Tag: will mcclay

‘Now it’s a job:’ Will McClay’s scouting report on all 11 Cowboys draft picks

The team’s VP of player personnel offers advice for the team’s rookies ahead of minicamp and gives his thoughts on each player.

Welcome to the NFL, rookies.

Friday marks the start of minicamp for 29 NFL teams, including the Cowboys. Drafted prospects, undrafted free agents, and others simply invited for tryouts- 31 players in all- will go through three days of initial evaluation at The Star in Frisco as they prepare to compete with the team’s veterans for a spot on the final roster.

Will McClay, the Cowboys’ vice president of player personnel and the man who had a hand in each one of them being given the opportunity, had a final word of advice for the youngsters.

“This isn’t college anymore,” McClay said, in part. “Now it’s a job.”

ESPN’s Todd Archer got McClay’s scouting report on all 11 of the Cowboys’ draft picks as they prepare for their first day on the company payroll. Here are excerpts from his comments:

Surtain wows at Alabama pro day with Cowboys staff looking on

Defensive coordinator Dan Quinn was among those in attendance as the Alabama cornerback put up impressive numbers in most of his drills.

The Cowboys could have their eye on Patrick Surtain II in the first round next month’s draft. They sure got an eyeful on Tuesday as Alabama hosted its Pro Day for general managers and coaches from around the league.

Defensive coordinator Dan Quinn and vice president of player personnel Will McClay were among those in attendance as several Crimson Tide prospects were put through the paces. Quarterback Mac Jones and defensive lineman Christian Barmore were among the players drawing the most interest, but the winner of the day was the cornerback many predict will be targeted by Dallas with the tenth overall pick.

After the numbers Surtain put up, though, he may not last that long come draft night.

Of the major measurables, Surtain was perhaps least impressive in his 40-yard dash; his time of 4.42 seconds put him in “just” the 75th percentile.

But the dude looks plenty fast, to be honest.

The fact that McClay and Quinn were in Tuscaloosa for the school’s first of two pro days is not remarkable on its own. All 32 teams, after all, sent someone to the renowned college football factory to personally check out this year’s prospects.

But with the Cowboys looking to seriously revamp their secondary, one has to believe that Surtain in particular gave the Cowboys brass plenty to talk about as they travel back to The Star.

Head coach Mike McCarthy reportedly stayed in Dallas as the team prepares for even more DB talent scouting scheduled there on Wednesday.

With his eye-popping numbers, Surtain could be long gone before the Cowboys makes their selection in the tenth slot. It appears that Dallas is doing its due diligence on another SEC cornerback prospect, just to have all the bases covered.

That’s a lot of highly-touted names swirling around in connection with a unit that got torched badly last season. Things certainly are shaping up, though, for the Cowboys secondary to look dramatically different in 2021.

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News: Potential trade targets, free agents, how to fix the Cowboys

Also in the news, Jerry Jones boasts about his attendance record, and why Will McClay hasn’t taken a GM job with another NFL team.

The big wheel of the Dallas Cowboys keeps turning. There’s no playoff game to prepare for, so thoughts have already shifted to the 2021 season. And that opens up all kinds of possibilities. Which draft picks to zero in on, what veterans on other rosters to go after in a trade, who among the team’s own free agents to retain… it’s all on the table once again.

There’s still plenty of rehashing of 2020 to do, including lots of suggestions on how to fix the many things that went wrong this year. But there’s good news, too: a rookie is singled out ahead of his peers, a monster performance ranks among the season’s best, and more than one Cowboy showed out with a surprising season. All that, plus back in the weeds with the Dak Prescott contract saga, Jerry Jones finds something to brag about, and a look at why one of the most well-respected front office guys in the league hasn’t jumped ship to be a GM somewhere else. That’s coming right up in News and Notes.

Report: Detroit Lions have begun initial stages of head coaching search, already interviewed Marvin Lewis

According to NFL Network, the Detroit Lions have begun the initial stages of their head coaching search and have already interviewed Marvin Lewis.

According to a joint NFL Network article written by Ian Rapoport, Tom Pelissero, and Mike Garafolo, the Detroit Lions have begun the initial stages of their head coaching search and have already interviewed former Cincinnati Bengals coach Marvin Lewis.

After 16 seasons coaching the Bengals, Lewis was let go in 2018 and is currently a co-defensive coordinator at Arizona State, working alongside former NFL coach and current Sun Devils coach Herm Edwards.

Per the report, Lewis interviewed with the Lions last Thursday and is the first of several candidates the Lions will be considering.

