TLH: Scouting Report on Travis Frederick

NeonDeion21

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When the Dallas Cowboys traded down in April's NFL draft and selected center Travis Frederick from Wisconsin, they did so for two reasons. The first being the hole at center that has handicapped the team for some years. But the second reason why the Cowboys decided to draft a center in the first round is because of the relatively safety of the position. First round centers have a very low bust rate in the NFL. In the last eight NFL Drafts, there have only been six centers drafted in the first round. But those six players are as followed:

2006 – New York Jets’ Nick Mangold – 29th overall selection
2009 – Cleveland Browns’ Alex Mack – 21st overall selection
2009 – Buffalo Bills’ Eric Wood – 28th overall selection
2010 - Pittsburgh Steelers’ Maurkice Pouncey – 18th overall selection
2011 – Miami Dolphins’ Mike Pouncey – 15th overall selection
2013- Dallas Cowboys’ Travis Frederick – 31st overall selection


The first five on that list have all been productive, solid players in the NFL. None of them have busted. Nick Mangold and Maurkice Pouncey have both been All-Pro players, while Alex Mack and Mike Pouncey have both made it to the Pro Bowl. So does this mean that Travis Frederick will have an All-Pro career like these other centers? No. But what it does mean is that highly thought of centers like Frederick seem to fare well in the NFL. There is a sense that in the NFL community that drafting a center in the first round is a "safe" decision. And with the amount of early round picks that haven't panned out for Dallas (Felix Jones, Mike Jenkins, Bobby Carpenter, Martellus Bennett, etc) the team decided to swing for a double instead of a home run. Too often teams decide to "swing for the fences" in the draft by selecting players with enormous upside instead of solid, unspectacular football players. Far too often the Cowboys are guilty of doing this.

Read the rest at: http://thelandryhat.com/2013/08/18/scouting-report-dallas-cowboys-travis-frederick/
 
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