Cowboys: Derek Dooley
5 Wonders: Tyler Eifert, Sharrif Floyd and QBs
On to 5 Wonders:
** If the Cowboys are going to be a predominantly two-tight end team, like they say they are, then I wonder if they should have taken Notre Dame’s Tyler Eifert at No. 18 and risked the chance that Travis Frederick would be there at No. 47. If they had gone that route, they would have had the best tight end and best center in the draft with their top two picks. The Cowboys had their eyes on Justin Pugh with the No. 31 pick, but he went to the New York Giants at No. 19. They felt Frederick was the final offensive lineman in the draft capable of being a Day 1 starter and did not want to risk losing him or waiting until the second round. That’s a draft for need, which is OK at that point, but Eifert will be somebody worth watching for the next few years.
** I wonder if the Cowboys will alter how they will evaluate defensive lineman after what happened with Sharrif Floyd. He was among the top-10 players on their board, perhaps the highest rated defensive player, and he was staring them in the face with the 18th pick. And they passed on him. Then you hear about the kid’s arm length and lack of sacks. Well, those were things everybody knew before the draft. What it came down to was scheme fit and Floyd wasn’t deemed to fit in what the Cowboys wanted in 4-3 tackles. Had they stuck with the 3-4, then I can almost guarantee they would have selected him. If a player is not a scheme fit, then he just can’t be that high on their draft board.
** I wonder if Jerry Jones understands how even in points of praise he can also hurt. Take Tony Romo as an example. On Friday, Jones said Romo played a part in the selections of Gavin Escobar and Terrance Williams in the second and third rounds. Jones was attempting to show Romo was all-in. Well, what about the current players on the roster at those positions. Should they now think Romo didn’t like them as much? And then Jones said part of the quarterback’s new megadeal meant he had to spend “Peyton Manning time” at the facility. For those who questioned Romo’s commitment, that was all they needed to further their belief that Romo was not fully vested when Romo has always been a “football junkie.”
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** I hope Marcus Lattimore turns into a great success. His story would be a terrific inspiration for everybody. But he wasn’t what the Cowboys needed. I wonder if people realize San Francisco was able to take a flier on Lattimore, who is coming back from a horrific knee injury, because it had so many picks. The Niners had the opportunity to offer up a redshirt year for Lattimore. The Cowboys, who entered the draft with six picks and added one through a trade with the Niners, didn’t. They needed a running back to help right now and they got Joseph Randle in the fifth round. If Lattimore becomes a star, then good for San Francisco but I would not use that as a knock on how the Cowboys ran their draft.
AP Photo/Wade PayneTyler Bray has an outstanding arm but would need time to develop as an NFL quarterback.No. 3 quarterback: Tyler Bray
Height/weight: 6-foot-6 1/8, 232 pounds
School: Tennessee
Why he’s on the radar: Bray, ranked as the No. 8 quarterback in this draft class by Scouts Inc., would be a project who could develop behind Tony Romo and Kyle Orton. He has prototypical size for an NFL pocket passer and possesses outstanding arm strength. He’s raw, however, and didn’t win enough at Tennessee (5-7 in his only full season as a starter). No team will have a better scouting report on Bray than the Cowboys, who hired Derek Dooley as receivers coach this offseason after he was fired as Tennessee’s head coach. Would Dooley recommend a quarterback he couldn’t win with in the SEC?
Projection: Third or fourth round
Stretch Truths: Has a big-time arm that can spin it from several different arm angles. … Adequate throwing on the move, but his footwork is poor at times in the pocket. … I question his football smarts and ability to read coverages. Throws too many balls into coverage. … If you take this kid, he needs to learn and develop as a backup.
Jason Garrett: 8-8 'not good enough'
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"We feel good about some of the things we’ve done the last couple years, being in these games where we have a chance to win the division," Garrett said. "But we know that’s not good enough. We have a very urgent mentality. You’ve heard me say this before. I’ve been in this league for a long time as a player and a coach, and there isn’t a day I haven’t been urgent. That’s just the way this league is. It’s a competitive league, and anybody who wants to be successful in it, that sense of urgency is critical.
"But you want to make good decisions, you want to create the right kind of culture, you want to create the right kind of identity for your football team. We’re in the process of doing that.”
