Chuck 54
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Lies...Lies...and more lies.
Even the beat writers are lied to and force-fed false-leads. Sitting at 9 is not about which players you say you covet; it's about getting other teams to think you covet players that you don't so that no one moves ahead of you and hopefully the draft falls the way you hope it will.
Fairley and Amukamara are, I believe, the players Dallas wants most at #9.
1. Forget the bull on Fairley...the guy dominated every game this past season and was unblockable in the NCAA championship game. So now he's gone from possible #1 pick overall to "we wouldn't take him in the 2nd round"...anyone who watched Auburn this year has to laugh at the notion that Rob Ryan would rather plug in JJ Watt or Cameron Jordan at 3-4 DE than find ways to turn Fairley loose in the other teams' backfields.
After the season and the combine, Fairley was head and shoulders above Watt or Jordan...now some stories about "one year wonder" and "taking plays off" makes us think he wouldn't be a great pick for the Cowboys at 3-4 DE??? This wasn't a guy who was squatting in a hole every play...he was all over the field, in backfields, dropping RBs for losses and sacking QBs despite teams trying everything to block him...if the guy needed a blow now and then, I'll let that slide.
2. The Cowboys may need a CB more than they need a DE, and it's not often that you get a chance to draft a CB with the skill set of Amukamara. Size, strength, physical in run support, good hands and ball skills, runs like a RB with the ball...so his INTs were down this past year? So are most players in both college and the NFL when teams refuse to throw at them. Peterson is the physical specimen that hasn't been seen very often, but some are already wondering if safety isn't his best position because it's hard to imagine him playing CB at 220, despite his speed. Amukamara may be the best cover man in the draft other than Jimmy Smith whom we wouldn't touch, I'm sure.
All the mocks had us taking Prince early on, but the expectation is that he'd never get past SF...I believe much of our posturing on OTs and trading down has a lot to do with hoping to mislead others and hope other teams question taking Prince.
*** I find it very hard to believe that in a draft that is supposedly very deep on the DL and OL (despite lack of blue-chippers on OL) that we would take a RT at #9 or a 3-4 DE like Watt or Jordan...neither of these guys even have the grades of Spears coming out of college.
We can find a very good OT in round two at #41. We can find plenty of 320 lb. OGs and OTs who need to move inside to OG in rounds 3-4.
If Prince Amukamara and Nick Fairley are still on the board when the Cowboys pick at #9, I think the war room will be ecstatic, and Rob Ryan will be dancing around Jerry begging for that pick to be used on defense. Amukamara could start at CB immediately, possibly moving T.Newman to the slot or even to FS in passing situations...that's assuming Jenkins doesn't suck as badly as he looked last season.
If not Prince, think of the competition Fairley dominated from game 1 through the championship game...this isn't a workout warrior or a kid who dominated at a lower level. Marcel Dareus may be a safer pick, but Fairley pushed him into the shadows during the season. I think Ryan will have many more ideas for using Fairley's skills than just asking him to plug a gap and keep the LBs free. When a DL makes his way into the offensive backfield, seldom do you hear complaints that he should have been squatting in the hole, nor will you see him being replaced by Spears or Olshanski. The crap I've read about Fairley reminds me of the crap I read last year by so called experts who thought McCray might be a better DT than Suh after they studied everything to death and decided Suh wouldn't be as much of a penetrator...lol.
Forget the misleading worries you've been reading and remember that these two players are still near the top of most draft reports, both had great post-seasons and combine workouts. The Cowboys won't pass on Fairley or Amukamara for an OT rated below the guys who were first rounders last season or for another 3-4 DE with no pass rush.
Option 1: Prince
Option 2: Fairley
Option 3: trade down
My guess on order, regardless of players:
Pick 1 goes for CB or DE
Pick 2 = OL
Pick 3 = DB or OL
Pick 4 = ILB or DL
Even the beat writers are lied to and force-fed false-leads. Sitting at 9 is not about which players you say you covet; it's about getting other teams to think you covet players that you don't so that no one moves ahead of you and hopefully the draft falls the way you hope it will.
Fairley and Amukamara are, I believe, the players Dallas wants most at #9.
1. Forget the bull on Fairley...the guy dominated every game this past season and was unblockable in the NCAA championship game. So now he's gone from possible #1 pick overall to "we wouldn't take him in the 2nd round"...anyone who watched Auburn this year has to laugh at the notion that Rob Ryan would rather plug in JJ Watt or Cameron Jordan at 3-4 DE than find ways to turn Fairley loose in the other teams' backfields.
After the season and the combine, Fairley was head and shoulders above Watt or Jordan...now some stories about "one year wonder" and "taking plays off" makes us think he wouldn't be a great pick for the Cowboys at 3-4 DE??? This wasn't a guy who was squatting in a hole every play...he was all over the field, in backfields, dropping RBs for losses and sacking QBs despite teams trying everything to block him...if the guy needed a blow now and then, I'll let that slide.
2. The Cowboys may need a CB more than they need a DE, and it's not often that you get a chance to draft a CB with the skill set of Amukamara. Size, strength, physical in run support, good hands and ball skills, runs like a RB with the ball...so his INTs were down this past year? So are most players in both college and the NFL when teams refuse to throw at them. Peterson is the physical specimen that hasn't been seen very often, but some are already wondering if safety isn't his best position because it's hard to imagine him playing CB at 220, despite his speed. Amukamara may be the best cover man in the draft other than Jimmy Smith whom we wouldn't touch, I'm sure.
All the mocks had us taking Prince early on, but the expectation is that he'd never get past SF...I believe much of our posturing on OTs and trading down has a lot to do with hoping to mislead others and hope other teams question taking Prince.
*** I find it very hard to believe that in a draft that is supposedly very deep on the DL and OL (despite lack of blue-chippers on OL) that we would take a RT at #9 or a 3-4 DE like Watt or Jordan...neither of these guys even have the grades of Spears coming out of college.
We can find a very good OT in round two at #41. We can find plenty of 320 lb. OGs and OTs who need to move inside to OG in rounds 3-4.
If Prince Amukamara and Nick Fairley are still on the board when the Cowboys pick at #9, I think the war room will be ecstatic, and Rob Ryan will be dancing around Jerry begging for that pick to be used on defense. Amukamara could start at CB immediately, possibly moving T.Newman to the slot or even to FS in passing situations...that's assuming Jenkins doesn't suck as badly as he looked last season.
If not Prince, think of the competition Fairley dominated from game 1 through the championship game...this isn't a workout warrior or a kid who dominated at a lower level. Marcel Dareus may be a safer pick, but Fairley pushed him into the shadows during the season. I think Ryan will have many more ideas for using Fairley's skills than just asking him to plug a gap and keep the LBs free. When a DL makes his way into the offensive backfield, seldom do you hear complaints that he should have been squatting in the hole, nor will you see him being replaced by Spears or Olshanski. The crap I've read about Fairley reminds me of the crap I read last year by so called experts who thought McCray might be a better DT than Suh after they studied everything to death and decided Suh wouldn't be as much of a penetrator...lol.
Forget the misleading worries you've been reading and remember that these two players are still near the top of most draft reports, both had great post-seasons and combine workouts. The Cowboys won't pass on Fairley or Amukamara for an OT rated below the guys who were first rounders last season or for another 3-4 DE with no pass rush.
Option 1: Prince
Option 2: Fairley
Option 3: trade down
My guess on order, regardless of players:
Pick 1 goes for CB or DE
Pick 2 = OL
Pick 3 = DB or OL
Pick 4 = ILB or DL

DAL @ PHI
LAR
IND
CAR