Archer: Cowboys' draft board close to finalized

[boozeman]

Cowboys' draft board close to finalized
May, 6, 2014

By Todd Archer | ESPNDallas.com



IRVING, Texas -- Months of work is about to be wrapped up this week with the NFL draft starting on Thursday, and the Dallas Cowboys still have some work to do on their board.

"We're still tweaking it," executive vice president Stephen Jones said. "I wouldn't say it's finalized but it's close."

With the draft pushed back, some teams have delayed their evaluation process. The New Orleans Saints staff recently went to Las Vegas to break up the monotony and to avoid overanalyzing things.

Jones does not believe the extra time is a negative.

The extra time has allowed the coaches to be more involved in the process so the scouting staff can put players that are better fits for the Cowboys' offense, defense or special teams in the correct spots.

"I think if you do your work and do it right, I hadn't seen people backing up on things," Jones said. "I think it just allows you do to a little more further study on guys and make sure you have him right and not overlooked something. I don't think the ‘study long, study wrong' is an issue here. I think it's been good for us and we certainly look at it as a way to be better than we've been in the past."

 

[Carp]

Sharrif Floyd is sitting at 3 on our board right now.

 

[boozeman]

Sharrif Floyd is sitting at 3 on our board right now.

And Rod Marinelli is jumping up on the table saying he is quick twitch enough.

 

[Carp]

Their boards have been good...now using the boards has been awful.

 

[boozeman]

Dallas Cowboys turn to “pod groups” in fine-tuning their pre-draft evaluations of players
By Brandon George / Reporter
bgeorge@dallasnews.com
6:33 pm on May 7, 2014 |

The Dallas Cowboys fine-tuned their pre-draft evaluations of players this off-season by breaking into “pod groups” at times to get a better feel for certain position groups.

For example, when the Cowboys took a closer look at linebackers over the last few weeks, the club’s position coach, national scout, area scout and positional scout would meet to work through how they think three or four players should be ordered on their draft board.

Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones said the process “evolved as a necessity that we thought would make us better.”

Last year, the Cowboys had a breakdown of communication between their coaches and scouts that led them to pass onFloridadefensive tackle Sharrif Floyd in the first round of the draft. Cowboys’ scouts had Floyd ranked fifth on their draft board, but then-defensive line coach Rod Marinelli (now defensive coordinator) felt like he wasn’t a good fit for Dallas’ 4-3 Tampa 2 scheme.

With their pod system now in place, the Cowboys hope to avoid any pre-draft hiccups.

“It obviously fixes something like that, but I don’t think that was a direct response,” Jones said. “You’re always looking for ways to improve and get better, and it’s not ever that the coaches and the staff have a straight up disagreement on what a player is. Sometimes we just don’t have enough information to understand why a scout docked a guy for this and a coach likes him a little more. It’s just more, ‘How do we get to that point?’ Historically, the coaches have had a short period of time to get on that page when they’ve been trying to win football games all year and the scouts have been out doing the heavy-lifting of understanding what these players are and how they can help us. It’s just un-turning every stone and figuring out ways that we can improve to get better about how we draft.”

 

[Smitty]

Dallas Cowboys turn to “pod groups” in fine-tuning their pre-draft evaluations of players
By Brandon George / Reporter
bgeorge@dallasnews.com
6:33 pm on May 7, 2014 |

The Dallas Cowboys fine-tuned their pre-draft evaluations of players this off-season by breaking into “pod groups” at times to get a better feel for certain position groups.

For example, when the Cowboys took a closer look at linebackers over the last few weeks, the club’s position coach, national scout, area scout and positional scout would meet to work through how they think three or four players should be ordered on their draft board.

Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones said the process “evolved as a necessity that we thought would make us better.”

Last year, the Cowboys had a breakdown of communication between their coaches and scouts that led them to pass onFloridadefensive tackle Sharrif Floyd in the first round of the draft. Cowboys’ scouts had Floyd ranked fifth on their draft board, but then-defensive line coach Rod Marinelli (now defensive coordinator) felt like he wasn’t a good fit for Dallas’ 4-3 Tampa 2 scheme.

With their pod system now in place, the Cowboys hope to avoid any pre-draft hiccups.

“It obviously fixes something like that, but I don’t think that was a direct response,” Jones said. “You’re always looking for ways to improve and get better, and it’s not ever that the coaches and the staff have a straight up disagreement on what a player is. Sometimes we just don’t have enough information to understand why a scout docked a guy for this and a coach likes him a little more. It’s just more, ‘How do we get to that point?’ Historically, the coaches have had a short period of time to get on that page when they’ve been trying to win football games all year and the scouts have been out doing the heavy-lifting of understanding what these players are and how they can help us. It’s just un-turning every stone and figuring out ways that we can improve to get better about how we draft.”

I don't understand how it can be a "short period of time to get on that page."

These guys have nothing to do from the moment their season ends but study players. Why aren't they spending 2 hours a day since January having meetings with the scouting staff?

 

[Cowboysrock55]

I don't understand how it can be a "short period of time to get on that page."

These guys have nothing to do from the moment their season ends but study players. Why aren't they spending 2 hours a day since January having meetings with the scouting staff?

Because the scouts have more important things to do?

 

[Smitty]

Because the scouts have more important things to do?

I think they could find time. Or just sit in on what the scouts are doing.

 

[Carp]

This back and forth is legendary.

 

[Cowboysrock55]

I think they could find time. Or just sit in on what the scouts are doing.

Does it really take that much time for the scouts to understand the type of players we are looking for? Does it take 2 hours a week to describe quick and penetrating? Wouldn't you rather the scouts watch extra tape during that time?

 

[Cotton]

Because the scouts have more important things to do?

Out to lunch?