draft room scoop from today

[BourbonBalz]

Not that I don't love the Jones pick, but who would have thought that having two Marion Barber's would be a bad thing????

Considering you can only play one of them at a time, yes.

 

[trickblue]

Not that I don't love the Jones pick, but who would have thought that having two Marion Barber's would be a bad thing????

It's not a bad thing, but two different style backs makes defenses have to prepare for two different schemes...

 

[Dhragon]

Don't confuse people with the truth. Once we decided to commit to MBIII, Felix was the much better pick. BTW, every analyst loves the Felix Jones pick.

No kidding! I was initially stunned we passed on Mendenhall but after thinking about it, it became obvious that JJ must have decided to keep MBIII and with that, it really didn't make sense to draft a clone but someone we could use in many more ways.

Felix can be used on ST, as a receiver, or as a 3rd down back. Mendenhall, not a great pass catcher, would have made a poor 3rd down back. He uses would have been severly limited.

MUCH more value out of Felix it appears.

 

[dbair1967]

Help me out here. If Barber is a guy we really value (and we do), and we want to keep him fresh by not having him carry a full workload (and we do), then why would having TWO Marion Barbers be a bad thing? If Dallas had Mendenhall rated higher but took Jones anyway, it's just mind-numbingly idiotic.

I doubt they had Mendenhall that much higher, and thats probably why it was debated.

Several people said this morning the guy they really wanted was Stewart, so Werder's report that Mendenhall was #2 RB on their board was probably wrong

and if they were close, then obviously having someone who could stretch the field and make big plays in 3 phases (runs, receiver out of backfield and split wide, and kick returns) makes more sense.

And for those who want to keep quoting the "combine 40 time!!!!" to me, I dont care. WATCH the games to make the real judgement, and when you do, Jones sticks out because he is constantly making big plays.

David

 

[BourbonBalz]

It also allows you to utilize both of them at the same time. How many times does it take for you people to understand. If we took Mendenhall, he would have seen the field less than Felix Jones will. He would've only played IF Barber got hurt and to give him a bit of a break. Jones can do many more things and Garrett will get him involved in the offense in many ways. The bottom line is opposing defenses are going to have a lot of trouble with him, sort of like Westbrook with Philly.

 

[newlander]

I like Godfrey: saw him play a few times last season on TV. BUT, I would really like to snag a WR at some point: Monk? Is he higher on most boards than Godfrey? If he's close to Godfrey for overall value, I'd think we're taking the WR over another CB. But then again, as a great man once said; you can never have enough cornerbacks...............

 

[BrAinPaiNt]

I doubt they had Mendenhall that much higher, and thats probably why it was debated.

Several people said this morning the guy they really wanted was Stewart, so Werder's report that Mendenhall was #2 RB on their board was probably wrong

and if they were close, then obviously having someone who could stretch the field and make big plays in 3 phases (runs, receiver out of backfield and split wide, and kick returns) makes more sense.

And for those who want to keep quoting the "combine 40 time!!!!" to me, I dont care. WATCH the games to make the real judgement, and when you do, Jones sticks out because he is constantly making big plays.

David

From what Norm stated.

They had three RBs in their Tier 1 grade. McFadden, Stewart and Mendenhall.

They had one RB in their Tier 2 grade. Felix Jones

So by their own board they had Mendenhall graded higher.

I wanted Mendenhall but have no problems with their reasons for taking Felix.

But it would seem that they ignored their own board in this case. Maybe they ranked the Tier 1 RBs and just figured they would never fall to them so they already had Felix as their man from the get go.

Who knows...just odd that they had him ranked as a tier 2 back and passed up someone they had rated as a tier 1 back.

 

[jswalker1981]

so basically it doesnt matter to you that one guy was far more producitve over his 3yrs than the other? Also, Jones didnt start because he played alongside a top-5 pick...Mendenhall couldnt even beat out an undrafted f/a for the starting job...

hey I liked Mendenhall some too, but there's certainly nothing wrong with Jones...he played in the best conference, vs the best defensive talent and most speed, and he was incredibly productive and explosive

David

Don't start making sense.

Logic confuses some people.

 

[jsond]

It's got nothing to do with stats. If anything, playing alongside McFadden actually hurts Jones. Call it the Hambrick Syndrome where a player looks better behind a good RB, than actually being 'the man' himself.

And your comment about Mendenhall saying he could not beat out an undrafted FA is a bit puzzling. As a backup, Mendenhall had 78 carries for 640 yards (8.2 avg). To me, it seems like a case of just not getting a chance. But if we were to hold players by the same standard, we can only assume that Romo was not as good as Bledsoe, Colombo not as good as Petitti, Barber not as good as Jones, etc.,

As I clearly stated before, I want the player who is the best. Not the one that is simply different and gives the best change of pace. I want a player who can step in for an injured player and have no drop off. If Mendenhall was the higher rated player as the Cowboys FO has said, then take him. Rely on what you have scouted, seen and put down on paper about these prospects rather than simply who will give us a change of pace.

If Jones was the higher rated of the two, then I would have no problem. But it just bugs me we simply are not taking the best available player at a position we draft at.

Amen brotha.

Listening to comments like "he is too much like Marion Barber", etc. as reasoning for not taking him is laughable. Too much like a pro bowler and a guy who brings such electricity to the team is a bad thing. Wow. Figured Jerry would fall in love with someone who is the perfect compliment to Barber. But when Mendenhall was on the board even I thought he couldn't pass on him..wrong again. Why it is so bad to have 2 running backs who are similar in skill compared to having a less talented one with a different skill set to Barber is confusing to me. Steelers didn't even have a big need at RB but were practically tripping over themselves to get him in there after the boys passed on him. Keep hearing how 2 running backs were chosen after dallas took felix. Yeah I am sure Pittsburgh would have took Felix if we took Mendenhall. Can only imagine the celebration in that war room after we went for a guy who is a much better "role player" as opposed to just a better overall back.

