Cowboys 2002 Draft Board Rankings

[AdamJT13]

Just how accurate were the rankings?

About as accurate as everyone else's rankings that year -- not very. (I meant that it was interesting to see where they were accurate and where they were not, not that they were particularly accurate.)

Here was the Cowboys' 2002 draft board, from what I could see in the photo --

FIRST ROUND

1. David Carr
2. Joey Harrington
3. Julius Peppers
4. Roy Williams
5. Quentin Jammer
6. Bryant McKinnie
7. Phillip Buchanon
8. Jeremy Shockey
9. Donte Stallworth
10. Albert Haynesworth
11. William Green
12. Mike Williams
13. Ryan Sims
14. Wendell Bryant
15. John Henderson
16. T.J. Duckett
17. Jabar Gaffney
18. Ashley Lelie
19. Antonio Bryant
20. Levi Jones
21. Napoleon Harris
22. Charles Grant
23. Kendall Simmons
24. Larry Tripplett
25. Daniel Graham
26. Josh Reed
27. Javon Walker
28. Andre Gurode
29. Kalimba Edwards

SECOND ROUND

30. Bryan Thomas
31. Dwight Freeney
32. Mike Rumph
33. Patrick Ramsey
34. Robert Thomas
35. LeCharles Bentley
36. Deshaun Foster
37. Tank Williams
38. Mike Pearson
39. Lamont Thompson
40. Levar Fisher
41. Edward Reed
42. Saleem Rasheed
43. Reche Caldwell
44. Clinton Portis
45. Sheldon Brown
46. Lito Sheppard
47. Andre Davis
48. Jon McGraw
49. Chester Pitts
50. Anthony Weaver

THIRD ROUND

51. Derek Ross
52. Matt Schobel
53. Marquise Walker
54. Cliff Russell
55. Eddie Freeman
56. Fred Weary
57. Marc Colombo
58. David Thornton
59. Josh McCown
60. Melvin Fowler
61. Jonathan Wells
62. Anton Palepoi
63. Toniu Fonoti
64. Keyou Craver
65. Langston Walker
66. Will Witherspoon
67. Joseph Jefferson
68. Dante Wesley
69. Roosevelt Williams
70. Alex Brown

FOURTH ROUND

71. Will Overstreet
72. Brian Williams
73. Kevin Bentley
74. Coy Wire
75. Terrence Metcalf
76. Seth McKinney
77. Kris Richard
78. Andre Goodman
79. Tim Carter
80. Kurt Kittner
81. Ron Johnson
82. Chris Hope
83. Maurice Morris
84. Randy McMichael
85. Charles Hill
86. Doug Jolley
87. Jamar Martin
88. Raonall Smith
89. Ben Leber
90. Rohan Davey
91. Rocky Bernard
92. Antwaan Randle-El
93. Dennis Johnson
94. Marques Anderson
95. Kevin Curtis

FIFTH ROUND

96. Ralph Hunter
97. Travis Fisher
98.
99. Jason McAddley
100. Will Bartholomew
101.
102. Justin Peelle
103.
104. Ryan Denney
105. Chris Cash
106. Kahlil Hill
107. James Allen
108. Rick Sherrod
109. Carlos Hall
110. Ladell Betts
111. Josh Shaw
112. Kenyon Coleman
113.
114. Steve Bellisari
115. Nate Dwyer
116.
117. Lee Mays
118. Justin Bannan
119. John Stamper
120. Ben Taylor
121.

