Cowboys Draft Preview

Check out our Mock Draft, Krevor will have his final Mock up sometime today.

And remember that we will have a live running blog of the draft which, through the magic that is the Sports Bully Network (trademark pending) will show each and every pick in the first round and subsequent rounds if were still on top of our game a full 10-15 seconds BEFORE Goodell walks up to the podium.

And now an in depth look at what the Cowboys may do in the 2007 NFL Draft.

The Dallas Cowboys are one of the most difficult teams to say with any great certainty what they are going to do in the draft. Dallas is coming off of a roller coaster season that started and ended in heartache but in the midst they found their future, Tony Romo. The 2007 Dallas Cowboys can be an elite team...with a great draft.

I'll start off in generalities the Cowboys will either stay at #22 in the first round, trade up or trade down.

They will take a corner back, a wide receiver, and offensive lineman, a defensive lineman, and a quarterback. In some order but definitely with the QB late and if I had to guess (which I prolly should since I'm writing this article) I'd say CB and WR are 1/2 in importance on Jerry's shopping list.

Let's take a look at some different scenarios:

Scenario 1: Boys Take a Corner First

As happened in my MOCK DRAFT Aaron Ross of Texas is the CB most likely to be there at 22. Chris Houston of Arkansas would be the second most likely guy if Dallas was Jonesin' for a third corner. Getting a corner early in the draft would give the Cowboys a guy who could come in and help in a limited role right off the bat while developing him for the future, a future without Anthony Henry and Aaron Glenn starting. While Aaron Ross is the most likely guy in this scenario, keep an eye out for Brandon Meriweather who just may dawn the star and play nickleback/free safety.

If corner was the first choice Dallas would be left to get a wide out in the second or third rounds, which isn't a bad thing in this very deep WR draft. Sidney Rice of South Carolina and Craig Davis of LSU would be possible 2nd round picks, while Jason Hill of Washington State and Aundrae Allison from East Carolina may be had in the 3rd. Any of those guys would be very nice value picks and all have a good chance of being productive NFL players.

Scenario 2: Boys Take a Receiver First

Calvin Johnson's not going to be there unless he kills someone between now and the draft, and even then he'd have to be injured severely too, to push him that far down the board. However each of the other top WRs have at least an outside chance of still being available when the Cowboys are on the clock with pick 22 in the first round, 38 hours into the draft. One or maybe two of Robert Meachem - Tennessee, Dwayne Bowe - LSU, Dwayne Jarrett - USC, and Ted Ginn Jr - Ohio State could still be had thanks to the closeness of this group of receivers and the differences in teams big boards. As I have made known here, I would prefer Meachem but my gut tells me he'll be gone by then as will Ted Ginn after some team realizes just how fast he is and takes a gamble on all of his raw, speedy, game changing, potential. However I would expect for at least one of the Dwaynes to be there. They are pretty similar players, Bowe is a little faster, Jarrett has little better hands, Bowe is a little stronger, Jarrett is a little taller, Bowe has a little more potential, and Jarrett is a little more polished.

Round 2 corners that could be Cowboys should Dallas go WR in round one, Marcus McCauley - Fresno State and Josh Wilson - Maryland --- both guys I like. McCauley has a very rare size/speed combination for a corner, 6'1'' 4.37, but after a very nice junior year didn't play up to very high expectations. He needs good coaching, but has all the tools in the world to be a premier player. Josh Wilson is a workout warrior (Maryland has a lot of those, don't they?) who had a very good year last year, but is under sized, 5'9''. He is however very strong for his size and blazingly fast, 4.35. Wilson doesn't shy away from contact but doesn't have very good hands, only one pick last year, still his ceiling could be as kind of the next Antoine Winfield.

Scenario 3: Boys Take a Pass Rusher

After Bobby Carp, and D-Ware it is probably time to share the love around a little bit in first round picks, but Dallas did severely lack a consistent pass rush after Greg Ellis went down and teams were able to game plan around Ware. Jarvis Moss of Florida, a physically gifted speed rusher is falling down draft boards and will most likely be available at 22. It isn't inconceivable that he's a Cowboy, but more likely is Lawrence Timmons - FSU or Anthony Spencer - Purdue. Both guys could be excellent DE/OLB's in a 3-4 and contribute right away in the NFL as pass rushers. The biggest problem going this route the fact that they wouldn't have a position to play, and would be relegated to backup/special teams roles as rookies, though I have advocated for moving Greg Ellis back to DE before -- He's your best defensive end, shouldn't he play defensive end?

