Each year, we hear about the importance of the all-mighty board when it comes to the NFL Draft. Each year, teams deviate from said board.
Former Dallas Cowboys scout Bryan Broaddus discussed the habit and how the Cowboys missed out on selecting running back LeSean McCoy because of it.
"If you go back to the 2009 draft, they sat there and they had LeSean McCoy with a first-round grade," Broaddus said during a radio interview last week on KRLD-FM, according to The Dallas Morning News. "The problem was, they weren't willing to take LeSean McCoy. That's the issue. Don't window-dress your board. They're sitting there in the second round and they've got LeSean McCoy with a first-round grade on their board. That's value. They did it (got it right) with Sean Lee, they did it with Bruce Carter. They sat there, they took the guy that was on the board that they were supposed to take.
"Mistakes are made when you jump around on the board. Jerry (Jones has) done it a couple of different times. The Quincy Carter draft, we had Kendrell Bell there, first-round grade, ends up going the second round; goes right behind us to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Ends up being AFC Defensive Rookie of the Year. And then we take Quincy Carter. That was a forced pick right there. You had a guy there you had a better grade on, you probably could have got Quincy Carter later in the draft. That's where you get in trouble leapfrogging around."
McCoy ended up going to the Philadelphia Eagles at No. 53 overall.
Broaddus said the opposite happened with tight end Jason Witten, who was selected in the third round and has eight Pro Bowls on his resume.
To say the draft is an inexact science would be an understatement. Still, we assume quarterback Tony Romo would have benefited from having a versatile threat like McCoy in the backfield. Wrong selections are made all the time, but the knife is twisted if the original evaluation was correct.
Follow Kareem Copeland on Twitter @kareemcopeland.
