2019 Draft Chatter Thread...

Simpleton said:
If I had to guess it probably will end up being a 2 player class, McGovern for sure, and then if I had to guess it'd be Hill or Joe Jackson, and then maybe guys like Pollard/Weber/Jelks turn into decent rotational guys. That's about the rosiest picture I could paint.
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For a draft to be a good one I think you need two guys that justify a second contract. Even if we can't afford the contract that's ok as lomg as he justifies one. With that in mind usually you have 3 guys who you feel good about with 1 probably busting. In this case with no first we are basically down to 2 guys. And I just don't have that much faith in Hill with his poor stats and personality issues. I'm worried that we get Mcgovern and a bunch of depth/special teamers. Had we taken Rapp, Adderly or Thornhill I'd feel a lot better about gettng two long term starters out of this draft.

Had we taken Hill in the fourth maybe it turns into a stellar class. I just hate that we basically need him to be a very good starter with all his question marks. Maybe we will finally hit on an UDFA again like Wise. We haven't done that in awhile.
 
mschmidt64 said:
I have a real bad feeling about this draft FWIW.

I mean, yeah, each individual player has identifiable upside, but I really feel like I have to look hard to see it.

I'm like.... yeah, Weber could be a good backup! That's a value pick! And so was Bo Scarborough, and Darius Jackson. These guys are dime a dozen.

Mike Jackson.... poor senior year caused him to fall.... drafted based on atheltic profile. Hill, red flags everywhere, drafted based on athletic profile. Wilson might be gone before second cuts.

Jackson and Jelks, I mean, we've seen late round DLs with upside come through here before.... Ryan Russell.... Ben Gardner.... even Dorrance Armstrong.

It just feels like that story all over again. "Look! Here's a college player we liked more than everyone else that slipped to late in the draft for some reason!" Doesn't work out very often.

Not a lot of picks here that feel like sure things. They feel like a lot of long shots. And we know how that usually turns out.

I could definitely see this class being like, well.... hopefully not 2009.... but like 2014 but without the first round pick. Like a two player class.
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I think we'll be lucky if two of these players actually pan out. My initial assessment is this will be 2009 all over again. But we'll see.

The thing that bothers me most about Hill and his attitude issue is you don't get the feeling that he's not in love with the game. With my 1st and 2nd round picks, I have to have players who eat, drink, and breath football. Guys who are in love with the process. Based on the comments and articles I've read about Hill, I'm not getting that vibe.

The player who I think has a chance of surprising everyone is Pollard. If there's an imaginative brain anywhere on the offensive coaching staff, I think he could contribute right away.....certainly on special teams.
 
[h=3]NFC EAST[/h]
[h=3]CNNSI

Dallas Cowboys[/h]
2 (58). Trysten Hill, DT, UCF
3 (90). Connor McGovern, G, Penn State
4 (128). Tony Pollard, RB, Memphis
5 (158). Michael Jackson Sr., CB, Miami (Fla.)
5 (165). Joe Jackson, DE, Miami (Fla.)
6 (213). Donovan Wilson, S, Texas A&M
7 (218). Mike Weber, RB, Ohio State
7 (241). Jalen Jelks, DE, Oregon

As many Cowboys fans Twitter have reminded us, the team’s first-round pick this year was essentially Amari Cooper. That Raiders trade left Dallas with the 26th pick in the second round as its first selection, and using it to replace self-exiled defensive tackle David Irving made sense. Like Irving, Trysten Hill has an excellent first step—important in Dallas’s gap-shooting scheme, which emphasizes not just quick penetration but also multidirectional D-line slants and stunts, demanding that front line players fire off quickly at different angles.

The Connor McGovern pick could prove valuable if right tackle La’el Collins, in a contract year, is deemed unworthy of a lucrative second deal. Or, more likely, McGovern could one day replace last year’s second-round pick Connor Williams, who looks and plays much too light and might not have the anchor strength to survive long-term at left guard.

The rest of the draft was about acquiring depth in a defense that has 11 contributors who are in the last year of their contracts. Oh, and acquiring depth behind offensive headliner Ezekiel Elliott (fourth-round running back Tony Pollard), which this team hasn’t had since Darren McFadden and Alfred Morris in 2017.

GRADE: B
 
1bigfan13 said:
My initial assessment is this will be 2009 all over again. But we'll see.
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I wasn't overjoyed with this draft either, but come on now. 2009 was ALL TIMER bad. This doesn't look to be even in the same ballpark as that one.
 
1bigfan13 said:
I think we'll be lucky if two of these players actually pan out. My initial assessment is this will be 2009 all over again. But we'll see.