If they then grab a WR in the 2nd round, possible 3rd round corners include: Jon Wade - Tennessee, Tanard Jackson - Sorrycuse, Daymeion Hughes - Cal, Eric Wright - UNLV. Wright may actually go before this, and he has the physical abilities to justify being a high pick but he has MAJOR character concerns like battery, drug dealing, and rape charges kind of major -- he's been taken off of a lot of teams draft boards, hopefully the Cowboys have too. Jackson has some character issues himself, but he's an alter boy compared to Wright, Jackson has some coachability problems and is prolly a tad too big and slow to play corner -- profiles more as a safety. Wade is an interesting guy who is a little small and very raw as he only turned to defense full time in 04, he was a receiver before then, but is an elite athlete who's oozing with potential. Hughes is somewhat the opposite, a technically sound All-American who was the Pac-10 defensive POY last year and looked like a first round pick...until he ran a 4.65. While he plays much faster than that, Hughes is probably best suited for a very zone heavy D.

Scenario 4: Boys Take an Offensive Lineman

Loyal readers of this blog know of my man crush on Justin Blalock from UT. As I advocated in one of our original posts, the 2007 Draft is:

Christmas for any good NFL fan, the spring training of football when everyone thinks their team can make it all the way. I'm already excited. I can almost hear Roger Goodell's dulcet tones now...

With the 22nd pick of the 2007 Draft the Dallas Cowboys select from the University of Texas Offensive Guard, Justin Blalock (and the crowd goes wild.) Or maybe it won't. It wouldn't be the sexiest pick but at 6'3'' 320 lbs. there's just more of him to love. Blalock is another Guard/Tackle 'tweener guy who would be best served playing on the inside (sandwich him in between our pro-bowl Left Tackle and Center?) He's very strong and powerful but also has the speed to pull to the outside or reach the second level of defenders. He ran a 5.1 40 at the combine. Flozell, Blalock, Gurode, Davis, and Columbo would give Dallas it's best O-Line since the Super Bowl glory days of my youth.

Note: I advocated Dallas signing Big Leonard Davis in free agency a month before it happened.

Scenario 5: Boys Trade Up

In Matt Mosley's recent column on ESPN.com, he brought up the possibility of Dallas trading up, stating:

On Monday, [Jerry Jones] indicated there were seven "wow" players in the draft. In his mind, these players are talented enough to consider trading up for.

Reading between the lines -- something you have to do with Jones' doublespeak -- the Cowboys would start bundling picks together if, say, Oklahoma running back Adrian Peterson somehow slipped out of the top 10.

Jerry doesn't want to give up next year's first rounder, so any trade would be limited to only trading up to a team in the low teens. Jones also says in the article that he doesn't want to trade any current players, because everyone is myopically focused on the draft and they don't have near the same value that they do at other times of the football calendar.

I put this one at #5 because I believe it is not likely to happen, but you can never say, "never" when Jerry is in the conversation. I would LOVE Peterson as a Cowboy, but I really think it's a pipe dream. I don't see him getting past Houston @ 10, and the odds of him lasting that long are not good.

Scenario 6: Boys Trade Down

Under this scenario, most of the guys Dallas has targeted are off the board but a couple teams are in love with a player and willing to give up a lot to get him (see 2004.)

Hard to say a lot about potential trades until they happen, just know it's possible but maybe not probable.

Day 2 Targets

After looking at 6 possibilities for how Saturday could shake out, here are some guys Dallas might look at on Sunday.

Jared Zambransky QB Boise State
Matt Morre QB Oregon State
Drew Tate QB Iowa
Jeff Rowe QB Nevada
Toby Korrodi QB Central Missouri

Brandon Myles WR West Virginia
Steve Breaston WR Michigan
Jeff Samardzija WR Notre Dame
Cory Anderson FB Tennessee
Kevin Boss TE Western Oregon

Mike Jones (who?) OG Iowa
Stephon Heyer OT Maryland
Dan Parrish OT Florida A&M
Tanner Jenkins C Arkansas State
Anthony Wollschlager C The U

Jacob Ford DE Central Arkansas
Victor Degrate DE Oklahoma State
Antwan Applewhite DE San Diego State
Louis Leonard DT Fresno State
Matt Toeaina DT Oregon

Travarous Bain CB Hampton
Courtney Brown CB Cal Poly
Michael Coe CB Alabama State
Corey Graham CB New Hampshire
Marvin White S TCU

Cowboys Dream Draft

I think this is a fairly deep draft, especially in positions the Boys need - WR, QB, DB, and there are lots of possibilities that would leave me very happy after this weekend. However, knowing it probably won't work out this way, here is my everything-went-perfect-we're-going-to-win-it-all-now 2007 Cowboys draft.

1st Round - Aaron Ross CB Texas
2nd Round - Justin Blalock OG Texas
3rd Round - Jason Hill WR Washington State
4th Round - Travarous Bain CB Hampton
5th Round - Brandon Myles WR West Virginia
6th Round - Jared Zambransky QB Boise State
6th Round - Victor Degrate DE Oklahoma State
7th Round - Cory Anderson FB Tennessee
7th Round - Stephon Heyer OT Maryland
7th Round - Louis Leonard DT Fresno State