A list for Razz (he'll know what that means)...

[silverbear]

Here's that list of 31 prospective draft picks that we know the Cowboys have shown some special interest in this offseason... they have held interviews with some, attended personal workouts for some others... I won't give you their heights and weights (I think all of them are mentioned in my draft analysis, but I might have missed one or two), but I will give you their name, position, college and what round they're projected in:

RB Ronnie Brown, Auburn... 1st round... this one surprised me, but they met with him...
RB Eric Shelton, Louisville... 3rd or 4th round... a big back...
RB Colt Colletti, Nicholls State... 7th round/undrafted rookie free agent...

TE/FB Neal Philpot, Pittsburg State... 7th round/undrafted rookie free agent... played QB in college, is 6'6, 255 pounds...

WR Mike Williams, USC... 1st round... like he'll ever get to pick 11...
WR Troy Williamson, South Carolina (the "other USC")... 1st round... compared to Alvin Harper by some scouts...
WR Roddy White, UAB... late 1st/early 2nd round...
WR Terrence Murphy, Texas A&M... 2nd round...
WR Matt Jones, Arkansas... 2nd or 3rd round... naw, Jerry would never go for a Razorback... of course, he also played QB in college... goes 6'6, 240 and runs the 40 in under 4.4 seconds...
WR Reggie Brown, Georgia... 2nd or 3rd round...
WR Fred Gibson, Georgia... 3rd round...
WR Steve Savoy, Utah... 4th or 5th round... I don't understand their interest in this kid... he's not real big, and his speed is questionable...

OG/OT Adam Snyder, Oregon... 2nd or 3rd round...
OG Chris Kemoeatu, Utah... 3rd or 4th round... 340 pounds plus, 'nuff said...
OG Claude Terrell, New Mexico... 3rd or 4th round... 340 pounds plus, 'nuff said...
OT Ray Willis, Florida State... 4th or 5th round... 325 pounds, 'nuff said...
C Junius Coston, North Carolina A&T... 4th or 5th round...
OT Geir Gudmundsen, Albany... 7th round/undrafted rookie free agent...

DE/OLB Shawne Merriman, Maryland... 1st round... this is the name most often mentioned as a logical choice for the Boys by the mediots...
DE/DT Marcus Spears, LSU... 1st round... in the Reggie White/Michael Strahan mold??
DT Anttaj Hawthorne, Wisconsin... 1st round... maybe at pick 20...
DT/DE Shaun Cody, USC... late 1st/early 2nd round...
DE Bill Swancutt, Oregon State... 3rd or 4th round...
DE Jim Davis, Virginia Tech... 3rd or 4th round...
DT Sione Pouha, Utah... 4th or 5th round...
DE George Gause, South Carolina... 4th or 5th round...

OLB/S Ernest Shazor, Michigan... late 1st/early 2nd round... a safety in college, there are reports the Boys like him as a conversion project to linebacker... after running 4.7 40s at his Pro Day workout, perhaps he would be better off at OLB...
MLB/S Leroy Hill, Clemson... 5th or 6th round... this is the opposite of Shazor, he played MLB in college but some scouts think he might be best suited for SS in the NFL...
OLB/S Kurt Campbell, Albany... 7th round/undrafted rookie free agent... once again, a smallish linebacker (225 pounds) who might be moved to S... I sense a tweener theme in these three LBs...

FS Josh Bullocks, Nebraska... 2nd round...
FS Gerald Sensabaugh, North Carolina... 3rd or 4th round...

A quick breakdown has them targeting 8 wide receivers, 8 defensive linemen, 6 offensive linemen, 3 running backs, 3 linebackers (any one of whom might be moved to safety), 2 safeties, 1 H-back type TE/FB... no quarterbacks, no cornerbacks on the list... of course, it is entirely possible that the Boys met with a few other players without it being noticed by the mediots, but I do think looking at that breakdown gives us some idea of their focus for the upcoming draft:

DL
OL (particularly ROT)
WR
FS
LB
RB

I'd also like to say that it's quite possible that my list is incomplete, I may have missed a meeting or two, or forgotten about them... if any of you have names to add to the list, I'd welcome the input... however, let's not talk about message board rumors, let's limit ourselves to media reports of meetings taken, or workouts attended... that sort of thing...

This list may or may not have any real-world meaning, the Cowboys could obviously choose to draft players who are not on this list... I'm certainly not suggesting that these are the only players they have targeted... but I will note that I was less than surprised when the Boys drafted Patrick Crayton last year, because I had learned of their interest in him at least a month before the draft, in one of those media reports you'll find posted all over draft message boards... my point is, sometimes these reports have given us a heads up about players the Cowboys have taken a liking to...

 

[Avery]

Great summarization.

