ESPN

IRVING, Texas – The Cowboys have altered their offseason schedule this year by moving the rookie minicamp back a week.

Traditionally the Cowboys held the camp the weekend following the draft. This year they will have it May 10-12.

Instead of having the players come in for the camp and return home or to their college campuses for a few week and rejoin the full team for the offseason program later, the later start will allow the players to work right into the offseason program.

“It fell better (on the calendar) this year,” coach Jason Garrett said. “I’m not sure it’s always fallen that way, but it made sense to do it. It gives us and the guys to take a little bit of a breath and after the draft get reset.”

IRVING, Texas -- Phil Costa was the Cowboys' starting center to begin 2012, but back problems and an ankle injury forced him to miss nine games last season. The Cowboys started three different centers -- Costa, Ryan Cook and Mackenzy Bernadeau -- in 2012.

PODCAST
Arkansas head coach Bret Bielema, who coached Travis Frederick at Wisconsin, joins Fitzsimmons & Durrett to discuss what kind of player the Cowboys got with their first-round pick in the NFL draft. Listen

The interior of the offensive line was an issue last season and it prompted the Cowboys to draft Wisconsin center Travis Frederick with the 31st pick of the first round Thursday night.

Does this mean the end for Costa and Cook?

"I think they're all competing," team executive vice president Stephen Jones said Thursday night. "Frederick can be a guard. We're gonna put our five best guys on the field. I think what it means, everybody expected us to improve ourselves in the interior of the offensive line and it's going to be a battle there for everybody. But I think we're going to put our five best guys (there). If Costa wins the starting center job and if we think he's one of the best five, we might play Frederick at guard."

The first round of the draft saw three offensive tackles go in the top five and five more offensive linemen go after that. Jones said the number of offensive linemen picked in the first round had no bearing on the trade the Cowboys made with San Francisco to move down, or their selection.

"We had a handful of players we would have taken at 18," Jones said. "If they had been there, we would have taken them. When they weren't there, we felt like our best value for our team, long term, to improve ourselves, was to move the pick when we had the opportunity."

IRVING, Texas – The NFL Draft can be such a farce. Really, it can.

PODCAST
Galloway & Company react to the Cowboys trading down in the NFL draft and their first-round pick Travis Frederick. They also discuss Jerry Jones' comments on why the Cowboys did not select Sharrif Floyd. Listen

There is so much analysis beforehand that teams, draftniks, media and fans can just about over-think anything.

As Jason Garrett walked out of the press conference Thursday night, I asked him, ‘Why can’t it just be as simple as taking the best guy available on your board?

Now I know there are shades of gray in everything, but this is a team that held firm on Tyron Smith at No. 9 in 2011 and didn’t take first- and second-round picks from Jacksonville and then traded up to get Morris Claiborne last year by giving up their second round pick.

There is no doubt Sharrif Floyd was the highest player available on the Cowboys board when they picked at No. 18. There is no doubt defensive line was/is a need for this team. Would Floyd be a perfect fit? Maybe not. But to hear the talk of short arms and a lack of a pass rush since the Cowboys didn’t take him, why did they have him so high on their board?

Anyway, back to my question to Garrett. Here’s his response:

“You can absolutely do that and we’ve done that in the past,” Garrett said. “And we just felt in this situation we saw the different people who were available to you and what we might be able to get for moving down, so we just felt really positive about that. At the end of the day you evaluate the pick we made, Travis Frederick, plus the third rounder that we got versus who we would get at 18. We feel like this draft is pretty rich in the second round and third round and feel like that additional pick can really help our football team.”

PODCAST
Arkansas head coach Bret Bielema, who coached Travis Frederick at Wisconsin, joins Fitzsimmons & Durrett to discuss what kind of player the Cowboys got with their first-round pick in the NFL draft. Listen

IRVING, Texas – The Cowboys’ move to the 4-3 scheme will bring a position switch for Kyle Wilber.

Wilber, a fourth-round pick last year, will play defensive end after indications earlier in the offseason were that he would compete for one of the outside linebacker spots.

