Dallas Cowboys and the NFL Combine

Feb 25, 2014; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Minnesota Golden Gophers defensive back

catches a pass during the 2014 NFL Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

It is that time of year when the Dallas Cowboys coaches, owner, GM (wait I mean owner again), scouts, and lord knows who else travels to the NFL combine to see who passes the eye test. I love the combine, but I also know how pointless it can be as well. I do like the suggested changes about adding veterans free agents to it, but that is a story for another day. The only things that the combine can honestly show you is a. how much of a workout warrior someone is, and b. a general idea of some basics a player has. Other than that you really need to watch game tape and see how they are with pads on. But, I digress and explain here what the Dallas Cowboys could be looking at, who they could be looking at, and if you are sadistic like me, what and who you should be watching over the three day workout.

Knowing Jerry Jones I am sure he will always be looking for a playmaker. Of course we all know how much he falls in love with WR and RB. However, I think this season they will certainly be looking at RB as they are not sure what they are going to do with DeMarco Murray, and let’s not rehash Joseph Randle. I would assume they will look for a guy in the 2-5 round range for a replacement to one or both. If this is the case then here are a few guys I would watch.

• Melvin Gordon, Ameer Abdullah, and Todd Gurley – Although projected to go fairly early of course they will look at the top 3.
• Duke Johnson – With the medical issues he could drop some rounds and be available, he isn’t the best with after contact yards, but has speed is is a one cut runner who can get downfield quickly.
• Tevin Coleman, Javorius Allen, and Jay Ajayi – these guys could go anywhere from the 1st through 4th round and all have the ability to be complete backs down the road. These are the guys I would watch the closest.

The next position to watch will be the DL. With Melton gone I would assume they will look to add some DT and DE in the draft. There are quite a few this draft to watch even into the later rounds. This is not a bad draft on the line and I think they might wait and go CB or S earlier. Although with Jerry we never really know. Here are the guys I think they will watch on the line.

• Leonard Williams, Danny Shelton, and Eddie Goldman – Three of the top guys, there are other like Brown from Texas and Armstead from Oregon. This could finally be the first round pick this year.
• Michael Bennett, Xavier Cooper, and Mario Edwards – The next level guys who could go in the 2nd or 3rd.
• Shane Ray, Joey Mbu – These two could go as high as the 2nd and as low as the 4th. I would watch Ray very closely though.

We all know this team needs secondary help. This draft isn’t the best at the safety position, but certainly isn’t the worst at CB. I would think they will add one or two players here and while it is really hard to evaluate this position at the combine there are a few names to watch and how their hip movement is as well as their footwork.

• P.J. Williams and Jason Collins – Out of the entire class they might be the best CBs over their careers as long as they are will to put some time in.
• Trae Waynes,  Kevin Johnson, and Shaq Thompson – These guys have a lot to prove to scouts but if they can prove they are more complete than currently thought they could go in the 2nd-4th rounds.
• Jaquisi Tartt and Derron Smith – These guys are basically to be though of as Barry Church et al. clones of what we have had over the last few year. They could prove better than that.

So there is a little sample of who I would watch at the combine in who the Cowboys need. There has been enough written about the QB position so I left it out. If you want to go there, we can have a conversation in the comments. I am pretty good as projecting the QBs in the pros…not great, just pretty good.