NFL Draft: Are Cowboys Bluffing About LB Kenneth Murray at 17?
FRISCO - The Dallas Cowboys' Plan A at Pick No. 17 in the NFL Draft isn't likely Oklahoma's every-down linebacker Kenneth Murray. But the team is - purposely, we're betting - sending out mixed signals about whether Murray is the "What-If?'' plan should the handful of players Dallas ranks just ahead of him disappear off the Thursday night board.
We believe the Cowboys would be most pleased if Florida cornerback CJ Henderson slips to them at 17 ... but he seems to be a "riser,'' not a "slipper.''
We also know for a fact that the Cowboys are enamored with LSU pass-rusher K'Lavon Chaisson, and there remains a possibility he's there at No. 17.
But if those two names in particular are gone when it's Dallas' turn?
What will Dallas do about Kenneth Murray?
Draft experts like him; Dane Brugler projects him as a top-20 pick and Bryan Broaddus rates him as his 15th-best prospect overall. We believe the Cowboys' personnel department shares some of those views of the three-year starter who served as a team captain in both his sophomore and junior seasons.
Those "Right-Kind-of-Guy'' traits (yes, coach Jason Garrett is gone, but every coach likes "RKG''s) wouldn't be enough by themselves. OK, Murray is even the son of a pastor. And last year he literally saved a motorist’s life last year by performing CPR. And he dazzled Cowboys owner Jerry Jones in a Video Visit when he responded to Jerry's question about tough times by saying:
"Around the age of 11, my parents adopted three special-needs kids," Murray responded. "So that pushed my parents into more than 25, 30 doctor's appointments a week just to be able to get the kids the proper help that they need."
We can argue about Dallas' "need'' at linebacker - did they overpay Jaylon Smith? Is Leighton Vander Esch's neck OK? But COO Stephen Jones swears all is OK. (Read here.)
And the scouts? They already liked Murray, based on not only his character and intelligence (he was the defensive signal-caller for the Sooners for the last three years) but also, at 6-foot-2, 241 pounds, his freakish athleticism. He runs the 40 in 4.52 seconds, broad-jumps 129 inches and vertical-jumps 38 inches.
He's not Henderson or Chaisson, maybe, in terms of team need and value at a position. But again, in that video interview that the Cowboys released on social media, Murray jumps off the screen as a person in the same way he does as a player.
"That was a time where my parents were leaning on me a lot," Murray told Jones. "It forced me to be what you guys see on the field right now... a kid that just goes out and just gets it for himself.''
So on Thursday, if the NFL Draft falls in two very specific directions (Henderson and Chaisson being gone), do the Dallas Cowboys at 17 consummate a relationship with a player the owner has fallen in love with? We predict not. Kenneth Murray, outstanding as he is in so many ways, is going to get nudged here by a cornerback.
In this circumstance, amid all the bluffing, we bet Dallas opts for cornerback Trevon Diggs from Alabama or cornerback A.J. Terrell from Clemson. Pencil in those two names as your No. 17 "What-If's.''