“Kyle Wilber is going to start out as a defensive end for us, and one of the things we liked about him coming out as an outside linebacker and what his best trait was as a pass rusher,” coach Jason Garrett said. “We feel like the easiest transition for him will be to put his hand on the ground and be that pass rusher as opposed to the off the ball linebacker. We’ll see how he adjusts to it and once we get on the field we’ll make that determination going forward.”

Wilber played a hybrid role at Wake Forest and had 13.5 sacks in his career. He played sparingly last season and was slowed by finger and hand injuries. At 246 pounds, he will need to add bulk.

“The traits you want in the defensive line in this defense is quickness and speed,” Garrett said. “Kyle needs to be bigger, but you’ve got to be careful to get too big because we want him to have some juice off the ball.”

PODCAST
Nate Newton joins Fitzsimmons & Durrett to discuss the first round of the NFL draft. Listen

IRVING, Texas – One of the best parts of Thursday’s first-round was watching the Cowboys’ draft room camera.

When it got close to the Cowboys’ pick at No. 18, you could see the action pick up and phone calls being made. The best part was attempting to read the reactions – remember, there are no microphones – of those involved from Jerry and Stephen Jones to Jason Garrett to Tom Ciskowski and attempt to actually know what was going on. It would make for a great comedy skit in a way.

Let’s just say the body language of a few of the characters was not good as things went down. Do we know how it all went down? Who wanted whom? Who didn’t want whom? Not yet.

“I think we always have a stoic demeanor around here, don’t we,” Garrett said with tongue in cheek. “I don’t think we were overly concerned (about the draft room camera and body language).

“Sometimes you’re in the draft room and you’re not in control of anything and you’re just watching the draft and watching it like a fan. It’s not like we were moving to (No. 4). The math says there’s no way, so it’s interesting to see where teams go and certain guys move up for Tayvon Austin. (It’s) ‘Really, that’s interesting,’ and then there’s implications to that and now you say, ‘He’s here. This team wants this,’ and you play it out. Sometimes you’re right. Sometimes you’re not.”

IRVING, Texas – The Cowboys are hoping Travis Frederick will continue a tradition set forth by Wisconsin offensive linemen in recent years.

PODCAST
Arkansas head coach Bret Bielema, who coached Travis Frederick at Wisconsin, joins Fitzsimmons & Durrett to discuss what kind of player the Cowboys got with their first-round pick in the NFL draft. Listen

Joe Thomas, Gabe Carimi, John Moffitt, Kevin Zeitler and Peter Konz have been high picks in recent years and have had different degrees of success.

“I think that having that tradition helps continue that tradition,” Frederick said. “That tradition is one of the reasons why I chose to go to Wisconsin, just knowing that such great offensive linemen have come out of there and would probably or hopefully give me the opportunity if I worked as hard as I could to be in the situation that I’m in today. I’m excited to join that long line.”

The Cowboys’ recent history with Badgers offensive linemen isn’t so good.

In 2003, the Cowboys drafted Al Johnson in the second round, and they took Bill Nagy in the seventh round in 2011. Johnson missed his rookie year because of a knee injury that subsequently cut his career short. Nagy won a starting job in part by default, but he suffered an ankle injury and was cut during training camp last summer.

“You certainly go case by case and evaluate the player,” coach Jason Garrett said, “but there is no question there is a tradition of offensive linemen coming out of Wisconsin. There is a long-standing tradition, but there is also a recent tradition. What that does is allow you to talk to people that know these guys well and compare them to people, ‘Hey, compare him to this guy, compare him to that guy. You had him two years ago, how does he stack up?’ Those conversations are real because guys who’ve been around these guys day after day after day can make great evaluations.”

IRVING, Texas -- The Dallas Cowboys exchanged numerous calls with NFL teams about moving down from the 18th position of the first round. Team executive vice president Stephen Jones said there was competition for the selection.

There was more value gained by the Cowboys by moving from No. 18 to No. 31 and picking up an extra third round pick (74th overall).

