The Dallas Cowboys seemed to exemplify an organization in disarray and troubled in its decision making. A draft that should be well planned for every possible scenario apparently didn’t factor in one in which they would draft C Travis Frederick in the first round. Besides images that allowed the Cowboys draft board to be put together, the camera also caught a heated exchange between Dallas Cowboys executives after their first round selection.
So, what do we make of the Dallas Cowboys 2013 NFL Draft? Well, they did stay with their draft board in terms of player rankings, but that is not always a positive. An NFL Draft is like a portfolio and you want the best portfolio possible at the end of the day. If player A is the top player on the board, then what should also factor in is the probability that he will make it to the next pick that you have. If that probability is high, you could take a player better with the current pick than you would have gotten with the next pick and come back and likely get the other player as well.
The Dallas Cowboys own draft board showed that they took a player with a 2nd round grade in the first round, even though he was the highest rated player on their board. With the ability to sign a first round pick to a longer rookie contract, it is highly likely that an organization would have had interest in the pick, and the Cowboys could have moved back and still taken him.
As for the evaluation of C Travis Frederick, the pick left a lot of value on the table both on his analytical profile and with the value of the position. The center position rates only above the RG position on the offensive line in terms of value related to a Quarterback’s rating. They drafted a couple of decent players in this draft but missed heavily on value where arbitrage was at max value. In a league built on parity, the draft must be on maximizing value.