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Moore: How did Cowboys enter rookie minicamp with three first-round talents? Even Jerry Jones is surprised
By DAVID MOORE Follow @DavidMooreDMN dmoore@dallasnews.com
Staff Writer
Published: 09 May 2015 08:33 PM
Updated: 09 May 2015 08:47 PM
IRVING — The odds are so remote, the probability so miniscule that Nate Silver won’t even devise a system to forecast the outcome.
Here’s the raw data: The Cowboys hold pick No. 27 in the first round of the NFL draft. The team does not trade up or down. It selects only one player in the initial round.
Yet by the time the team’s rookie minicamp rolls around eight days later, the Cowboys can boast of adding three players that consensus states possess first-round talent.
How is this mathematically possible? Owner Jerry Jones answers.
“I had worked the combinations out several times and had several ways to do it,’’ Jones said before pausing long enough to let reporters know he was being sarcastic.
“It’s one in a million, and I never found that one in the formula either.”
Cornerback Byron Jones at No. 27. Defensive end Randy Gregory at No. 60. Offensive lineman La’el Collins as a rookie free agent.
Talent evaluation varies. Grades differ from one scouting department to the next. But it’s safe to say in terms physical ability and potential, Jones, Gregory and Collins all ranked in the top 25 to 30 of draft boards across the league.
The trio cracked the top 20 on the Cowboys board. Club officials say it was Gregory (No. 4), Collins (early teens) and Jones (No. 20).
The true worth of this or any draft can only be determined over time. But as rookie minicamp winds down Sunday at Valley Ranch, the Cowboys certainly have gotten off to a strong start.
Have the Cowboys ever reaped more rewards from where they began during Jones’ ownership?
“No, not where we got the three,” Jones said. “We got [DeMarcus] Ware, we got [Marcus] Spears in 2005. But we’ve never had one where we had this many that were rated this high on the board.”
Anyone care to change the grade they gave the Cowboys upon the end of the draft last weekend?
The reasons behind Gregory’s slide and Collins’ free-fall have been well-documented. Not nearly as much has been said or written about the approach that allowed the Cowboys to land all three.
Club officials resisted the urge from one round to the next to budge from their original position. The argument can be made the Cowboys were disciplined to a fault when you consider they stayed at No. 91 in the third round to select backup tackle Chaz Green rather than put a deal together to move up a few spots and grab a running back.
The owner endorsed this approach. But the deeper the Cowboys got into the draft, the more he continued to raise the question of Collins.
Deryk Gilmore represents Collins. He told clubs if his client wasn’t taken in the first three rounds he would sit out the season and make himself available for the 2016 draft.
Jones wanted everyone in the draft room to think outside the box. They discussed the idea of drafting Collins anyway and then persuading him it was in his best interests to sign. Jones kept pushing, exploring and gathering input on the best way to proceed to land the LSU star.
The Cowboys remained patient. They respected Collins’ wishes. They let him go undrafted then went to work.
That is when Jerry Jones swung into action. He called Collins at 11 one evening and sold him on paying a visit to his home, even though the player and his agent initially said they didn’t plan to take any trips. The force of the owner’s personality, the connection he formed with the player and his mother, Loyetta, helped close the deal.
It has been fair at times in the past to criticize Jones for randomly inserting himself into the process, usurping months of preparation and hard work that went into determining the draft board. Mistakes were made.
The best of both worlds came together in this draft: The Cowboys were true to their board and still found room for the owner to dazzle with the art of the deal.
Three first-round picks?
“Everybody feels that way,” Gregory said. “I know La’el carries himself that way, Byron obviously does. I know I do.
“I think we expect a lot of big things from ourselves. But we can’t add any more pressure on ourselves. We have to be the same players we’ve always been but get better.”
Reporters crowded around Gregory’s locker on Friday and Saturday during the minicamp. Collins wasn’t allowed to participate because his visit to Valley Ranch came outside the 24-hour window tied to the start of this camp, but his emotional new conference drew a huge crowd Thursday.
