You know, when Dallas lacked a real good drafting coach they went through some of the worst picks in the team’s history. When Bill Parcells came in, he helped draft a solid core of guys that brought success to the Cowboys. But now that pushover Wade Phillips is the surrogate coach, Jerry Jones is running a majority of the draft board. Jerry Jones’ famous pick was Quincy Carter. Wow. Scared? Maybe that’s why the Cowboys traded away the rest of their picks. Jerry Jones should not be running the draft board. He’s not a talent scout.

The first three picks are solid players, even though choosing Martellus Bennett was somewhat confusing. However, we seem to be warming up to the pick as each hour goes by because the guy is a solid athlete.

Will this draft go down historically as Jerry Jones other big screw up, when we see Manningham turn into a star for our rivals in New York?

Or does Jerry have something up his sleeve–because we certainly saw NO SURPRISES that we expected and that he dangled at us like carrots–to acquire one of the disgruntled receivers who want out of their perennial losing teams.

I don’t think eight late-round picks is going to help the Cowboys acquire anyone. At that point in the draft, it is a crap’s shoot.

At pick 122, Dallas chose running back Tashard Choice, who ESPN called one of the “most prolific runners out of Georgia Tech.” I’ll research the pick later. But right now, I’ve got to air my dirty laundry somewhere else.

Until yesterday at about 6 p.m., no one who visits this site had ever heard of the former Aggie. The selection will go down as one of the more bizarre ones in Jerry Jones’ 20-year draft history. It makes absolutely no sense, especially considering Jones traded away the back-up and useful tight end, Anthony Fasano the night before the draft. Sure, Bennett may be a better all-around player than Fasano, but it still doesn’t make sense for the Cowboys to take him.

I had to search around for articles about this guy, just so I could learn more about who he is. Apparently, he is a great blocker and he’s very strong. He does not run routes well. He scored five touchdowns with 49 catches and 585 yards for the Aggies his senior season.

Here is what the football expert had to say about him:

The Antonio Gates/Tony Gonzalez comparisons are legit. Bennett actually played 30 games for the Aggies’ basketball team. He actually declared for the NBA Draft out of high school, but withdrew his name. Bennett has the rare type of size and athleticism that you see in very tight ends. He will create mismatches on the field that a good offensive system will take advantage of. In Dallas, Jason Garrett better utilized 6-5 Jason Witten this past season, which was a major reason for the success of Tony Romo and Dallas’ offense. Utilizing that tall/athletic tight end can open the field for your wide receivers and also create a nice safety blanket for your quarterback. Actually, Bennett creates that safety blanket twice because of his blocking, something that Fred Davis and Dustin Keller lack.

Here is an interesting clip that shows his athleticism:

Despite the guy’s play-making and blocking skills, it still boggles my mind why the Cowboys passed over the likes of Early Doucet, Mario Manningham and Reggie Smith to take him.

I don’t think any of us will complain about the 25th pick, Mike Jenkins, a cornerback out of South Florida. Jenkins surprisingly dropped far enough for the Cowboys to make a move with Seattle. Jenkins is a good, solid pick who was not supposed to be available this low on the board. We have to hope he is an immediate improvement over Jacques Reeves. Not a big surprise here.

However, what disappointed Cowboys fans early, maybe even shocked them, was passing over Rashard Mendenhall, who was supposed to be the second-best back in the draft. Somehow, he fell to Pittsburgh and the Cowboys just let him go.

Instead, Jerry Jones pushed to draft Felix Jones with the 22nd pick, which wasn’t exactly something we didn’t expect. Every mock we saw had Felix as a Cowboy. But we also thought Mendenhall wouldn’t be there. Hopefully, that decision won’t live in infamy in Cowboys history. Selecting FJ is the first time the Cowboys went offense in the first round since 1997, when they picked tight end David LaFleur. Remember how well he turned out for us?

In the second round, this is where jaws dropped. I think there was a collective thump of heads in Dallas when the announcement was made that the Cowboys picked a tight end, Martellus Bennett, from Texas A&M. This comes a day after the Cowboys traded away a back up tight end, Anthony Fasano.

This pick made no sense. I know he’s a big tight end who can block, but I don’t really see how this was a major need. This pick was made with Reggie Smith, the cornerback from Oklahoma who can also play safety, still on the board. Mario Manninham, who likes the ganja, was on the board, as was Penn State players Justin King and Dan Connor.

Ok???? I don’t get it. Apparently, the Cowboys are hoping for that lucky pick to address the wide receiver hole the team currently has.

Overall, The Landry Hat gives the Cowboys a B- for the first two rounds of the 2008 NFL draft. Return tomorrow for more live blogging of the deeper rounds.