As Terry explains in his conclusion, his gamble paid off waiting until #28 to nab Antoine Cason and securing Felix Jones at #22 while he could. Who knows if someone might have taken him in the 23-27 range, but these are the kinds of decisions and calculations GMs must make on Draft Day and during the preparation leading up to it. Terry has done so with aplomb. Next up? The San Franciso 49ers, represented by cgolden. Let's try to finish this by tomorrow, so that we can do a recap of our experimental draft on Thursday.
With pick #22 the Cowboys took care of one of their biggest needs selecting Felix Jones from Arkansas to team up with MB3 to solidify the Cowboys running game. With the next selection, the Cowboys will turn their attention to their other major need which is CB.
As I stated earlier, the Cowboys have a very good starting tandem of cornerbacks in Terence Newman and Anthony Henry, however they have absolutely no depth at all behind the starters, who were hurt a good portion of last season and are not getting any younger. The Cowboys need a player to come in and play right away as a nickel back while serving a somebody who could take over in case one of the starters goes down for any period of time.
So the the 28th pick of the 2008 draft, the Cowboys select Antoine Cason, CB from Arizona. While this kid isn't a highly touted as some CBs like Mike Jenkins and Aqib Talib, I actually think he will turn out to be a player in the NFL. From a talent standpoint, this kid has all the measurables you would look for in a corner standing 6-0, 190 lbs and running a 4.4 40. He is also very experienced having started all 4 years at Arizona and will come into the league very battle tested and probably more prepared than the slightly more talented players rated above him such as Dominique Rogers Cromartie and Leodis McKelvin, who come from smaller schools and possibly will have a harder time transitioning into the league than Cason.
The best thing about Cason in my opinion is the kid is a great natural leader and has great character, so the intangibles he brings to the table are just as impressive. In that respect his bust factor is very low as the worst Cason will ever be is very solid. I would have selected Cason with the 22nd pick, but I knew he wasn't as highly regarded as Felix Jones and probably would be here at #28 and I was right.
BTSC Mock Draft Team Selections
#1 - Miami Dolphins, Darren Mcfadden
#2 - St. Louis Rams, Chris Long
#3 - Atlanta Falcons, Sedrick Ellis
#4 - Oakland Raiders, Vernon Gholston
#5 - Kansas City Chiefs, Jake Long
#6 - New York Jets, Glen Dorsey
#7 - New England Patriots, Dominique Rodger-Cromartie
#8 - Baltimore Ravens, Jerod Mayo
#9 - Cincinnati Bengals, Keith Rivers
#10 - New Orleans Saints, Aqib Talib
#11 - Buffalo Bills, Malcom Kelly
#12 - Denver Broncos, Ryan Clady
#13 - Carolina Panthers, Chris Williams
#14 - Chicago Bears, Brandon Albert
#15 - Detroit Lions, Leodis McKelvin
#16 - Arizona Cardinals, Jeff Otah
#17 - Minnesota Vikings, Derrick Harvey
#18 - Houston Texans, Rashard Mendenhall
#19 - Philadelphia Eagles, Jonathan Stewart
#20 - Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Limas Sweed
#21 - Washington Redskins, Mike Jenkins
#22 - Dallas Cowboys, Felix Jones
#23 - Pittsburgh Steelers, Kentwan Balmer
#24 - Tennessee Titans, Devin Thomas
#25 - Seattle Seahawks, Kenny Phillips
#26 - Jacksonville Jaguars, Phillip Merling
#27 - San Diego Chargers, Gosder Cherilus