Don't Laugh: Sometimes Nobodies at Rookie Minicamp Turn Into Somebodies

Bonecrusher#31

Bonecrusher#31

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Don't Laugh: Sometimes Nobodies at Rookie Minicamp Turn Into Somebodies

Tony Romo. Drew Pearson. Bill Bates. Miles Austin.

Who needs a draft when you can simply sign free agents and turn them into productive – even legendary – players?

Where the Cowboys might have underwhelmed in past NFL Drafts, they’ve been one of the league’s best teams as far as finding cheap talent off the scrap heap and unknowns in the weeds of small schools. On the current roster for, example, players such as Ben Bass, Cole Beasley, Dan Bailey, Barry Church, Lance Dunbar, Ron Leary and Jeff Heath were all discovered and signed after the bright lights and media attention had disappeared from the draft.

So don’t discount the no-names at Valley Ranch this weekend when the Cowboys hold their rookie minicamp. You haven’t heard of Maurice Couch or Tyler Patmon or L’Damian Washington. But you might.

In addition to the nine draft picks, a list of the new faces that will be wearing Cowboys’ helmets beginning tomorrow:

QB

Kolton Browning, Louisiana-Monroe
Dustin Vaughan, West Texas A&M

RB

Jyruss Edwards, Louisiana-Monroe
Josh Harris, Wake Forest
J.C. Copeland, LSU
Ben Malena, Texas A&M

WR

Robert Armstong, Texas A&M
Lee Kurfis, Lehigh
L’Damian Washington, Missouri
Chris Boyd, Vanderbilt

TE

Kaneakua Friel, BYU
Evan Wilson, Illinois
Jordan Najvar, Baylor

OL

Darius Morris, Temple
Jarrod Pughsley, Akron
Josh Aladenoya, Illinois State
Andre Cureton, Cincinnati
Ronald Patrick, South Carolina
Brian Clarke, Bloomsburg
Gus Handler, Colorado

LS

Casey Kreiter, Iowa

DL

Dartwan Bush, Texas Tech
Maurice Couch, Tennessee
Chris Whaley, Texas
Joe Windsor, Northern Illinois
Davin Coleman, Arizona State

LB

Eddie Lackey, Baylor
Caleb Lavey, Oklahoma State
Keith Smith, San Jose State
Dontavis Sapp, Tennessee

CB

Aaron Foster, Bowling Green
Tyler Patmon, Oklahoma State
Dashaun Phillips, Tarleton State
Jocquel Skinner, Bethel

S

Marvin Robinson, Ferris State
Ryan Smith, Auburn
Brandon McCladdie, Citadel

P

Cody Mandell, Alabama
 
Bob Sacamano

Bob Sacamano

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hmm, that Keith Smith from San Jose State led the nation in tackles.

First player ever (FBS/NCAA div 1) to record 2 20+ tackle games in a season. And first ever to do it back to back. Of course.

Didn't test that well athletically; though his vert (31'), short shuttle (4.53) and especially his 3-cone (6.87) were pretty good.
 
Bob Sacamano

Bob Sacamano

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dbair may be onto something regarding Arizona State DT Davon Coleman. Played DE as a Junior and then added 25 pounds to play DT for the Sun Devils last year.

Dane Brugler of NFLDraftScout was pretty positive about him; even said Dallas should keep an eye out for him.

Had 15 TFLs and 8.5 sacks last year.
 
Bob Sacamano

Bob Sacamano

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http://www.garnetandblackattack.com...ults-dallas-cowboys-ronald-patrick-free-agent

The Dallas Cowboys have picked up South Carolina guard Ronald Patrick via undrafted free agency. The Cowboys get a consistent performer in Patrick, a player who represents South Carolina's success in developing talent in recent years.

Patrick was not considered an elite prospect coming out of Florida in high school, but he worked his way into starting all but a single game at right guard over the past two years, with the game he missed being due to injury. He distinguished himself as a reliable run blocker after moving into the starting lineup, culminating in a 2013 season in which Patrick played a major role in an impressively productive Gamecocks ground attack. He has consistently shown the ability to create holes against interior defenders, and he can also regularly be seen making blocks on the run when the ball carrier gets to the second level. This scout was quite impressed by Patrick's performance in the Central Florida game, when the Gamecocks relied heavily on the ground game in the second half en route to churning out the win.

The Cowboys have invested heavily in building a stronger offensive line over the past couple of seasons, and they continued to do so in this draft by tacking Notre Dame's Zack Martin in the first round. Signing Patrick represents an attempt by the Cowboys to further shore up their line by hopefully finding a diamond in the rough in an underrecognized Gamecocks guard.
 
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Midswat

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Looking forward to all the heartwarming articles spotlighting how all these UDFA's grew up in the ghettos without dads and all the hit they've had to overcome just for this chance and how hard they're going to work then all the dumb fans eat it up and think said player has a chance then august comes and they're on the first cuts.
 
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