"Well, you can make a hard quick decision, too," Cowboys owner/general manager Jerry Jones said. "We had gone over every scenario you could imagine over the last few days. These (scouts) do a good job of what ifs, but then we obviously analyze perspective and saw San Francisco there with two (third round picks). So they're certainly candidates to move down and keep us in the range that we wanted to be in."

The Cowboys had first-round grades on 19 players and there were only two players -- projected to be Chance Warmack and Jonathan Cooper -- that were worth moving up into the top 10. With Warmack (drafted at No. 10) and Cooper (drafted at No. 7) off the board, the Cowboys elected to stay put for the moment. When it was finally time to pick, the Cowboys graded Frederick higher than Syracuse guard Justin Pugh, who went after the 49ers selected Eric Reid at 18.

PODCAST
Galloway & Company react to the Cowboys trading down in the NFL draft and their first-round pick Travis Frederick. They also discuss Jerry Jones' comments on why the Cowboys did not select Sharrif Floyd. Listen

Stephen Jones said the team like Reid, and he most likely was the second-highest safety behind Texas' Kenny Vaccaro on Dallas' draft board. But Stephen Jones said there was more value to get an extra third-round pick than to select Reid in the first round.

When it came time to select at No. 31, Frederick was the highest-ranked player on the Cowboys' draft board. Frederick had a second-round grade, but the team felt justified getting him at No. 31 after ranking him as the 22nd overall prospect.

"Bottom line, we were very true to our grading (players)," Jerry Jones said. "Very true to the grading of our scouts and very true to what we were trying to accomplish. We did draft to our board."

The second and third rounds of the NFL draft are set for tonight back at Radio City Music Hall, and the second will begin at 5:30 p.m. CT. After a first round that saw nine offensive linemen, one quarterback and no running backs taken Thursday, it's possible tonight will have more star power than the first night did. Scouts, Inc. has done a second-round mock draft , and this is what they've come up with for the NFC East's teams.

3 (35). Philadelphia Eagles: John Cyprien, S, Florida International

In this scenario, West Virginia quarterback Geno Smith is off the board, taken by Jacksonville with the night's first pick, and the Eagles end up with the best remaining safety to fill a position of perennial need. Other possibilities I could imagine for the Eagles here include a defensive lineman with a 3-4 background, Stanford tight end Zach Ertz or Smith if he's available. I doubt they'll trade up for Smith (because they could have done so last night), and if he's gone I'm guessing they wait a few rounds for someone like Arizona quarterback Matt Scott.

15 (47). Dallas Cowboys: Kawann Short, DT, Purdue

After getting the interior offensive line help they so badly needed in the first round, this mock has the Cowboys turning to the interior of the defensive line, where Jay Ratliff always seems banged-up and Jason Hatcher is entering the final year of his contract. Short is a big talent whose question marks are about motivation and inconsistent college production. He could be a developmental guy for them -- help some in a rotation in the first year but more as a down-the-road replacement for one of the starters. I'd also have no issue with the Cowboys addressing safety here with someone like Cyprien or D.J. Swearinger. Could see them looking at a running back like Eddie Lacy or Montee Ball. And no, I absolutely do not think it would be a mistake for them to take another offensive lineman such as Menelik Watson or Larry Warford here.

17 (49). New York Giants: Kevin Minter, ILB, LSU

Linebacker is a need for the Giants. But as we've discussed, it's not one on which they tend to spend valuable resources. This is still a relatively high pick, and while Minter makes sense, I could easily see them spending this on a safety like the ones we've mentioned, a cornerback like Johnthan Banks or Jamar Taylor, a defensive end like Tank Carradine or even one of those running backs. They do like to have depth there.

19 (51). Washington Redskins: Johnthan Banks, CB, Mississippi State

Finally, the Redskins make their first pick of this year's draft, and it's at a position where they need immediate help and long-term depth. This draft is deep in defensive backs, and the Redskins should be able to take advantage of that with a good cornerback or safety at this spot. Tyrann Mathieu is still on the board in this mock, but I'd be surprised if Washington went that way, especially with so many less questionable options available. Cyprien, Swearinger or Shamarko Thomas make sense if they want to go safety. Banks, Taylor, Blidi Wreh-Wilson or Banks' teammate, Darius Slay, are among the good options at corner. If they don't take a defensive back here, maybe it's because a tackle like Watson or Terron Armstead fell to them. And you can't rule out wide receiver as a possibility here either.

