Everyone thinks they know what the Dallas Cowboys need. But past drafts have proven that almost no one ever knows what the owner of the Dallas Cowboys will actually do once he’s on the clock.
2013 is a prime example. Dallas held the 18th overall selection. But when the time came to make a pick, the Cowboys made a trade instead. They gave the 18th pick to the defending NFC champion 49ers, who took safety Eric Reid. The Cowboys slid to 31st with an extra third-round selection in their back pocket.
They used their late first-round pick on center Travis Frederick. With Frederick now retired from football and the Cowboys holding the 17th pick in this year’s draft, Sports Illustrated‘s Peter King says that the Cowboys may be looking at using a similar strategy to nab his long-range replacement.
From King’s “Football Morning in America” column this Monday:
“[The 17th pick]’s too high for a center,” said one personnel wag, “but they love the Michigan center (Cesar Ruiz), and they could trade down a few spots and still be sure of getting him.” Interesting: a plug-and-play heir to Travis Frederick.
Ruiz is universally considered one of the best interior offensive linemen in the Class of 2020. As King notes, taking him with the 17th pick would be seen as a reach. But so was taking Frederick in the first round in 2013.
But Frederick was named the starter on the first day of OTAs, started every game as a rookie, and made the All-Rookie team. Oh, and the club got wide receiver Terrance Williams out of that draft-day deal, too.
Joe Looney looks to be the man in the middle with Frederick now gone (Adam Redmond and Connor McGovern are still there, too). But at nearly 6-foot-3, over 300 pounds, and not even 21 years old, many believe that Ruiz has “elite” status written all over him and could develop into one of the best centers in the game.
Cesar Ruiz is a OC prospect in the 2020 draft class out of Michigan.
He posted an elite #RAS with good size, great speed, elite explosiveness, okay agility at the OC position.https://t.co/745VzDgaDf pic.twitter.com/ybJmrjS9Qi
— Kent Lee Platte (@MathBomb) April 13, 2020
Frederick went to five Pro Bowls in the five seasons he played. It’s safe to say that trading back and over-reaching for the player the team wanted clearly worked out well. If Dallas could find a partner club to swap picks with, snagging Ruiz late in the first and picking up an extra selection later might be worth passing on the defensive back or wide receiver that so many in Cowboys Nation are clamoring for.
If Cesar Ruiz turns into a fraction of the player Travis Frederick was, it would be a absolute steal.