No I havent been awake all night (for a change). Just got up and realized the first round of the NFL draft happened and I only needed to watch 20 minutes of it to be shocked by what happened: The Cowboys made a great choice. Think about those words. The COWBOYS, with Jerry and Junior Jones running the dog and pony show, made a great and the right choice by trading away their second round pick along with #14 in round 1 for the #6 pick and turned that pick into Morris Claiborne. The best corner in the draft and one of the best corner prospects of the last half decade is coming to Dallas. I was near speechless when the pick happened. These are the Cowboys and our secondary is almost mandated to be retreads, converts, convicts, or the mentally challenged. Worse yet is having Newman as your senior leader of the secondary!
So now, out of the blue, surprising even Jerrah, comes Morris Claiborne. Oh he who is the Valedictorian of the bottom 10% of Wunderlicktorians. 5’11.5″ (Let’s just call him 6’0″ in cleats), 188 pounds, 4.39 40, 9’10″ broad jump, 4.12 shuttle, six INT’s in 2011, 11 career INT’s, 28.8 yard KO return average last year including 99 yard KORT, and Louisiana HS state 110 m sprint champ in 4A with 10.76 sec time. In other words, a real cornerback with no real deficiencies. Maybe his 34.5 inch vertical could be better, but even I can tell from his highlights that how he jumps in real game situations versus standing and jumping at the combine are totally different situations.
So I have to give, reluctantly and painfully, an A to the Cowboys for this move and even for the first three rounds of the draft no matter what they do in round 3. The best defensive player in the draft and the #3 player overall was available at #6 and more importantly, the Cowboys only had to give up a single pick, albeit a second rounder to get the best athlete, best defensive player, and #3 overall player overall into a Cowboy uni, and to boot address a very questionable position on the team that now suddenly has Brandon Carr and Morris Claiborne added to Mike Jenkins and Orlando Scandrick. Carr and Jenkins will start especially as Claiborne rehabs from wrist surgery, but Claiborne takes Jenkins job by the middle of the season. Scandrick fills the nickel role and with adequate safeties on the roster, including Poole, the secondary seems fairly set. Barring catastrophic injury, the Cowboys could field one of the better secondaries of the coming year and allow the DC to be like Manny Diaz and focus on creating front seven mismatches. Once again, I can’t believe that I am actually happy with a Jerrah Jones draft choice.
Had the Cowboys remained at 14, Jerrah was very emphatically clear that he would draft whatever defense was available and at the top of the board. That meant we would have picked a front seven talent or a safety, then focused on more defense at #45. What we should have done is secured the OL for the next decade by drafting DeCastro at 14, Konz or another young pounder at 45 and then you have the OL set for a decade, similar to Aikman led OL’s. We would have ended up, however, with a hodgepodge of defenders and likely a player like Dontari Poe who has great athleticism but not the production to match. Hate those kinds of players. So now in the third round, I see the Cowboys going line but secretly hope that Keenan Robinson sneaks into a Cowboys uni. At some point in the draft, I do hope they pick Baylor’s Terrance Ganaway for the backfield and sign Fozzy Whitaker to a FA contract for the future.
I think the Texans’ fans have to be shocked that Mercilus (who came up with that very appropriate name) Wiley was available and was picked. His production (16 sacks, 9 forced fumbles, 22.5 TFL’s, surprisingly no INT’s) won him the Ted Hendricks award as the top DE in the nation and this despite losing the tip of his index finger to a crushing weightlifting accident prior to the start of the season. Tough kid with tough mind set that admittedly benefitted from the Illini scheming that moved him around the line to give him the best match ups against the O. Doesn’t matter IMO because he produced and took advantage of the advantages given to him instead of half-assing his effort and going for the average play. Can he control one position and one side of the field if the Texans don’t continue the pattern of moving him around the D to maximize HIS talent. No one can be sure, but his effort level has never been questioned so I will bet he will succeed.
This is the first time in years that I can give both the Cowboys and Texans an A for their first round draft efforts. Well done boys and now put out the product on the field and let’s bring the championship of pro football back to the greatest state in the union!
Agreed that from where we stand today both teams did very well on day one even though they took different pathways.
In the past it has seemed to be that Jerry has tried to make trades on draft day as much for the splash as if the Cowboys addressed a true need of the team. Yesterday they made a decisive move to get an elite prospect who has the ability to address a need for a decade. Talking with my brother last night neither one of us can recall immediately the last time the Cowboys made this type of move to land this type of player. This isn’t moving up to add another piece, this is moving up and landing a guy who has elite skills at one of the the four most critical positions in the league (quarterback, left offensive tackle (or right if it is a left handed quarterback), cornerback, and pass rusher) and one of the three from that list that really can’t be manufactured by scheme or situational players.
