Tag: rookie class

Cowboys award rookie jersey numbers, Lamb not on list

The Cowboys have doled out uniform numbers for whenever the rookies suit up, but CeeDee Lamb is undetermined, as is Ben DiNucci.

The Dallas Cowboys had themselves a day on Thursday. Then another on Friday. Then two days worth of days on Saturday. The 2020 NFL Draft was about as fun an offseason weekend as any Cowboys fan could have imagined. On Monday, work resumes. While the veteran players are in Week 2 of the offseason virtual learning program, the rookies will soon get some semblance of a minicamp dedicated to them.

If they were meeting in person, the jerseys they would wear would be a big deal, but we can still envision what things will be like when on-field football return. The club issued jersey numbers to six of their seven picks, but No. 17 overall CeeDee Lamb was not listed. That’s because he and the club can’t agree. Lamb said after the draft he wants to wear No. 10. Jerry Jones wants him to don the king’s cloak, No. 88.

88 is the jersey number of the chosen one; the wide receiver anointed as the franchise cross bearer. Drew Pearson was the original 88 and is in the Ring of Honor. That legacy was turned over to Michael Irvin who forged a Hall of Fame career while wearing it.

During a down time for the franchise the club tried to put it on second-round pick Antonio Bryant, but he was just getting the printing press ready for the last first-round receiver Dallas drafted before this year, Dez Bryant.  Bryant is the club’s all-time touchdown reception leader.

Who will win out? To be determined.

As for the rest of the draft class here’s how they will go.

2.51: CB Trevon Diggs – Jersey No. 31

Recently vacated by 2015 first-round pick Byron Jones who is now in Miami as a free agent. Diggs is assuming the role of the future No. 1 cornerback, and that future could be as early as this season. 31 has also been worn by long-time corner Benny Barnes during the 70s and of course by 2002 first-round pick safety Roy Williams.

3.82: DT Neville Gallimore – Jersey No. 75

Gallimore takes the jersey over from released swing tackle Cam Fleming. It’s one that goes back and forth between linemen. The most famous recent wearer was probably former right tackle and former offensive line coach Marc Colombo. Jethro Pugh, 14-year veteran defensive tackle who was a two-time second-team All-Pro is a great No. 75 for Gallimore to try and emulate.

4.123: CB Reggie Robinson II – Jersey No. 41

If the uber-athletic Robinson can come close to the career of Terence Newman, Dallas fans are going to go bonkers. It’s a jersey number with plenty of significance in Cowboys lore as it was also sported by safety Charlie Waters,

4.146: OC Tyler Biadasz – Jersey No. 63

Defensive end Larry Cole wore No. 63 during his 13-year career with the Cowboys. Most recently offensive guard Kyle Kosier did a solid job of representing the number well during the early days of the Tony Romo era.

5.179: DE Bradlee Anae – Jersey No. 51

Kerry Hyder wore No. 51 for the club in 2019, but there have been a handful of noteworthy bearers. Ken Norton, Jr. sported it in the late 80s and early 90s and did the number proud. Before that, center Dave Manders wore it for 11 seasons.

7.231: QB Ben DiNucci – Undetermined

The Cowboys don’t retire jersey numbers, but there’s a limited number of choices. The NFL only allows QBs to wear from 1 – 19, shared with kickers and punters, while wideouts can also wear from 10-19.

Here’s the group of numbers we know he’s not getting.

3 – K Kai Forbath (for now)
4 – Dak Prescott
6 – P Chris Jones (for now)
7 – Cooper Rush (for now)
8 – Troy Aikman
9 – Tony Romo
10 – CeeDee Lamb?
11 – Cedrick Wilson (for now)
12 – Roger Staubach
13 – Michael Gallup
15 – Devin Smith
19 – Amari Cooper

Cowboys Wire 2020 NFL Draft Coverage

Grading all 7 Cowboys 2020 draft picks | UDFA Tracker
QB Ben DiNucci | DE Bradlee Anae |  C Tyler Biadasz
CB Reggie Robinson | DT Neville Gallimore |  CB Trevon Diggs
WR CeeDee Lamb | Lamb jersey choice |  Lamb Gallery

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Seattle Seahawks post-draft 53-man roster projection

The Seattle Seahawks are a long ways away from the 2020 regular season, but here’s our first take at what the 53-man roster could look like.

