Jerry Jones

Things are starting to settle down after a hectic draft weekend. Most analysts give the Cowboys around a B for their draft, even though Felix Jones was not the most popular selection among many fans.

We all have to admit that when it comes to trading draft picks for other/more draft picks, few can match Jerry Jones, though.

A summary:

(1) Trade Akin Ayodele and Anthony Fasano to Miami for the 4th rounder (100th overall).

(2) Trade the 92nd pick (3rd round) to the Lions for the 111th pick (4th round) and a 4th rounder in 2009.

(3) Trade the 100th pick (4th round, from Miami) to Oakland for a 4th rounder (104th overall) and a 7th rounder (213th).

(4) Trade the 104th pick (4th round, from Oakland) to Cleveland for the 122nd (4th round) and 155th (5th round).

(5) Trade the 111th pick (from Detroit– see (2)) to Cleveland for a 3rd round pick in 2009.

(6) With the 122nd pick (from Cleveland– see (4)), Dallas took running back Tashard Choice.

(7) Trade 155th pick (5th round, from Cleveland– see (4)) and 213th pick (7th round, from Oakland– see (3)) to Jacksonville for the 143rd pick (5th round).

(8) With the 143rd pick , Dallas took cornerback Orlando Scandrick.

(9) Dallas had previously swapped 6th round picks with Miami (167th for 195th) in the trade for Jason Ferguson. With the 167th pick, Dallas took Erik Walden.

End result: 8 picks (1,1,2,3,4,5,6,7) became 6 picks (1,1,4,5,6), but the team added a third and fourth rounder in 2009.

This all reminded me of a street magician’s act, such as…

But even with all of the trickery, Dallas still didn’t get a receiver! This was from Todd Archer yesterday:

The five trades the Cowboys made Sunday – landing them 2009 third- and fourth-round picks from Detroit and Jacksonville – were made with a receiver in mind.

The Cowboys have six draft picks in the first four rounds next year. Given this team’s proclivity for draft-day trading, they could have enough pieces to move up and take a top-notch receiver.

“We just didn’t want to push it this year with this not being a deep draft for receivers,” executive vice president Stephen Jones said. “You can’t make something out of what’s not there.”

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My blog has become comment-deprived, which is a pretty good sign of lousy blogging by me. But the comment I received today from Gregg in Boise about Orlando Scandrick was interesting:

Major character issues? I live in Boise, and while I have no idea how Orlando will turn out on the field, the only place I’ve ever heard his name called is on the field. Orlando is a confident guy and will tell you so, but what CB worth anything isn’t confident?

My comment was originally based on the analysis on NFL.com, but I have not seen anything else to support the statement regarding character issues. He may very well have been a high value pick in the 5th.