BrAinPaiNt;4968595 said:
I don't think that both players will be gone by the 18th pick.
What some may consider in re framing the idea of looking at other players is...what if the Cowboys are not interested in Warmack or Cooper or any other OL in the first round.
Maybe they wind up thinking that a 3 tech DT is what they want to look at.
Maybe they wind up thinking that a top Safety is what they want to look at.
Maybe they wind up thinking a top 4-3 DE is what they want to look at.
Maybe they wind up thinking a top LB to team with Carter and Lee is what they want to look at.
Yeah, the team doesn't look at guard as an impact position.
In the past they've said the "impact" positions (Read: positions you use a first round pick on) are (if you run a 4-3): QB, WR, RB, OT, DE, DT, CB. Obviously, if you run a 3-4 defense you replace DE with OLB.
Going back to the year Jerry Jones bought the Cowboys (1989) and looking at the position played by the first round picks shows those positions are of particular focus (NI = Non Impact position):
1989 - QB
1990 - RB
1991 - DT and WR
1992 - CB and MLB..........MLB is NI
1993 - No Pick
1994 - DE
1995 - No Pick
1996 - No Pick
1997 - TE.................TE is NI
1998 - DE
1999 - DE
2000 - No Pick
2001 - No Pick
2002 - S...................S is NI
2003 - CB
2004 - No Pick
2005 - DE and OLB........in a 34 defense DE is NI and OLB is impact
2006 - OLB
2007 - OLB
2008 - RB and CB
2009 - No Pick
2010 - WR
2011 - OT
2012 - CB
In those years, Dallas took 21 first round picks and of those, only 4 weren't among the impact positions I listed above.
This isn't really unusual league wide either. Those positions are the one's you typically see going in the first round. There is always a guard or two in the first, but if you compare that to the number of cornerbacks, offensive tackles, or defensive tackles for instance... way fewer guards are taken than those positions. The thinking is that a corner shutting down a team's top WR impacts the game a lot more than a guard does. That a DE sacking the other team's QB and making them punt impacts a game more than a guard does, etc.
These days you can almost take RB off of the list too because of the way clubs have devalued the position, but historically, it has been among the impact positions.
Anyway, Dallas sticks pretty closely to this list when picking in the first round.
So, if you look at the Cowboys needs (in no particular order: Safety, OG, DE, DT, backup RB, OLB, OT) you can guess with reasonable accuracy which positions they will likely choose from in the first round.
Since 43 OLB isn't an impact position, the likely positions are:
DE
DT
OT
However, that's not to say Dallas
will take one of those three positions. OT, for instance is way down the list of needs with Free and Parnell on board, so I see that as not likely in round 1.
Also, with Monte Kiffin now running the defense, safety could now be so important and our current cast so weak that the Cowboys see it as an impact position and a viable candidate for being taken in round 1.
The grades the scouts assign will obviously impact things as well. If the scouts see Warmack as the next Larry Allen, and his grade is significantly above those of the DT's and DE's left on the board, then I can see a guard being taken round 1 in that instance.
Plus, things are impacted by free agency (if we sign Spencer you can take DE off the list of needs), so really, who knows?
Personally, I think there is a very good shot of a DT being taken. I don't think OT will be the pick, but I think that guard could be if things fall that way. Safety could be the pick too, but I don't see that as very likely.
Both the G and the safety pick would probably come with a trade back and us picking up extra picks. For that reason, I think Cooper is more likely than Warmack, who probably wouldn't be there in a trade back scenario.
Anyway, it is all speculation at this point... but that's half the fun of it.
