DMN: Blog: Grading the last decade of Cowboys' drafts: 1999

[Cbz40]

Grading the last decade of Cowboys' drafts: 1999

6:02 PM Wed, Apr 15, 2009 | Permalink | Yahoo! Buzz
Tim MacMahon

BLOGGER'S NOTE: In an effort to pass the time until the draft while generating some football-related conversation, we're going to grade each of the Cowboys' last 10 drafts. We'll do one per day. Grades are given on a curve, based on where the players were picked.

1999

DE Ebenezer Ekuban (first round, 20th overall)

D -- Made 12.5 sacks in five seasons with Cowboys. DE Patrick Kerney, who has had four double-digit sack seasons, was among the players picked later in the first round.

OL Solomon Page (second round, 55th overall)

D -- He started for parts of four seasons. Not coincidentally, those were four pretty bad seasons.

LB Dat Nguyen (third round, 85th overall)

B-plus -- Left everything he had on the field for seven seasons before a neck injury forced his retirement. Made 502 tackles in his career.

WR Wane McGarity (fourth round, 118th overall)

D -- Had 25 of his 39 career receptions in 2000, when he also returned two punts for touchdowns.

DE Peppi Zellner (fourth round, 132nd overall)

D-minus -- Six sacks in four seasons for the Cowboys.

WR Martay Jenkins (sixth round, 193rd overall)

F -- Didn't make the team.

TE Mike Lucky (seventh round, 229th overall)

C-minus -- Solid blocker stuck around for a few seasons.

OG Kelvin Garmon (seventh round, 243rd overall)

C -- Started every game in 2001 and was traded to San Diego for conditional seventh-rounder the next season.

Grade-point average: 1.375

 

[NeonNinja]

Terrible draft.

 

[CATCH17]

So 6th and 7th round guys who dont make the team are auto F's?

Don't just grade the Cowboys. Grade everyone if you're going to do that.

 

[landryscorner]

horrible just ...ughhh

 

[burmafrd]

Dat was a real player. When BP came he said Dat was too small and would have to be replaced. By the end he was one of Bills guys.

 

[NeonNinja]

Dat was a football guy, gave everything he had.

 

[RoadRunner]

Yeah that was a stinker of a draft. Dat was the only player out of that bunch worth a damn besides maybe Lucky as a decent backup.

 

[viman96]

Love Dat and was really pumped when we drafted him!

 

[big dog cowboy]

uke:

What a horrible draft. The player who disappointed me the most was DE Peppi Zellner.

 

[RoadRunner]

uke:

What a horrible draft. The player who disappointed me the most was DE Peppi Zellner.

Yeah I was expecting Zellner to be a good pickup, but things don't always turn out for the better.

 

[Achozen]

Dat FTW.

"Watch the shovel, watch the shovel."

 

[Clove]

The biggest thing we did not do is go after more QBs, and offensive linemen high up in the draft.

 

[burmafrd]

I am glad he is coaching with us and hope to see him start moving up soon.

 

[joseephuss]

It wasn't just bad that Dallas drafted McGarity, but they drafted him at least a round too early. He would have been available in later rounds if not as an UDFA. They did not have to reach to get him. I also think Dat would have been around for at least one more round. I thought so at the time both were drafted and now 10 years later I still think so.

Ekuban started out stronger than Kerney. Ek had 2. 5sacks his rookie season and then 6.5 his second year. Kerney had 2.5 sacks in both his first year and his second year. From there Kerney kept getting better while Ekuban maxed out. Ekuban never improved and he also missed most of his entire 3rd season due to a back injury. He never learned any pass rush moves and relied only on his athleticism and he wasn't a great athlete just a good one. I would have given him a D+ or C- because he was at least serviceable and decent against the run, but he was a disappointment.

 

[TellerMorrow34]

Dat was the only guy worth anything from that draft. Though I was a huge fan of Wayne and really had hoped he'd pan out to be a little spark for our offense back then.

 

[Avery]

The 2000 draft is going to be a fun one:

2 49 Dwayne Goodrich DB Tennessee
4 109 Kareem Larrimore CB West Texas A&M
5 144 Michael Wiley RB Ohio State
6 180 Mario Edwards CB Florida State
7 219 Orantes Grant LB Georgia

God save us. Edwards was the best of the bunch.

 

[TellerMorrow34]

The 2000 draft is going to be a fun one:

2 49 Dwayne Goodrich DB Tennessee
4 109 Kareem Larrimore CB West Texas A&M
5 144 Michael Wiley RB Ohio State
6 180 Mario Edwards CB Florida State
7 219 Orantes Grant LB Georgia

God save us. Edwards was the best of the bunch.

Lord that draft was horrific. Reaching on players cause of need, and not having any cap space or first round picks. This draft still gives me nightmares.

 

[burmafrd]

Every time someone wants to talk about Jerruh and drafts this is the one I pull out and show them.

 

[skinsscalper]

I remember having such high hopes for McGarity. Hate to say it, but reminds me a little of Austin. I'm just not sold yet (on Austin), I guess. Time will tell.

 

[joseephuss]

I remember having such high hopes for McGarity. Hate to say it, but reminds me a little of Austin. I'm just not sold yet (on Austin), I guess. Time will tell.

I have to disagree with that. He reminds me nothing of Austin. McGarity was short and showed no progress as a receiver at the NFL level. His hands were terrible, he looked lost out there and really showed nothing. Austin has shown some progress and promise. He may not improve from his current level, but he is already better than McGarity ever was as a receiver.