The Seattle Seahawks added eight new players via the 2020 NFL draft, and are hard at work signing undrafted free agents to add even more competition to the roster heading into what will be a unique and unprecedented NFL offseason.

With moves still to be made, including some cuts and potentially some additions, it’s too early to make any concrete assumptions about the 2020 Seahawks roster.

That’s not going to stop us from taking a stab at it, however, with our first official post-draft 53-man roster prediction coming to you now.

The Seahawks have added so many versatile players to the roster that making predictions for some of these guys was a challenge, and this team will have to cut some pretty talented players from the roster in order to get things down to 53.

Here’s take one of what will be multiple attempts to predict what the roster will be on September 1, 2020.

Pages: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4, Page 5, Page 6, Page 7, Page 8, Page 9, Page 10, Page 11

Cowboys 2015 1st-round pick Byron Jones lends sage advice to 2020 rooks

Dallas paid Byron Jones well under the guidelines of the CBA, but now that he’s cashed in free agency, he offers words of wisdom to rookies.

The Dallas Cowboys may not have wanted to pay his price tag as a free agent, but that doesn’t mean Byron Jones wasn’t an incredible asset to the organization. Jones rarely allowed a reception while in coverage, and while he may not have created the turnovers some feel are necessary to be recognized as an elite talent at the corner position, that doesn’t mean he wasn’t value.

Speaking of value, the University of Connecticut product certainly knows what that is in terms of a dollar. Stingy on the field to wideouts, stingy off the field with his finances, Jones is keen on sharing what he knows with those who follow him. He did just that on social media Thursday, as the league is set to welcome 256 prospects to their ranks across seven rounds of the 2020 NFL Draft.

Jones cashed in in a major way this offseason, his first as a free agent, signing with the Miami Dolphins. His deal is for five years and will pay a total of $80 million, an average of $16 million per season, at the time the richest ever for a corner.

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Jones earned well under his rookie contract as the No. 27 overall selection. His rookie deal was for four years, $8.6 million. The Cowboys exercised their team-option for his fifth year, and paid him $6.3 million for 2019. Jones spoke to what he did with that $15 million, while offering a roadmap for how this next crop of NFL players should navigate their newfound fortune. They’ll be tempted to go wild with their millions, but Jones vehemently cautions against it, as the life of a football player is not to be banked on, but the income while in the league is.

Gospel.

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2019 Saints rookie class ranked fifth-best in the NFL

The New Orleans Saints’ 2019 NFL Draft class was ranked fifth-best against their peers by the analysts at ESPN and Pro Football Focus.

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Sometimes you’re dealt a tough hand, but you still have to make it work. That’s what the New Orleans Saints did in the 2019 NFL Draft, lacking picks in the first, third, and fourth rounds, thanks to some smart decisions and crafty trades.

In a collaboration from ESPN and Pro Football Focus, the Saints rookie class was ranked fifth-best in the NFL. Not bad for a team lacking so much draft capital:

Why they’re ranked here: The Saints have mortgaged their future to win now in recent years, which left the draft cupboard bare in 2019. Despite that, they managed to nail their first two picks in Rounds 2 and 4, even getting key contributions from an undrafted free agent in defensive tackle Shy Tuttle. That’s doing more with less.

How their top pick fared: Center Erik McCoy (No. 48 overall) wasn’t only the best rookie center in the NFL, he was one of the top centers in the league. His PFF overall grade of 76.1 ranked fourth at the position.

Best value pick: Cornerback C.J. Gardner-Johnson (No. 105 overall) was one of the top values in the draft, for any team. He spent a lot of his time in the slot this past season, excelling there with the fourth-highest slot-coverage grade among qualifiers.

What might be most impressive is that the best rookie the Saints added wasn’t even mentioned in the article: returns specialist Deonte Harris. Harris is starting at kick returner for the NFC roster at the 2020 Pro Bowl and was named a first-team All-Pro punt returner by the Associated Press. He turned in the best season for a returner since Sean Payton was hired to coach the team back in 2006 and has to be mentioned in any discussion on last season’s rookie class.

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