IRVING, Texas - If you were looking for a major splash from the 2009 NFL Draft, the Cowboys' War Room at Valley Ranch was certainly not the place to be.
And that was expected long before the draft took place this weekend. That was expected after Saturday's first day of the draft when the Cowboys had no picks for the first time in club history.
But even though they came back Sunday with 12 selections, giving them their most in one draft since the NFL changed to a seven-round format in 1994, this Cowboys' draft doesn't have that "wow factor" we've seen in previous years.
Without a first-round pick, and having decided to trade out of their second-round spot (51st overall), the Cowboys weren't looking for "wow," but instead some value.
"We went into this draft with a lot of picks and had the mindset of getting more picks if the opportunity of increasing the value of our positions presented itself," Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones said. "We thought it was important to stockpile picks in this draft so we could create some competition at a lot of roster spots, specifically linebacker and the secondary."
But Jones and the Cowboys were able to do so much more with those 12 picks, which included seven defensive players and four offensive players. The Cowboys also took a place-kicker, which signaled an extreme effort to bolster the special teams units.
"We had a very serious off-season priority, beginning with the hiring of our special teams coach (Joe DeCamillis)," Jones said. "But our special teams play was an important part of this draft. When you're drafting at this level, you can put some emphasis on that. Really, every one of our selections was there to give us an opportunity to make an immediate improvement. Of course, you couldn't get more specific than (drafting USC kicker) David Buehler, our kickoff specialist."
Buehler was a fifth-round pick (172nd overall) and the highest the Cowboys have selected any type of kicker since 1986.
But while special teams was a theme for the draft, the Cowboys did manage to land some quality players on both sides of the ball.
Since Jerry Jones bought the team in 1989, the latest the Cowboys had ever made their first pick of any draft was in 2001, when they took Quincy Carter with the 53rd pick. That changed this year when they waited until the 69th pick, early in the third round, to grab Western Illinois linebacker Jason Williams, who played safety early in his career and ran a 4.4 during his last workout.
Williams (6-1, 241) played a hybrid linebacker spot in college against Division-IA competition. With the Cowboys, it's likely he'll be playing in the inside of the 3-4 defense, probably competing with Bobby Carpenter for a spot as the dime backer. Williams could be the replacement for Kevin Burnett, who signed with the Chargers in free agency.
"Jason Williams played inside backer and played close to the line of scrimmage this year, but two years ago he was off the line," said head coach Wade Phillips. "He's a run-hit guy that I think is exceptional at run and hit. He can really run but he will hit you. I think he'll be an instant impact on our special teams."
And it didn't take long for the Cowboys to relay those sentiments to Williams, who said the club mentioned special teams in the initial phone call to inform he was drafted.
"They wanted me to come in and be a special teams guy. ... They said they wanted to put me into some third down packages," said Williams, who forced 14 fumbles in his college career. "My first year playing linebacker, (the fumbles) kind of just happened. But last year, all through the offseason, through practice, and in the games I was focusing on going for strips."
Later in the third round, the Cowboys drafted Ball State offensive lineman Robert Brewster, who played tackle in college but could end up as a guard.
Brewster has some ideal versatility for a lineman, having played both tackle and guard in college. His last two years, Brewster played tackle in a spread offense where he was rarely asked to block from a three-point stance.
With the Cowboys having the starting tackles set in Flozell Adams and Marc Colombo, Brewster will probably be competing with guys such as Doug Free and Pat McQuistan for a backup role.
Possibly the headline pick of the draft was Texas A&M quarterback Stephen McGee, just the fourth quarterback drafted by the Cowboys in 20 years and the first since Carter in 2001.
McGee has a strong arm but ran a run-oriented offense that allowed him to showcase his running abilities. The Cowboys have hinted they might take a quarterback who could possibly run the Wildcat offense and McGee has experience with that.
McGee played at Burnett High School in Texas and said he dreamed of playing for the Cowboys, wearing the uniform as a kid.
"Yes I did. I remember being six or seven years old and there's a video of me in the front yard with a Dallas Cowboys helmet and jersey on with my dad throwing passes to me," McGee said. "I had Michael Irvin, Troy Aikman and Emmitt Smith posters on my wall. I had the Dallas Cowboys Wheaties box after they won the Super
Bowl autographed. That's what I grew up around. Certainly when you put that star on there's a lot more pride that goes into wearing it."
Later in the fourth round, the Cowboys selected Oregon State pass rusher Victor Butler, a college defensive end who will likely play outside linebacker in the 3-4 scheme.
With another fourth-round pick, the Cowboys picked Texas Tech outside linebacker Brandon Williams, who led the Big XII in sacks last season with 11, and then traded back into the fifth round to grab Cincinnati's DeAngelo Smith. Smith played cornerback last year but the Cowboys will start him out at safety, where he played earlier in his career.
The Cowboys finally picked a safety near the end of the fifth round when they took Clemson safety Michael Hamlin, who joins veteran Ken Hamlin in the secondary.
While the two are not related, they could eventually be the two starters in the defensive backfield.
At the end of the fifth round, the Cowboys drafted Southern Cal place-kicker David Buehler (6-2, 219). He's got a huge leg that could likely handle all the kickoff duties and possibly long field goal attempts, if needed. While Nick Folk has been very accurate on field goals, he did not have a touchback at all last season.
Jerry Jones said the Cowboys made a "philosophical decision" before the draft to carry two place-kickers on the 53-man roster.
But more than just kicking off, Buehler might be able to contribute in other special teams roles.
"I talked to the special teams coach (Joe DeCamillis) and he was talking about how they'll need me to be on a few other special teams as well as kickoffs," said Buehler, who had an impressive combine, bench pressing 225 pounds 25 times and running a 4.63. "I'm trying to go in there with wide eyes open as well just to see what they want me to do."
In the sixth round, the Cowboys drafted TCU linebacker Stephen Hodge, who could play some strong safety. The former high school quarterback has played both safety and linebacker in college. Hodge should be able to contribute on special teams right away.
Later in the round, the Cowboys took Virginia tight end John Phillips, who could easily fill into the third tight end role, competing with Rodney Hannah. After Jason Witten and Martellus Bennett, the team could use a solid blocker and Phillips fits the mold.
In the final round, the Cowboys rounded out the draft with another Cincinnati cornerback, Mike Mickens, who was once a middle-round projection before suffering a knee injury. Mickens had a full workout for NFL teams in March so he should be ready to go for this weekend's mini-camp at Valley Ranch.
The team's final pick was Oklahoma wide receiver Manuel Johnson, who had 24 career starts. Johnson caught 42 passes and nine touchdowns last season for the Sooners. Johnson is the only receiver or running back drafted by the Cowboys this year.
Stephen Jones, the Cowboys vice president of player personnel recognizes that there weren't many big names in the draft. And he even understands why some followers might not be as excited.
But he doesn't share the feelings one bit.
"It's hard to be excited for a fan. It's not hard for us to be excited," Stephen Jones said. "I'm sure it's difficult and all you usually hear about are the first-day picks at best, and it's usually the first 15 picks that the fans know about. It's maybe not as much fun for them but we're as excited as we've ever been for the draft. It's every bit as exciting as if we would've had two 1's and two 2's. We couldn't be happier about what we've done."
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