Owner Jerry Jones has said the same thing, and he doesn't believe wholesale roster changes are needed, despite the .500 mark the last two seasons.
But are the Cowboys really better?
The offensive line is still inconsistent, specifically in the interior. The running game, at least in 2012, finished 31st in the NFL.
While it's good that Garrett has expressed a sense of urgency and Jones has challenged the coaching staff to make players better, the team must produce on the field. The Cowboys made numerous changes to the coaching staff, starting with new defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin. Garrett and Jones each praised new receivers coach Derek Dooley as a positive influence.
"I felt good about the talent and I felt good about Jason," Jones said. "I wanted us and our fans to take advantage of Jason’s tenure in two-and-a-half years as head coach and six years as offensive coordinator with (Tony) Romo. I didn’t want to throw the baby out with the bath water. I think we’ll benefit (from assistant coaching changes) on both sides of the ball and special teams. Jason, as head coach, is going to be dealing with some new ideas, some new emphasis in each of these coaches' philosophies and their ideas."
Meetings memo: Jerry Jones praises Derek Dooley
Derek Dooley impresses: While Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is impressed with his new defensive coaches, he praised new receivers coach Derek Dooley in his chat with reporters Tuesday. Jones said he loves the ideas Dooley brings and says he has a fresh set of eyes for the offense.
"I like the fact Dooley is coming in here with college ideas, been around a lot of that fast-moving college game," Jones said of Dooley, who was fired after three seasons as the head coach of the University of Tennessee. "Jason (Garrett) has a lot of respect for him. He’ll end up having a lot of input in our passing game."
Slot receivers catching Jones' eye: Jones was asked if he regretted letting Danny Amendola go in 2008 when the Cowboys cut the slot receiver and re-signed him to the practice squad. Amendola eventually ended up with the St. Louis Rams and last week signed a five-year, $31 million deal with the New England Patriots to replace Wes Welker.
"No, I just see Welker. I regret Welker," Jones joked.
Jones, however, did praise young receiver Cole Beasley, who is built like Amendola and Welker and has the potential to become a good slot receiver. "Beasley's got some of that," Jones said. "You know Amendola and you know Welker, and he's neither of those two, but he can really create some problems for those guys over on defense. (Tony) Romo thinks a lot of him. He's got a shot for us."
Training camp dates: The Cowboys are still in the process of finalizing the training camp schedule. The veteran minicamp is tentatively scheduled for June 11-13. Training camp would start July 20 in Oxnard, Calif. After three preseason games, the Cowboys would return to Valley Ranch possibly on August 17 or 18, depending on the date of the third preseason game.
Safety working out for Cowboys: University of Texas safety Kenny Vaccaro tweeted he's going to work out for the Cowboys on Wednesday. Vaccaro is projected as the best safety in the draft and, with the Cowboys selecting No. 18 overall, there's a good chance he might be around. The Cowboys currently have Barry Church and Matt Johnson as their starting safeties, but the team is open to bringing in a veteran or drafting a safety. Jones said the Cowboys are not drafting for need, but for best player available.
Paying a franchise quarterback: The Cowboys are in the process of sealing a deal with Romo. Team officials won't go into specifics about how much it would cost, but you could assume Romo's new contract will average between $15 million to $18 million a season. It's a steep price at one position. Just ask the Baltimore Ravens, who signed quarterback Joe Flacco to a six-year deal for $120 million. "I’d say it’s a good problem to have," Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. "It’s the problem everybody wants to have. When you’ve got the young quarterback and you just drafted them and he’s playing well ... When you look at some of the teams that have the young quarterbacks, their cap situation is really good because they’ve got a player for a couple years that’s not going to be making top dollar. But you get to the fifth year of that contract and now it’s time for some of those things to change. We’re very willing to do what we need to do. It’s the nature of the league to have a quarterback like Joe Flacco."
Cowboys coaches getting acquainted
As much as the Cowboys are learning about the draftable players, they are also learning about themselves.
The Cowboys have six new assistant coaches with various ties to Jason Garrett: defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin, defensive line coach Rod Marinelli, special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia, wide receivers coach Derek Dooley, running backs coach Gary Brown and assistant offensive line coach Frank Pollack. Kiffin, Marinelli and Bisaccia were together for years in Tampa Bay before joining the Cowboys.