Byron Jones, the only one of the three who can say he’s a first-round pick, didn’t draw nearly as much attention.
“That’s great,’’ Jones said. “I’ll take it.
“I’m just a guy, low-key guy. I just want to work and have some fun out there with my teammates.”
Cowboys officials were ecstatic when they secured Jones and Gregory with their first two picks.
Adding Collins once the draft was over put them over the top.
“Jerry Jones did a great job doing that deal,” Byron Jones said. “But at the end of the day we have to prove ourselves.
“Yeah, maybe we were measured as first-round guys but we’ve got to prove ourselves with a Cowboys uniform on.”
More La'el Collins Coverage
Pronunciation: “Lie-l”
College: LSU
Position: Left tackle, left guard
Ht., Wt.: 6-4, 305
Age: 21
Hometown: Baton Rouge, La.
Notable: Collins started all 13 games at left guard for LSU as a sophomore. He then started 26 games at left tackle his junior and senior seasons for the Tigers. … He was named the SEC’s top offensive lineman and second-team All-America by The Associated Press as a senior. … Collins is expected to compete with Cowboys left guard Ron Leary for the starting job and is the likely candidate to eventually take over at starting right tackle for veteran Doug Free. … Collins won’t participate in the Cowboys’ three-day rookie mini-camp that begins Friday at Valley Ranch. … He’ll wear uniform No. 71 for the Cowboys. … The former team captain was credited with 222.5 knockdown blocks by LSU coaches in his 45-game college career. … Collins’ mother, Loyetta, who accompanied him to owner Jerry Jones’ home for dinnerWednesday night and was beside him at his news conference Thursday at Valley Ranch, worked long shifts as a security guard at Belle of Baton Rouge Casino and Hotel. The single mother raised two sons and two daughters. … Collins’ biological father, Theotis, spent more than a decade in prison for his involvement in a bar fight that led to a man’s death. He was recently released and had reportedly been slowly building a relationship with his son.
By DAVID MOORE Follow @DavidMooreDMN dmoore@dallasnews.com
Staff Writer
Published: 09 May 2015 08:33 PM
Updated: 09 May 2015 08:47 PM
IRVING — The odds are so remote, the probability so miniscule that Nate Silver won’t even devise a system to forecast the outcome.
Here’s the raw data: The Cowboys hold pick No. 27 in the first round of the NFL draft. The team does not trade up or down. It selects only one player in the initial round.
Yet by the time the team’s rookie minicamp rolls around eight days later, the Cowboys can boast of adding three players that consensus states possess first-round talent.
How is this mathematically possible? Owner Jerry Jones answers.
“I had worked the combinations out several times and had several ways to do it,’’ Jones said before pausing long enough to let reporters know he was being sarcastic.
“It’s one in a million, and I never found that one in the formula either.”
Cornerback Byron Jones at No. 27. Defensive end Randy Gregory at No. 60. Offensive lineman La’el Collins as a rookie free agent.
Talent evaluation varies. Grades differ from one scouting department to the next. But it’s safe to say in terms physical ability and potential, Jones, Gregory and Collins all ranked in the top 25 to 30 of draft boards across the league.
The trio cracked the top 20 on the Cowboys board. Club officials say it was Gregory (No. 4), Collins (early teens) and Jones (No. 20).
The true worth of this or any draft can only be determined over time. But as rookie minicamp winds down Sunday at Valley Ranch, the Cowboys certainly have gotten off to a strong start.
Have the Cowboys ever reaped more rewards from where they began during Jones’ ownership?
“No, not where we got the three,” Jones said. “We got [DeMarcus] Ware, we got [Marcus] Spears in 2005. But we’ve never had one where we had this many that were rated this high on the board.”
Anyone care to change the grade they gave the Cowboys upon the end of the draft last weekend?
