Updating the list of players the Boys have shown interest in AGAIN:

[silverbear]

Just since yesterday, I have learned of 11 other players the Boys have shown extra interest in leading up to the draft, and thought I'd add them to the list...

In the days since I first posted my list of players the Boys have shown interest in, I have learned about more players to be included on that list... for the purposes of this discussion, "showing some interest in" includes:

1) Meeting with a player at the Senior Bowl...

2) Meeting with a player at the Combine...

3) Attending a private workout for an individual player...

4) Inviting a player to Dallas for a private workout...

Not included are rumors on message boards, LOL...

Anyway, here's the list, by position:


WIDE RECEIVER (11 prospects)

Mike Williams, WR, USC... 6-6, 230 lbs., 4.55 sec. 40... 1st round

Troy Williamson, WR, South Carolina... 6-2, 200 lbs., 4.35 sec. 40... 1st round

Roddy White, WR, Alabama-Birmingham... 6-2, 206 lbs., 4.45 sec. 40... 1st or 2nd round

Mark Clayton, WR, Oklahoma... 5-11, 186 lbs., 4.4 sec. 40... 1st or 2nd round

Terrence Murphy, WR, Texas A&M... 6-1, 200 lbs., 4.4 sec. 40... 2nd round

Matt Jones, WR/TE, Arkansas... 6-6, 240 lbs., 4.4 sec. 40... 2nd round

Reggie Brown, WR, Georgia... 6-2, 200 lbs., 4.45 sec. 40... 2nd or 3rd round

Courtney Roby, WR, Indiana... 5-11, 195 lbs., 4.4 sec. 40... 2nd or 3rd
round

Fred Gibson, WR, Georgia... 6-4, 200 lbs., 4.55 sec. 40... 3rd round

Steve Savoy, WR, Utah... 5-11, 186 lbs., 4.55 sec. 40... 4th or 5th round

Thomson Omboga, WR/KR, Missouri... 6-2, 195 lbs., 4.55 sec. 40... 7th round or undrafted rookie free agent

Comments-- with 11 WRs targeted (more than any other single position), it becomes obvious that the Boys are looking to upgrade their WR corps... with 8 of those 10 wideouts likely to be drafted on the first day, it looks as if the Boys will draft a wideout fairly early on...


DEFENSIVE END (10 prospects)

Shawne Merriman, DE/OLB, Maryland... 6-4, 275 lbs., 4.65 sec. 40... 1st round

Marcus Spears, DE/DT, LSU... 6-4, 306 lbs., 4.9 sec. 40... 1st round

Erasmus James, DE, Wisconsin... 6-4, 265 lbs., 4.75 sec. 40... 1st round

David Pollack, DE, Georgia... 6-2, 275 lbs., 4.7 sec. 40... 1st round

Matt Roth, DE, Iowa... 6-4, 280 lbs., 4.75 sec. 40... 1st or 2nd round

Dan Cody, DE, Oklahoma... 6-6, 260 lbs., 4.75 sec. 40... 2nd round

Demarcus Ware, DE/OLB, Troy... 6-4, 250 lbs., 4.5 sec. 40... 2nd round

Bill Swancutt, DE, Oregon State... 6-4, 270 lbs., 4.9 sec. 40... 3rd round

Jim Davis, DE, Virginia Tech... 6-4, 275 lbs., 4.8 sec. 40... 3rd or 4th round

George Gause, DE, South Carolina... 6-5, 275 lbs., 4.85 sec. 40... 4th or 5th round

Comments-- 10 DEs have been targeted (that we know of), 8-9 of them likely first day picks... after WR, this appears to be the strongest area of interest for the Boys in the days leading up to the draft...


OFFENSIVE LINE (8 prospects)

Alex Barron, OT, Florida State... 6-6, 316 lbs., 5.1 sec. 40... 1st round

Khalif Barnes, OT, Washington... 6-5, 310 lbs., 4.95 sec. 40... late 1st, early 2nd round

Adam Snyder, OG/OT, Oregon... 6-4, 316 lbs., 5.2 sec. 40... 2nd or 3rd round

Chris Kemoeatu, OG, Utah... 6-4, 346 lbs., 5.25 sec. 40... 3rd or 4th round

Claude Terrell, OG, New Mexico... 6-2, 346 lbs., 5.35 sec. 40... 3rd or 4th
round

Ray Willis, OT, Florida State... 6-6, 325 lbs., 5.2 sec. 40... 4th or 5th round...

Junius Coston, C, North Carolina A&T... 6-3, 310 lbs., 5.1 sec. 40... 4th or 5th round

Geir Gudmundsen, OT, Albany... 6-6, 310 lbs., 5.35 sec. 40... 7th round or undrafted rookie free agency...

Comments-- judging from this list, look for the Boys to draft an OL in the 3rd or 4th round range...


