Top scout Will McClay breaks down Cowboys 2019 draft class, key undrafted free agents
Owner Jerry Jones, vice president Stephen Jones and coach Jason Garrett had their say about the Dallas Cowboys 2019 NFL Draft class over the weekend.
While they are the public faces of the organization, the man who is the wizard behind decision making, the man who runs the personnel department, is chief scout Will McClay.
It was McClay who stabilized the scouting process after the disaster in 2013 when a disconnect between the scouts and the coaching staff saw the Cowboys pass on a top five pick at a position of need in defensive tackle Sharrif Floyd.
It turned out fine great when the Cowboys took center Travis Frederick, who turned into a perennial Pro Bowler.
But it spoke to inherent issues in how the Cowboys handled their business.
Since McClay took over, the Cowboys have been a veritable Top 40 radio station during the draft, as they have consistently played hits.
Zack Martin and DeMarcus Lawrence came in 2014, Byron Jones in 2015, Dak Prescott, Ezekiel Elliott and Jaylon Smith in 2016, Chido Awuzie, Jourdan Lewis and Xavier Woods in 2017 and Leighton Vander Esch and Michael Gallup in 2018.
For McClay, it’s about focusing on taking the best player with respect to need on the roster and then make the right choices. That’s what happened in 2019.
“I am happy with what we did, without having a first-round pick,” McClay said. “There wasn’t a receiver in the draft as good as Amari Cooper. We won there. The rest of the draft was finding players to make you more competitive. Are they going to be all pro and starters? We don’t know. But they are going to be competitive.”
Here is his review of the draft picks and key undrafted signings with the Star-Telegram:
Round 2 (58th overall): Trysten Hill, DT, UCF
“He has unique three-tech type traits,” McClay said. “It’s explosive quickness off the ball. It’s the ability to be disruptive. His love and the energy he plays the game with. He can do things we want that position to do.”
Per McClay, a difference-making three-tech tackle is the most important player in defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli’s scheme. As much as the Cowboys love Pro Bowler DeMarcus Lawrence at left end, think about what a Hall of Famer like Warren Sapp would do in the middle. That is the reason they valued that position over a safety in the second round.
“It’s the straw that stirs the drink,” McClay said. “The penetration of the three-technique sets the tone for the whole defense.”
It also must be noted that the Cowboys believe Hill has learned and matured over the last year, considering his problems with the UCF coaching staff in 2018 that had him starting just one of 12 games.
It was especially notable to the Cowboys that Hill spent his 21st birthday in a not-so-ritzy hotel in Orlando talking football and going over plays with Marinelli rather than partying in a club. That spoke to his love for the game and bond he has developed with Marinelli that potentially could unlock his potential for greatness. That talent is there.
Round 3 (90th overall): Connor McGovern, G, Penn State
“He is versatile, extremely smart and physical,” McClay said. “He fits within the temperament of the (offensive line) room that we built.”
He also fits what the Cowboys organizational philosophy of not ignoring the blinking red light of the best players on the board. The Cowboys didn’t go into the draft looking to pick a guard/center. But McGovern allows them to keep “what’s strong, strong”, as in the offensive line.
The depth and versatility up front allows them to handle injuries like Frederick from last year or a potential free-agent departure of right tackle La’el Collins after the season.
”We don’t know what tomorrow brings,” McClay said. “No one could see what happened to Travis. And then there is the business side down the road. We don’t know where that leaves us. Like Jerry Jones said, keep your strength strong. We felt we did that.”
McGovern allows the Cowboys to cross-train Connor Williams, a 2018 second-round pick, at guard and tackle in 2019.
Round 4 (128th overall): Tony Pollard, RB, Memphis
“He is a space player that can something in space with the ball in his hands,” McClay said. “As the NFL changes, the more space players you have the more predictable you can be, the more the defense has to plan for. And then he plays on all four downs, including special teams as a returner. You feel like you are getting a lot of value.”
Round 5 (158th overall): Michael Jackson, CB, Miami (Fla.)