 

[jswalker1981]

I like Godfrey: saw him play a few times last season on TV. BUT, I would really like to snag a WR at some point: Monk? Is he higher on most boards than Godfrey? If he's close to Godfrey for overall value, I'd think we're taking the WR over another CB. But then again, as a great man once said; you can never have enough cornerbacks...............

I expect Jones to draft a WR, and obviously he wanted Sweed, but we traded our 5th and 7th round picks to move up for Jenkins, so I don't think he wanted to give up too much more. Especially if he has other WRs ranked high. There will be some WRs that fall further, like Bowman.

 

[dbair1967]

It also allows you to utilize both of them at the same time. How many times does it take for you people to understand. If we took Mendenhall, he would have seen the field less than Felix Jones will. He would've only played IF Barber got hurt and to give him a bit of a break. Jones can do many more things and Garrett will get him involved in the offense in many ways. The bottom line is opposing defenses are going to have a lot of trouble with him, sort of like Westbrook with Philly.

Jason Garrett is very creative, and it was obvious after listening to JJ today that they already have a good idea of all the different ways they can utilize FeJo, including splitting him out wide some (and thats actually something he did at Arkansas)

He can just do more for our situation than Mendenhall can.

David

 

[dbair1967]

Steelers didn't even have a big need at RB but were practically tripping over themselves to get him in there after the boys passed on him. Keep hearing how 2 running backs were chosen after dallas took felix. Yeah I am sure Pittsburgh would have took Felix if we took Mendenhall. Can only imagine the celebration in that war room after we went for a guy who is a much better "role player" as opposed to just a better overall back.

Know why? Because Mendenhall is the polar opposite of Parker(and Parker is coming off an injury too)

David

 

[Hoofbite]

Not that I don't love the Jones pick, but who would have thought that having two Marion Barber's would be a bad thing????

Kind of what I am thinking. Guy earns every inch and doesn't ever quit yet somehow its a bad thing to have another one.

 

[BadWolf]

I would be so happy if we could get Schmitt. The t-shirt sales alone would pay his salary.

I can just picture a t-shirt with Schmitt dancing in the end zone while in the foreground there are heaps of beat-up Commander, giant, and eagle players and at the bottom it reads, "You ain't got Schmitt". Money!

And if we can get Booty also... Schmitt and Booty were meant for each other.

 

[Walker]

I was a little upset at first about the pick but it makes more sense now. Some mentioned why is having two Barbers a bad thing. Barber can play better against certain teams and might not be as effective against other teams. By having Felix Jones that gives you a new form of a 1-2 punch. Felix Jones may be more effective than a Barber style against certain teams. You can game plan more effective against teams when you got more versatility. Everyone here has crowned Garrett the new head coach in a few years, well this has Garrett written all over it. He just got himself a new toy and can open up the play book more.

 

[Bob Sacamano]

From what Norm stated.

They had three RBs in their Tier 1 grade. McFadden, Stewart and Mendenhall.

They had one RB in their Tier 2 grade. Felix Jones

So by their own board they had Mendenhall graded higher.

I wanted Mendenhall but have no problems with their reasons for taking Felix.

But it would seem that they ignored their own board in this case. Maybe they ranked the Tier 1 RBs and just figured they would never fall to them so they already had Felix as their man from the get go.

Who knows...just odd that they had him ranked as a tier 2 back and passed up someone they had rated as a tier 1 back.

it's a little different, but Brady Quinn was #7 on their board last year, and they ignored that

I know everyone hates this word, but need plays a big part in how you draft, and we don't need a 2-down, backup, we need a complement to Barber, we also need a kick returner too

 

[jjktkk]

Help me out here. If Barber is a guy we really value (and we do), and we want to keep him fresh by not having him carry a full workload (and we do), then why would having TWO Marion Barbers be a bad thing? If Dallas had Mendenhall rated higher but took Jones anyway, it's just mind-numbingly idiotic.

Because Jones offers more versatility than Mendenhall. Besidea sharing carries with Barber, Jones also is a outstanding kickoff returner.

 

[marchetta]

Chris Ellis and Bruce Davis are tremendous pass-rushers, Chris kind of struggles when ran at, and Davis looked good standing up as a LB in the Senior Bowl, both are going to be rush-backers in the pros, Davis could potentially move to ILB in the 3-4 because he's on the short-side, coincidentally, I've been pimping Chris Ellis and me and Vintage have been pimping Davis for awhile now

Godfrey is a huge, fast CB who is on the raw side, but he has a really high ceiling

Drew Boylhart (thehuddlereport.com) loves Godfrey. He thinks he had late 1st, or early 2nd, rd talent. Getting him in the 3rd rd would be a steal. It may create a log jam with all the DBs on the team, but you really can't have enough good ones. Plus, Godfrey is so big, and aggressive, you could possibly convert him to Safety.

 

[Bob Sacamano]

Drew Boylhart (thehuddlereport.com) loves Godfrey. He thinks he had late 1st, or early 2nd, rd talent. Getting him in the 3rd rd would be a steal. It may create a log jam with all the DBs on the team, but you really can't have enough good ones. Plus, Godfrey is so big, and aggressive, you could possibly convert him to Safety.

speaking of which, Reggie Smith hasn't been drafted, I wouldn't mind taking a flyer on him either

 

[Oh_Canada]

In the end, scouts thought that Mendenhall was too much like Marion Barber.

spot on - great analysis and love Felix Jones there!

Ummm....you might want to check that....the kid is faster than Jones and much faster than Barber. I still think this is going to be another Randy Moss or Stephan Jackson moment in Cowboy history.