The thing that bothers me most about Hill and his attitude issue is you don't get the feeling that he's not in love with the game. With my 1st and 2nd round picks, I have to have players who eat, drink, and breath football. Guys who are in love with the process. Based on the comments and articles I've read about Hill, I'm not getting that vibe.

The player who I think has a chance of surprising everyone is Pollard. If there's an imaginative brain anywhere on the offensive coaching staff, I think he could contribute right away.....certainly on special teams.
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The good news is McGovern is not Brewster. Not even close. That's the biggest difference. And while I'm not a big Hill fan he isn't a tiny school LBer and has some skills to do more than special teams. This isn't 2009 bad but it's not 2016 good either.
 
NoDak said:
I wasn't overjoyed with this draft either, but come on now. 2009 was ALL TIMER bad. This doesn't look to be even in the same ballpark as that one.
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Yeah, but we didn't know at the time that 2009 was all timer bad.

Jason X Williams was a LB that was drafted about a round or two too high. But we all bought into "But he's athletic and raw and developmental and even though he's a reach he's still a very good prospect." Reminds me a lot of the Hill pick in retrospect (though I think Hill is a better prospect; I'm just saying the rationale sounds familiar with why we reached).

Butler, Williams, Hamlin, DeAngelo Smith, all were kinda middling draft stock guys that had some trait that gave you a reason to think they might stick. I get very much that same vibe from Pollard-Jackson-Jackson.

And Wilson-Weber-Jelks strikes me as maybe a BIT better than training camp fodder like Hodge-Mickens-Johnson but not THAT much better. Wilson is a nothing. Jelks is a huge projection with a long way to go. Weber is a guy like Scarborough or Jackson, COULD be ok, but no guarantee they are anything more than like Rod Smith either.

Feels like it was really a "depth" draft. We drafted for backups, and backups are what we're gonna get.
 
mschmidt64 said:
. Weber is a guy like Scarborough or Jackson, COULD be ok, but no guarantee they are anything more than like Rod Smith either.
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Not sure why you think Weber is like those guys? Go back and look at Rod Smith's college career. Dude never had more than like 200 yards rushing in a season.

If you simply look at college productivity and school you'll see a major difference than the guys you're talking about. You're only saying they are comparable because of where they were drafted. But by the same reverse logic Hill could be like other great second round picks. I'm not a fan of Hill and Pollard but your analysis of the picks is sort of uninformed sounding. I've mentioned my reasons for not liking Hill and Pollard already but if you want me to give specifics I can.
 


This was what I was talking about the other day. Half the people wearing jerseys and face paint at the draft don't even know shit about football, or at least jack shit about the draft and the prospects.
 
In most years the Cowboys view their late-round picks almost as priority free agents, giving them an opportunity to secure the players they really wanted to add. Seventh rounders Mike Weber and Jalen Jelks were much higher on the Cowboys board with Jason Garrett saying they were like "blinking lights," when they were picked. Jerry Jones said eight of the Cowboys' undrafted signings were given fourth-round draft grades. Among the players expected to join as a college free agent is Clemson tackle Mitch Hyatt, a four-year starter. The Cowboys also have a deal with Indiana guard Brandon Knight.
 
Cowboysrock55 said:
Not sure why you think Weber is like those guys? Go back and look at Rod Smith's college career. Dude never had more than like 200 yards rushing in a season.

If you simply look at college productivity and school you'll see a major difference than the guys you're talking about. You're only saying they are comparable because of where they were drafted. But by the same reverse logic Hill could be like other great second round picks. I'm not a fan of Hill and Pollard but your analysis of the picks is sort of uninformed sounding. I've mentioned my reasons for not liking Hill and Pollard already but if you want me to give specifics I can.
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Granted I've basically done almost nothing of my own research this year.

I'm going by how I perceive these guys right now.

I'll say, though, Rod Smith's college numbers are kind of irrelevant. His pro career outshined it, you wouldn't have expected his pro career based on his college career.

I'm more saying, Weber and Pollard look to me like what Smith ended up being as a Pro, which is, more than Scarborough or Darius Jackson but less than a top level NFL backup RB. A bounce around the league for a few years type before being out of the league.
 
Cowboysrock55 said:
In most years the Cowboys view their late-round picks almost as priority free agents, giving them an opportunity to secure the players they really wanted to add. Seventh rounders Mike Weber and Jalen Jelks were much higher on the Cowboys board with Jason Garrett saying they were like "blinking lights," when they were picked. Jerry Jones said eight of the Cowboys' undrafted signings were given fourth-round draft grades. Among the players expected to join as a college free agent is Clemson tackle Mitch Hyatt, a four-year starter. The Cowboys also have a deal with Indiana guard Brandon Knight.
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They say this every year. We always get late round picks and UDFAs that we had fourth and fifth round grade on.

