-type leader - Todd Archer, ESPN Dallas
Archer quotes from a profile of Zack Martin authored by ESPN’s Notre Dame blogger Matt Fortuna. An excerpt:

Perhaps no greater compliment has been paid to Zack Martin than these words from Notre Dame offensive line coach Harry Hiestand, formerly of the Chicago Bears:

"The best leader I've ever been around is Olin Kreutz from the Bears, and Zack's in that category. Zack's in that conversation. Zack brings it every day."

Lawrence says dad demands household love Cowboys - Tom Orsborn, Express-News
Sounds like Lawrence comes from a good family.