<![CDATA[Jerry Jones came into the offseason with a plan to get the Cowboys better players in the draft and it started when he promoted Will McClay to Assistant Director to Player Personnel. This in-turn makes McClay, Stephen Jones’ right hand man. Stephen Jones current holds the executive title of COO / Executive VP / Director of Player Personnel, so looking down the road, McClay could be on his way to another promotion down the line, especially if his draft boards pay off. Something had to change with the types of players we were drafting and McClay has brought a new vision and helped button-up the Cowboys draft.
Just as Stephen Jones revealed some interesting draft day plot twists, McClay did the same and Jon Machota broke down the highlights.
The one interesting nugget was that the Cowboys had no plans in trading up for Anthony Barr or Aaron Donald. With all the possible draft scenarios that lead up to the draft this is probably the one that would have cost us bigtime to move up. So, good thing that was never in the plans.
Lawrence may not start and could be a role player to start?
“With the amount of passing that’s in the NFL right now, and the way that we’re going to play defense, it’s important to play fast, to play physical and get after the passer,” he said. “Whether this guy starts and plays 60 plays a game, which we don’t plan on doing, or if he plays 30-40 plays a game, as he gets into learning the NFL game, as long as he does what we drafted him for, we got great value.” (Machota, DMN)
The Cowboys want to draft from bigger collegiate programs, why?
“I think it was important for us to say,” McClay explained, “if we’re trying to build this thing and get to a point where we can win now, who has been able to handle the pressure of a big time program? Who will most likely be able to come into a situation like the Dallas Cowboys and the microscope that we’re under with all the games we play on national TV, and not, pardon the expression, pee their pants? We want grown men that are able to handle the situation.” (Machota, DMN)
More from the article here.
This should have been the approach after Jimmy Johnson left. McClay has the inside track and being the Cowboys next great talent evaluator, if he can put together a string of solid draft classes. We should know this year if the potential is truly there. The only fear I would have, is that the Cowboys may need to continue to promote him to keep him on board. If I’m Stephen Jones, I want McClay to remain the right hand man once he is handed over the keys to the whole thing himself. I know that’s probably still far off in the future, but it’s good to keep the right decision makers around, especially talent evaluators.]]>
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