NFL Draft

[eagle eye]

Tampa Bay got things started and there was no surprise they took Jameis Winston.
Tennessee surprised by not trading the 2nd pick to San Diego for Phillip Rivers. They took Mariota.

Waiting for the Texans at 16 but I'll be keeping tabs on the AFC South and NFC East.

[eagle eye]

Redskins pick at #5 is in and they got Iowa OG Brandon Scherf.

BTW Astros are trailing Seattle 2-1 in the top of the 2nd. Astros starting pitcher Scott Feldman is off--not pitching well to start the game. Gave up 2 in the 1st and may give up one in the 2nd. 1st and 3rd with one out.

[eagle eye]

The Giants took huge OG Ereck Flowers from the U. 6'6" 329 lbs. That was the #9 pick.

So far the Redskins and Giants seem to be copying the Cowboys by beefing up their O-lines.

Astros game: Top of 4 still M's 2 Astros 1. Astros had a man on third in the 2nd and 3rd innings with nothing to show for it. Feldman has settled down and seems to be cruising.

[eagle eye]

The damn Rams took Todd Gurley. Crap. Not that he would have lasted to #16 for Houston or #26 for Dallas.

[eagle eye]

Wow, totally missed AFC South so far. Jax with 3rd pick took OLB Dante Fowler from Florida with 3rd pick and I did get Mariota going to Tennessee #2.

San Diego trades up to #15 with the 49ers get SD #17. Chargers pick RB Melvin Gordon.

Texans on the clock.

[eagle eye]

Texans pick Wake Forest CB Kevin Johnson. I like Houston but I really wanted him to fall to Houston. He probably wouldn't have gotten to Dallas so I'm glad he went to the Texans.

[eagle eye]

The last NFC East team besides Dallas was Philly and they picked WR Nelson Agholor from USC.

Denver traded up to #23 with Detroit and picked up troubled DE Shane Ray from Missouri. Troubled, he got a ticket for having a little weed. Denver gave up OL Manny Ramirez their 28th pick in the 1st round and 5th round picks in 2015 and 2016 for the move up to #23.

Houston just got out of a jam in the 9th with an M's runner on 3rd with only one out. 2-2 in the bottom of the 9th with Gattis, Carter and Castro due up.

[eagle eye]

Pittsburgh selected WR Breshad Perriman for UCF which means the Cowboys are on the clock.

Astros go down in order in the 9th--on to extra innings.

[eagle eye]

The web cam in the Cowboys war room has shown Jerra and company all smiles for several picks which likely means they knew they were going to get their guy at #27. Pick is immanent.

Pick is in---just waiting for the announcement. CB? DE? Who will it be?

It's a CB! Byron Jones from UConn. 6'1" 199 Lbs. set a world record in standing broad jump at the NFL combine of over 12 feet. This guy is versatile in that he could play CB or Safety. There will be a scouting report on all media outlets shortly. Long, athletic athlete who can play man or zone. Nice pick up for Dallas on paper anyway. DC.com happy about the pick too.

Top of 10 with a man on first and one out with Luke Gregerson on the mound and the Mariners hit into a 1-6-3 double play. Bottom of 10 coming up.

Me, I'm sick (literally) and tired (literally) and headed to bed. Good night for Texans and Cowboys. Only two trades in the 1st round through pick 27. 2nd year in a row not much wheeling and dealing in 1st round.

[eagle eye]

Maybe I'll hang around for the Astros 10th.

Jake Marisnick 6-3 ground out -- 1 out

Marwin Gonzalez rips a double down the right field line.

Colby Rasmus PH for Robbie Grossman. 5 pitch walk to Rasmus.

Men on 1st and 2nd with one out. Jose Altuve at bat. Altuve 2-4 on the night. (I'd intentionally walk Jose to get to Valbuena who is 0-2 with a walk and a K.)

Damn, Altuve doubles off the wall in left on line shot. Walk off hit and Astros win 3-2. Astros now 8 games OVER .500 at 15-7. Tonight was Altuve's 8th straight multi-hit game. Props to Scott Feldman who gave up the 2 runs in the 1st and settled down to pitch 7 innings giving up only those 2 runs while scattering 8 hits with 2 walks and 2 K's. Feldman really battled as he threw 101 pitches on the night. What a way to end April, am I right or what?!

I'm out. See you all tomorrow.

[eagle eye]

Getting back just as the 3rd round of the draft has begun. Unlike the rather boring 1st round of the draft that saw only 2 trades the whole round the second round saw at least 6 trades include one by the Texans who traded up to the 11th pick from the Browns who got the Texans 19th pick of the 2nd round. What Houston got for their trouble was linebacker named Benardrick McKinney from Mississippi State. McKinney is a 6'4" 246 lb ILB that helps fill a big need for the Texans.

