NFL Draft: Can McClay's Cowboys 'See Clearly Now'?

Cowboys exec Will McClay on scouting in a COVID time: "At the end of the day it's still watching football ... It's more of clear process of the player."

FRISCO - NFL scouting in a COVID era obviously presents challenges. For instance, at last week's Senior Bowl, the NFL limited each team to only 10 visiting staffers. But what if "simpler'' is "better''?

"At the end of the day it's still watching football," said McClay, the Cowboys' vice president of player personnel. "The access is the same. There's not as many people running around. It's more of clear process of the player."

McClay, visiting with DallasCowboys.com, comes across as enthusiastic in general just to be able to see players working in Mobile.

"It's just great to see guys play and participate," McClay said. "This year is so different with schools playing, not playing, guys opting out, opting in – all of those things. It's digging to find that information and find out more about who these guys are."

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The "digging'' will be different this year, with not only the Senior Bowl stripped down, but also the access changes to the NFL Combine. But in the end, scouting is scouting. And specific to the Senior Bowl, as the team website points out, Dallas seems to have a particular attraction to participants there, having used its NFL Draft picks to nab big-time players like DeMarcus Ware, Zack Martin and DeMarco Murray and present members of the team's roster like Tony Pollard and Bradlee Anae. 

McClay termed that largely a "coincidence.'' But as the Cowboys prepare for this April's NFL Draft, with a bundle of picks that starts with the No. 10 overall selection, there is a fond memory of the Senior Bowl payoff that stands out.

"The big one is Dak Prescott,'' McClay said, recalling the 2016 Senior Bowl when the Cowboys coaching staff was there to oversee one of the teams and later chose their now-starting QB as a steal in Round 4. "Just from that interaction with Dak, watching him at practice but then that interaction with him started to tell us more about who he was and how different he was. 

"And that added more information to what we had. We felt like when the time comes, we have an opportunity to pick this guy – he's the right guy."

This year's task is ... well, "clear'': Find some more "right guys.''

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