Real work starts in Round 2
Todd Archer
Dallas Morning News
IRVING – Sometime Saturday afternoon, when the Cowboys are close to being on the clock with the No. 22 pick of the first round, a buzz will encompass the draft room. The phones will ring a little more. The conversations will have a little more urgency.
Finally, when they pick – or if because trading down is always an option for the Cowboys with Jerry Jones running the show – the cameras will catch Jones, his son, Stephen, the team's director of player personnel, Jeff Ireland, the vice president of pro and college scouting, all shaking hands or high-fiving with huge smiles on their faces.
Undoubtedly, the Cowboys will get the player they want because that's what they will say. You'll also hear them say they were surprised Player X was still available at No. 22 and he was rated much higher on their draft board.
But after the handshakes and high-fives are done, the real work begins. A successful draft is not determined by a first-round selection. It helps, but a successful draft comes in Rounds 2 through 7. How well a team selects players in the later rounds separates it from the competition. There's too much attention paid to the first-round pick.
Jones said he would like to have seven rookies make the final roster coming out of training camp this summer. The Cowboys have 10 draft picks and are likely to sign a half dozen or more players as free agents when the picks end.
The bulk of the team's depth comes from the latter rounds. In 1995, the Cowboys were still a Super Bowl team, but they ended up, "drafting for backups" that year with Sherman Williams, Kendell Watkins, Shane Hannah, Charlie Williams, Eric Bjornson, Alundis Brice, Linc Harden, Edward Hervey, Dana Howard and Oscar Sturgis.
How did that work out for the future? The Cowboys quickly fell in the next few years because of free-agent defections and poor drafting. The drafts in the mid- to late '90s were OK at the top but weak in the middle and bottom.
Now the Cowboys believe their roster is set to play right now. Jones would like to draft a starter at No. 22, although it's hard to picture a spot for a guy right now with a healthy roster. But depth is and will always be a concern. Injuries are the great equalizer. Free agency is also an issue with players scheduled to hit the open market. And so is age.
They have two thirty-something receivers (Terrell Owens and Terry Glenn), a thirty-something nickel corner (Aaron Glenn), a thirty-something nose tackle (Jason Ferguson) and a thirty-something left tackle (Flozell Adams).
Whomever the Cowboys select Saturday and Sunday, they have to make sure those players aren't just "backups." They need the seven players – or more – who make the final roster to be a bridge to the new stadium.
If they aren't, then the Cowboys will be in trouble.
Dallas Morning News
IRVING – Sometime Saturday afternoon, when the Cowboys are close to being on the clock with the No. 22 pick of the first round, a buzz will encompass the draft room. The phones will ring a little more. The conversations will have a little more urgency.
Finally, when they pick – or if because trading down is always an option for the Cowboys with Jerry Jones running the show – the cameras will catch Jones, his son, Stephen, the team's director of player personnel, Jeff Ireland, the vice president of pro and college scouting, all shaking hands or high-fiving with huge smiles on their faces.
Undoubtedly, the Cowboys will get the player they want because that's what they will say. You'll also hear them say they were surprised Player X was still available at No. 22 and he was rated much higher on their draft board.
But after the handshakes and high-fives are done, the real work begins. A successful draft is not determined by a first-round selection. It helps, but a successful draft comes in Rounds 2 through 7. How well a team selects players in the later rounds separates it from the competition. There's too much attention paid to the first-round pick.
Jones said he would like to have seven rookies make the final roster coming out of training camp this summer. The Cowboys have 10 draft picks and are likely to sign a half dozen or more players as free agents when the picks end.
The bulk of the team's depth comes from the latter rounds. In 1995, the Cowboys were still a Super Bowl team, but they ended up, "drafting for backups" that year with Sherman Williams, Kendell Watkins, Shane Hannah, Charlie Williams, Eric Bjornson, Alundis Brice, Linc Harden, Edward Hervey, Dana Howard and Oscar Sturgis.
How did that work out for the future? The Cowboys quickly fell in the next few years because of free-agent defections and poor drafting. The drafts in the mid- to late '90s were OK at the top but weak in the middle and bottom.
Now the Cowboys believe their roster is set to play right now. Jones would like to draft a starter at No. 22, although it's hard to picture a spot for a guy right now with a healthy roster. But depth is and will always be a concern. Injuries are the great equalizer. Free agency is also an issue with players scheduled to hit the open market. And so is age.
They have two thirty-something receivers (Terrell Owens and Terry Glenn), a thirty-something nickel corner (Aaron Glenn), a thirty-something nose tackle (Jason Ferguson) and a thirty-something left tackle (Flozell Adams).
Whomever the Cowboys select Saturday and Sunday, they have to make sure those players aren't just "backups." They need the seven players – or more – who make the final roster to be a bridge to the new stadium.
If they aren't, then the Cowboys will be in trouble.
posted by The Gryphon at 8:04 AM
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