As for the rest of the AFC South

> Tennessee traded back from the 1st pick in the second round with the NY Giants to the 8th pick and they took WR Dorial Green-Beckham from Missouri. Green-Beckham is 6'5" and 237 lbs. This guy has Megatron type of measureables but not quite the same talent. This goes along with their new QB Marcus Mariota who they selected yesterday.
> Jacksonville chose with the 4th pick of the 2nd round Alabama RB T J Yeldon (6'1" 226 lbs)
> The Colts traded their 29th pick to Tampa Bay and moved back to the 1st pick in the 3rd.

After being patient again and sticking with their pick at #28 (60 overall) and they were rewarded by selecting a guy that had a pre-draft grade as a top 10 1st round pick who fell because of a failed drug test prior to the draft. That guy is DE from Nebraska Robert Gregory. He's a 6'5" guy who is a little light for a DE at 235 lbs but he actually could play OLB with limitations but he has the frame to put on some weight. The Cowboys front office and coaches are going eat another big shit sandwich because they have brought another player with issues into the fold at Valley Ranch. As much as the media likes to hammer anything Cowboys this is just added fuel to the fire. I sure hope a guy who is coming into the NFL on the NFL substance abuse program straightens up and flies right.

The rest of the NFC East went like this:

> NY Giants traded up to the 1st pick in the round and chose SS from Alabama Landon Collins.
> Philadelphia traded up from the 20th pick to the 15th pick and they selected CB from Utah Eric Rowe.
> The Redskins with the 6th pick in the round chose DE Preston Smith from Mississippi St


If anyone cares, the Astros are leading the Mariners in the middle of the 6th by a score of 3-1. Houston got a 2 run shot in the 1st to put Houston up 2-0 and a solo HR by Jake Marisnick in the 2nd. The M's scored in the 3rd on an RBI double by Robinson Cano off Samuel Deduno who is making the start for the vacant spot left open when Wojo was sent down to the Minors earlier in the week. Deduno did okay going 4 innings giving up 1 run on 3 hits with 2 walks and 4 K's. If Houston hangs on to the lead and wins the game Deduno won't qualify for the win because he would have had to go 5 innings. Sort of unfair when a reliever can earn a win throwing one pitch to end the inning before the team taking a lead.

[eagle eye]

Houston did it again! They traded up in the 3rd round from their 18th pick all the way up to the 6th pick with the Jets to select WR from Arizona State Jaelen Strong. Strong is 6'2" and 217 and will give Houston another big target to throw to opposite DeAndre Hopkins.

AFC South picks:

> Indianapolis took the 1st pick of the 3rd round that they got from Tampa Bay so the Bucs could move up into the 2nd round and selected D'Joun Smith a CB from Florida Atlantic.
> Tennessee had the #2 pick in the round and took Jeremiah Poutasi an OG from Utah. The guy is huge! 6'5" 335 lbs.
> With the 3rd pick Jacksonville stepped up and took a guard from South Carolina named A J Cann.

Dallas doesn't pick until #27. With the time between picks only 5 minutes in the 3rd round picks are coming in pretty fast. They are already down to the 14th pick. Cleveland just made Miami RB Duke Johnson the 13th pick in the 3rd round. I'm now officially pissed at the Browns.

Still more deals in the 3rd but Dallas isn't one of the players as yet. Unusual discipline for Jerra and the boaz.

NFC East so far:

> NY Giants with the 10th pick chose DE Owamagbe Odighizuwa from UCLA. Now I really hate the freaking Giants!
> The Eagles don't pick for about 15 minutes at #20
> Unless they make a deal to move up Washington does not have a 3rd round pick.

Astros update: After 7 complete it's still 3-1 Houston. Seattle has the top of the batting order coming up in the 8th.

[eagle eye]

Dallas is up with the 27th pick and they have selected OT Chaz Green from Florida. He's 6'5" and 314 lbs.

The Eagles picked Jordan Hick the linebacker from Texas (filthy traitor) ((you know I'm joking, right?))

The Redskins did move up into the 3rd getting the Seahawks 31st pick and they selected Matt Jones RB from Florida

One of the needs Dallas seemed to have was running back and they have passed all the way up and down the line so far.

The 4th through 7th round begins tomorrow around noon-ish.

I'm out.


As for the Astros. They went up on Seattle 4-1 after George Springer launched a bomb that hit the upper façade about the left field Crawford boxes. Luke Gregerson came on with a save opportunity and immediately gave up a tape measure home run to Nelson Cruz to make it 4-2. He got a fly ball out then gave up a long ball to right field to Logan Morrison cutting the lead to 4-3. A swinging bunt that Gregerson fielded and made the throw to 1st for the 2nd out and at long last he struck out Ricky Weeks to end the game. Houston is now 16-7 which is the best record to begin a season tied with the 1980 Astros. They have won 8 games in a row and are now 4.5 games up on 2nd place Angels who are playing the Giants and are losing 1-0 in the 4th. Jose Altuve got his 9th multi-hit game tonight going 2-3 with a walk and run scored.