The Lions have put “in as many as 10 interview slips for head coaching candidates” for current NFL coordinators/coaches, and are even exploring the college ranks as well.

The NFL network made a point to mention several other candidates as well, including 49ers’ DC Robert Saleh, Chiefs’ OC Eric Bienemy, and Titans’ OC Arthur Smith as potential targets. All of which — including Lewis — were among the top-10 candidates we at Lions Wire included in our initial coaching candidates examination.

Not included in our top-10 but also mentioned in the NFL Network piece, was former Lions’ tight end and current Saints’ assistant head coach/tight ends coach Dan Campbell. After taking over as interim coach for Miami in 2015, Campbell joined the Saints and is widely considered a head coaching waiting.

Additionally, if the Lions were to pursue a college coach, in our top-10 list, we listed Iowa State coach Matt Campbell — whom both Lions Wire editors Jeff Risdon and Erik Schlitt are big fans of –, while NFL Network suggested Northwestern’s Pat Fitzgerald — who we also profiled in a separate piece.

Finally, the NFL Network also mentioned some general manager names that the Lions are expected to interview, including several we at Lions Wire have already profiled: Seahawks GM John Schneider, Colts’ Ed Dodds, Vikings’ George Paton, and Seahawks’ Scott Fritterer — who we identified in our GM candidates article — as well as Rams’ Director of college scouting Brad Holmes.

New names we have yet to profile include Saints’ VP of player personnel/assistant general manager Terry Fontenot, Steelers’ VP of football administration Omar Khan, Cowboys VP of player personnel Will McClay, and Patriots front office consultant Eliot Wolf, who is better know for his time with the Packers front office.

Cowboys’ Jones has 2nd-worst win percentage among heavily-tenured GMs

Where does Dallas Cowboys Jerry Jones rank among NFL owners in 2020?

The easiest way to become an NFL General Manager is to just buy a team. That’s the path Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones took to the top. It worked out well for him early on mostly due to hitting a homerun with his first head coach Jimmy Johnson. Since then, it’s been tough sledding.

Despite taking a backseat in recent years to both his son Stephen and vice president of personnel Will McClay, the blame will always ultimately fall at the owner’s feet until they hoist another Lombardi Trophy. With that being the case, where does he rank among current GMs in the NFL? Mike Sando at The Athletic tried to figure that out. The list was broken down by tenure, with Jones falling in the first group, those with a decade or more on the job. Here’s his writeup:

The Cowboys won 63 percent of their games with three Super Bowl victories during the 1990s. They have won less than 52 percent of their games without reaching a Super Bowl since then, despite some successes in the draft. Jones earned a spot in the Hall of Fame on the strength of that 1990s success combined with his obvious business acumen, not for his accomplishments as a GM over the past couple decades. It’s no coincidence that the GMs with the worst won-lost records in this category own their teams.

It’s true that Jones has the second-worst record among his grouping, but it’s still .538 throughout the entirety of his NFL career. After all, people only keep their job that long if they’re successful or own the team. So where would Jones fall relative to the entirety of the NFL? Exactly in the middle at No. 16.

It becomes more dispiriting when looking at the amount of Pro Bowlers and First-Team All-Pros the Cowboys have selected since 1989, hitting at a rate near the top of the heap. His loyalty to Jason Garrett submarined the entirety of the last decade as well as the prime of former quarterback Tony Romo. Running the team like a family business might ruin the prime of Dak Prescott, too.

It’s time Jones heeds the words of another famous man with several facelifts by starting with the man in the mirror and asking him to change his ways.

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Earl Thomas to Cowboys? McCarthy cites locker room ‘fit’ when asked about free agents

The Dallas head coach said he’s ‘very confident’ with the team’s current roster, but said that the free agent safety’s name has come up.

After an extensive reshuffling of the deck in Dallas following the 2019 season, the current Cowboys franchise has been attempting to settle in and make the most of the crazy hand that’s been dealt to the entire league in the form of the coronavirus.

Now, less than three weeks before opening day, a wild card has been tossed onto the table. And while Mike McCarthy may simply be playing things close to the vest, the coach made it sound on Monday like he may be just as happy to stand pat when it comes to Earl Thomas.

Reports after the coach’s Monday morning Q-and-A session with media indicate that Thomas’s name did, in fact, come up in conversation within the Cowboys front office after his release by Baltimore over the weekend.

“We read the news, too,” McCarthy stated.

McCarthy cautioned, though, not to read too much into the seven-time Pro Bowler being discussed internally, as any newly-available player would be expected to be looked at, even as a matter of course.

