And now...the Parcells' drafts....
2003
No. Player Pos. School
1 Terence Newman CB Kansas State --- Good CB, but more of a #2 guy and kind of old.
2 Al Johnson C Wisconsin --- lack of size cost him an NFL starting position.
3 Jason Witten TE Tennessee --- star. I may be overstating, but could end up in the HOF if things go well.
4 Bradie James LB LSU --- Maybe a poor fit for the scheme, maybe just not good enough. Playmaker, but one with coverage problems.
5 No selection: Traded to New England along with 7th-round choice in 2002 obtained from Miami for 5th-round choice in 2002
6a B.J. Tucker DB Wisconsin
6b Zuriel Smith WR Hampton --- productive return guy.
7 Justin Bates G Colorado
likely yeild: early 1st, early 2nd, early 3rd + should yeild 1 borderline star, 1 good starter, 1-2 good backups.
Yeild: 1 very good starter (Witten), 1 good starter (Newman), 2 great backups/below average starters (Johnson, James), 1 backup (Smith)
Rick Gosselin Grade: C
My thoughts: I thought this was pretty good draft, but considering the draft position, it should have been. A very parcells draft. I thought Newman was a poor man's Aaron Glenn (ie. not as good), and I don't think I am wrong about that. Glenn made the pro bowl pretty early in his career, if memory serves, and made a few appearances. (I hope The Donkey Punch will set me straight if I am wrong there...) Newman still is yet to make a pro bowl, although he does seem to be nearing that level. I didn't like the idea of leaving franchise QBs on the table to take a guy would might be no more than a short careered very good #2 CB. Newman is attackably short for his position. Johnson lacked the bulk for his. Witten was a little light draft day if I recall and his blocking was suspect. James a little slow...Do you get what I mean when I say it is a very typical Parcells draft? All of the guys are good, effective players, but IMO, you should look a little more at top talent in the first round --- especially if you have the #5 pick. In some ways this is a really good draft and in others it isn't. There certainly are good contributors there, but Witten developed into an elite player, so can it really be considered great drafting? or good drafting feeding players who fit the scheme to coaches who develop them? Not sure. It is very solid though in that Parcells in his drafting philosophy hits for the bases in the early rounds. Parcells fills backup positions and specialist spots in the late rounds. All very different from Jerry's latter day philosophy of taking slightly safer risks in the early rounds and wildly swinging in the later rounds.
2004
Rd. No. Player Pos. School
1 No selection: Traded to Buffalo for 2nd- and 5th-round choices in 2004 and 1st-round choice in 2005
2a 43 Julius Jones RB Notre Dame --- a solid starting HB. Capable of delivering 1000 yard seasons. Just not great.
2b 52 Jacob Rogers OL Southern California
3 83 Stephen Peterman OL LSU
4 121 Bruce Thornton CB Georgia
5 144 Sean Ryan TE Boston College
7a 205 Nathan Jones CB Rutgers
7b 216 Patrick Crayton WR Northwestern Oklahoma State --- I am with Hate. I like this kid a lot.
7c 233 Jacques Reeves CB Purdue
likely yeild: 1 mid 2nd, 1 late 2nd, late 3rd + should yeild 1 starter, 1-2 backups.
Yeild: 1 solid starter (Jones), 1 backup type (Crayton)
Rick Gosselin Grade: C
My thoughts: Flat out a mediocre draft. I like Crayton, but I have a feeling he won't ever be given a shot in Dallas and then the draft will look even worse to people if he is cut or moved. I think the 2004 and 2005 drafts really show you how much of a role draft slot placement in the first 3 rounds have in making a team look like they can draft. This draft yeilded about what could be expected, but it looks like a really bad draft. We passed on Stephen Jackson. Ouch.
2005
Rd. No. Player Pos. School
1 11 Demarcus Ware DE Troy --- a real gem of a player.