All this and I saw The Avengers: Age of Ultron today and it was badass.

[Big T]

I am going to see it tomorrow. Lol

[eagle eye]

The rounds are coming hot and heavy as the time between picks is less with every round.
Dallas must be content with the running backs they have because they have shunned every opportunity to get one.

The OT they chose in the 3rd round is an attempt to replace Jermey Parnell who left via free agency this spring. Dallas is probably looking for the next right tackle to replace Doug Free who is likely on his last contract with the Cowboys. The Cowboys claim that the guy, Chaz Green, was the best available from their draft board. If that's true then good for them for sticking to their board. Doing that the last couple of years has been fruitful for the Cowboys and I expect nothing less now.

In the 4th round, which is over BTW, Dallas went defense for the 3rd time in 4 picks. They chose ILB from Minnesota Damien Wilson. Hopefully, Wilson will be the same type of pleasant surprise last year's 4th round pick, Anthony Hitchens, was. I suspect the Cowboys were mildly pissed when a guy on their board, RB Mike Davis from South Carolina, was snatched up right in front of their pick by the blasted 49ers. It could very well have been the Cowboys would have picked up their running back with the next pick had the Niners not traded up with the Broncos for the pick.

Because of the wheeling and dealing Houston did earlier in the draft the Texans did not have a pick in the 4th round and the only pick they have in the 5th round is a compensatory pick with the 39th pick in the round. In the sixth round Houston has 2 picks, both compensatory picks, the 35th and the 40th in the round.

[eagle eye]

It's well into the 7th and final round of the 2015 NFL draft and the Texans and Cowboys will be looking for players who could be contributors on special teams. If either team is looking for a starter here both are either desperate or crazy.

Houston took a local kid with their compensatory pick in the 6th round. DT Christian Covington out of Rice. Some of you guys out there who keep an eye on local college talent at UH or Rice and such may be familiar with him. I am not but at 6'2" 289 lbs he's too light to play the nose so if he's going to make an impact I would think he will try his hand at defensive tackle.

The Texans are currently on the clock at the 18th pick and we will see shortly who that may be. That will be it for Houston for this draft as they have no compensatory picks in the round and they traded their other 7th rounder to move up in the 3rd round. The pick is in and Houston has taken RB Kenny Hilliard from LSU.

http://www.nfl.com/draft/2015/profiles/kenny-hilliard?id=2552476

The Cowboys are now on the clock with the 16th pick which they got last year in a deal with San Diego. The Cowboys have yet to address their running back needs but at this point it's probably not going to happen now. The pick is in and the Cowboys have selected Mark Nzeocha an OLB from Wyoming. The player is 6'2" and 232 lbs and he makes the 5th out of 6 draft picks on the defensive side of the ball. The Cowboys needed to upgrade the talent on defense in this draft and they did it. The Cowboys next, and last pick, in this year's draft will come at #26 they got in a 2014 trade with the Ravens to acquire LB Rolando McClain.

http://www.nfl.com/draft/2015/profiles/mark-nzeocha?id=2552684

[eagle eye]

There was a cornerback on the board until just now named Ife Okpre-Olomu from Oregon that had a much higher grade than a 7th rounder until he blew up his ACL in the Rose Bowl was selected by Cleveland just two picks in front of Dallas. Bad luck there.

Dallas is on the clock and the pick should be in soon. In fact it's in. They have selected an offensive tackle from Virginia Tech named Lawrence Gibson. He's 6'6" and 305. The Cowboys Draft coverage guys are saying this guy is a tremendous value pick for the Cowboys. Great developmental guy who is a little older than you'd like at 24 but that's kind of what you get in the 7th round. It's over for the Cowboys and Texans for this year's draft. The last dozen or so picks will take place and it will be time to sign the undrafted free agents. 3 years ago it was about 10 minutes after the draft that Dallas signed Ronald Leary who had 2nd round grades but went undrafted because of a degenerative knee condition. It was a good gamble by Dallas who has enjoyed Leary as a two year starter as his first season as a pro was a red-shirt year while he recovered from off season surgery. In the grand scheme of things Dallas was fortunate to get what they've gotten out of Leary and hopefully they'll get another 5 years out of him.

I'm tired and I didn't even spend that much time on the draft. I can't imagine what the guys on ESPN, Fox and NFL Channel, not to mention the wire to wire coverage DallasCowboys.com did. It's may and it's time to see the newbies in action. I believe rookie OTA practices are next week. No time to rest in the NFL is there?