(any others blocked by empty chair)

QUARTERBACK

1st -- David Carr
1st -- Joey Harrington

2nd -- Patrick Ramsey

3rd -- Josh McCown

4th -- Kurt Kittner
4th -- Rohan Davey

5th -- none

6th -- Woodrow Dantzler

(remainder blocked by picture of Roy Williams selection card)

RUNNING BACK

1st -- William Green
1st – T.J. Duckett

2nd -- Deshaun Foster
2nd -- Clinton Portis

3rd -- Jonathan Wells

4th -- Maurice Morris

5th -- Ladell Betts

6th -- Lamar Gordon
6th -- Omar Easy
6th -- Leonard Henry

6th/7th -- Eric Crouch (card placed diagonally between the two rounds)

7th -- Najeh Davenport
7th -- Josh Scobey

FA -- Larry Ned
FA -- Brian Westbrok
FA -- Tony Fisher
FA -- Ennis Hayward

FULLBACK

1st -- none

2nd -- none

3rd -- none

4th -- Jamar Martin

5th -- Will Bartholomew

6th -- Jarrod Baxter

7th -- Rock Cartwright

FA -- Jonathan Adams
FA -- Charles Stackhouse

WIDE RECEIVERS (not shown, deduced from round-by-round board)

1st -- Donte Stallworth
1st -- Jabar Gaffney
1st -- Ashley Lelie
1st -- Antonio Bryant
1st -- Josh Reed
1st -- Javon Walker

2nd -- Reche Caldwell
2nd -- Andre Davis

3rd -- Marquise Walker
3rd -- Cliff Russell

4th -- Tim Carter
4th -- Ron Johnson
4th -- Antwaan Randle-El

(remainder unknown, although Jason McAddley, Kahlil Hill and Lee Mays
are known to be in the fifth round)

OFFENSIVE LINEMEN (not shown, deduced from round-by-round board)

1st -- Bryant McKinnie
1st -- Mike Williams
1st -- Levi Jones
1st -- Kendall Simmons
1st -- Andre Gurode

2nd -- LeCharles Bentley
2nd -- Mike Pearson
2nd -- Chester Pitts

3rd -- Fred Weary
3rd -- Marc Colombo
3rd -- Melvin Fowler
3rd -- Toniu Fonoti
3rd -- Langston Walker

4th -- Terrence Metcalf
4th -- Seth McKinney

(remainder unkown)

TIGHT ENDS

1st -- Jeremy Shockey
1st -- Daniel Graham
(one card, presumably for Jerramy Stevens, is placed above the Tight
Ends title card -- seemingly putting him "off the board" to a degree)

2nd -- none

3rd -- Matt Schobel

4th -- Randy McMichael
4th -- Doug Jolley

5th -- Justin Peelle

6th -- John Owens

7th -- Keith Heinrich
7th -- Jeb Putzier

(There are four FA cards, but they're blocked by Larry Lacewell's left
shoe)

DEFENSIVE TACKLES

1st -- Albert Haynesworth
1st -- Ryan Sims
1st -- Wendell Bryant
1st -- John Henderson
1st -- Larry Tripplett

2nd -- Anthony Weaver

3rd -- Eddie Freeman

4th -- Charles Hill
4th -- Rocky Bernard

5th -- Josh Shaw
5th -- Nate Dwyer
5th -- Justin Bannan

6th -- Dorsett Davis
6th -- Monsanto Pope
6th -- Brandon Moore

7th -- Alan Harper

(FA cards blocked by Larry Lacewell's right shoe)

DEFENSIVE ENDS

1st -- Julius Peppers
1st -- Charles Grant
1st -- Kalimba Edwards

2nd -- Bryan Thomas
2nd -- Dwight Freeney

3rd -- Anton Palepoi
3rd -- Alex Brown

4th -- Will Overstreet
4th -- Dennis Johnson

5th -- Ryan Denney
5th -- Carlos Hall
5th -- Kenyon Coleman
5th -- John Stamper
5th -- Joey Evans

6th -- Brett Keisel
6th -- Derrius Moore

7th -- none

(Any FA cards blocked by Larry Lacewell)

INSIDE LINEBACKERS

1st -- none

2nd -- none

3rd -- none

4th -- Kevin Bentley

5th -- none

6th -- Jermaine Petty
6th -- Larry Foote

7th -- Rocky Calmus

(Any FA cards blocked by Larry Lacewell's chair)

OUTSIDE LINEBACKERS

1st -- Napoleon Harris

2nd -- Robert Thomas
2nd -- Levar Fisher
2nd -- Saleem Rasheed

3rd -- David Thornton
3rd -- Will Witherspoon

4th -- Raonall Smith
4th -- Ben Leber

5th -- James Allen
5th -- Ben Taylor

6th -- Khary Campbell
6th -- Courtland Bullard
6th -- Rocky Boiman
6th -- Nick Rogers