“It’s really good just to spend time with them, both in football if football environments but also in these kinds of environments,” Garrett said. “Get to know them more, see interaction among those guys. I got a good feel for those guys myself but you got to make sure everybody else is feeling that chemistry and developing that chemistry that is so important on the staff. We hired really good guys. They are good people. They love football. They love teaching football. We are trying to get on the same page. It has been a fun couple of weeks.”
Will changes affect Dez Bryant?
“Jimmy [Robinson] has had a really positive impact on Dez,” Jason Garrett said. “It was a breakout year for Dez. He caught 92 balls for 1,300-plus yards and really played very, very good football. I think he matured a ton and there’s no question the environment he was in certainly helped him and Jimmy was a big part of that.”
But he’s not been kept around to have the same influence on Bryant, especially if Garrett is saying Robinson, “should be around the building,” during the year. Calvin Hill is a consultant with the team, but he’s not running the player develop program and not around every day.
The growth of Bryant will now fall to Derek Dooley, the new receivers coach, as Robinson moves into a new role.
If Bryant struggles, I imagine this will be brought up again in-season. Personally, I think Bryant as a player is going to be fine, and probably a superstar. And I think a new voice in the meeting room isn't going to hurt him but could maybe even help, as different perspectives often do. Bryant's issues always have been away from the field and the team complex. And if he's got those under control, whether it's with the help of those much-ballyhooed rules he and the team put in place last year or for any other reason, there's nothing that happens on the field that's going to stop Bryant from continuing to blossom.
Dez Bryant's growth now on Derek Dooley
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Robinson was not at Tuesday's unveiling of the assistant coaches so we weren’t able to ask him. On Wednesday, Jason Garrett did not elaborate.
“He should be around the building and trying to help us in any way he can," Garrett said. "He’s a guy that I’ve known for a long time, and I have a great deal of respect for his knowledge and his input as we go forward.”
Robinson turned 60 in January and has been an NFL assistant coach since 1990. There is a grind on assistant coaches, especially those coaching wide receivers. Robinson helped develop Dez Bryant over the last two seasons, and Bryant had a breakout 2012 season with 92 catches and 13 touchdowns.
“Jimmy has had a really positive impact on Dez,” Garrett said. “It was a breakout year for Dez. He caught 92 balls for 1,300-plus yards and really played very, very good football. I think he matured a ton and there’s no question the environment he was in certainly helped him, and Jimmy was a big part of that.”
But he’s not being kept around to have the same influence on Bryant, especially if Garrett is saying Robinson “should be around the building” during the year. Calvin Hill is a consultant with the team, but he’s not running the player development program and isn't around every day.
The growth of Bryant will now fall to Derek Dooley, the new receiver’s coach, as Robinson moves into a new role.
103.3 FM ESPN PODCASTS
Play Podcast ESPN NFL expert John Clayton joins Fitzsimmons & Durrett to talk about Jerry Jones' conference call, the Cowboys' draft picks and much more.
Play Podcast On his conference call, Jerry Jones talked about leadership. Nate Newton joins Fitzsimmons & Durrett to discuss the leadership experience he had with the Cowboys.
Play Podcast Baylor head coach Art Briles joins Fitzsimmons & Durrett to discuss what kind of player the Cowboys are getting in Terrance Williams.
Play Podcast Chuck Cooperstein, Matt Mosley and Glenn "Stretch" Smith discuss the Cowboys' draft picks and who was influencing Jerry Jones' decisions.
Play Podcast Did Jerry Jones call out Tony Romo? Fitzsimmons & Durrett react to exclusive audio of Jones talking about the quarterback's increased role, who will be calling plays for the Cowboys and the Peyton Manning-like time he anticipates Romo putting in.
Play Podcast Cowboys second-round draft pick Gavin Escobar joins Fitzsimmons & Durrett to discuss his strengths as a tight end, the stress of the draft process and the thrill of working with Jason Witten and Tony Romo.
Play 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.
Play Podcast Nate Newton joins Fitzsimmons & Durrett to discuss the first round of the NFL draft.



Rd. 1: April 25, 7 p.m.