1 20 Marcus Spears DE LSU
2 42 Kevin Burnett LB Tennessee
4 109 Marion Barber III RB Minnesota --- Doesn't look smooth enough to be a good, long-lasting, starting NFL runner, but very productive off the bench.
4 132 Chris Canty DE Virginia
6 208 Justin Beriault S Ball State
6 209 Rob Petitti OT Pittsburgh
7 224 Jay Ratliff DT Auburn
likely yeild: early 1st, mid 1st, mid 2nd, + should yeild 2 good starters (possibly 3) and 1-2 backups.
Yeild: 1 very good starter (ware), 1 very good backup -possbly weak starter- (Barber), 3 backup types (Spears, Canty, Ratliff)
Rick Gosselin Grade: A
My thoughts: As of today, this is a failed draft. With two picks in the top 20 and a third choice at 42, the team should have come out with at least 2 starters for this to be considered a good draft. Canty, Spears, and Ratliff are nice talents, but where is the production? If you buy the groceries, you should have some responsibility in preparing the meals shouldn't you? Was this a failure by the coaching staff? I'd say so, with a figer pointed more directly at Parcells. while all 3 players have the talent to be OL blocking fodder in Parcells' 3-4, they clearly aren't those type of players. I hope and expect that all three will have a lot more success in Phillip's 3-4 which does a lot to free up it's linemen to attack the passer. But they could just be cut. Barber is the current sweetheart of cowboy fans. I like him, but I am not sold that he is a feature back or that a Jones/Barber mix will be sufficient long term, but that is neither here nor there. He was a good pick in the 4th round. I think again you can see the Parcell's drafting style. With the exception of ware, none of these guys are exceptional, explosive talents.
2006
Rd. No. Player Pos. School
1 18 Bobby Carpenter LB Ohio State
2 53 Anthony Fasano TE Notre Dame
3 92 Jason Hatcher DE Grambling State
4 125 Skyler Green WR LSU
5 138 Pat Watkins FS Florida State --- Pressed into a starting role. has some potential, but not there yet.
6 182 Montavious Stanley DT Louisville
7 211 Pat McQuistan OT Weber State
7 224 E.J. Whitley C Texas Tech
likely yeild: mid 1st, late 2nd, late 3rd + should yeild 1 good starters, 1-2 backups.
Yeild: 1 weak starter (Watkins), 3 backup types (Hatcher, Fasano, & Carpenter)
Rick Gosselin Grade: C
My thoughts: Another bad draft, as of today. You can argue that Parcells has filled the cowboys roster with talent, but how true is that? Isn't "Prospect" just another way of saying you haven't done anything yet? It is fairly common that new coaching staffs clear out the old staff's prospects to bring in "their guys". How many of these guys will be on the roster on opening day? I hope many of them.
I don't mean to be gloomy about any of this. I fully feel that Wade Phillips' staff will be a ton more successful in devloping the young DLs and LBs parcells' drafted than Bill's staff was. That in turn will rehabilitate Parcells' Dallas drafting record, but as of today, if you look strictly at results, you have to agree with Jerry's statement at the Leonard Davis press conference (about 16 minutes in) that the team has sufferred in the last 3 drafts.
I hope I have cleared up some of the confusion about my looking forward to Jerry's draft now. I really believe he has become competent in drafting, if not slightly above average after taking a well deserved beating those first few years. It is everywhere else that I still have a bone to grind with him...
I hope he lands a fast FS or CB in the first round and nabs a couple of big linemen in the 2nd and 3rd. I look forward to the cowboys taking risks again on draft day, but I hope they will continue to be calculated risks in the first three rounds, as has been jerry's practice in his later drafts.
Why draft a TE with Witten on the roster so you can play 2TE sets so you can leave one on the line to help out instead of drafting OL to help on the OL? Hatcher similar thing I appreciate you need back ups but in the third round after youve just spent a 1st, 4th and 7th the year before on that exact position? Dont get me wrong I cant wait to see hatcher play this year but question the reasoning.
