Not sure, IMHO.
I see our recent drafts and I don't see the gurus in the front office really make some great decisons with the first few round let alone unearthing talent that others overlook.
2008 Draft:
Felix Jones - Not a real shocker here as everyone in the country knew Jerry was going fellow Razorback...Hard to look at this as unearthing anything...We hear a lot about how the Mendenhall pick will be compared but you might as well include Chris Johnson in there too, especially considering his versatility.
Mike Jenkins - Can look at this two ways, he got overlooked by 3 other teams who went DB but not Jenkins in the 1st round...This despite being hyped for some time as among the best in the draft...I dare say even Cason who went a couple of picks later has looked better...Still, can't be considered a reach with this pick, more like following the generic board with the pick in terms of highest rated (From the consensus) DB left.
Martellus Bennett - High & Tight may end up being a pretty decent TE but for the life of me I can't understand the logic in the pick after dealing Fasano for a 4th (Another 2nd rounder from before)...Particularly considering Jerry considered trading up into the early 2nd round to go after a WR (WRs that all have made impacts already in Hardy, Royal and Jackson)...All the more interesting from a scouting perspective since it seemed that many were enamoured with Royal's stock after the combine...Apparently, everyone except the Cowboys.
Tashard Choice - Great value pick in the 4th round but still begs the question why go RB when that area doesn't seem to be a great area of need...Curious why a guy so talented lasted that long to begin with but as we've already begun to learn, this has been a helluva RB draft class...Still, not sure this is a diamond in the rough kind of pick...Feels like it was simply 'the best player available' paradigm at work here.
2007 Draft
Anthony Spencer - Had some great hype going into the draft but a little bit of a surprise pick in the 1st round for Dallas.
James Marten - So good with a 3rd pick that he's already a member of the worst run organization in sports, the Raiders.
Stanback & Free - The 4th round picks...Gambles on both, jury still out on Stanback.
2006 Draft
Bobby Carpenter - Closer to living up to the Barbie moniker than he is as a LB in the NFL...Getting my fill of some NFL action yesterday, I was reminded in many games how LBs are not all soft...Could be the worst 1st round pick for the club in many years.
Anthony Fasano - 2nd round pick, dealt with another player for a 4th rounder...1 step forward, 3 steps back...Is this how you make your team better?...By compounding bad choices in dealing them for less and then trying it again with a 2nd rounder
Jason Hatcher - Probably was considered a reach at the time but not a bad selection in retrospect with the 3rd rounder.
Meanwhile, in that time, there have been All Pros and key contributors drafted all around those very picks...More to the point, some teams have had the solid scouting to avoid the pitfalls in buying into hype on some players and also done their homework enough to find the gems.
Right now, the best work I can give the Cowboys credit for in the last 3 drafts is unearthing Scandrick and trusting in Nick Folk (Although Crosby still has done well).
But, seriously, where is the scouting for the club?...Cowboys have to be about the most vanilla drafting club in the league...They defy logic in drafting players they don't necessarily need and demonstrate a penchant for trying to cover one mistaken draft pick with a similar one a year later...Sure would like to see someone at the helm who actually has an eye for talent and occasionally we see a draft gem emerge on the boys instead of seeing them flourish elsewhere.
I see the Broncos with their stable of WRs and I realize they built those guys out of scouting the draft, not Mel's Top 10 players.
Just sayin', front office stinks when it comes to unearthing talent
