Some Late Round Targets for the Dallas Cowboys
With the 2013 NFL Draft starting Round 1 in a few hours, every NFL fan is excited and anxious to find out what their team will do. Most Cowboy fans that I have come across are hoping for an offensive lineman. Among the possibilities at #18 are Chance Warmack, Jonathan Cooper, and D.J. Fluker. The other three first round graded linemen will be long gone by the time the Cowboys are on the clock. Assuming the team is able to land one of these offensive linemen, the Cowboys could go defensive line, safety, or offensive line again in Rounds 2 & 3. Last year I had wanted the team to select David DeCastro from Stanford when he dropped, but the team opted to surrender their 1st and 2nd rounder to move up and select Mo Claiborne.
Nov 25, 2011; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Kent State Golden Flashers offensive lineman Brian Winters (66) along the sidelines during the second quarter against the Temple Owls at Lincoln Financial Field. Temple defeated Kent State 34-16. Mandatory Credit: Howard Smith-USA TODAY Sports
The team needs to “hit” on all three of these picks as team depth is low, and the team’s salary cap issues are high. Jerry Jones has come out and said the team may look to trade back if the player they want is off the board. However, at this time of year you cannot trust anything you hear as teams are trying to keep everyone off-balance as to what their true plans are. A trade back to obtain an additional 2nd or 3rd rounder would be a good move for the team, but I would have a hard time believing it until I actually see it. Jerry Jones likes to make the “big” move and keep Americas Team in the spotlight. Jones has used a 1st round pick on an offensive linemen only once since owing the team (Tyron Smith, 2011), and fans should hope this year he finally realizes that the Super Bowl can’t be won on draft night and decides to draft an offensive lineman again.
While the team should (hopefully) be able to find legit NFL caliber players in Rounds 1-3, it’s Rounds 4-7 where the team has just been terrible in recent years. Here are some players later in the draft that the team and its fans should keep an eye out for on Saturday:
OL
Barrett Jones C/G Alabama
Brian Winters G Kent State
David Quessenberry OL San Jose State
DL
Malliciah Goodman DE Clemson
Jordan Hill DT Penn State
Walter Stewart DE Cincinnati
Bennie Logan DT LSU
Joe Kruger DL Utah
Kwame Geathers DT Georgia
Devin Taylor DE South Carolina
David Bass DE Missouri Western
DB
T.J. McDonald S USC
Tony Jefferson S Oklahoma
Steve Williams CB California
Jakar Hamilton S South Carolina State
Tyrann Mathieu CB LSU
Robert Lester S Alabama
Josh Evans S Florida
Brandon McGee CB Miami
Zeke Motta S Notre Dame
RB
Montee Ball RB Wisconsin
Marcus Lattimore RB South Carolina
Knile Davis RB Arkansas
Rex Burkhead RB Nebraska
WR/TE
Denard Robinson WR Michigan
Markus Wheaton WR Oregon State
Philip Lutzenkirchen TE Auburn
Kenny Stills WR Oklahoma
QB
Landry Jones QB Oklahoma
If the team can end up having a successful draft this weekend and hit on the majority of their picks, this would be great news for the team. If this string of poor to so-so drafts can be avoided, hopefully Cowboy fans can have a positive outlook for the upcoming season and the string of .500 ball can be avoided as well.
Follow Craig Cortemeglia on Twitter at @ccortemegliaTLH