7th -- Brandon Moore

(All other cards blocked by Larry Lacewell)

CORNERBACKS

1st -- Quentin Jammer
1st -- Phillip Buchanon

2nd -- Mike Rumph
2nd -- Sheldon Brown
2nd -- Lito Sheppard

3rd -- Derek Ross
3rd -- Keyou Craver
3rd -- Joseph Jefferson
3rd -- Dante Wesley
3rd -- Roosevelt Williams

4th -- Brian Williams
4th -- Kris Richard
4th -- Andre Goodman

5th -- Ralph Hunter
5th -- Travis Fisher
5th -- Chris Cash

6th – Lenny Walls
6th -- Kevin Thomas
6th – Omare Lowe

7th -- Tony Beckham
7th -- Brad Franklin

FA – Rashad Bauman
FA – DeMarcus Faggins
FA – Markese Fitzgerald
FA – Bruce Branch
FA – Andre Lott

SAFETIES

1st -- Roy Williams

2nd -- Tank Williams
2nd -- Lamont Thompson
2nd -- Edward Reed
2nd -- Jon McGraw

3rd -- none

4th -- Coy Wire
4th -- Chris Hope
4th -- Marques Anderson
4th -- Kevin Curtis

5th -- Rick Sherrod
5th -- Steve Bellisari

6th -- Ramon Walker
6th -- Jermaine Phillips
6th -- Willie Offord
6th -- Terreal Bierria

7th -- Chris Young (card placed diagonally)

(FA cards mostly blocked by Larry Lacewell's chair)

 

[Chocolate Lab]

Pretty interesting. So they had Roy above Jammer... Everyone assumed we'd have taken Jammer if he'd been there.

And I wonder why John Henderson was so low... Maybe injury concerns.

But then again, why is Bryant well above Gurode, when we took Gurode first?

 

[WoodysGirl]

Thought it was too good a post to bury at the end of another one.

 

[Chief]

Dwight Freeney and Ed Reed ranked as second-rounders.

Ouch.

 

[WoodysGirl]

Dwight Freeney and Ed Reed ranked as second-rounders.

Ouch.

Well if you go back to 2002, the Freeney pick was panned by almost every draftnik. Indy looks like geniuses now.

 

[TellerMorrow34]

Interesting read. Funny now to see some of the people they had below Roy.

 

[Dallyjake]

How about Westbrrok a s a FA ...Philly landed him in the 3rd or 4th I think.

 

[superpunk]

Ah...the pre-Parcells draft board. Looks swell.

 

[Chief]

Well if you go back to 2002, the Freeney pick was panned by almost every draftnik. Indy looks like geniuses now.

I remember him being mentioned as a first-rounder by a lot of people, but he was picked higher in the first round than many thought.

A friend of mine saw Freeney play in person in college and told me he was probably the best player he saw all year and that he should be a high first-rounder.

If he can see it, then people in war rooms should be able to see it.

 

[big dog cowboy]

FIRST ROUND

4. Roy Williams
19. Antonio Bryant
28. Andre Gurode

On paper that sure looks good.

 

[AdamJT13]

But then again, why is Bryant well above Gurode, when we took Gurode first?

Character concerns?

Or maybe they were convinced they could get Bryant later because other teams had character concerns about him.

 

[Chocolate Lab]

Character concerns?

Or maybe they were convinced they could get Bryant later because other teams had character concerns about him.

That makes sense, but it seems to me that you'd make your board up with that in mind in advance.

I do remember some story from back then where Jerry and Campo were debating that very topic, and I guess Jerry liked Gurode while Campo liked Bryant. Campo said something like, "Yeah, go ahead and take the guard... I just liked Bryant's attitude."

