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By Randy Galloway
rgalloway@star-telegram.com
The draft is over, the NFL has returned to a state of labor war stagnation and Tony Romo left the golf course long enough this week to organize and help "coach" the first private team workout Tuesday, which apparently attracted more than 40 players, receiver Dez Bryant not among them, according to sources.
In all of the expanded sentence above, I can pick out two positives for the Dallas Cowboys:
Romo showed leadership, and an ample amount of teammates cared enough to show up.
Dez? Well, the Cowboys did a 40-plus player private workout again Wednesday, and Dez finally surfaced. Is this a sign he actually cares?
But if anything, the regret from here is the draft being over. It was the one and only off-season normalcy we had going, and I happen to like NFL off-season normalcy. Plus, it was one of the most interesting drafts in a while.
Depending on your definition of entertainment, the Cowboys provided us some over three days last week. Jerry Jones was so blah in the draft room, and the team's draft was so blah, I define all that as entertaining in a weird kind of way.
Blah is not necessarily bad, particularly when it describes Jerry.
Reading all the draft gurus across the Internet, and locally, there was probably the least amount of second-guessing on Cowboys' picks from outside of Valley Ranch that we've seen in a while, and also the least amount of argument from within the draft room walls at Valley Ranch.
But given almost a week to look over the Cowboys' eight 2011 picks, and also seek opinions from around the league, here are a few thoughts that might or might not be second-guessing:
Point -- While there's not much disagreement on Tyron Smith, the offensive tackle, being a solid pick at No. 9 overall, did the Cowboys pass up a prime opportunity to do better?
The answer should not come from here, since how many Aprils over the years, and also in the weeks leading up to this draft, have I been the No. 1 screamer about "Jerry getting cute." The man loves draft-room trades, and it never seemed to benefit the overall process.
This time Jerry played it straight, not only with No. 9, but right down to round No. 7. I applaud. Others don't.
The Cowboys had the opportunity to pick up Jacksonville's second-round pick by dropping down seven spots in the first round, allowing Jax to take quarterback Blaine Gabbert at No. 9.
Offensive line coach Hudson Houck said, of all the offensive linemen in the draft, Smith was by far the best. Head coach Jason Garrett agreed. That convinced Jerry to stay put.
But while others around the league agreed on Smith being the best, the debate is how much better will he eventually be than Nate Solder or Anthony Castonzo, and/or would Smith have still been there at No. 16.
Solder, not Castonzo, as many in the media thought, appeared to be No. 2 on the Cowboys' list.
Make the trade with Jax, the theory goes, get its second-rounder, take Solder (assuming Smith is gone) one spot ahead of New England with the Jax first, then trade back into the first round and land running back Mark Ingram, whom the Cowboys loved.
The Saints, of course, did just that on Ingram.
Admittedly, a very good plan, at least in theory.
Counterpoint -- Who says the Patriots, with massive picks across the board, would not have traded up ahead of the Cowboys to get the tackle they wanted in Solder?
And even with the Cowboys having two prime second-rounders to wheel back into the end of the first round, the Saints gave up a No. 1 pick next year in the deal to get Ingram. The Cowboys probably couldn't have trumped the No. 1.
Point -- Before the draft, Jerry wanted one and all to know he had absolutely no regrets about the worthless win against Philadelphia to end last season costing the Cowboys three spots in the draft.
Nobody believed Jerry at the time, but then came Atlanta suddenly flying up the board on Thursday night, moving to, yes, No. 6, in a deal with Cleveland.
I loved Atlanta's aggressiveness to get receiver Julio Jones, but who couldn't love the five-pick haul, including a first-rounder next season, that Cleveland landed.
With that treasure, the Cowboys could have easily moved back into the top 15, or lower, to take Solder, and still had picks to spare.
Counterpoint -- There is none. That win in Philly was a disaster on draft day.
Point -- There is opinion the Cowboys "reached" in both the second and third rounds, both times taking players who either have or have had injury issues.
Why take linebacker Bruce Carter that early in the second, with him still rehabbing from knee surgery. Same thing last year with linebacker Sean Lee in the second round. And Lee had injury problems his rookie season.
Plus, who knows when, because of the lockout, the Cowboys training staff can begin the rehab process on Carter?
Then there's the strange and interesting case of taking running back DeMarco Murray high in the third round. Isn't he Felix-Lite?
Based on comments from other teams around the league, Murray was a big mistake, while Carter was deemed an OK pick.
Counterpoint -- The Cowboys, and other teams, had Carter as a definite first-rounder until his injury, and at Valley Ranch they obviously didn't see the knee as being a long-range hindrance.
Murray? Well, running backs Mikel Leshoure, Shane Vereen and Stevan Ridley were falling deep into the second round.
The Cowboys had a big interest in all three, plus Murray.
A trade up was looming, particularly in the case of Leshoure. But then Vereen and Leshoure went off the board, back to back, late in the second. The Cowboys waited, and picked Murray over Ridley, who went two spots later.
Still not sure what to make of the Murray pick, but it's more of a mystery than a second guess.