“Mike is a big, long, fast corner that fits the parameters of what we are looking for at that position. He can be an inside guy or inside guy. he has a lot of upside. He has the traits we feel like we can develop. There is a proven formula there. You go and try to find those players.”
That proven formula is right out of the guide book of secondary coach Kris Richard, who helped turn Richard Sherman from a fifth-round pick into a perennial Pro Bowler during their days together in Seattle. It’s not lost on the Cowboys that Jackson has the size and build of Sherman.
McClay said Richard’s presence since last season has tweaked what they are looking for at cornerback.
“It reinforced what we were looking for,” McClay said. “We were always looking for big, long athletic corners. But we were playing cover 2. Now we are in more single-high on defense. The corners have to be on long and physical to disrupt routes.”
Round 5 (165th overall): Joe Jackson, DE, Miami (Fla.)
The Cowboys went with back-to-back Jacksons with familiar names causing a few jokes in the war room as well as the internet.
”All we need was Tito,” McClay said, of the oldest of the famed Jackson 5 pop band. “We had a couple of jokes. We have the Jackson two and (running back) Darius Jackson makes it three. We are getting close.”
Regarding Joe Jackson, it was another nod to the best player on the board, continuing the bolster the defensive line and as well as future moves.
“Joe is a prototypical Dallas Cowboys-type defensive lineman. A big, physical athlete and determined guy. Look at his size. Look at his production. He adds value and more competition.”
Joe Jackson officially puts disappointing 2017 first-round pick Taco Charlton on notice that he might not make the roster out of camp if he doesn’t put it all together in 2019.
Round 6 (213th overall): Donovan Wilson, S, Texas A&M
One reason the Cowboys selected Hill over safety Juan Thornhill in the second round is because Thornhill is more of a free safety. And the Cowboys already have that in Xavier Woods, who they believe can develop into a star.
They were looking for more of a physical strong safety like Seattle had with Kam Chancellor playing next to Earl Thomas. Wilson potentially fits that mold.
“Donovan is a player that has traits we like,” McClay said. “We like his physicality. He is long. He has the earmarks. We feel like we can improve his game and make an even better player.”
Round 7 (218th overall: Mike Weber, RB, Ohio State
“He has the ability to the run plays we run in his scheme and he has speed,” McClay said. “He has some Zeke similarities.”
Weber was a player many thought would be gone before the seventh round. The Cowboys feel they got tremendous value in a player ideal to play behind Elliott and complement a space player like Pollard.
“We know we have the best running back in the league,” McClay said. “We don’t want him to come off the field. But he needs to come off at times or we can pair guys to do things with him. We need the depth to handle the ebb and flow of the season and the game.”
Round 7 (241st): Jalen Jelks, DE , Oregon
“He just jumped off the tape,” McClay said. “The length, the ability, the effort, the motor. You see it all on tape. He played a multitude of positions at Oregon so he never got to hone in on one. But he was competitive everywhere. He battled in there, even against the guards and was productive and disruptive.”
The unofficial list of undrafted free agents signed by the include: North Texas WR Jalen Guyton, Clemson OL Mitch Hyatt, Kentucky CB Chris Westry, Indiana OL Brandon Knight, Nebraska LB Luke Gifford, Michigan State LB Andre Dowell, Toledo WR Jon’Vea Johnson, Virginia Tech DT Ricky Walker, Kansas DT Daniel Wise, Northwestern LB Nate Hall, Oklahoma State LB Justin Phillips, Central Missouri OL Derrick Puni and Harvard OL Larry Allen Jr.
McClay touched on a few:
* Westry is a 6-foot-4 cornerback and “moves like he is 5-11.”
* Hyatt started every game in his career and won two national titles at Clemson
* Wise was a highly productive player in college that the Cowboys had a draftable grade on.
* Guyton is a local kid from North Texas that “has some juice.”
And then there is Allen Jr., son of the Pro Football Hall of Famer and Cowboys Ring of Honor member.
“He is no Larry Allen, no one is,” McClay said. “But he can play. There are no sentimental picks. He is a guard/center type. He has good bloodlines and he is smart.”