What Trevon Diggs reminds us again about drafting

[Runwildboys]

Good point. And I’m not saying Jones was no good at all for us. I just wanted to make the point that when drafting, pick a guy because he’s a great football player first, then the other stuff.

Was there anyone who fit the bill at the time?

 

[conner01]

With the overall 27th pick in the first round of the 2015 draft, the Cowboys drafted defensive back Byron Jones. He was considered an “athletic freak” from his combine performance including his 4.43 speed and his world record for standing broad-jump with a leap of 12-feet, 3-inches. Remember the video of Jones jumping over a car? He’s athleticism was off the charts.

Five years later, after not re-signing Byron Jones to a second contract and losing him to the Dolphins in Free agency, we drafted Trevon Diggs with the 51st pick in the draft in the second round. He did not have the “measurables” that Byron Jones had in the combine.

But who is a better football player- Diggs or Jones? Let’s look at the comparisons:

• Jones has 4 career INTs in 98 games, and is in his 7th NFL seasons.
  
• Diggs has 9 INTs in 17 games in his 2nd year (he missed 4 games last yr with a foot injury)
• Jones was a combine “freak” who was pretty good at football.
• Diggs is an outstanding football player- first.

Reminder for future drafts: Draft great football players who may also have great measureables. Not the other way around.

The lesson is the draft is not an exact science
If it was Diggs would have been drafted much earlier

 

[John813]

It's hard to judge college players at times cause there is no parity in CFB. In addition, with over 100 teams in D1, scouting can be limited to the traditionally smaller football schools. Now obviously NFL teams know which teams to really scout but the point is there's a lot of places to go and only so many resources/scouts.

Otherwords, it's hard to determine what makes a player great in college and see how it translates to the NFL.

It's easy to say draft great players, but is a player great cause they pad their stats vs D-2 teams and play on a stacked team? What made scouts/teams think Odukah was worthy to go #1, but allowed Diggs to fall to the 2nd round?

Was Okudah not a great college player? Or was it a hype on potential? Mix of both with size and combine?(Serious question). I mean why did the Lions not draft a great player in Diggs?

Was there anything on Diggs that made you say he's a great player during the combine/pre-draft but gave you hesitancy with Jones?

Some teams go with potential and athletic ability. Not all draft classes are the same, along with team weaknesses.

Dallas did fine with the Jones pick, but had horrible execution of his play until Richard came around.

 

[CowboysFaninHouston]

Granted very early in careers, but Diggs has more interceptions--9, than Chase Young's sack totals--8.5
Chase Young was the 2nd player, and 1st player defensive player taken in the 2020 draft.
If redo that entire draft, Diggs probably be a top 3 pick (behind Herbert, and Burrow).

the cowboys actually considered taking Diggs in the first round instead of CD. CD was just too good a prospect to pass up.....if we did, this board would melt, but now we all would say it was a great pick. we were lucky to have him drop to us in the second round. Cowboys must have been ecstatic.

btw, I would still love to have chase young...its just that he is on a team that no one knows what's happening to. their trainer just got arrested or something. they got sued. their executives are in trouble...that team is a mess and is not focused on football. plus, their back 7 really sucks....

 

[CowboysFaninHouston]

With the overall 27th pick in the first round of the 2015 draft, the Cowboys drafted defensive back Byron Jones. He was considered an “athletic freak” from his combine performance including his 4.43 speed and his world record for standing broad-jump with a leap of 12-feet, 3-inches. Remember the video of Jones jumping over a car? He’s athleticism was off the charts.

Five years later, after not re-signing Byron Jones to a second contract and losing him to the Dolphins in Free agency, we drafted Trevon Diggs with the 51st pick in the draft in the second round. He did not have the “measurables” that Byron Jones had in the combine.

But who is a better football player- Diggs or Jones? Let’s look at the comparisons:

• Jones has 4 career INTs in 98 games, and is in his 7th NFL seasons.
  