Some of the higher picks could be obvious smokescreens but I see some names I would enjoy seeing wearing the star.

I'm not very fond of moving Shazor to OLB at least not with a high pick. He's likely first day and that's kind of hard for a project to do. 'Course, Matt Jones is also a project and will likely be gone before round 3 ends.

 

[Dayton Cowboy]

good post SilverBear.

Perhaps the MODS should sticky it either here or over in the draft zone.

 

[silver]

good post SilverBear.

Perhaps the MODS should sticky it either here or over in the draft zone.

ditto. i'm puzzled about the no qb's & no cb point. i guess we do like henson after all and some of the young guys in the secondary are promising. as far as the lb's are concerned it looks like we're keeping the 4-3 (sorry nors)

 

[Qwickdraw]

Nice breakdown.
You pretty much hit on all of the "meetings" that I have heard as well.
I can't believe there hasn't been a serious look at DJ though given his Texas ties and obvious playmaking ability at LB (something we desperately need).
Why do I get the feeling DJ will be there at #11 and we are going to use his presence to trade down so someone else can get him?

 

[Razz]

Thanks Bear .. I'll be watching this list on draft day ..

I only see about 7 1st round guys there.
My gut tells me Merriman and White are the guys they would take if they had to choose today without knowing who anyone else would pick .. but I really expect a multiple trade down with the second 1st rounder to pick up a couple 3rds or a 2nd and 3rd, and then a draft day trade for Howard with one of those extra picks.

 

[silverbear]

ditto. i'm puzzled about the no qb's & no cb point. i guess we do like henson after all and some of the young guys in the secondary are promising.

I think they want another year to figure out what they have in Bruce Thornton, Nate Jones, Jacques Reeves, Lance Frazier and even Pete Hunter... this is the year they'll focus on upgrading at safety...

 

[Sitting Bull]

Thanks for putting this together, Silverbear. Well done.

I don't put a lot of stock in private visits with first-round prospects, either. As you said, it's often a smokescreen or simply due diligence. But you don't spend extra time with day-two prospects like Sensabaugh and Gundmundsen unless you're truly interested in a closer look. It's true that some of these guys will be written-off after the workout. But mocking later picks is such a shot in the dark anyway, I play the odds that we're confirming our intrest (like with Crayton). But It's hard to tell the late round prospects from the priority UDFAs we're buttering-up.

I had two possible additions:
I read that we brought Indiana WR Courtney Roby in for a private workout recently;
and since Parcells isn't known for gratuitious arse-kissing, I'd say this article demonstrates some special interest in Albert Fincher: http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=13843102&BRD=1645&PAG=461&dept_id=17758&rfi=6

 

[Duane]

Great post SB. We'll try and stickie this in the draft zone after everyone gets a chance to check it out first.

I found it interesting that we don't have any of the first round OTs on the list. I wonder if we're not going in that direction or if it's some sort of smoke screen?

 

[Displaced Cowboy]

Gotta say i love the fact that Philpot is included on this list.

Remember seeing him in the D-II championship game and they were really touting him.

Career numbers:

4,337 yards rushing and 60 rushing TDs.
5,831 yards passing and 61 passing TDs.

I believe he is in the 4.7 range 40.

6'4" 250 lbs.

Would love him in the 7th round.

 

[Qwickdraw]

I heard Parcells spoke extensively with UCONN LB Alfred Fincher.

 

[Rack]

I heard Parcells spoke extensively with UCONN LB Alfred Fincher.

That was at the senior bowl, wasn't it? I didn't hear about him speaking "extensively" with him, but I did hear he spoke with him at the Senior bowl.

 

[silverbear]

That was at the senior bowl, wasn't it? I didn't hear about him speaking "extensively" with him, but I did hear he spoke with him at the Senior bowl.

The way I remember the story, the two crossed paths at the Senior Bowl, Fincher introduced himself and Parcells said he knew who he was... went on to recite a couple-three stats about Fincher...

I thought about including Alfred on the list, but in the final analysis I wondered if that was really enough to constitute "extra interest" in a player... to me, it looked like a chance meeting, and some pleasantries were exchanged...

However, there are things to like about the guy...

 

[Qwickdraw]

You guys are right. That's basically the same thing I heard. I should have used a different word than "extensively". I meant to say that he did more than just walk past him and say hello. But the fact that he knew such stats for such a middle of the road player could say something in the department of interest.

 

[LaTunaNostra]

WOW! Someone's been doing his homework..great work, SilverBear!! I don't doubt your tweener theme on the backers, either.

 

[silverbear]

WOW! Someone's been doing his homework..great work, SilverBear!! I don't doubt your tweener theme on the backers, either.

I plan on updating the list tonight at work... it's up to 40 players now...