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Should the Cowboys invest an early-round pick on a potentially dominant player in Dominique Easley - despite his injury history?
Quoting a league source, Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post reports that Florida defensive tackle Dominique Easley will visit the Dallas Cowboys and New England Patriots next week.
Easley is coming off two torn ACL's, which has considerably hurt his draft stock. In 2011, he tore his left ACL, yet recovered sufficiently to lay claim to being one of the most dominant players in college football. His junior and senior seasons proved that he is one of the most disruptive defenders in the SEC, and was on his way to becoming a top ten draft pick before tearing his right ACL in September 2013. He has since been working on his rehab and is convinced he'll make a complete recovery.
"I tore my ACL in 2011, and I got faster in 2013," he said. "So when I get back from this ACL, it’s going to make me nothing but faster… it’s a blessing for me because I know what I went through, how much I improved after the first ACL."
Due to his injury, Easley wasn't able to take part in the multitude of postseason workouts and scouting events draft-eligible players usually go through each year, but he drew a big crowd to Gainesville for his pro day Thursday, and didn't disappoint with 18 NFL teams in attendance, per Ryan O'Halloran of the Florida Times-Union.
Despite injury concerns, Easley left scouts thinking that he could go early on Day 2 of the draft. Easley said he believed he was 80 percent recovered, and would be ready for minicamps this summer. Nobody will fault Easley for considering himself this far along, and it is indeed possible that he's close to coming back. We've seen examples of crazy comebacks like Adrian Peterson's, but we've also seen players that never recovered fully from such an injury.
With his injury history, Easley is probably off some teams’ draft boards altogether, while others might be willing to take a flyer on him. It's hard to imagine any team parting with a first-round pick for Easley, but if he's there at No. 47 in the second round, the Cowboys may find Easley hard to pass up. Dallas has shown a willingness to take chances on players with ACL issues in the second round, and Easley might be worth taking as has the potential to be a future Pro Bowler - if he can stay healthy.
When the Cowboys bring him in next week, they'll want to take a detailed look at his knee and the outcome of those medical tests will determine not only if but also how high Easley will rank on the Cowboys' draft board.
The Cowboys did not use up their full allotment of 30 national draft prospects they are allowed to bring in for pre-draft visits. Which is why they can bring in Easley next week, one week removed from when they hosted most of their other pre-draft vistors. And it may not even be the first time the Cowboys have had Easley in: Bryan Broaddus seemed to indicate that Easley had already been at Valley Ranch for a visit with the Cowboys:
"@JoeDeMayo4: @BryanBroaddus @soldier89892002 meant as a question. Easley was at VR?" I said he was
— Bryan Broaddus (@BryanBroaddus) April 16, 2014
If so, two visits by Easley would indicate some serious interest by the Cowboys, and the 6-foot-2, 285 pound lineman would seem to be an excellent fit for Rod Marinnelli's defensive line.
In total, we now know of 23 national draft pospects the Cowboys brought in so far, as well as 36 local prospects brought in for Dallas Day - although those numbers could still increase as more names become known.
Confirmed Cowboys Pre-draft Visits/Workouts per 4/19/2014
CBS Rank Name POS College Visit Type12
Anthony Barr OLB/DE UCLA Official visit13
Aaron Donald DT Pittsburgh Official visit16
Zack Martin OT Notre Dame Official visit18
Timmy Jernigan DT FSU Official visit24
Ryan Shazier LB Ohio State Official visit35
Kony Ealy DE Missouri Official visit41
Jimmie Ward S Northern Illinois Official visit43
DeMarcus Lawrence DE Boise State Official visit49
Scott Crichton DE Oregon State Official visit52
Lamarcus Joyner CB FSU Official visit60
Dominique Easley DT Florida Official visit68
Billy Turner OT North Dakota Official visit73
Gabe Jackson OG Mississippi St. Official visit91
Jack Mewhort OT Ohio State Official Visit98
Will Clarke DE West Virginia Official Visit136
Josh Huff WR Oregon Official visit150
Trai Turner OG LSU Official visit170
Howard Jones OLB Shepherd Official visit229
Kerry Hyder DT Texas Teach Official visit318
Brandon Dixon CB Northwest Missouri St. Official visit372
Ken Bishop DT Northern Illinois Official visit389
Chris Whaley DT Texas Official visit504
Davon Coleman DE Arizona State Official visitDallas Day
29
Jason Verrett CB TCU Not coming29
89
Jackson Jeffcoat DE Texas Not coming117
Cyril Richardson G Baylor Dallas Day122
Josh Mauro DE Stanford Dallas Day144
Mike Davis WR Texas Dallas Day281
Garrett Gilbert QB SMU Dallas Day313
Terrance Bullitt OLB Texas Tech Dallas Day367
Ciante Evans S Nebraska Dallas Day415
Casey Pachal QB TCU Dallas Day459
Cory Nelson OLB Oklahoma Dallas Day491
Dashaun Pillips CB Tarleton State Dallas Day500
James Franklin QB Missouri Dallas Day513
Derek Thompson QB North Texas Dallas Day519
Elisha Olabode S TCU Dallas Day537
Kelvin Palmer OT Baylor Dallas Day577
Ben Malena RB Texas A&M Dallas Day608
Kenneth Acker CB SMU Dallas Day622
James Sims RB Kansas Dallas Day651
Josh Harris RB Wake Forest Dallas Day653
Josh Allen C Louisiana-Monroe Dallas Day685
Jeremy Johnson WR SMU Dallas Day707
Adrian Phillips SS Texas Dallas Day758
Aaron Burks WR Boise State Dallas Day766
Taylor Gabriel WR Abilene Christian Dallas Day933
Matt White S Missouri Dallas Day995
Keenan Holman WR SMU Dallas Day- -
Jonathon Miller RB Illinois State Dallas Day- -
Ronnie Cooper WR University of Saint Mary Dallas Day- -
Aaron Bellazin DE North Texas Dallas Day- -
Tanner Brock LB TCU Dallas Day- -
Craig Wenrick TE UTEP Dallas Day- -
Waymon James RB TCU Dallas Day- -
Donovan Bonner LB Missouri Dallas Day- -
Nosa Eguae DE Auburn Dallas Day- -
Cameron Frosch P Texas A&M Commerce Dallas Day- -
Zachry Orr LB North Texas Dallas Day- -
Chris Parks CB SMU Dallas Day- -
Kacy Rodgers S University of Miami Dallas DayPrivate Workout
78
Bashaud Breeland CB Clemson Private workout78
105
C.J. Fiedorowitz TE Iowa Private workout137
Jerick McKinnon RB Georgia Southern Private workout146
Walt Aikens CB Liberty Private workout194
JC Copeland FB LSU Meeting471
Demetri Goodson CB Baylor Private workout571
Ricky Tjong-A-Tjoe DT Boise State Private workout910
Kevin Fogg CB/KR Liberty Private workout- -
Luke Sebald DL Wisconsin Lutheran Private workoutContinue reading...