• Diggs has 9 INTs in 17 games in his 2nd year (he missed 4 games last yr with a foot injury)
• Jones was a combine “freak” who was pretty good at football.
• Diggs is an outstanding football player- first.

Reminder for future drafts: Draft great football players who may also have great measureables. Not the other way around.

just because an athlete runs 4.4 doesn't mean they are a good football player. so you are right in that aspect. but if a football player (DB), runs a 4.8 40, they probably won't be good in the NFL. you need the right mix of both.

and jones wasn't half bad. they should have never put him at saftey. that was a coaching mistake. he was a better CB....he just had bad hands and couldn't catch.

maybe, Claibourne would be a better example. or Taco...

 

[Crown Royal]

The lesson here = scout well and be lucky.

 

[Verdict]

It's a crap shoot.....we drafted Taco over TJ.....many more examples.

Too many to count.

 

[Verdict]

I think 4 year starters in college, that have sustained success during their entire college career from a top 5 conference with at least average or better measurables will get you “on the paper” in trying to hit the draft target bullseye.

One year wonders or workout warriors can work out, but it’s buyer beware when drafting them.

 

[darthseinfeld]

Yeah Byron wasn't bad, he just played the ball horrible, but played his man pretty well

We are just so lucky to have Diggs to be honest.

If you put Jones with a CB with good ball skills back then, you'd have a decent CB group

 

[RicKospia]

It actually says more about the difference a good coaching can make more than the draft. JG/Marinelli try to make Byron a FS and wasted first two years of his career.
Diggs looked OK last year but now with DQ and Joe Whitt, he is playing at elite level.

Byron is a good player and had Byron started out with same level of coaching we have now, I think he would have had a much better results.

Glad to see someone giving the coaching staff credit .

 

[TwoDeep3]

With the overall 27th pick in the first round of the 2015 draft, the Cowboys drafted defensive back Byron Jones. He was considered an “athletic freak” from his combine performance including his 4.43 speed and his world record for standing broad-jump with a leap of 12-feet, 3-inches. Remember the video of Jones jumping over a car? He’s athleticism was off the charts.

Five years later, after not re-signing Byron Jones to a second contract and losing him to the Dolphins in Free agency, we drafted Trevon Diggs with the 51st pick in the draft in the second round. He did not have the “measurables” that Byron Jones had in the combine.

But who is a better football player- Diggs or Jones? Let’s look at the comparisons:

• Jones has 4 career INTs in 98 games, and is in his 7th NFL seasons.
  
• Diggs has 9 INTs in 17 games in his 2nd year (he missed 4 games last yr with a foot injury)
• Jones was a combine “freak” who was pretty good at football.
• Diggs is an outstanding football player- first.

Reminder for future drafts: Draft great football players who may also have great measureables. Not the other way around.

Great thread, Bob.

Now take your assertions here and apply them to the draft this year. It seems there were people screaming blue murder at the selections made after Parsons. (Even Parsons had doubters that were vocal) yet looking at Osa and some others, it appears Dallas knew what they were doing.

(When I say Dallas, I mean Will McClay. Not Gomer and his sidekick HeeHaw)

Sometimes the ingredients for a cake don't make sense when you look at them individually. It's only after they have been stirred together and baked does the final product taste good.

And Diggs fell out of the first round. Amazing.

 

[Oz-of-Cowboy-Country]

With the overall 27th pick in the first round of the 2015 draft, the Cowboys drafted defensive back Byron Jones. He was considered an “athletic freak” from his combine performance including his 4.43 speed and his world record for standing broad-jump with a leap of 12-feet, 3-inches. Remember the video of Jones jumping over a car? He’s athleticism was off the charts.

Five years later, after not re-signing Byron Jones to a second contract and losing him to the Dolphins in Free agency, we drafted Trevon Diggs with the 51st pick in the draft in the second round. He did not have the “measurables” that Byron Jones had in the combine.

