Guarded Optimism: Stephen Jones Dreams of Drafting Cowboys Clone
FRISCO - It's no secret the Dallas Cowboys need offensive line help in next week's NFL Draft. Specifically, they covet a plug-and-play guard.
But former All-Pro center Travis Frederick isn't walking through the door at The Star. Connor Williams is off to Miami; La'el Collins to Cincinnati. Connor McGovern is consistently underwhelming.
Jerry Jones has teased about trading up from Dallas' 24th overall pick. But to grab who?
Boston College's Zion Johnson and Texas A&M's Kenyon Green are top prospects that could be available at 24, and various mock drafts have one or the other going to Dallas. Problem is, the draft is heavy with receiving talent and the Cowboys also would like to reinforce a position dinged by the departures of Amari Cooper and Cedrick Wilson.
If only there was a perfect solution. A no-brainer pick.
Vice president Stephen Jones says that player indeed exists.
"If you find me another Zack Martin ... I take that all day long," Stephen said this week on 105.3 The Fan. "Zack is capable of playing tackle if we needed him to. There’s no doubt in my mind he could move in and play center if we needed him to. Now, he’s one of the premier guards playing right guard. You really don’t want to sacrifice knowing what you have there as a dominant player in the NFL in Zack Martin. But if you were to draw one up, I just say go look at Zack Martin.”
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Without Martin's clone available, the Cowboys should nonetheless draft an offensive lineman over a receiver with their top pick. Simply because dependable, durable guards are much harder to find than talented receivers.
The Cowboys have discovered receivers from Drew Pearson to Miles Austin as undrafted free agents and landed Wilson with a sixth-round pick. To acquire Martin and his seven All-Pro seasons, they had to fend off the impulse to draft Johnny Manziel with the 16th pick in 2014.
