So once again the Dallas Cowboys have been enticed by the peripheral glint of an NFL Draft Combine performance and, ignoring all public caveats, decided that a young rogue’s behavioral issues can all be resolved with a mere phone call from Jerry Jones.
That seems to be the case, at least, with Trysten Hill, the Cowboys’ first pick (No. 58) in this weekend’s draft.
Never mind that his college coaches at Central Florida were so disenthralled with Hill’s practice and meeting room habits that he was allowed to start only one game during the 2018 season.
What do college coaches know, right?
I get the pick, I really do. But without the luxury of a first-round choice, why swing for the fences there?
Why not a solid, consensus, projectable starter, instead of a guy whose immediate role will be providing defensive line depth?
When last we saw the Cowboys, lest anyone at the Ford Center forgets, they were one step from making their long-overdue giant leap for mankind – a conference championship game.
When you’re a contender, you evaluate where you fell short and you upgrade. You look for a potential immediate starter with your first pick, not for a guy who couldn’t crack the starting lineup for a non-Power Five college team.
Except for playing time, yes, Hill’s measurables are there. But scouts were giving him demerits for his inconsistent performance and practice effort even before Josh Heupel took over at UCF.
High risk, high reward. I get the principle. But how is Trysten Hill going to help the Cowboys beat the Rams, Saints or Eagles this season?
The Cowboys pick I really, really liked is guard Connor McGovern of Penn State, chosen in round three with the No. 90 pick. McGovern can provide an immediate upgrade at left guard, allowing the Cowboys to move last year’s disappointment, Connor Williams, to the right tackle position he played in college.
McGovern started 34 games in his three seasons at Penn State and spent most of that time blocking for Saquon Barkley against a tough Big Ten schedule. Hill, meanwhile, was getting scouting consolation mostly for the job he did last season in one game, UCF’s toughest test . . . against Memphis.
Owner Jones has shopped this way before, of course, in both free agency and the draft. He’s rolled the dice and won on Jaylon Smith and Randy Gregory, but he’s also gambled and lost on Greg Hardy and David Irving.
Long ago I surrendered any notion that I can adequately assign a draft grade to any one team, let alone all 32. Different teams can have varying objectives in the draft, as the Oakland Raiders showed.
It stands to reason, though, that a team has to first assess itself honestly. There’s a group of franchises who shouldn’t be plotting to win the 2020 season when there’s still 2019 to be played.
NFC contenders Chicago, Atlanta, New Orleans and Seattle all drafted players that should immediately see the field this season.
With the Cowboys’ No. 58 pick, safeties Taylor Rapp or Juan Thornhill, both still on the board, would have drawn instant praise.
Instead, the Joneses waited until the sixth round to finally select a safety, Texas A&M’s Donovan Wilson, the 213th player taken.
Well, he’s no Rod Hill, at least.
At the Ford Center, defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli’s favorable vote is said to have been the difference in choosing Hill over a safety.
“It’s unbelievable how hard he plays,” Marinelli said of Hill. “You’d be hard-pressed to see any guy playing that hard. Every down, his motor is running.
“When you see that, that reflects football character. His movement is really everything you are looking for, and he is ornery.”
Hmm. A bunch of scouts called him lazy, not ornery.
But when Hill visited team headquarters in Frisco before the draft, presumably Marinelli and the Joneses peered deep into Hill’s soul and, again, saw a player that they could steer onto the right path.
After all, after spending three years, night and day, with a young player, what do college coaches know?
