11 Draftees, Not Likely

The Cowboys will head into the draft with 11 picks in their arsenal, but will they actually walk away with 11 players? Its unlikely the Cowboys will draft 11 players.  Look for the Cowboys to be wheeling and dealing to move around to get the players they want, they have 9 picks that are in play to move up and down the draft board. NFL rules do not allow teams to trade compensatory picks.  Here’s were the  Cowboys stand going into the draft:

2nd round #51
3rd round #69
4th round #101
4th round #117
5th round #156
5th round #166
5th round #172 (compensatory pick)
6th round #197
6th round #208 (compensatory pick)
7th round #210
7th round #227

The Cowboys have plenty of second day picks  for their disposal, you can bet the Cowboys will use these picks to leap frog up a few spots in earlier rounds to get their guys. Even though we are starting out with 11 picks, I don’t see us actually drafting 11 players. But for the sake of numbers, lets say the Cowboys did draft 11 players, here are 11 prospects to watch

1.  Brian Robiskie, WR, Ohio State (2nd)
2.  Lawrence Sidbury, LB, Richmond (3rd)
3.  Darcel McBath, FS, Texas Tech (4th)
4.  Herman Johnson, OG, LSU (4th)
5.  Bradley Fletcher, CB, Iowa (5th)
6.  Ricky Jean-Francois, DT, LSU (5th)
7.  Tony Fiametta, FB, Syracuse (5th) (comp pick)
8.  Anthony Hill, TE, NC State (6th)
9.  Sebastian Vollmer, OT, Houston (6th) (comp pick)
10.  Jason McCoutry, CB, Rutgers (7th)
11.  Tom Brandstater, QB, Fresno State (7th)

The draft is just hours away, and its safe to say the Cowboys will be drafting players for contributing depth purposes; meaning, the earlier picks will probably be backups, but could play key roles in a rotation capacity.

I’m going with WR for the first pick, either Brian Robiskie or Ramses Barden could be the pick. When I look at the other areas of need this pick really could go in any direction; like, FS, OG, NT, LB, etc.

I’m looking at receiver because of all the other positions this one has the most “unknown” factor. We release TO, and we’re going with Roy Williams as the new #1, after that, its already being said the competition for #2 will be between Austin and Crayton. We already know what Crayton brings to the table and his skills have peaked, and with Austin we have the durability and consistency issues hovering over the position. After them we have Sam Hurd, more of a possession receiver, and Stanback is just hoping the trendy Wildcat keeps him on the roster.

So, this being said, WR could be in huge trouble with just one injury, and let’s remember Roy Williams has not been the most healthy receiver to begin with, so quality depth and a contingency plan should be addressed here with Robiskie or Barden.

Will we trade current players for 2009 draft picks?

There’s probably two players that could be moved which could garner us some more picks.

1. Terence Newman – if you’re going to move Newman this is the absolute last year you can move him for a nice return. Once an elite corner, Newman has been hounded by nagging injuries and this could be his last year here anyway. Scandrick and Jenkins are the heir apparents very soon.

2. Greg Ellis – we’ve seen the rumors, and its possible Ellis could be moved, but don’t expect much in return. In addition, trading Ellis could mean the Cowboys take a OLB early, so watch for this trade if it were to happen. The Cowboys probably want to add another young OLB to push or compete with Spencer who is verging on disappointment status.

Are you wondering how smart or dumb your desired prospect is? Well check out the numbers here.

The NFL Draft is just hours away, bring it on baby!