Cowboys Draft Board

The Dallas Cowboys' draft board was leaked after the fact. While this is naturally of the most interest to Cowboys fans, it's always pretty cool to get a look at what teams really think of particular players. Of particular interest to me, of course, are the players the Rams ended up drafting, and the value that the Cowboys placed on them.

Now, keep in mind, this is not about the Cowboys specifically. I'd be just as interested in the draft board of any other team. And of course, different players fit into different schemes in different ways. The Cowboys prefer giant-sized offensive linemen, for example, so one would expect to see them putting a lower grade on the smaller, more mobile guys who might be prized in another system. Still, it's interesting.

1(1) - QB Sam Bradford, Oklahoma
First round grade, top overall. Obviously, the Cowboys really liked Mr. Bradford, and I have to say I'm encouraged by that.

2(33) - OT Rodger Saffold, Indiana
Third round grade, well down on the list. Well, Saffold isn't exactly the Cowboys' kind of lineman, so this isn't particularly surprising.

3(65) - CB Jerome Murphy, South Florida
Not listed. The earliest missing name that could be Murphy is in the 6th round. The Cowboys had 11 guys listed at CB in the first five rounds. It's safe to say they are not fans of Jerome Murphy.

4(99) - WR Mardy Gilyard, Cincinnati
Third round grade, last in the group. Basically, the Cowboys feel Mardy Gilyard went about where he should, at a decent value.

5(132) - TE Mike Hoomanawanui, Illinois
Sixth round grade, third in group. Good news, they thought he was draftable. Bad news, he went kind of early.

5(149) - DE Hall Davis, Louisiana-Lafayette
Not listed. Again, they could have him listed in the sixth, in one of the spots that wasn't decipherable. Or they might not have him listed as draftable.

6(170) - TE Fendi Onobon, Houston
Not listed.

6(189) - LB/DE Eugene Sims, West Texas A&M
Fifth round grade, 12th in the group.

7(211) - CB Marquis Johnson, Alabama
Not listed.

7(226) - DE George Selvie, South Florida
Not listed.

7(254) - Josh Hull, Penn State
Not listed.

None of this is particularly surprising. For the Cowboys to differ on an offensive lineman is expected. For the late round guys not to be included on the Cowboys list, that's also not surprising, given that they only had nine names listed in the 6th round, and seven in the 7th. There's no point to ranking out everybody who could conceivably be drafted, since there are too many guys who will be draftable into other systems and situations that any one team might have no interest in at all.

The most interesting tidbits are that the Cowboys obviously really loved Sam Bradford, and that they obviously really didn't like Jerome Murphy. Not that putting Bradford first overall is a commitment to drafting him if he had somehow fallen, but putting him #1 on their board reflects a strong belief in his talent. I can get behind that. Murphy... well, obviously somebody else thinks he's not the best risk as the top pick in the third round. Oh well.

The other interesting part of this relates to my recent post on why teams are usually so happy after the draft is over. Look at the Cowboys this year. They wound up picking at the 1-24, 2-55, 4-126, 6-179 and 6-196 spots. At 1-24 they got their 12th rated player, and late in the 2nd round they got their 14th rated player. They got a 4th rounder in the 4th round, but they took the top guy they had rated there, and they got him near the bottom of the round. With the two sixth rounders, they took guys they had rated in the 5th round. And this is without listing a full complement of players in any round. The Cowboys had reason to crow about their draft, because they had players falling to them at every single spot.

This is not surprising in the least, as I said in the older post. I'm willing to bet that everybody got great value according to their own board. It's maybe a bit more instructive to look at who got value according to somebody else's board.