I think our problem is that we give fourth and fifth round grades to everyone.
 
mschmidt64 said:
I'm more saying, Weber and Pollard look to me like what Smith ended up being as a Pro, which is, more than Scarborough or Darius Jackson but less than a top level NFL backup RB. A bounce around the league for a few years type before being out of the league.
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Admittedly I really like Weber. I would have had no problem if he was the back we took in the fourth round instead of Pollard. He isn't a guy who I had to dig into to "like." He won't be a starter here but I could see him being a far better RB than the 3 you mentioned. He has nice size,speed, and production in a major conference. He is a complete back that can do everything and isn't limited situationaly.

Now Jelks on the other hand I agree with you. Had we taken him in the fourth round I would have been very disappointed. Reading stuff on him is nice but his sack production in college was mediocre and his forty time sort of stunk. I'd love for him to turn out but he is basically a run of the mill Cowboys seventh round pick to me.

I think Michael Jackson is pretty spot on as an Anthony Brown type pick. Similar size and speed strengths. He is a great scheme fit here. I see him as a nice depth piece who can probably start in a pinch but it probably not a legit threat to start when Bryon Jones leaves for example.

Joe Jackson I like as well. Unlike some late round D-lineman that have never made the roster in Dallas he is a big school guy with a ton of college production. He feels more like a guy who slipped through the cracks. He has legit size and 24 career sacks in college is actually pretty impressive with his 8.5 sacks and 14.5 tackles for loss this past year. Those numbers would put him up with some of the best D-lineman in this draft and he didn't do it while playing for a shitty small conference school. This isn't a guy with potential who sucked in college. This is a guy with potential who had a pretty damn good college career.

If you want to get down to it what I didn't like about this draft was Hill and Pollard. Neither was a true starter in college. Neither guy's stats are impressive. They are both just potential to me with scary low production in college. I hope I'm wrong on Hill because I'd love a legit 300 pound 3 technique who can get to the QB a bunch. But like I've said I see his ability more on a Maliek Collins level with baggage. And Pollard well I won't be surprised when he take the Switzer route a year from now. Maybe someone else will know how to use him.
 
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Star Telegram:

What can'’t be overlooked as the gem of the draft came midway through last season in the form of receiver Amari Cooper. The Cowboys traded a first-round pick to the Oakland Raiders midway though last season, knowing that the draft was not only light on difference-making receivers but light on players who would have the potential immediate or long-term impact of Cooper.

That was proven to be true and gave the Cowboys a win before the draft ever started.


Grading the Cowboys’ draft: B

Here is a breakdown of each pick:


Round 2, No. 58 overall: Trysten Hill, DT, UCF

Hill has the size and quickness to be a game-wrecking disruptor in the middle. Consider him a David Irving prototype who cares. He has the potential to be a beast.



Round 3, No. 90 overall: Connor McGovern, G, Penn State

The Cowboys didn’t go into the draft looking to take a guard. But McGovern was the best player on the board. He can play guard and center, and immediately upgrades the depth and future of the line.



Round 4, No. 128 overall: Tony Pollard, RB, Memphis

Pollard is a change-of-pace back to complement Ezekiel Elliott. He scored 25 touchdowns in college as a runner, receiver and returner. The Cowboys plan to get the ball in his hands.



Round 5, No. 158 overall: Michael Jackson, CB, Miami

Jackson fits the corner mold of DB coach Kris Richard. He has already drawn comparisons in build to Richard Sherman, a former fifth-round pick by Seattle who developed into a Pro Bowler.



Round 5, No. 165 overall: Joe Jackson, DE, Miami

Jackson has the body for a strong side end. He increases the much-improved depth along the defensive line. He will compete with Dorance Armstrong and Taco Charlton behind DeMarcus Lawrence.



Round 6, No. 213 overall: Donovan Wilson, S, Texas A&M

The Cowboys finally went for a safety late, as usual. Wilson is not a guy you want back in coverage. But he is a hitter and will play aggressively. He should make an immediate impact on special teams.



Round 7, No. 218 overall: Mike Weber, RB, Ohio State

Weber is the prototypical backup for Elliott. He is a fast and physical runner, though he is not flashy. He will get the yards that are there. He can also make plays in the passing game.



Round 7, No. 241 overall: Jalen Jelks, DE, Oregon

The Cowboys went with Jelks late because of his length (6-foot-6, 245 pounds) and his potential to develop. He will be hard pressed to make a roster that is deep on the defensive line, but he’s a practice squad candidate.
 
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