Monday, April 28, 2008

Dallas Cowboys 2008 NFL Draft: Keeping Up With the Joneses

Cowboy Owner Jerry Has a Jones for the "Other" Arkansas Running Back
By RazorsEdge, published Apr 28, 2008

Dallas Cowboys Owner and famous Arkansas alum Jerry Jones lost Julius Jones as a free agent recently. No big deal, as the younger brother of the Jets' Thomas Jones was just another guy as far as NFL runners go. So, in a trade with the Tennessee Titans that was finalized this weekend, the Cowboys added the "Tennessee Stud", Adam "Pacman" Jones. Dallas metroplex strippers beware if Pacman starts to "make it rain". Hopefully Pacman Jones will get his act together and become as good a citizen as he is a football player, in between suspensions, that is.

With their first pick at #22 in the 2008 NFL draft, Jerry had a "Jones" for another former Arkansas Razorback, the first time he has drafted a player from his college alma mater in his time with the Dallas Cowboys. Felix Jones, who played second fiddle to Darren McFadden for three years at the school, was selected to complement bruising Marion Barber and take the place of the departed Julius Jones.

With Barber having one year on his contract and the two sides reportedly far apart in negotiations, the Cowboys selected another bruising type runner, Tashard Choice out of Georgia Tech in the 4th round as insurance.Earlier, in Round 2, Dallas selected TE Martellus Bennett to replace Tony Fasano. At 6'6 and a hair under 260, Bennett is considered a good blocker with limitations as a receiver. As long as Jason Witten is around, the receiving part of the TE equation is covered quite well.

To address the main weakness on the Dallas roster, the "Boys moved up in Round 1 to grab CB Mike Jenkins. Jenkins has good size for a corner at 6'0 and 200 pounds. The University of South Florida stalwart has good cover skills, great speed and is said to be a good tackler, a bonus at cornerback. This was a good pick to shore up an obvious need in the secondary.

In Round 5, Boise State corner Orlando Scandrick was selected, further adding to the depth at one of the Cowboys' few weak spots. Scandrick, a 3 year starter at Boise is regarded as a questionable character guy, so maybe the Cowboys shouldn't pair him up with Pacman Jones in training camp.