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Analyzing the Dallas Cowboys 2012 Draft: The Real Question to Ask

I always fall sucker to the post-draft columns that grade each pick of the draft. Most of the time, I get a little embarrassed that I’m actually reading them. There are very few examples of bigger wastes of time than grading a team’s draft seconds after the draft concluded. Truthful analysis, as a whole, can only happen two or three years down the line.

In the case of the Dallas Cowboys, most of the draft picks are already gone in two or three years, so it makes the drafts easier to grade that way.

Regardless, the best way to immediately analyze a draft is by asking how many immediate starters the team gained over those seven rounds.

For Dallas in 2012, it appears that number is only one. Maybe two. Possibly zero.

Now don’t get me wrong. I don’t think the Cowboys’ draft was a disaster. I just don’t think they took many players who will be ready to contribute on a major basis right away.

Of the players who are ready, Morris Claiborne and Danny Coale have the best shot at getting major minutes against the New York Giants in Week One. Claiborne may end up starting whether he’s ready to or not, merely based on Jerry Jones’ ego. He’s never been the type to trade up for someone in the top six picks and then sit that guy. There were reports on Thursday that Mike Jenkins had dropped to fourth on the depth chart. That’s a clear sign Claiborne will be pushed into duty immediately. As for Coale, his saving grace will be Dallas’ lack of other options. If he’s not the third receiver, who is? Kevin Ogletree? Dwayne Harris? Raymond Radway? Let’s hope not.

That’s not to say Tyrone Crawford, Kyle Wilber, Matt Johnson, James Hanna and Caleb McSurdy are automatically busts. Hanna, in particular, will probably get major playing time by mid-season. But the others will have to grow into their roles – some, literally. Crawford and Wilber will be asked to put on pounds over the next couple of months. That will take some adjustment.

Am I completely enthralled with the Cowboys’ draft? No. Do I hate it? No. It is encouraging that, after round one, Dallas played it straight and stuck to its guns. All the guys Dallas took appear to be high-character guys with a “high motor” (there’s that cliché again). Let’s just hope that high motor is accompanied by skill, unlike Bobby Carpenter.

We’ll know that in two or three years.