Graziano: Kiper's 'Grade A' draft: NFC East

[WoodysGirl]

Apr 17
3:10
PM ET
By Dan Graziano | ESPN.com

Our man Mel Kiper, Jr. has posted his annual "Grade A" draft preview, which he says is not a mock draft but rather a simulation of the way the first three rounds of the draft would go if he were making the picks for each team based on his evaluation of their needs and his own rankings of the players.

Dallas Cowboys

Round 1 (pick 18): Sylvester Williams, DT, North Carolina

Round 2 (pick 47): Larry Warford, G, Kentucky

Round 3 (pick 80): Joe Kruger, DE, Utah

My take: I think a lot of people would be surprised to see the Cowboys use two of their first three picks on defensive linemen. But given that they're transitioning to a 4-3 and have depth and age issues on the line, it's not a bad way to go. In Mel's scenario, the draft's top six offensive linemen all go in the top 12 (something that has never happened in draft history, but again, this isn't meant as a prediction), and the Cowboys are forced to wait until Round 2 to address their most desperate need. Picking Williams with safety Kenny Vaccaro still on the board might frustrate Cowboys fans who like Vaccaro and yearn for a big-play safety, but it also might be the smarter long-term value play.

Read the rest: http://espn.go.com/blog/nfceast/post/_/id/50477/kipers-grade-a-draft-nfc-east

 

[Questfor6]

I'd vomit if that was our first 3 picks

 

[tm1119]

If we were able to trade back 5 spots or so to pick up an extra 3rd and make the draft happen similarly I wouldn't mind it at all.

Sly
Warford
Phillip Thomas
Kruger

Not my ideal draft would I wouldn't hate it all that much.

 

[Picksix]

I'd vomit if that was our first 3 picks

I'd go easy on the hot dogs and beer, then. Just to be safe.

 

[xwalker]

Apr 17
Our man Mel Kiper, Jr. has posted his annual "Grade A" draft preview, which he says is not a mock draft but rather a simulation of the way the first three rounds of the draft would go if he were making the picks for each team based on his evaluation of their needs and his own rankings of the players.

Dallas Cowboys

Round 1 (pick 18): Sylvester Williams, DT, North Carolina

Round 2 (pick 47): Larry Warford, G, Kentucky

Round 3 (pick 80): Joe Kruger, DE, Utah

There is a good chance that they could trade down into the twenties and still get Sylvester Williams.

Warford does not fit the blocking scheme.

NFLDS has Joe Kruger ranked at #229 overall. ESPN has him lower.

 

[Questfor6]

I'd go easy on the hot dogs and beer, then. Just to be safe.

Well draft I might go no hot dogs but after about pick 17 I might go heavy on the brews

 

[HanfordDixon]

I love how fans always want to trade down like it's so simple.

Just trade down, slide down and get extra picks, why didn't they just trade down? Trade down already!

Its really not that simple. Somebody has to want to trade up. I'm not sure there'll be anybody at 18 enticing enough for somebody to trade up. And frankly, if this great value slips to 18, shouldn't we take him?

 

[SportsGuru80]

Call me crazy but I do not see both guards being gone at 18 so I'm hoping Cooper will be there and Dallas runs up there with the card to select him!

 

[Risen Star]

Those first two picks would be walk off home runs.

 

[Hoofbite]

I don't care for the "they're transitioning" argument for drafting DL.

Transitioning or not, you either have players or you don't. Can the players they have transition remains to be seen.

One thing that is a definite is that they don't have the players on the OL.

It just seems like a broken argument.

"They need DL because they're moving to 4-3 and don't have any DL"

Yeah but they don't have an OL either......

"But they're transitioning"

It just seems like Dallas should help itself the most, not try to fill positions simply because scheme changes are being made. I have much more confidence in the DL than I do the OL right now. Improved OL play is probably the area that will provide the biggest single boost to the team.

 

[TheCount]

Not a bad start. Probably a little more realistic than people might think.

 

[dallasfan4lizife]

first two picks are great.

We need an O-lineman and D-lineman in whatever order you chose, with our first two picks.

kruger isn't close to a 3rd round though, and if he is picked that high, it's mainly because of his name.

 

[CooterBrown]

I know who this guy is, but seriously, has he ever been right about who the Cowboys would draft?

 

[dallasfan4lizife]

we wouldn't be in this mess if we just traded stayed put and picked brockers.

but since we are, we better get the DT from Mizzou if he falls that far, else get cooper from UNC to help Romo....

Romo is this franchise now, so jerry put all his guns at getting the best o-line possible for the next 2-3 years.

 

[speedkilz88]

we wouldn't be in this mess if we just traded stayed put and picked brockers.

but since we are, we better get the DT from Mizzou if he falls that far, else get cooper from UNC to help Romo....

Romo is this franchise now, so jerry put all his guns at getting the best o-line possible for the next 2-3 years.

The Rams would have more than likely picked Brockers no matter what. He's the guy they coveted and only traded down to where they knew he would still be available.

 

[jterrell]

Not at all a fan.

Especially not considering his own big board.
He has us reaching 5 spots to draft Williams.
That makes literally zero sense when he has an OT and a S rated higher between 18 and Williams.

His rationale again is soft. At DT we have Jay Ratliff, Jason Hatcher, Sean Lissemore and Tyrone Crawford. That's a legit NFL rotation.

What exactly do we have at RT or S other than hopes and dreams?

A lot of folks like Warford. But good grief he tested poorly. He is severely overweight. He has no explosion at all. He jumped 22" for a vertical. My 10 year old daughter can jump 30" and she is 4 foot tall. He ran a horrendous 5.56. I mean this dude has no chance to run 100 yards. The game would be over.

And in most prospect rankings I see Warford mid 50s. That's another reach.

Then you finish with Kruger who CBS and ESPN both rank as a 6th round value....

Good grief. "A" draft my butt.

 

[TheRomoSexual]

we wouldn't be in this mess if we just traded stayed put and picked brockers.

but since we are, we better get the DT from Mizzou if he falls that far, else get cooper from UNC to help Romo....

Romo is this franchise now, so jerry put all his guns at getting the best o-line possible for the next 2-3 years.

Oh for crying out loud. I wish people would stop posting, "We could have landed X player if we didn't trade!" You have no idea how the trade affected the rest of the draft, so stop pretending like you do. Oh, and I'd say we'd be in a pretty big "mess" had we not drafted Claiborne--I wouldn't want to start the season with Scandrick at #2.

 

[Idgit]

The Rams would have more than likely picked Brockers no matter what. He's the guy they coveted and only traded down to where they knew he would still be available.

And we'd be scrambling for a CB.

 

[morasp]

we wouldn't be in this mess if we just traded stayed put and picked brockers.

but since we are, we better get the DT from Mizzou if he falls that far, else get cooper from UNC to help Romo....

Romo is this franchise now, so jerry put all his guns at getting the best o-line possible for the next 2-3 years.

A lot of people thought we might have picked Barron. In that case safety wouldn't be as big of an issue now.

 

[NorthTexan95]

I have no problem at all with Sly at 18. I'd think there's a good chance one of those top guards will be there but Sly is a good selection. I'm not sure Warford will be there for our second pick and I'm not sure he would be a good fit for what Garrett wants to do with the offensive line. Kruger ... eh ... but if Marinelli signs off then I'm good with it.