IRVING, Texas – Florida defensive tackle Sharrif Floyd, considered by many a top-five talent, fell right into the Cowboys’ laps at No. 18 overall.

The Cowboys responded by trading down, opting to take the Nos. 31 and 74 picks from the San Francisco 49ers instead of taking the defensive tackle.

“We were unanimous that it was the smart thing to do to trade down,” owner/general manager Jerry Jones said. Coach Jason Garrett publicly agreed, although his body language in the war room seemed to tell a different tale.

Why not just stay put and take Floyd?

“We feel like, first of all, defensive line is a position of strength for us,” Jones said. “Number two, in our system, we probably would put a premium on quick-twitch potential three-technique. We view him as not that, but certainly capable of getting there.”

The Cowboys’ top two defensive tackles are 31-year-old Jay Ratliff and 30-year-old Jason Hatcher, who is entering the last season of his contract. Their depth at defensive tackle: four-year veteran Sean Lissemore; Brian Price, a former second-round pick who is trying to earn a roster spot after injuries and personal issues derailed his career in Tampa Bay; and a few unproven young players.

The “quick-twitch” knock on Floyd could be construed as questioning his pass-rush ability after he racked up only 4.5 sacks during his college career. Floyd, who was selected by the Minnesota Vikings with the 23rd overall pick, is considered to be extraordinarily explosive for a 297-pound man.

IRVING, Texas -- Here is a quick preview for Day 2 of the NFL draft.

PODCAST
Nate Newton joins Fitzsimmons & Durrett to discuss the first round of the NFL draft. Listen

What to expect: The Cowboys have the 47th (second), 74th and 83rd (third round) selections of the draft. Don't expect a trade at this stage of the draft because the Cowboys, who entered the draft with six draft picks, made a deal Thursday night to get the extra selection they wanted.

Needs: Defensive line, defensive back, wide receiver, running back and offensive line are positions of need. The Cowboys picked up a center in Travis Frederick with the 31st overall selection, but there are still positions that need to be filled. There's a possibility the Cowboys will try to get a defensive lineman with one of their three picks Friday night.

Mel Kiper’s best available prospects: LB Manti Te’o, Notre Dame; RB Eddie Lacy, Alabama; QB Geno Smith, West Virginia; QB Matt Barkley, USC; S John Cyprien, FIU; TE Zach Ertz, Stanford; RB Montee Ball, Wisconsin; LB Kevin Minter, LSU; DT John Jenkins, Georgia; OT Menelik Watson, Florida St.

Cowboys best available: S Shamarko Thomas, Syracuse; WR Terrance Williams, Baylor; DT Johnathan Hankins, Ohio State; RB Montee Ball, Wisconsin; T Terron Armstead, Arkansas Pine-Bluff.

Day 1 recap: The Cowboys moved from No. 18 to No. 31 and also grabbed a second-round selection in a trade with San Francisco. The Cowboys bypassed several key players, including defensive tackle Sharrif Floyd, who went to Minnesota at No. 23. Cowboys owner/general manager Jerry Jones said Floyd didn't fit the Cowboys' 4-3 scheme. Also, the team had a chance to move up, but Jones said there were two players who they coveted and they were gone by the 10th pick of the first round.

IRVING, Texas – Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones spent Wednesday morning at the dedication of the George W. Bush Presidential Center at SMU.

He admitted to some angst about not being at Valley Ranch for at least part of the day before the first round of the NFL draft, but after taking in the sights and sounds of a historical moment Jones was glad he went, even if he ended up with a sunburned face.

The five living presidents were in attendance: President Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush and Jimmy Carter. Jones is friends with Bush and Clinton, and Bush has attended numerous games at Cowboys Stadium.

“Knowing what I know, no, I never would’ve forgiven myself for missing it,” Jones said.