But who is a better football player- Diggs or Jones? Let’s look at the comparisons:

• Jones has 4 career INTs in 98 games, and is in his 7th NFL seasons.
  
• Diggs has 9 INTs in 17 games in his 2nd year (he missed 4 games last yr with a foot injury)
• Jones was a combine “freak” who was pretty good at football.
• Diggs is an outstanding football player- first.

Reminder for future drafts: Draft great football players who may also have great measureables. Not the other way around.

But Will McClay is a genius. He doesn't do any wrong.

The Cowboys tried a new drafting technique and it backfired. They tried drafting guys with high SPARQ scores. That's why Byron, J.Smith, LVE and a couple of other guys were drafted. That technique was fired along with Garrett. I'm glad to see both gone. Because they weren't drafting players, they were drafting athletes.

 

[Bobhaze]

I’m glad many of you have mentioned that Jones was a good player too. I agree. I have nothing against Byron Jones. He is a good player for sure. But if you were to have a re-draft with both in it, would you take Diggs or Jones first?

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

No Jones is the EXACT example to use. Jones is EXACTLY what this did no longer need. This team was devoid or "Playmakers". Jones lacked all of that. He lacked toughness, swag, and that competitive spirit and play making ability. Diggs is the guy you resign, not Jones.

But everyone isn't a playmaker. Everyone has a role on the team. You're talking about a former All Pro with this team. You think this team would be WORSE if it had Byron Jones instead of Anthony Brown? Yeah......no.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

Let's be a bit fair here. The Cowboys dicked around for a few years trying to make Jones a S. If they had made him a CB right from the start, he likely would have had a pretty good 5 year run and worth that pick.

Diggs is better but there was nothing wrong with taking Jones where we did.

With a late 1st round pick you HOPE you can snag a All Pro with that pick.

 

[nightrain]

Diggs is a different type player than we are used seeing in Dallas. Came into the league with excellent coaching having an impact on his DNA. A former WR with excellent ball skills as his DNA would also divulge. He has incredible vision, able to maintain focus on his receiver while maintaining a bead on the QB. The dude has to be a film junkie. His preparation is outstanding with a great understanding of the opposition's tendencies to the point of being able to run the routes.

Let's not forget the exponential improvement in the Safety play for the Cowboys. They cast a wide safety net and allow the CBs to take chances

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

Mo Claiborne was one of our worst draft picks in the modern era. He was average at best. You don't draft a 6th overall corner who has 4.5 speed and lacks agility to turn on a dime. We were a slow team then. Drafting Claiborne made the team even slower.

I mean I agree it was a terrible pick no doubt. I liked the player though. I don't even know if his issues were speed. He just........just was average. It didn't help that he was hurt and never got a real training camp.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

Good point. And I’m not saying Jones was no good at all for us. I just wanted to make the point that when drafting, pick a guy because he’s a great football player first, then the other stuff.

I respect that. I understand what you're saying but I think if you go into a draft with a late 1st round pick and you snag a Byron Jones......that's not going to make your team worse. Its looking like we will have a late pick next year and I hope we can get a Byron Jones as opposed to a Taco Charlton.

 

[Hawkeye0202]

Let's be a bit fair here. The Cowboys dicked around for a few years trying to make Jones a S. If they had made him a CB right from the start, he likely would have had a pretty good 5 year run and worth that pick.

Diggs is better but there was nothing wrong with taking Jones where we did.

Beat me to it........we wasted a few of his years being indecisive

 

[ConstantReboot]

I mean I agree it was a terrible pick no doubt. I liked the player though. I don't even know if his issues were speed. He just........just was average. It didn't help that he was hurt and never got a real training camp.

I also like the player. But not the 6th overall pick. He should have been a 3rd or 4th rounder.

I saw that his college film and it wasn't good. His speed and agility was an issue. He certainly wasn't a shutdown corner.

LSU had an embarrassment of riches then. Heck, their best player was Tyrann Mathieu, not Claiborne. And Honey Badger was selected in the 3rd round.