The reasons behind Gregory’s slide and Collins’ free-fall have been well-documented. Not nearly as much has been said or written about the approach that allowed the Cowboys to land all three.
Club officials resisted the urge from one round to the next to budge from their original position. The argument can be made the Cowboys were disciplined to a fault when you consider they stayed at No. 91 in the third round to select backup tackle Chaz Green rather than put a deal together to move up a few spots and grab a running back.
The owner endorsed this approach. But the deeper the Cowboys got into the draft, the more he continued to raise the question of Collins.
Deryk Gilmore represents Collins. He told clubs if his client wasn’t taken in the first three rounds he would sit out the season and make himself available for the 2016 draft.
Jones wanted everyone in the draft room to think outside the box. They discussed the idea of drafting Collins anyway and then persuading him it was in his best interests to sign. Jones kept pushing, exploring and gathering input on the best way to proceed to land the LSU star.
The Cowboys remained patient. They respected Collins’ wishes. They let him go undrafted then went to work.
That is when Jerry Jones swung into action. He called Collins at 11 one evening and sold him on paying a visit to his home, even though the player and his agent initially said they didn’t plan to take any trips. The force of the owner’s personality, the connection he formed with the player and his mother, Loyetta, helped close the deal.
It has been fair at times in the past to criticize Jones for randomly inserting himself into the process, usurping months of preparation and hard work that went into determining the draft board. Mistakes were made.
The best of both worlds came together in this draft: The Cowboys were true to their board and still found room for the owner to dazzle with the art of the deal.
Three first-round picks?
“Everybody feels that way,” Gregory said. “I know La’el carries himself that way, Byron obviously does. I know I do.
“I think we expect a lot of big things from ourselves. But we can’t add any more pressure on ourselves. We have to be the same players we’ve always been but get better.”
Reporters crowded around Gregory’s locker on Friday and Saturday during the minicamp. Collins wasn’t allowed to participate because his visit to Valley Ranch came outside the 24-hour window tied to the start of this camp, but his emotional new conference drew a huge crowd Thursday.
Byron Jones, the only one of the three who can say he’s a first-round pick, didn’t draw nearly as much attention.
“That’s great,’’ Jones said. “I’ll take it.
“I’m just a guy, low-key guy. I just want to work and have some fun out there with my teammates.”
Cowboys officials were ecstatic when they secured Jones and Gregory with their first two picks.
Adding Collins once the draft was over put them over the top.
“Jerry Jones did a great job doing that deal,” Byron Jones said. “But at the end of the day we have to prove ourselves.
“Yeah, maybe we were measured as first-round guys but we’ve got to prove ourselves with a Cowboys uniform on.”
More La'el Collins Coverage
Pronunciation: “Lie-l”
College: LSU
Position: Left tackle, left guard
Ht., Wt.: 6-4, 305
Age: 21
Hometown: Baton Rouge, La.
Notable: Collins started all 13 games at left guard for LSU as a sophomore. He then started 26 games at left tackle his junior and senior seasons for the Tigers. … He was named the SEC’s top offensive lineman and second-team All-America by The Associated Press as a senior. … Collins is expected to compete with Cowboys left guard Ron Leary for the starting job and is the likely candidate to eventually take over at starting right tackle for veteran Doug Free. … Collins won’t participate in the Cowboys’ three-day rookie mini-camp that begins Friday at Valley Ranch. … He’ll wear uniform No. 71 for the Cowboys. … The former team captain was credited with 222.5 knockdown blocks by LSU coaches in his 45-game college career. … Collins’ mother, Loyetta, who accompanied him to owner Jerry Jones’ home for dinnerWednesday night and was beside him at his news conference Thursday at Valley Ranch, worked long shifts as a security guard at Belle of Baton Rouge Casino and Hotel. The single mother raised two sons and two daughters. … Collins’ biological father, Theotis, spent more than a decade in prison for his involvement in a bar fight that led to a man’s death. He was recently released and had reportedly been slowly building a relationship with his son.
