The Cowboys had their eye on Mark Ingram.

The Dallas Cowboys were trying to work out a trade with the Jacksonville Jaguars in the first round of the NFL Draft, so that the team could move back further in the draft order. When the trade never materialized, Dallas went ahead and drafted USC offensive tackle Tyron Smith.

It was suspected that the team wanted to trade back for a guy like JJ Watt, Nate Solder or Prince Amukamara, but their real target if they had traded down would have shocked people. If you were surprised that the Cowboys spent a third rounder on running back DeMarco Murray, you would have been shocked at the move they planned on making.

The Cowboys had serious interest in Alabama running back and Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram. If the trade would have happened, Dallas likely would have pulled the trigger and spent their first round pick on the former Crimson Tide superstar.

“The Cowboys were looking to upgrade the running back position and in reality wanted to draft Alabama’s Mark Ingram if they had been able to make that trade with Jacksonville,” wrote Calvin Watkins of ESPNDallas.com. “The Cowboys would have used that second second-round pick and gotten back in the first round with the goal of getting Ingram.”

Personally, I would have loved the move and it really proves that Marion Barber will be out the door and the team is not confident in Felix Jones’ ability to carry the load.

How would you all have felt if Mark Ingram would have been the Cowboys top pick? I have a feeling the selection would have been met with serious outrage.

Yes, the 2011 NFL Draft was about one month ago, but there is still always room to discuss the team’s new players. While I was looking around the internet today and researching our incoming rookie class, I came across this audio clip of Jerry Jones, Jason Garrett and Hudson Houck calling fourth round pick David Arkin and welcoming him to the Dallas Cowboys.

I’m not quite sure how I missed this in the past few weeks, but all is well now and you can all give it a listen. JUST CLICK HERE.

It isn’t often that we get a behind the scenes look into our favorite team, so this audio clip is a pretty cool inside look at our favorite team.

The NFL Mocks crew has been reviewing the 2011 NFL Draft team by team and I recently graded the Cowboys draft class. While the draft had some picks that left us all wondering what was going on, I think the team did a great job getting value as the draft went on.

If you’re interested in reading my complete pick-by-pick breakdown and draft grades, CLICK HERE and check them out. As always, let me know what you think by leaving your opinions known in the comments section.

Clipped from: nflmocks.com (share this clip)