Said McCarthy:

“We had a chance to have a thorough personnel meeting just two days ago. We’re very confident in where we are as far as the 80-man roster. As far as any prospect that’s available, those are more conversations for Jerry, Stephen, and Will McClay as far as looking at that situation. So I have nothing really to report.”

Is that a bluff? Maybe.

Or maybe not.

McCarthy did give a possible hint as to why Thomas hasn’t already been signed by the Cowboys, a team he’s had a very public flirtation with for three years and the club he’s been most consistently (and loudly) linked to since things went south for him in Seattle.

“I think the most important question you need to ask,” McCarthy offered, “is, ‘How does a player fit into the locker room?'”

At 31, Thomas assuredly isn’t the same player, skillwise, that he was during the Seahawks’ “Legion of Boom” heyday, but he likely still has something left in the tank and could be a veteran asset to the right organization. Being unceremoniously sent packing, though, by both Pete Carroll and John Harbaugh, considered to be among the most player-friendly coaches in the league, may be a significant red flag to any club thinking of kicking the tires.

Thomas may be worth the gamble for some team out there. And maybe the Cowboys end up pushing all their chips to the center of the table and going all in. But just because there’s an ace up for grabs doesn’t mean it necessarily goes with the hand they’re trying to win with.

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News: Cowboys may move Jaylon outside, McCoy gives a glimpse in

Also, Will McClay’s ‘pet cat’ of the 2020 Draft, Amari Cooper’s fantasy stock dips, which rookies may start Week 1, and 2020 schedule news.

Restocking the shelves was a huge hit during draft weekend, but now the Cowboys need to reshuffle their inventory a little bit. The team’s intentions at the safety position may be getting clearer, but a slight shift among the linebacking corps might also be in the works. And there’s already talk of which rookies could be in the starting lineup come opening day of the 2020 season.

Speaking of which, the full slate of games is supposed to be made public within days, although it’s not guaranteed. What’s already a done deal, though, is commissioner Roger Goodell forfeiting his monthly salary in the wake of the current global crisis. All that, plus a real-world look at how the coronavirus pandemic has affected new Cowboy Gerald McCoy and his family, a peek at where Dallas falls in a new power rankings list, and Will McClay reveals his “pet cat” of the 2020 NFL Draft class. That’s all on tap in this edition of News and Notes.

With CeeDee Lamb pick in NFL Draft, Cowboys asking offense to lead way :: ESPN

“It’s fun to have to score 35 points every game,” Mike McCarthy said at this year’s NFL scouting combine, “but it’s hard.” CeeDee Lamb hopes to make it a little bit easier for a unit that finished 2019 first in yards per game and sixth in points… yet still missed the postseason with an 8-8 record.

Daryl Worley announces he’s signing with Cowboys; CB room too crowded for Awuzie? :: Cowboys Wire

After teasing that the team’s new answer at safety may already be on the roster as a cornerback, the Cowboys have brought on yet another CB, former Raider Daryl Worley. The writing may be on the wall for fourth-year man Chidobe Awuzie to transition to safety, a position he played for a time in college.

Chidobe Awuzie to safety? Cowboys explore position switches on defense :: The Dallas Morning News

Following Cowboys Wire piece from the late night before, the rest of the Cowboys’ sports coverage went out to get their own sourced confirmations, and it was confirmed.  But Awuzie may not be the only Cowboys defender on the move in 2020. Jaylon Smith may slide to outside linebacker in order to do more blitzing, with Leighton Vander Esch potentially replacing him in the middle.

The ISO: Gerald McCoy :: The Players’ Tribune

Get to know a different side of the new Cowboy. The six-time Pro Bowler dishes on how he knew the pandemic was coming thanks to his “germaphobe” wife, and he thinks his Dad rating would be a 97 as he handles the family’s cooking, laundry, and home schooling during the lockdown.

The Cowboys invested a lot into UDFA Ron’Dell Carter, and it’s easy to see why :: Blogging the Boys

His name wasn’t called on draft weekend like his teammate Ben DiNucci, but James Madison edge rusher Ron’Dell Carter will be fighting to make the Cowboys roster just the same. The onetime Rutgers redshirt ended up posting huge numbers in a “very aggressive” defense at JMU and hopes to do the same in Dallas.

Will McClay deflects ‘MVP’ praise to scouts :: The Mothership

President of player personnel Will McClay says the club’s scouting department are the superstars responsible for the Cowboys’ impressive draft haul. As multiple players fell far past where Dallas had them graded, McClay chose to trust the exhaustive research done by team scouts throughout the year.

