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by SportsDayDFW sports
INDIANAPOLIS -- If the Cowboys draft for need this April, David DeCastro of Stanford would be high on their board.
DeCastro started at guard for the Cardinal for three years and was a two-time All-Pac 10 selection. He was a consensus All-America last season and one of three finalists for the Outland Trophy as college football's best lineman.
The Cowboys need to upgrade their interior offensive line after allowing 39 sacks last season. Tackle is set with Tyron Smith and Doug Free, but the Cowboys need some size in between. Center Phil Costa and guard Bill Nagy are both undersized at 6-3 and Kyle Kosier 6-5. DeCastro could provide that size at 6-5, 316 pounds.
The Cowboys have the 14th overall pick of this draft. That may not be rich for DeCastro, who did not allow a sack in his final two college seasons. But it would certainly be rich for his position.
Guards historically do not fare well in the first round. It is a non-premium position and the talent evaluators who build draft boards treat it as such. The last time a guard was drafted in the Top 15 was Chris Naeole in 1997. New Orleans took him with the 10th overall selection.
Steve Hutchinson, who was named to the NFL's 2000 all-decade team, was the first guard selected in 2001 with the 17th overall selection. Logan Mankins, the Pro Bowl guard for the Patriots, was the first guard selected in 2005 with the 32nd overall selection. The first guard chosen last year was Baylor's Danny Watkins at 23.
In six of the drafts since 1997 not a single guard was selected in the first round.
Still, DeCastro would be a walk-in starter wherever he goes. He spent his three seasons at Stanford playing in a pro-style offense installed by Jim Harbaugh, who left to become the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers in 2011.
The San Francisco offense that reached the NFC title game last January looked very familiar to DeCastro.
"It's the same offense we ran," DeCastro said. "On a lot of plays I knew exactly what they were running. It was fun to watch.
"Playing in a pro-style system was great -- the run blocking, pass blocking. You come here (to the NFL) and a lot of the terminology is the same in a West Coast offense."
by SportsDayDFW sports
INDIANAPOLIS -- If the Cowboys draft for need this April, David DeCastro of Stanford would be high on their board.
DeCastro started at guard for the Cardinal for three years and was a two-time All-Pac 10 selection. He was a consensus All-America last season and one of three finalists for the Outland Trophy as college football's best lineman.
The Cowboys need to upgrade their interior offensive line after allowing 39 sacks last season. Tackle is set with Tyron Smith and Doug Free, but the Cowboys need some size in between. Center Phil Costa and guard Bill Nagy are both undersized at 6-3 and Kyle Kosier 6-5. DeCastro could provide that size at 6-5, 316 pounds.
The Cowboys have the 14th overall pick of this draft. That may not be rich for DeCastro, who did not allow a sack in his final two college seasons. But it would certainly be rich for his position.
Guards historically do not fare well in the first round. It is a non-premium position and the talent evaluators who build draft boards treat it as such. The last time a guard was drafted in the Top 15 was Chris Naeole in 1997. New Orleans took him with the 10th overall selection.
Steve Hutchinson, who was named to the NFL's 2000 all-decade team, was the first guard selected in 2001 with the 17th overall selection. Logan Mankins, the Pro Bowl guard for the Patriots, was the first guard selected in 2005 with the 32nd overall selection. The first guard chosen last year was Baylor's Danny Watkins at 23.
In six of the drafts since 1997 not a single guard was selected in the first round.
Still, DeCastro would be a walk-in starter wherever he goes. He spent his three seasons at Stanford playing in a pro-style offense installed by Jim Harbaugh, who left to become the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers in 2011.
The San Francisco offense that reached the NFC title game last January looked very familiar to DeCastro.
"It's the same offense we ran," DeCastro said. "On a lot of plays I knew exactly what they were running. It was fun to watch.
"Playing in a pro-style system was great -- the run blocking, pass blocking. You come here (to the NFL) and a lot of the terminology is the same in a West Coast offense."
