The Dallas Cowboys Draft Board Shows What A Mistake They Made

First off, I’d like to apologize for the recent lack of content on the blog. Some time away from the home office combined with the general lack of news on the NFL front in the post-draft summer doldrums left me without much time to write or much to write about.

I’ll be writing more as the summer progresses and there’s more and more interesting news about the NFL. In the meantime, though, here’s one short item that ties in to something I wrote previously…

I’ve written many words already on the Dallas Cowboys’ baffling decision to trade down in the first round of this year’s draft– not for the decision itself, but for the process behind it, where Jerry and Stephen Jones, men with no football experience prior to Jerry’s purchase of an NFL team, overruled the wishes of their coaches, scouts, and analysts. (As a refresher, they wanted Sharrif Floyd; the Cowboys traded down and selected Travis Frederick.)

Now, similarly to what happened in 2010, Jerry Jones’ carelessness has caused the Dallas draft board to leak again, and where they have players ranked reveals even more about what a mistake this move was.

The Cowboys had 18 prospects listed as first-round prospects. Sharrif Floyd was ranked 5th on their entire board. He was sitting there when they picked at 18, and he filled an important need. They passed on that chance– specifically, ownership overruled the scouting– to trade down and take Travis Frederick, a prospect they had rated in the second round, instead.

That’s a combination of need and value you just can’t pass on. Trading a top-5 prospect for two second-round prospects (as they had Terrance Williams rated as a second-round prospect and chose him with the extra pick they received from the 49ers) is a pretty big mistake.

But, one more time, the whims of ownership trumping the hard work of scouts and coaches is the biggest mistake of all.

1 comment on The Dallas Cowboys Draft Board Shows What A Mistake They Made

  1. It was a foolish move on many levels. Passing on Floyd as you pointed out, and taking Frederick at 31 who they could have easily picked in the 2nd round. Maybe even the 3rd! Later Jerry said Floyd wasn’t right for the 4-3 defense but all the experts said he could play the 3-4 or 4-3. What an idiot.

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