Tale Of Two Experts

[dargonking999]

Tale of Two Experts

Filed under:

• The Roundup

— Will Parchman @ 12:07 am
From two separate chats, John Clayton and Mel Kiper Jr. weigh in on the Cowboys off-season and draft.

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Sean (Hoboken, NJ): Why aren’t the Cowboys getting their due here today? Do you have something against Bill Parcells?

John Clayton: Sean, I have said many times they had the best draft and, next to Minnesota, the second best offseason of anybody in football. What more do you want?

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SEAN (FULLERTON): How good will Julius Jones be?

John Clayton: Very good. Should go for 1,300 yards. (I thought this was interesting… John got pretty specific there.)

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Brandon (W.Monroe,LA): Will Marcus Spears and Demarcus Ware be penciled in as starters from day one?

John Clayton: Probably not in Week One, but they should both be starting by week six or week seven.


Justin Beriault__________________________________________________ ____________________
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Jason(Dallas,Texas): Mel, If you were the Dallas GM on draft day, would you have taken Ware over Merriman? Why or why not?

Mel Kiper Jr.: If I were looking at it, I would have probably have gone for my highest rated player on the defensive side at that point and that would have been Dan Cody (!!). On my board, there was very little, if anything separating Merriman, Ware, Cody and Spears. They all had the exact same grade on my board. Obviously, Parcells sees a little Lawrence Taylor in Ware so he went that way. Parcells just had a strong gut feeling about DeMarcus.

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Don (Atlantic City, NJ): What was the Cowboys best pick last weekend … not necessarily who will be the best player.

Mel Kiper Jr.: I think that there were three – Marion Barber III in the 4th Round b/c he gives them a good backup to J Jones. Also I like their other 4th Rounder Chris Canty – he can be a real impact in that 3-4. And third, I like the pickup of Justin Beriault the safety from Ball State was a heck of a 6th round pick. He was a steal. He’s got great instincts. I really like what the Cowboys did.
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While yeah, Mel obviously cares much more about his beloved ‘big board’ than about team needs (Cody was never even considered over Ware, Merriman or Spears, and maybe even Canty), he still knows his stuff, and I really, really like everything I’ve heard about Justin Beriault. Mel has said on several occasions that Bery-O would have easily been a 3rd or 4th round pick, and the Cowboys absolutely stole him in the 6th round. It also helps that the rest of the guys at FS should be making him look rather good this year. When asked who his overall steals in the draft were later on in the Chat Wrap, Mel snuck Beriault in there:

…D.Blackstock in the 3rd to Arizona. J.Brown in the 4th to Baltimore. D.Cody to Baltimore in the 2nd. A.Currie to Chicago in the 5th. A.Kieft to Cincy in the 5th. J.Beirault to Dallas in the 6th. J.Mathis to Houston in the 4th…

Justin was in some pretty elite company there as far as projected draft talent goes. Jerome Mathis and Airese Currie were widely regarded as the two fastest guys in the draft and Darrell Blackstock and Dan Cody were so talented that both were projected 1st rounders. I think it’s pretty significant that Mel mentioned Justin among those guys. It’s not as if Beriault is a guy who is good enough to come in and play immediately, but it seems to me if he plays up to his potential he might get a chance to start sometime this year. If he plays above and beyond that… I guess that is a bridge we’ll all be glad to cross when and if we get there.

[twa]

Beriault has my stamp of approval...Hope he works out.

Of course my approval and a Buck might get ya a cup of coffee

[LaTunaNostra]

Originally Posted by dargonking999

While yeah, Mel obviously cares much more about his beloved ‘big board’ than about team needs

He even cares more about his beloved 'big hair' than he does about team needs.

It's so easy to draft for value from the armchair.

[DanTanna]

Barry-O said that he never played more than 15 yards from the line? That concerns me a little.

[Hollywood Henderson]

I was thinking the exact same thing Dan-Tanna...

Berry-O is from here in the Indy area and while he is a good athlete, he has been more of a SS type vs a FS...

[ABQCOWBOY]

If this kid turns out to be our starting FS, then it's a great 6th round pick. If this kid turns out to be our backup SS, then it's a great pick in the 6th round.

Either way you slice it, if he can make the team and contribute, then he's a great pick. I'll tell you something else. If he turns out to be a good SS, there will be teams out there that want to trade for him. If he's real good, who knows? One thing is for sure, it creates a great deal of flexability with RLWs, the cap and future picks IMO.

[speedkilz88]

Beriault also said that he can play zone coverage, its man coverage that he has to work on. I really don't think he would be used in man much if any with the coverage guys they have this year.

[nathanlt]

I just get the impression that Beriault is a Bill Bates kind of guy... not a superstar, but a blue-collar, just get the job done kind of player, the kind you really root for. I don't know that we can expect great, great things from him.

[MichaelWinicki]

Originally Posted by nathanlt

I just get the impression that Beriault is a Bill Bates kind of guy... not a superstar, but a blue-collar, just get the job done kind of player, the kind you really root for. I don't know that we can expect great, great things from him.

Beriault has far more physical talent than Bates ever did. Now will be as effective a player as Bates? Who knows?

[kartr]

Originally Posted by DanTanna

Barry-O said that he never played more than 15 yards from the line? That concerns me a little.

Yeah, I've heard he's nothing more than a special teamer.

[big dog cowboy]

Originally Posted by kartr

Yeah, I've heard he's nothing more than a special teamer.

Please!