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Matt Mosley: Jones' 4-5 years comment on Romo is wishful thinking; Wentz or Prescott will be on Cowboys' roster soon
By Matt Mosley , Special Contributor Contact Matt Mosley on Twitter: @mattmosley
Either Jerry Jones is trying to talk himself out of taking a quarterback early in the NFL draft or he's running a misdirection play. For now, I'll go with the latter scenario.
He seemed open to the idea of selecting a quarterback No. 4 overall in the immediate aftermath of a 4-12 season. Jones seemed inspired by the thought of identifying his next franchise quarterback. But over the weekend, Jerry told reporters at the NFL combine that he only had eyes for a quarterback already on his roster.
"What is the one unequivocal fact that you can count on relative to the preparation of this draft and on draft day is that I'm planning on [Tony] Romo being the quarterback for the next four or five years," Jones said. "That's a fact. You won't see a decision on draft day that will fly in the face of not believing, from our standpoint, that he'll be our quarterback for four or five years."
That sounds like wishful thinking to me. Romo's broken his clavicle three times and is now waiting (why so long?) for a metal plate to be surgically inserted into the area. I believe Jones is trying to appease his starting quarterback for the time being. He and son Stephen trot out this "4-5 years" scenario every times folks get excited about the Cowboys possibly taking a quarterback.
Jones told reporters he was giving them a "lean" as to what he might do early in the draft. I think he was a bit too forthcoming. If Carson Wentz is available when the Cowboys go on the clock at No. 4, there's still a pretty good chance they will take him. And instead of listening to all these amateur film jockeys who've come out of the woodworks locally, let me point you to what league executives are saying. Almost everyone believes Jerry will take a quarterback in the first or second round.
The Cowboys currently value Wentz more than Jared Goff because they spent so much time with him at the Senior Bowl. It's believed that Jason Garrett prefers Wentz at this point. The problem is that no one in the organization that I've talked to sees either quarterback as a so-called "franchise quarterback." One scout told me that both Wentz and Goff would've gone a "half-round" behind Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota had they been in the same draft. The Cowboys will have to decide if Wentz or Goff are the type of quarterbacks you can build around.
If the Cowboys would rather wait until the second round, both Dak Prescott and Connor Cook might be available. I've read where Cook had a rough combine, but scouts still love what he did at Michigan State. When I asked a longtime AFC scout about Cook reportedly missing several throws at the combine, he shot back, "I saw the kid miss a couple throws."
The three scouts I talked to for this column said that Mississippi State quarterback Dak Prescott blew everyone away in interviews. And it's been reported the Cowboys spent time with him at the Senior Bowl and at the combine. Prescott said in an interview that Cowboys quarterbacks coach Wade Wilson told him the team was looking to take a quarterback.
"He has a fast and compact release," one AFC North scout said of Prescott. "It almost looks like Aaron Rodgers sometimes."
The fact that Prescott was the team captain for Mississippi State in four of his five years on campus also stands out to coaches and scouts. The Cowboys could have a shot at him early in the second round.
The biggest surprise after talking to several scouts recently is that Cook is ahead of Paxton Lynch in some organizations. The mock drafts have made us think that Lynch is the third quarterback, but that's not really a consensus among actual scouts.
"I think Lynch will need at least two years before he's ready," said one scout. "He could've used another year in college. He's just a little immature compared to some of the other quarterbacks."
The "sleeper" quarterback in this draft could be Penn State's Christian Hackenberg. I know a lot of folks are saying he had a poor combine, but scouts are still intrigued by his big arm. One scout told me he threw deep balls with the same ease he threw curls. If the Cowboys don't take a quarterback in the first three rounds, Hackenberg could be in the mix in the fourth.
Forgive me for not buying Jerry's comments on Romo. I think Wentz or Prescott will be on the Cowboys' roster soon. And neither player will have to wait 4-5 years to see the field.
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What is with this Dak Prescott nonsense?
By Matt Mosley , Special Contributor Contact Matt Mosley on Twitter: @mattmosley
Either Jerry Jones is trying to talk himself out of taking a quarterback early in the NFL draft or he's running a misdirection play. For now, I'll go with the latter scenario.
He seemed open to the idea of selecting a quarterback No. 4 overall in the immediate aftermath of a 4-12 season. Jones seemed inspired by the thought of identifying his next franchise quarterback. But over the weekend, Jerry told reporters at the NFL combine that he only had eyes for a quarterback already on his roster.
"What is the one unequivocal fact that you can count on relative to the preparation of this draft and on draft day is that I'm planning on [Tony] Romo being the quarterback for the next four or five years," Jones said. "That's a fact. You won't see a decision on draft day that will fly in the face of not believing, from our standpoint, that he'll be our quarterback for four or five years."
That sounds like wishful thinking to me. Romo's broken his clavicle three times and is now waiting (why so long?) for a metal plate to be surgically inserted into the area. I believe Jones is trying to appease his starting quarterback for the time being. He and son Stephen trot out this "4-5 years" scenario every times folks get excited about the Cowboys possibly taking a quarterback.
Jones told reporters he was giving them a "lean" as to what he might do early in the draft. I think he was a bit too forthcoming. If Carson Wentz is available when the Cowboys go on the clock at No. 4, there's still a pretty good chance they will take him. And instead of listening to all these amateur film jockeys who've come out of the woodworks locally, let me point you to what league executives are saying. Almost everyone believes Jerry will take a quarterback in the first or second round.
The Cowboys currently value Wentz more than Jared Goff because they spent so much time with him at the Senior Bowl. It's believed that Jason Garrett prefers Wentz at this point. The problem is that no one in the organization that I've talked to sees either quarterback as a so-called "franchise quarterback." One scout told me that both Wentz and Goff would've gone a "half-round" behind Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota had they been in the same draft. The Cowboys will have to decide if Wentz or Goff are the type of quarterbacks you can build around.
If the Cowboys would rather wait until the second round, both Dak Prescott and Connor Cook might be available. I've read where Cook had a rough combine, but scouts still love what he did at Michigan State. When I asked a longtime AFC scout about Cook reportedly missing several throws at the combine, he shot back, "I saw the kid miss a couple throws."
The three scouts I talked to for this column said that Mississippi State quarterback Dak Prescott blew everyone away in interviews. And it's been reported the Cowboys spent time with him at the Senior Bowl and at the combine. Prescott said in an interview that Cowboys quarterbacks coach Wade Wilson told him the team was looking to take a quarterback.
"He has a fast and compact release," one AFC North scout said of Prescott. "It almost looks like Aaron Rodgers sometimes."
The fact that Prescott was the team captain for Mississippi State in four of his five years on campus also stands out to coaches and scouts. The Cowboys could have a shot at him early in the second round.
The biggest surprise after talking to several scouts recently is that Cook is ahead of Paxton Lynch in some organizations. The mock drafts have made us think that Lynch is the third quarterback, but that's not really a consensus among actual scouts.
"I think Lynch will need at least two years before he's ready," said one scout. "He could've used another year in college. He's just a little immature compared to some of the other quarterbacks."
The "sleeper" quarterback in this draft could be Penn State's Christian Hackenberg. I know a lot of folks are saying he had a poor combine, but scouts are still intrigued by his big arm. One scout told me he threw deep balls with the same ease he threw curls. If the Cowboys don't take a quarterback in the first three rounds, Hackenberg could be in the mix in the fourth.
Forgive me for not buying Jerry's comments on Romo. I think Wentz or Prescott will be on the Cowboys' roster soon. And neither player will have to wait 4-5 years to see the field.
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What is with this Dak Prescott nonsense?