I am not saying Claiborne will be another Deion Sanders for the Boys or the next Revis, but he has that type of ability and the division and the league have become pass oriented. The only concern I have about the move is not the player (I am not worried about the Wonderlic score. Put him out on a receiver and tell him to lock the SOB down.) , but that Dallas will need to address other concerns through later round picks which has not been a strength and free agency.
The Texan fans in my mind bought the media and blogging talk about going to get a receiver. Even if Kendall Wright is there at 26 with Mercilus I believe they still make the pick. Kubiak has shown he has more faith in his system than the individual parts and a receiver has to have as much willingness to block as any other individual trait. Houston had needs at OLB with Mario Williams going to Buffalo and they were fortunate that both Reed and Barwin were able to stay healthy for the most part all year. With no real depth at the key position in Wade’s front seven, Barwin’s contract up next year, and again this is a pass oriented league it was the right choice.
The cost for Houston wasn’t the same as Dallas, but for both this to me was as much economics as talent. Consider that Mario Williams signed with Buffalo for $18 M and had they given him that money they don’t re-sign Foster. Everyone likes to quote how it isn’t wise to waste high draft picks on running backs (i.e. Cleveland which in my mind was a stupid choice.) or give them big contracts. Anyone who has watched the Texans with and without Foster compared to them with or without Andre Johnson for example know Foster is the single most part to that offense so there really wasn’t a choice on where to spend that money. The 26th pick last year got around $7.5M so in effect they got a pass rusher and and Foster for less money than they would have spent for Williams.
Apply that to the Cowboys and the cornerback position. Philadelphia paid Nnamdi Asomugha $12.0M a year last year and the Jets are locked into Rivas for $8.0 M a year and having to deal with re-signing him in two years. Dallas potentially got an elite corner for much less money that they could possibly use to address concerns in the offensive line.
Well, now that the draft is all done, I have to say that I am still leaning toward giving the Cowboys a good grade for their draft. I have seen the Cowboy bulletin boards explode with negative reviews of their draft, but I find it to be one of the better ones they have had and although I thought there were areas that should have been addressed (interior OL, another RB since we seem to be blessed with ballerinas, not ball handlers, and a QB of the future) that were not, overall I was pleased with the players that were added and the fact that they were almost all considered to be talented AND hard working.
1. Morris Claiborne: What else can you say about the 6’0″, 188 pound corner considered the best defender in the draft. 11 INT’s over the last two years, 4.39 speed, great timing and anticipation, etc. Nothing more need be said.
2. Tyrone Crawford: 6’4″, 276 pound Canadian import out of Boise State has the long arms, solid base, powerful upper body, developing lower body, strong desire to continue to improve since he has only been playing organized football for less than FIVE years. To be where he is now is a testament to his work ethic and high growth curve that should allow him to continue to grow and develop into a solid and possibly spectacular player in the future.
3. Kyle Wilber: 6’5″, 240 pound OLB who is the only player I’m not really sure about. On paper, another young active LB for Rex Ryan to play with but not sure he warranted a 4th round selection. Having not watched a lot of ACC football this past year, and no Wake Forest games. The scouts seem enamored with him and the analysts all thought he was worth the selection spot he was chosen at.
4. Matt Johnson: 6’1″, 212 pound safety out of FCS Eastern Washington. 4.46 40, 10’01″ standing broad jump (pretty damn impressive), 4.07 shuttle, 38 inch vertical, 6.87 second 3 cone drill, and 18 reps of 225lbs. First off, someone please burn down that stadium with the fire engine red field. What a freaking eyesore!!! Watching his highlights was like watching a devastating series of car crashes for anyone that he set his sights on. Johnson had very impressive game tape and not just highlight tapes, full game films on YouTube as well. I will agree with the fans that say he could have been had a couple of rounds later, but with those measurables and those highlight films, maybe not. Regardless, I really like this kid and we actually get a two for one special since he has a twin brother we could sneak in if he gets injured.
5. Danny Coale: 6’0″, 200 pound WR out of run oriented VaTech. Solid receiver, great hands, coming from VaTech you know he’ll be able to block at the very least. He’ll make the team and be a contributor, but probably could have been had in free agency or later round. Not upset with the selection, though.
Don’t know anything about Hannah or McSurdy so no write up on them.
I give this draft overall an A-. Claiborne alone puts them in the B+ range and adding players with the kind of talent and effort that they did without trading away next year’s draft is a big plus for me. Yes there is a distinct lack of sexy names on the list, but I find a lot less to argue about than in previous years when they drafted special teams guys with questionable talent as well as marginal effort levels.
Both Dallas and Houston addressed most of their needs, but each had a hole that they didn’t completely address. It’s tough with only seven rounds to completely address your needs each year.
Dallas gambled and went heavy defense and then two skill players on offense leaving the offensive line to free agents and the waiver wire. Houston added a pass rusher to give them a trio to rotate, depth in the offensive and defensive line, and then look for help at wide receiver. They however did not address uncertainty at cornerback with the loss of Allen in free agency.