IRVING, Texas – Did the Cowboys get enough in return from San Francisco in their trade of the No. 18 pick?

It is all in the eye of the beholder or a draft chart.

The Cowboys gave up the 18th pick to get the Niners’ picks at No. 31 and 74.

According to one chart, the Cowboys should have received San Francisco’s second-round pick, No. 61 overall, to make the point total more palatable.

“Not accurate,” executive vice president Stephen Jones said. “We actually did better than the chart.”

Jones said the Cowboys checked out two trade charts that had them winning the deal or receiving equal value. The Cowboys took center/guard Travis Frederick with the pick and have added a third-round pick for Friday’s second day.

“It’s a mistake to think that transactions go by any trade chart,” owner and general manager Jerry Jones said “We invented trade charts; invented them in the NFL.”

The charts have evolved over the years and Stephen Jones said the Cowboys’ chart has evolved as well. The first round started with Miami seemingly moving up to Oakland’s third pick from No. 12 for a second-round pick.

“The ones moving back were not near what they should have been,” Stephen Jones said. “We felt we got right on it.”

IRVING, Texas -- One of the more interesting moments from the first round of Thursday night's draft was the Dallas Cowboys' pick, center Travis Frederick, saying he was surprised to get selected at No. 31.

PODCAST
Arkansas head coach Bret Bielema, who coached Travis Frederick at Wisconsin, joins Fitzsimmons & Durrett to discuss what kind of player the Cowboys got with their first-round pick in the NFL draft. Listen

The Cowboys had a second-round grade on Frederick, but he was the 22nd player ranked on their board. Dallas had 19 players with first-round grades.

"A little surprised," Frederick said. "I thought that I was going to probably fit somewhere in the second round, but Dallas had showed a lot of interest in me throughout the process. I knew that they definitely needed a little bit of help inside and were looking to upgrade that. I think that I'm going to fit in pretty well down there."

Frederick didn't have the fastest 40 (5.58) or the strongest bench press (225 pounds 21 times), but he noted those numbers don't give a true indication of his strength.

"I wasn't too concerned with that," he said. "I think there's different reasons for different things happening like the stuff of how my bench (press) goes. I think that's something Wisconsin is not known for doing well at is the reps because we've always been trained to do low reps, high intensity. So we do single reps or double reps and I do very well on those areas."

A fast center/guard isn't something that NFL teams always need, but Frederick does need to reach the second level after blocking defenders.

"I definitely didn't run as well as I could have, and I probably could have run it again at pro day," he said. "But it wouldn't have been a whole lot better. It would have been a little bit better, I guess. But I don't think that's truly indicative of the way that I play either. I think the film really shows how I play."

IRVING, Texas – The company line is that Cowboys first-round pick Travis Frederick will compete for a starting job this season.

PODCAST
Arkansas head coach Bret Bielema, who coached Travis Frederick at Wisconsin, joins Fitzsimmons & Durrett to discuss what kind of player the Cowboys got with their first-round pick in the NFL draft. Listen

The reality is that the coaching staff just needs to figure out whose job Frederick will take.

“I had hoped we could come out of this thing with a legitimate starter, a legitimate starter, and he will start,” owner/general manager Jerry Jones said. “He will start. First-rounder and not starting? I know coach wants there to be competition and should be, and we all know that’s the way it is.”

Jones cited the interior offensive line as the Cowboys’ most glaring weakness. Center Phil Costa struggled in his first season as a starter in 2011 and missed almost all of last season due to injuries. Guards Nate Livings and Mackenzy Bernadeau were disappointments in their first season in Dallas after signing eight-figure deals as free agents.

The Cowboys ranked Frederick as the No. 22 player on their board. They had 19 players with first-round grades but, according to Jones, they determined that there was more value in trading down to No. 31 and adding the No. 74 overall pick.

Jones acknowledged that the Cowboys considered trading up if guards Jonathan Cooper or Chance Warmack slid. That, however, was off the table after the two guards went in the top 10.

“I don’t know if I would have wanted to give up a 3 to have rather had a player we might have moved up for than to have Frederick and gained a 3,” Jones said. “We’re two 3s better off by having not moved up and picked another guard.”

