FLASHBACK 2010 NFL DRAFT: Take a look at a REAL Dallas Cowboys draft board

By robertdknight on 04/30/2013

Shortly after the 2010 NFL Draft, a couple photos of the Dallas Cowboys’ big board were published (by Jonathan Bales) . The photos have been leaked for quite some time now, but I thought it would be cool to take a look back at the board to judge the Cowboys’ accuracy.

Here are the images (click on images for a larger view):

Since Jerry Jones’ arm is blocking out some of the board, we can’t get a completely comprehensive list of the Cowboys’ 2010 rankings.

For the most part, though, it looked as though the Cowboys’ board was as follows:

FIRST ROUND

1. Sam Bradford
2. Gerald McCoy
3. Ndamukong Suh
4. Russell Okung
5. Trent Williams
6. Eric Berry
7. Rolando McClain
8. Joe Haden
9. CJ Spiller
10. Mike Iupati
11. Blocked by Jerry’s arm, but likely Earl Thomas or Dez Bryant
12. Blocked by Jerry’s arm, but likely Earl Thomas or Dez Bryant
13. Bryan Bulaga
14. Sean Lee
15. Jared Odrick
16. Jason Pierre-Paul
17. Derrick Morgan
18. Kyle Wilson
19. Maurkice Pouncey
20. Navarro Bowman
21. Jahvid Best
22. Tyson Alualu
23. Jermaine Gresham

Continued …

SECOND ROUND

Devin McCourty
Demaryius Thomas
Koa Misi
Jerry Hughes
Brandon Graham
Nate Allen
Morgan Burnett
Taylor Mays
Dan Williams
Kareem Jackson
Ryan Mathews
Brian Price
Rob Gronkowski
Brandon Ghee
Jimmy Clausen

THIRD ROUND

Sergio Kindle
Anthony Davis
Corey Wootton
Patrick Robinson
Dexter McCluster
Joe McKnight
Chad Jones
Colt McCoy
Taylor Price
Lamarr Houston
D’Anthony Smith
Damian Williams
Eric Decker
Thaddeus Gibson
Corey Peters
Rodger Saffold
Toby Gerhart
Golden Tate
Brandon LaFell
Amari Spievey
Mike Neal

FOURTH ROUND

Akwasi Owusu-Ansah
Javier Arenas
Vladimir Ducasse
Ed Dickson
Clay Harbor
Perry Riley
Torrell Troup
Carlton Mitchell
Mike Johnson
John Jerry
Linval Joseph
Major Wright
Dominique Franks
Larry Asante
Tony Moeaki
Mitch Petrus
Ben Tate
Kam Chancellor
Andre Roberts
Myron Lewis

FIFTH ROUND

Shawn Lauvao
Jacoby Ford
Danny Batten
Sam Young
Daniel Te’o-Nesheim
Kevin Thomas
Clifton Geathers
Dennis Pitta
Darrell Stuckey
Alterraun Verner
Alric Arnett
Garrett Graham
Reshad Jones
Jamar Wall

SIXTH ROUND

Edwin Veldheer
Mike Hoomanawanui
Willie Young
Roddrick Muckelroy

SEVENTH ROUND

Walter Thurmond
Marcus Easley
Michael Kafka
Adrian Tracy
Dan LeFevour

The first thing that stands out is the Cowboys’ ranking of wide receiver Dez Bryant, who checked in at either No. 11 or No. 12 on their board. Dallas eventually moved up three spots—from 27 to 24—to select Bryant in the first round.

According to their board, the best value the Cowboys got in 2010 was in the second round on linebacker Sean Lee, who they had ranked at No. 14 overall. Lee has been sensational when healthy in Dallas, so you have to give the team credit for hitting on him. Interestingly, the ‘Boys also had linebacker Navarro Bowman ranked in the first round—significantly ahead of most other teams—and he has been really good in San Francisco.

The Cowboys’ 2010 draft was sensational at the top with Bryant and Lee, but the ‘Boys didn’t find great value after that. Their next pick was Akwasi Owusu-Ansah in the fourth round—a player they had graded as a fourth-round pick. They also selected Sam Young and Jamar Wall in the sixth round and Sean Lissemore in the seventh. Neither Young nor Wall was rated more than a round ahead of where Dallas got them, and Lissemore didn’t appear to be on the board.

Note that the ‘Boys were pretty low on Brandon Graham in comparison to public opinion. The Cowboys had Graham as a second-round talent; he got picked in the first and has had a quiet career up until this point. They were also rather low on safety Kam Chancellor, although he seems to have worked out in Seattle.