If you follow this blog or what I care about in the sports world, there is a very good chance you know what to expect by Jan. 15 each year. With the Cowboys out of the playoffs, the seasons are clear. July-December is Cowboys' season and January-May is NFL Draft season. And in June, we rest.
So, just to build habits, I will tell you that about mid-week of every week from now until May, you can expect this column which will consist of a number of components, but it will all relate back to what most of us who follow this sport think is the lifeblood of the sport. Those teams who do well in the draft are at a distinct advantage over those who don't, and it is our goal to provide information from a Cowboys perspective, but also give opinions on players which will be available years down the road when we discuss what people thought before the draft on a particular player.
Like past years, I have no intention of going deeper than the Top 100 prospects, and even that will be difficult. I try to do all my own homework and not simply read someone else's reviews, and honestly, the top 3 rounds is tough to get a handle on. So, here I try to have opinions on players in the Top 100 and leave the rest to the people that apparently have more time than I do.
The best way to start is with some simple house-cleaning. Here are the current spots for the Cowboys picks, of which they have 8. The coin flip in February will determine where they slot with Baltimore, another 8-8 team with identical strength of schedule.
From that, we will know if they will pick #16 or #17 in every round, and they have their normal allotment of picks until Round 6. That pick has disappeared to KC in the famous Edgar Jones trade, while they have 3 picks in the 7th from that same deal and the Dante Rosario deal with Chicago. I am sure they will take that surplus and jump right back into the 6th because that is what NFL teams always seem determined to do. They don't like not having a pick for an entire round, and they usually do whatever they can to fix that.
