Cowboys Pick At No. 9?

NFL expert, Dane Brugler, was interviewed on 105.3 The Fan to discuss the possible players the Dallas Cowboys might draft with their No. 9 pick. 

People always say take the best available guy in the draft but there is no way the Cowboys will draft a wide receiver with their ninth pick, even if it’s a stud like Julio Jones, who outperformed Dez Bryant’s performance at the combine last year. So shouldn’t scouts and experts just throw that saying out the window?

Oh, I think you got to stay true to your board. That’s the whole point you have a scouting department and that’s the whole reason you have a personnel department. You look at your board, you identify your top four or five need positions and you go after it. When you’re looking at nine, I think you’re looking at three main positions: you’re looking at cornerback, you’re looking at tackle and you’re looking at defensive end. And I think you have to take a player from one of those three positions at number nine.

Will the Cowboys look for anyone to play the slot wide receiver position such as Jerrel Jernigan from Troy? As Green Bay demonstrated, you need a lot of guys to stretch out the field in this league.

Sure and Jerrel Jernigan, I think, is one of the more underrated prospects coming into the draft. In my opinion, he’s the top senior wide receiver in this draft, so, he’s a guy if you can get him in the third round, that’s a good get. And also, a guy like Edmond Gates from Abilene Christian; he ran one of the fastest 40-times here at the combine with a 4.37. So, he might be a guy that you could identify as someone that would help you in the slot.

A lot of mock drafts have Prince Amukamara going to the Cowboys with the No. 9 pick. Experts have also been saying he could project as a safety in the NFL as well as a cornerback. How do you see him being used?

To be honest with you, I think his best long-term position will be at free safety. He’s such a physical hitter that plays well in press coverage. It’ll be interesting to see what he runs in the 40. He works out later this afternoon and if he runs in the 4.5 range, then maybe you think a free safety might be the best fit for him. But, you have to try him at cornerback: the fluid hips; the footwork; the technique; it’s all there. So, you try him at cornerback and then if you move him to free safety down the line, then that’s where you move him but he’s going to get his chance at cornerback and I think he’ll do well. He’s NFL-ready right now; he’ll step in and he’ll start from day one as soon as gets to the NFL.

Does Prince Amukamara fit the bill for Rob Ryan’s defense, which demands strong tacklers and leaves no room for cowards?

He does and he’s just a natural hitter. He came into college at Nebraska and he was a running back, so he’s a physical guy. They moved him to cornerback and he does not let up out there. The guy…and you want to call him a hitter but he’s a tackler. He’s a wrap-tackler, he doesn’t miss a lot of tackles and he’s a really impressive guy. He did well in his interviews yesterday; spoke really highly of his coaches at Nebraska and he really takes pride in his craft and he works hard to get better at it. He’s got a bright future; there’s no doubt about that.

Courtesy of SportsDayDFW.com