Regardless, I'd like to see another draft this month. It appears to be our only chance in maybe forever for some off-season football fun.
rgalloway@star-telegram.com
The draft is over, the NFL has returned to a state of labor war stagnation and Tony Romo left the golf course long enough this week to organize and help "coach" the first private team workout Tuesday, which apparently attracted more than 40 players, receiver Dez Bryant not among them, according to sources.
In all of the expanded sentence above, I can pick out two positives for the Dallas Cowboys:
Romo showed leadership, and an ample amount of teammates cared enough to show up.
Dez? Well, the Cowboys did a 40-plus player private workout again Wednesday, and Dez finally surfaced. Is this a sign he actually cares?
But if anything, the regret from here is the draft being over. It was the one and only off-season normalcy we had going, and I happen to like NFL off-season normalcy. Plus, it was one of the most interesting drafts in a while.
Depending on your definition of entertainment, the Cowboys provided us some over three days last week. Jerry Jones was so blah in the draft room, and the team's draft was so blah, I define all that as entertaining in a weird kind of way.
Blah is not necessarily bad, particularly when it describes Jerry.
Reading all the draft gurus across the Internet, and locally, there was probably the least amount of second-guessing on Cowboys' picks from outside of Valley Ranch that we've seen in a while, and also the least amount of argument from within the draft room walls at Valley Ranch.
But given almost a week to look over the Cowboys' eight 2011 picks, and also seek opinions from around the league, here are a few thoughts that might or might not be second-guessing:
Point -- While there's not much disagreement on Tyron Smith, the offensive tackle, being a solid pick at No. 9 overall, did the Cowboys pass up a prime opportunity to do better?
The answer should not come from here, since how many Aprils over the years, and also in the weeks leading up to this draft, have I been the No. 1 screamer about "Jerry getting cute." The man loves draft-room trades, and it never seemed to benefit the overall process.
This time Jerry played it straight, not only with No. 9, but right down to round No. 7. I applaud. Others don't.
The Cowboys had the opportunity to pick up Jacksonville's second-round pick by dropping down seven spots in the first round, allowing Jax to take quarterback Blaine Gabbert at No. 9.
Offensive line coach Hudson Houck said, of all the offensive linemen in the draft, Smith was by far the best. Head coach Jason Garrett agreed. That convinced Jerry to stay put.
But while others around the league agreed on Smith being the best, the debate is how much better will he eventually be than Nate Solder or Anthony Castonzo, and/or would Smith have still been there at No. 16.
Solder, not Castonzo, as many in the media thought, appeared to be No. 2 on the Cowboys' list.
Make the trade with Jax, the theory goes, get its second-rounder, take Solder (assuming Smith is gone) one spot ahead of New England with the Jax first, then trade back into the first round and land running back Mark Ingram, whom the Cowboys loved.
The Saints, of course, did just that on Ingram.
Admittedly, a very good plan, at least in theory.
Counterpoint -- Who says the Patriots, with massive picks across the board, would not have traded up ahead of the Cowboys to get the tackle they wanted in Solder?
And even with the Cowboys having two prime second-rounders to wheel back into the end of the first round, the Saints gave up a No. 1 pick next year in the deal to get Ingram. The Cowboys probably couldn't have trumped the No. 1.
Point -- Before the draft, Jerry wanted one and all to know he had absolutely no regrets about the worthless win against Philadelphia to end last season costing the Cowboys three spots in the draft.
Nobody believed Jerry at the time, but then came Atlanta suddenly flying up the board on Thursday night, moving to, yes, No. 6, in a deal with Cleveland.
I loved Atlanta's aggressiveness to get receiver Julio Jones, but who couldn't love the five-pick haul, including a first-rounder next season, that Cleveland landed.
With that treasure, the Cowboys could have easily moved back into the top 15, or lower, to take Solder, and still had picks to spare.
Counterpoint -- There is none. That win in Philly was a disaster on draft day.
Point -- There is opinion the Cowboys "reached" in both the second and third rounds, both times taking players who either have or have had injury issues.
Why take linebacker Bruce Carter that early in the second, with him still rehabbing from knee surgery. Same thing last year with linebacker Sean Lee in the second round. And Lee had injury problems his rookie season.
Plus, who knows when, because of the lockout, the Cowboys training staff can begin the rehab process on Carter?
Then there's the strange and interesting case of taking running back DeMarco Murray high in the third round. Isn't he Felix-Lite?
Based on comments from other teams around the league, Murray was a big mistake, while Carter was deemed an OK pick.
Counterpoint -- The Cowboys, and other teams, had Carter as a definite first-rounder until his injury, and at Valley Ranch they obviously didn't see the knee as being a long-range hindrance.
Murray? Well, running backs Mikel Leshoure, Shane Vereen and Stevan Ridley were falling deep into the second round.
The Cowboys had a big interest in all three, plus Murray.
A trade up was looming, particularly in the case of Leshoure. But then Vereen and Leshoure went off the board, back to back, late in the second. The Cowboys waited, and picked Murray over Ridley, who went two spots later.
Still not sure what to make of the Murray pick, but it's more of a mystery than a second guess.
Regardless, I'd like to see another draft this month. It appears to be our only chance in maybe forever for some off-season football fun.