Birds Didn't Rate on Boys' Big Board

We're not anywhere near the first blog to take note of how the Cowboys, always eager to publicize their operation, posted images on the team Web site that contained their draft board on draft  day. Interested people (with much too much time on their hands) quickly found ways to read many of the names listed.

So, in a way, George C. Scott's darkest fear from "Dr. Strangelove" has been realized. They saw the big board!!!

From an Eagles perspective, this is interesting mainly in that Dallas valued at least a few Eagles draftees differently. Brandon Graham, the defensive end the Birds traded up to take 13th overall in the first round, was ranked as the fifth-best player in the second round on the Cowboys' board. Before you get too excited about that, the fact is, teams often vary wildly in their evaluations. Dallas, like the Eagles, has hit big with some picks in recent years and done much less well with others. It's a fact that all three of the DEs most people said were the draft's best went between pick 13 and pick 16. It seems really unlikely that Graham would have lasted until the second round, regardless of Dallas's opinion.

It's less surprising that Dallas ranked Daniel Te'o-Nesheim, the DE the Birds took in the third round, as a fifth-rounder; most people felt he went earlier than he was rated.

Here's a link to a blog that has a fairly complete listing of the names on the board.

And in closing, we'd like to quote Slim Pickens at the end  of the movie: "Yeeehhaaa!!!"