Cowboys landed Will McClay’s ‘pet cat’ in the 2020 NFL Draft :: Inside the Star

Bill Parcells famously called them “pet cats:” those underrated players that coaches root for, often without logic or reason. Will McClay revealed this week that, during the 2020 draft, his was the Tulsa cornerback Reggie Robinson II, who fell to Dallas in the fourth round.

NFL schedule, single-game ticket sales planned for next week. Good idea? :: The Athletic

After the 2020 NFL Draft exceeded everyone’s expectations, the league appears set to stick with their plan to release the 2020 regular season schedule on or around May 9. But some league insiders say pushing back the schedule release has been “a big topic of conversation” internally.

2021 NFL Draft: Compensatory pic projections for every team :: NFL.com

Cowboys Wire readers already knew that the team would be looking at four compensatory picks next year, but NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein projects Dallas to be the only club scoring that many ahead of the 2021 Draft.

Mailbag: How many draft picks will start? :: The Mothership

The Cowboys landed quite a draft class… but how many of the rookies will be Day One starters? Rob Phillips says CeeDee Lamb and Trevon Diggs have the best chance. Jonny Auping agrees and thinks Bradlee Anae could line up in Week One as well.

NFL power rankings poll: Buccaneers rise, Patriots and Texans fall in offseason edition :: SI.com

The Cowboys have only helped themselves since the end of the 2019 season, at least according to the roundtable of six voters constructing this list. Following the Super Bowl, Dallas sat at No. 14. They’ve since climbed to 10th place, with one voter placing them as high as eighth.

Roger Goodell volunteered to reduce salary to $0 amid COVID-19 pandemic :: Bleacher Report

The NFL commissioner was set to make $40 million per year, but reduced his salary to zero last month in response to uncertain business conditions brought about by the coronavirus pandemic.

Matthew Berry’s fantasy football Love/Hate, 2020 Draft edition :: ESPN

According to The Worldwide Leader’s fantasy expert, Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott’s fantasy stock went up with last weekend’s draft. Amari Cooper’s took a slight hit, though, with Berry citing the onboarding this season of CeeDee Lamb and the emergence last season of Michael Gallup.

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6 Nuggets: CBs to safety, floating war room, so DiNucci and McCarthy walk into an elevator…

Also, the connection between QB Ben DiNucci and coach Mike McCarthy, a possible cornerback-to-safety plan in the team’s secondary, and more.

Another NFL Draft has come and gone and while most teams walk away from the weekend feeling good about the picks and moves made, fans’ mileage may vary. In the case of Cowboys Nation, the optimism is off the charts for 2020, with seven players selected across three days at what was seen almost universally as tremendous value.

But with all the tracking of picks, crunching highlight reels, filling needs, digesting players’ backstories, and sorting out new jersey numbers, there were several Dallas-centric tidbits that fans may have missed. So here you go, Cowboys fans: a conveniently-sized six-count of the very best draft nuggets.

Jerry’s floating war room

Among the tidbits of minutiae that many Cowboys fans were wringing their hands over leading into the first round? The social distancing policies seemingly suggesting that owner Jerry Jones would be completely on his own to conduct the weekend’s draft unchecked. Many thought back to 2014’s draft, when Jones was reportedly salivating over bringing Johnny Manziel to Dallas and, according to one version of the story, had the selection card swiped from his hand by son Stephen when the rest of the war room wanted to take Zack Martin.

The mental image of Jerry sitting home alone and going rogue with the 2020 picks was a genuine concern… until the first live pictures of Jones popped up on TV screens. Suddenly the story turned from, “Who is Jerry picking?” to, “Where is Jerry picking from?”

Sure enough, as confirmed by some quick internet-sleuthing, Jones was aboard his 357-foot superyacht, which he purchased in late 2018/early 2019 and named Bravo Eugenia after his wife Gene.

Along with the five-star resort pad belonging to Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury and the shockingly humble homebase where New England’s Bill Belichick (and his dog) were set up, Jones’s floating headquarters became the talk of the first round.

Was the superyacht a superflex by the billionaire owner? Maybe inadvertently. If you’re going to self-quarantine and you have the means, why not do it in style, right? (Lots more nautical-nerd detail on the vessel itself here.)

It would have been easy to accuse Jones of phoning in the 2020 Draft- both literally and figuratively- if the picks made from the party barge had been colossal washouts. But after a ridiculous haul that consistently netted players rated above (and sometimes way above) where Dallas actually landed them, most Cowboys fans were ready to have Jerry set sail each and every April from now on.

Sounds like Jerry himself may actually consider it.