DEFENSIVE TACKLE (5 prospects)

Anttaj Hawthorne, DT, Wisconsin... 6-3, 316 lbs., 5.05 sec. 40... 1st or 2nd round

Travis Johnson, DT, Florida State... 6-4, 300 lbs., 4.9 sec. 40... 1st or 2nd round

Shaun Cody, DT/DE, USC... 6-4, 295 lbs., 4.95 sec. 40... 1st or 2nd round

Jonathan Babineaux, DT/DE/LB, Iowa... 6-2, 286 lbs., 4.85 sec. 40... 2nd or 3rd round

Sione Pouha, DT, Utah... 6-3, 325 lbs., 5.0 sec. 40... 4th or 5th round

Comments-- even with the signing of Jason Ferguson, don't be surprised if the Boys add a DT at some point in this draft, for depth's sake...


FREE SAFETY (3 prospects)

Brodney Pool, FS, Oklahoma... 6-1, 210 lbs., 4.5 sec. 40... 1st or 2nd round

Josh Bullocks, FS, Nebraska... 6-1, 210 lbs., 4.45 sec. 40... 2nd round

Gerald Sensabaugh, FS, North Carolina... 6-1, 216 lbs., 4.45 sec. 40... 3rd or 4th round

Comments-- though the Boys still have a fairly sizable hole on their roster at FS, they don't seem to be looking at a lot of safeties in this draft... the ones they are checking out all seem to be first day types... this leads me to believe that they plan on signing a free agent free safety before the start of training camp, otherwise I have to believe they'd be focused on a lot more free safeties than just these 3 in the draft...


RUNNING BACK (5 prospects)

Ronnie Brown, RB, Auburn... 6-1, 235 lbs., 4.45 sec. 40... 1st round

Eric Shelton, RB, Louisville... 6-2, 245 lbs., 4.55 sec. 40... 3rd or 4th round

Darren Sproles, RB/KR, Kansas State... 5'6, 180 lbs., 4.45 sec. 40... 4th or 5th round

Ryan Grant, RB, Notre Dame... 6-1, 216 lbs., 4.55 sec. 40... 5th or 6th round

Colt Colletti, RB, Nicholls State... 5-9, 216 lbs., 4.5 sec. 40... 7th round or undrafted rookie free agent

Comments-- the Boys are reportedly in the market for a big, bruising change of pace back to complement Julius Jones... Brown will be long gone before the Boys draft, so I don't understand the Boys' interest in him, but Shelton might be just the sort of back they're looking for...


LINEBACKERS (5 prospects)

Derrick Johnson, OLB, Texas... 6-4, 245 lbs., 4.55 sec. 40... 1st round

Ernest Shazor, OLB/SS, Michigan... 6-4, 230 lbs., 4.6 sec. 40... 1st or 2nd
round

Jeb Huckeba, MLB, Arkansas... 6-5, 250 lbs., 4.65 sec. 40... 5th or 6th round... most pro scouts project him to DE, but I look at his career sacks in college (zero), and come to the conclusion that a dynamic pass rusher, he isn't... but he HAS played MLB in college, and his numbers look very good when projected to that position...

Leroy Hill, LB/SS, Clemson... 6-1, 230 lbs., 4.6 sec. 40... 5th or 6th round

Kurt Campbell, OLB/SS, Albany... 6-1, 225 lbs., 4.45 sec. 40... 7th round or undrafted rookie free agent

Comments-- I find it interesting that many of these linebacker prospects either played safety in college, or are projected to safety by some NFL scouts...


CORNERBACK (3 prospects)

Justin Miller, CB/KR, Clemson... 5-11, 200 lbs., 4.45 sec. 40... 1st or 2nd round

Marlin Jackson, CB/FS, Michigan... 6-1, 200 lbs., 4.45 sec. 40... 1st or 2nd round

Taqiy Muhammad, DB/WR, South Carolina... 5-11, 186 lbs;, 4.4 sec. 40... 7th round or priority undrafted rookie free agent




FULLBACK (1 prospect)

Issa Banna, FB, Northwestern State... 5-11, 235 lbs., 4.95 sec. 40... 7th
round or undrafted rookie free agent

Comments-- this guy seems awfully slow by NFL standards, but he is a converted offensive lineman, and is reportedly a very aggressive and physical blocker...

TIGHT END/FULLBACK (1 prospect)

Neal Philpot, TE/FB, Pittsburg State... 6-6, 255 lbs, 4.7 sec. 40... 7th round
or undrafted rookie free agent

Comments-- Philpot is making the transition from quarterback, and he might wind up at either TE or FB in the NFL... he has the look of a classic H-back...


PUNTER (1 prospect)

Dustin Colquitt, P, Tennessee... 6-2, 210 lbs., 4.7 sec. 40... 4th or 5th round

Comments-- though the Boys were pleased with the play of Mat McBriar last year, they still sat down with Colquitt at the Senior Bowl... perhaps they just view Dustin as a special talent... or perhaps this interest is a smoke screen...