So will the 6-foot-3 5/8, 320-ish-pound Frederick begin his NFL career at guard or center? That’s something the coaches need to determine as quickly as possible after full-team offseason workouts begin next month.

“We’re going to put a base in there where you don’t have a knock-back issue,” Jones said. “[Offensive coordinator] Bill Callahan is a big center guy. After your left tackle, he likes the center position as far as the best players on the offensive line. Well, we’ve got Costa. We’re pretty proud of Costa, frankly. Well, can this guy play guard? You bet he can.”

Added head coach Jason Garrett: “Because he has position flex and has played a full season at either spot, we feel good about maybe plugging him in at either spot and having him compete with the guys on our roster. We haven’t made that determination right now. We like competition, as you guys know, and he’ll certainly be very much in the mix.”

NEW YORK -- Well, I'm not going to rip the pick. I made a promise, and I'm keeping it. I wrote for weeks and weeks that the Dallas Cowboys needed to come out of the first round of this year's NFL draft with an offensive lineman, and they did. So I'm not getting on their case for it.

But man, did the Cowboys play the first round strangely.

PODCAST
Nate Newton joins Fitzsimmons & Durrett to discuss the first round of the NFL draft. Listen

First of all, they traded their pick, No. 18 overall, to the 49ers for the 31st pick and the 74th pick (which is the 12th pick of the third round). Then, with the 31st pick, they selected Wisconsin center Travis Frederick, who was … not a guy anybody was talking about.

Who is Frederick? Well, Scouts Inc. ranked him the top center in this year's draft (which is good) and the 70th player overall (not so good, if he went 31st). Among offensive linemen, he ranked 12th in this draft, according to Scouts Inc., and he was the ninth one off the board. Those still on the board who got higher Scouts Inc. grades included tackles Menelik Watson and Terron Armstead and guard Larry Warford.

Couple that information with the fact that the traditional NFL trade-value chart says the Cowboys should have been able to get more than just an extra third-rounder for that No. 18 pick, and it's easy to say they overpaid for Frederick. You might even be able to argue that they could have had him in the second round if they'd waited.

But I don't know. Maybe it's the music here at Radio City Music Hall or the fact that the weather's getting nicer outside or that I finally feel like I'm getting back in shape after a couple of years of overeating and under-exercising. I'm looking at this pick, and I'm thinking these very positive things about it:

• They needed interior offensive line help more than any team in the NFL needed anything in this entire draft, and this guy is an interior offensive lineman. He can challenge Phil Costa for the center's job or either starting guard for his.
• He's a giant -- 6-foot-3⅝, 312 pounds -- and known as a physical presence in the run game. Run blocking might be a higher priority for the Cowboys in their ongoing hunt for line help than pass protection is, since left tackle is the one spot at which they're set and Tony Romo is pretty good at protecting himself and making plays on the run.
• Just because Scouts Inc. ranked Warford 53rd and this guy 70th doesn't make the pick ridiculous. You pay your scouts to find guys who fit what you want to do, and then you trust them. All week, everybody told me the Cowboys needed to trust their board, and it appears what happened here was that they didn't have anyone they liked at 18 so they snagged an extra pick and moved down to take a guy they did like. If you think all that's left to you is second-rounders, then why not just start the second round two picks early and add a third-rounder that might help you maneuver into that second round Friday night?

As I always say, I can't predict the way these guys will play, and neither can the Cowboys or anyone else. And if you want to argue that they didn't get great value for their first-round pick, I really don't have a response. But this was a weird year for the first round. The top six offensive linemen went in the top 11 picks -- something that hadn't happened in the history of the NFL draft. Clearly, this was a year in which offensive linemen were being overvalued, so this pick kind of lines up with that.

Had they stayed put at 18 and picked Justin Pugh or Kyle Long, who went at 19 and 20, respectively, to the Giants and Bears, that might have felt like a reach, too. There was not a lot to like about this year's first round. And while they might have been clumsy about it, the Cowboys came out of it with something they apparently do like and definitely need. Can't rip it.