Continue…

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WATCH: CB Kristian Fulton interview released in Cowboys draft prep video

The Cowboys released their footage of recent pre-draft interview with LSU CB Kristian Fulton.

Following their meeting with LB Zach Baun, the Dallas Cowboys posted their next virtual draft prep video interview, LSU CB Kristian Fulton. Word of the visit came out last week, and now the team revealed just a little bit more of what went down.

Projected to be among the players available with the No. 18 overall pick, Fulton would represent a significant investment in the cornerback position for Dallas. Both Chidobe Awuzie and Jourdan Lewis are entering the final years of their rookie deals, and team currently has no clear No. 1 CB following the loss of Byron Jones in free agency. Jones signed a five-year deal with the Miami Dolphins.

Fulton could help bridge the gap in 2020, while also serving as the eventual cornerstone of a reloaded Cowboys secondary under Mike McCarthy.

Present on the call were Will McClay, DC Mike Nolan, DB coach Maurice Linguist, and assistant coach Al Harris. Dallas is doing their homework on the deep cornerback class, and seem ready to grab Fulton should be available when they’re on the clock. Says Fulton of what he wants McCarthy to know about him:

“I’ll do whatever it takes to win. Doing my job, I’m a hard worker, I’m a competitor. You’re going to get me competing every day, whether that’s in practice and for sure definitely in the game.”

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Cowboys News: Travis Frederick retirement coverage, FA continues

Dallas Cowboys news and notes for March 22, 2020

The Cowboys lost an integral piece of their framework on Monday night. Travis Frederick had missed all of four snaps in his career before missing the entire 2018 season with an autoimmune disease. Now, he’ll never suit up for Dallas again, surprising the football world by announcing his retirement.

Most of the big names are signed, and free agency is starting to slow down. The being said, there are plenty of contributors available that could help Dallas make the run they are looking for next year. The Cowboys reportedly are on the verge of finding their big-name nose tackle, but did they investigate all possibilities? All that, and more, in our news and notes.

Travis Frederick Retirement Coverage

Dontari Poe set to become the next Cowboy? :: Cowboys Wire

The Cowboys seem on the verge of inking their new nose tackle, but they haven’t finalized the deal yet. That Dallas would be this far down the road with Poe without checking with the man many have associated as the best fit for the organization raised eyebrows though…

Updated Cowboys 2020 Free Agency recap, cap space, comp-pick tracker :: Cowboys Wire

The most important link of the Dallas offseason. The free agency tracker is the only resource you need to see every Cowboy transaction.

Why the Cowboys’ top-heavy roster will count on a strong draft :: ESPN

Todd Archer digs into the dollars and cents of how the mega-deals given to Ezekiel Elliott, Jaylon Smith, and DeMarcus Lawrence, along with the as-yet-to-be-determined truckload of money that Dak Prescott will bank, will influence the club’s draft strategy.

Cowboys rank No. 2 in number of Pro Bowlers drafted over last 10 years :: Blogging the Boys

Will McClay and the Cowboys front office have became known as one of the best drafting and scouting organizations in all of football. See the stats behind Dallas’ decade of draft success.

7-Round Mock Draft: Cowboys may have to draft Dak Prescott’s replacement :: Cowboys Wire

The Cowboys may never come to terms on a multi-year deal with Dak Prescott. K.D. Drummond latest seven-round mock draft has that scenario covered. See who the Cowboys find at QB early in this mock draft.

Offseason moves that changed the landscape of the NFL Draft :: 247 Sports

With free agency coming before the draft, free agency is maybe the single biggest impact on who teams will draft in April. Did the Cowboys make any moves that should change their draft philosophy?

New Cowboy CB Maurice Canady in response to critics

2020 NFL Draft: 5 players Cowboys could take in Round 1 :: Fansided 

It’s no secret the Cowboys secondary may be the position drafted at pick No. 17 for Dallas, but see what two playmakers Dallas could potentially select if they slide a bit in the draft.

Four remaining free agents the Dallas Cowboys should consider signing :: Blogging the Boys

The first man on this list, Damon Harrison was mentioned above as he met with the Cowboys. See the three other possibilities that could help bolster the Cowboys roster.

‘HotBoyz’ DeMarcus Lawrence, Jaylon Smith step up to support locally-owned businesses, feed first responders and hospital workers :: CBS DFW

Two of the team’s best defenders went on the offensive over the weekend to help some Metroplex businesses and assist workers on duty during the COVID-19 pandemic. Lawrence and Smith purchased hundreds of meals from local vendors and passed them out to first responders and hospital workers at a makeshift drive-thru.

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