*Walt taking 2014 and 2018 |
Charlie Campbell, Senior Draft Analyst |
Many Teams Had 2nd-Round Grade on Byron Jones
Updated May 15, 2015By Charlie Campbell. Follow Charlie on Twitter @draftcampbell.
Many have stated that the Dallas Cowboys came away with three first-round picks from the 2015 NFL Draft. After taking UConn cornerback Byron Jones in the first round, the Cowboys selected Nebraska pass-rusher Randy Gregory in the second frame after he fell out of the first because of off-the-field concerns and a positive drug test. After the draft, Dallas signed a consensus first-rounder in LSU left tackle La’el Collins. Collins went undrafted because he was being interviewed by police regarding a murder investigation.
While the media has given the Cowboys draft a lot of praise, sources we spoke to say they wouldn’t agree that the Cowboys came away with three first-rounders. A handful of teams told us that they all had Byron Jones graded as a second-round pick.
One team that took a defensive back in the top 20 said that Jones went in the first round because he was a workout warrior at the Combine and his pro day. They said that his game tape didn’t yield a first-round grade from them. Another team that selected a defensive back in the first round told us that they had a high second-round grade on Jones. A few other teams said they had a second-round grade on Jones as well.
While Jones was graded as a second-rounder by many teams, that doesn’t necessarily mean that the Cowboys reached on him late in the first round. Teams didn’t have a full 32 first-round grades overall, so it was unavoidable that some players with second-round grades were going to go in the first round. According to many teams, Jones was one of those players.
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