 

[AdamJT13]

Here's a review of the 2002 draft board vs. our 2002 draft --

Pick No. 8) Roy Williams – He was rated fourth overall, ahead of Quentin Jammer even, and likely would have been the pick at No. 6 if the Cowboys hadn't traded down. The next-highest player on the board when Dallas took Williams was Phillip Buchanon (7). Had Jerry Jones traded down to No. 9 or 10 and Williams was gone, Buchanon almost certainly would have been picked.

37) Andre Gurode – It was reported that the debate in the Cowboys' draft room was over whether to draft Gurode or Anontio Bryant. The top three players on the board for this pick were Bryant (19), DT Larry Tripplett (24) and Gurode (28). With La'Roi Glover, Brandon Noble and Michael Myers already on the team, Tripplett was not a need player. But if it came down to Bryant vs. Gurode, why would the Cowboys take the lower-rated player on their board? My guess is that they decided to gamble that Bryant would continue slipping and could be available later in Round 2. And that's exactly what happened.

63) Antonio Bryant – When the Cowboys traded up for this pick, Bryant (19) was by far the highest player left on the board. The next-highest was OLB Saleem Rasheed (42). But after him was another player who would wind up in Dallas: CB Derek Ross (51).

75) Derek Ross – Ross was the highest-rated player on the board when the pick came. Had he been gone, the Cowboys would have had a difficult decision. After Ross (51), the highest-rated players available were WR Marquise Walker (53), WR Cliff Russell (54), OLB David Thornton (58), QB Josh McCown (59), OL Melvin Fowler (60) and RB Jonathan Wells (61). Would Dallas have drafted two wide receivers in a row or dipped down slightly further into the rankings to fill another position?

129) Jamar Martin – This was only the second time that the Cowboys didn't draft the top player still on their board. By taking Martin (87), they bypassed QB Kurt Kittner (80). Obviously, the need for another fullback outweighed the need to add yet another player to an already overstocked stable of quarterbacks. The next two players still on the board were DT Rocky Bernard (91) and CB Ralph Hunter (96).

168) Ralph "Pete" Hunter – The Cowboys traded up to get the top player left on their board.

After those players, the indecipherable parts of the board begin.

 

[mmillman]

The one that stood out to me at the time and now is Ed Reed. I thought Reed was better then and now but Dallas had him ranked very low. Overall it looks like a weak draft class

 

[peplaw06]

QUARTERBACK

1st -- David Carr
1st -- Joey Harrington

2nd -- Patrick Ramsey

3rd -- Josh McCown

4th -- Kurt Kittner
4th -- Rohan Davey

5th -- none

6th -- Woodrow Dantzler

This class = worst of all time?? Discuss...

 

[big dog cowboy]

This class = worst of all time?? Discuss...

uke:

 

[MichaelWinicki]

I remember him being mentioned as a first-rounder by a lot of people, but he was picked higher in the first round than many thought.

A friend of mine saw Freeney play in person in college and told me he was probably the best player he saw all year and that he should be a high first-rounder.

If he can see it, then people in war rooms should be able to see it.

What I think happens Chief is that these rankings are made by "consensus", which would explain some of the odd placements.

When groups get together to rank anything-- odd stuff will come out.

 

[Bob Sacamano]

seems the only players we truly missed out on were Reed and David Thorton

not a great draft by any means

 

[Yakuza Rich]

seems the only players we truly missed out on were Reed and David Thorton

not a great draft by any means

I found it weird the path that Colombo took.

Colombo was a projected 3rd rounder by Dallas and wound up going to the 1st round. Then years later he was picked up by Parcells despite hardly playing because of a bad leg injury because Parcells felt you should take your chances with former 1st round picks. And he's now wound up playing very well at right tackle for Dallas for two years.




YAKUZA

 

[Bob Sacamano]

I found it weird the path that Colombo took.

Colombo was a projected 3rd rounder by Dallas and wound up going to the 1st round. Then years later he was picked up by Parcells despite hardly playing because of a bad leg injury because Parcells felt you should take your chances with former 1st round picks. And he's now wound up playing very well at right tackle for Dallas for two years.




YAKUZA

it just underscores how ridiculous it is to evaluate drafts before 3 years