Commandment No. 8: Pre-draft presser is a gold mine of info
So what do we do when there isn’t any presser to go off of? Radio interviews, of course. Executive VP Stephen Jones, who has taken over much of the day to day operations of the Cowboys over the last five years has appeared on 105.3 The Fan a couple times in the last week and will have another one on Tuesday that we’ll use to update this article.
Here’s what he spoke about in his last conversation, which isn’t as open as a press conference because the entire talk was guided by hosts.
- McCarthy has a tremendous amount of respect for Cowboys’ drafting prowess in recent years; use of concensus
- Feels it’s been great to get new coaching input, specifically mentioned John Fassel
- When not in Top 10 picks, not a lot of advance trade activity until you’re close to being on the clock.
- Refuted idea that linebacker is a big need for Cowboys, mentioned Belichick’s flexibility in scheme, players.
- Mentioned Aldon Smith, Randy Gregory as able to be the Sam/DPR linebacker position.
- Have to be open, willing to be flexible when it comes to trading (specific example posed to him was for safety Jamal Adams).
- Quarterback is an option for the draft irregardless of Dak Prescott’s contract. Said McCarthy constantly drafted QBs in Green Bay. Interest isn’t to find a contingency for Prescott.
- Cowboys’ doctor has operated on several of the draft prospects with medical concerns and good rapport with other doctors who’ve done the same.
Commandment No. 9: Give DC one year to learn current personnel before opening draft flood gates
This is going to be tested very strongly in 2020 and may not come to fuition, only because of how dire the circumstances are when it comes to defensive personnel.
Here’s a look at the club’s history in drafting defense under Garrett and his three different defensive head honchos.
Draft Picks Per DC under Garrett
| DC | Yr 1 Class | Yr 2 Class | Yr 3 Class |
| Rob Ryan | 2011 (2 of 8) R2 – LB Bruce Carter R5 – CB Josh Thomas |
2012 (5 of 7) R1+2 – CB Morris Claiborne R3 – DE Tyrone Crawford R4 – LB Kyle Wilbur R4 – S Matt Johnson R7 – LB Caleb McSurdy |
|
| Monte Kiffin/ Rod Marinelli |
2013 (3 of 7) R3 – S JJ Wilcox R4 – CB BW Webb R6 – LB Devonte Holloman |
2014 (7 of 9) R2/R3- DE DeMarcus Lawrence R4- LB Anthony Hitchens R7- DE Ben Gardner R7- LB Will Smith R7- S Ahmad Dixon R7- DT Ken Bishop R7- CB Terrance Mitchell |
2015 (5 of 8) R1- CB Byron Jones R2- DE Randy Gregory R4- LB Damien Wilson R5- DE Ryan Russell R7- LB Mark Nzeocha |
| Kris Richard |
2018 (3 of 9)
R1- LB Vander Esch R4- DE Dorance Armstrong R6- LB Chris Covington |
2019 (5 of 8) R2 – Trysten Hill R5 – Michael Jackson R5 – Joe Jackson R6 – Donovan Wilson R7 – Jalen Jelks |
The circumstances obviously aren’t rigid. Marinelli was on board but took over in full for Kiffin after one season. Richard came in and took over under Marinelli. But the trends are clear. Less than 50 percent defensive picks in Year 1, well over 50 percent in Year 2.
To help further the point, five of nine picks in 2016 were defensive and seven of nine in 2017.
This should be a year when the offense sees more picks headed their way. Will the trend continue?
Commandment No. 10: Thou shall use thy official visits wisely
Ugh. We just don’t know how this one will play out this year, so it drops from a Top-3 commandment to last. The identity of the potential 30 visitors was muted because of the pandemic, and now it’s hard to know who was going to be one and who ended up being a video interview as the rules for those were less clear. Trysten Hill, Tony Pollard and Mike Weber were drafted from visits, while Chris Westry and Jon’vea Johnson were UDFAs.
Since 2006, every first-round pick except for Morris Claiborne has been brought in for one of the 30 pre-draft visits.
In 2015, six of the Cowboys selections were all from the list. In 2016, they flooded the list with quarterbacks and running backs and got the No. 1 and No. 2 offensive rookies from that. In 2017, they went ham on defensive linemen and secondary players, then picked seven players from those groups.
Leighton Vander Esch was a 30 visitor in 2018. Connor Williams came on Dallas Day and Michael Gallup had a private workout.
This is the list of players Dallas has been linked to so far this year, we’ll see how accurate an indicator it is.
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