OK, there they are, 53 different players that I know the Boys have shown some interest in... of course, it's quite likely that there other prospects on their radar screen, players I just haven't heard about yet... it's also possible, even likely, that they'll draft some players who they don't bring in for a workout, players who are at this point not on the radar screen... at least, players that the mediots don't yet know about...

I think if you look at which positions they have targeted, and the rankings of the players at those positions, you can get a good feel for their overall draft plans this year... looks like they'll be looking at DE and WR early on, perhaps a FS on the first day, and they'll likely take a look at offensive line help in the 3rd or 4th round range...

 

[Natedawg44]

Thanks Silver Bear I love reading your posts

 

[silverbear]

Thanks Silver Bear I love reading your posts

You're quite welcome... I am an avid draftaholic, and I enjoy sharing what my research turns up...

 

[MLBrandow]

where do you find this from? And can you obtain it for the other 31 teams? Or is this just a composite nosedive in newspapers and internet publications? I'd be very interested to see lists from other teams as well (have searched all over). Please let me know, thanks!

 

[silverbear]

where do you find this from? And can you obtain it for the other 31 teams? Or is this just a composite nosedive in newspapers and internet publications? I'd be very interested to see lists from other teams as well (have searched all over). Please let me know, thanks!

LOL... if you knew the hours I put in trying to find "inside" info on the Boys, you'd realize there ain't no way that ANYBODY could do that for all 32 teams...

I wish I could be more help on this one, you're not the first who has asked me that...

 

[BigWillie]

Issa Banna, IIRC, isn't he the power lifter that almost made the Olympics for the Ukraine or someone like that?

 

[silverbear]

Issa Banna, IIRC, isn't he the power lifter that almost made the Olympics for the Ukraine or someone like that?

I believe this guy is of Arabic descent, IIRC...

 

[BrAinPaiNt]

Great work again Silverbear...and if the list of invitees from last year and who we drafted is any indication then we should see at least a couple of those guys on year list in the draft if things go JJ and Bills way.

great post thanks.

 

[BigWillie]

Ah, I was close. After looking it up, Banna almost made the Olympics in the shot-put for the Jordanian National Team.

Also, I found that Banna is holding a private workout April 8th (tommorow) for the Cowboys. The only two teams showing real interest in Banna at this time are the Cowboys and 49ers.

 

[Natedawg44]

Hey Silverbear are you ready to put a mock out there of your own. Everyone in here is usually pushing their own agena with a mock or trashing someone else's Your's is one I'd really like to read.

 

[silverbear]

Ah, I was close. After looking it up, Banna almost made the Olympics in the shot-put for the Jordanian National Team.

Also, I found that Banna is holding a private workout April 8th (tommorow) for the Cowboys. The only two teams showing real interest in Banna at this time are the Cowboys and 49ers.

That's right, now that you mention it I do recall reading Banna was a shot-putter...

Perhaps the reason only 2 teams have interest in Issa is that 4.95 second 40 time... that's awfully slow by NFL standards, and you have to wonder if he'd have the agility to pick up the blitzing safety...

I'm actually somewhat more intrigued by Philpot, the college quarterback who looks like a TE or FB conversion project in the NFL... 6-4, nearly 260 pounds, and runs the 40 in 4.7 seconds or thereabouts... I think I'd rather give him a chance to win a job at FB...

 

[silverbear]

Hey Silverbear are you ready to put a mock out there of your own. Everyone in here is usually pushing their own agena with a mock or trashing someone else's Your's is one I'd really like to read.

I figure I'll post a final take in the week before the draft... at that point, I'll be trying to figure out who I think the Cowboys might draft, rather than who I'd like to see them draft... in order to have my draft have some chance at accuracy, I'd like to wait for all the input I can assemble...

 

[BigWillie]

I'd be more inclined to pick up Banna as an UDFA and use him in an Jamar Martin type role. Put him in for definite running situations and just let him maul people. He is supposedly a complete bruiser at FB, I guess you can thank the shot putters body for that. I know I wouldn't want to get in front of a freight train like that...YIKES!

Although all that muscle mass is probably what causes his 40 time to be so low as well.

Banna is quite the intriguing prospect to say the least. He could be a gem, but more than likely could/will be a nobody.

 

[InmanRoshi]

According to the paysite I'm a member of, Dallas had a one-on-one interview with Shaun Cody at the Combine.

 

[gollum]

According to the paysite I'm a member of, Dallas had a one-on-one interview with Shaun Cody at the Combine.

Jennifer Floyd Engel of FWST was on the radio here locally and asked who the Cowboys were high on(she went to the combine I believe), she said they really liked Cody.

 

[ghst187]

no Jonathan Goddard, breaks my heart