What We Learned From The Cowboys Pre-Draft Press Conference

Bright minds across the globe of Cowboys Twitter have clung to one single truth around this time of year.

While smokescreens, flim-flams, and razzle dazzles are being set, done, and thrown by NFL Front Offices across the league… The Dallas Cowboys traditionally are cautiously honest when it comes to their annual Pre-Draft Press Conference.

Jason Garrett, Jerry Jones, and Stephen Jones all sat down for what will essentially be the last time in front of the media before things hit Zero Dark Thirty around Valley Ranch. You can watch the Pre-Draft Press Conference here, and I encourage you to do so, but here are a few things that can be drawn out from what they said.

The Cowboys Will Most Likely Stay At The 4th Overall Pick

Jerry Jones said himself that the Cowboys would most likely stay with the pick that they earned after the 2015 season (you know, the one we buried and are never ever EVER going to talk about again…). This has become quite the pivot point for all teams in the Draft. Los Angeles and Philadelphia are very likely (as much of a guarantee as there is in the NFL Draft) taking the crop’s top two quarterbacks, and while San Diego has some options… Where the Cowboys go will shape the entire night for the NFL.

The Best Player Available Approach Is The Right One

The nature of football is that every team has a need. You can cycle through all 32 teams and each one of them is in sore need of some talent at a certain position. When it comes to the Cowboys you could choose from a lot of things: Pass Rush (especially since our top two rushmen are suspended for the first four games), Secondary, Running Back… Your call.

The Cowboys have traditionally stuck to a “Best Player Available” methodology when they’re on the clock. They don’t overreact based on need. This is how you win in the National Football League. Stephen, Coach Garrett, and Jerry all reiterated this philosophy so expect Dallas to continue to put it into practice.

“You Can’t Have It All”

While answering a question about the suspensions of Randy Gregory and DeMarcus Lawrence coupled with the non-re-signing of Greg Hardy, Jerry Jones gave us what perhaps might be the philosophy of the 2016 Cowboys.

He said that some parts of this team were going to be better than others (shocker, I know). He said that “you can’t have it all” and you have to expect the better parts to carry the not so good ones.

This is a little alarming if I’m quite honest. At this point Jerry had also said that they were essentially assuming that they’d be a little luckier when it came to health this season (I don’t have to remind you how hard the injury bug bit last year). If you connect all those dots then it sounds like the club is willing to bet that Tony Romo will be healthy and carry this team yet again. Just be cautious.

The Cowboys Have Done Their Homework On Joey Bosa

Obviously the Cowboys have some concerns when it comes to their prized pass rushers – we’ve gone over that. People around the country have suggested that as an immediate reaction to that need the Cowboys will select Ohio State’s Joey Bosa.

Coach Garrett said that they know Joey very well. They visited with him at the Combine, at Valley Ranch, and at Ohio State. Jerry Jones said that “his character would not be an issue” in Dallas drafting Bosa. While the Bosa-To-Dallas hype has cooled significantly, just know that it’s not dead entirely.

There Will Very Likely Be A Quarterback Taken In The Later Rounds

The braintrust of the Dallas Cowboys don’t feel that there is a high priority, or high enough to make a bad decision in Jerry’s words, to find Tony Romo’s successor in this Draft.

Couple that with the fact that they believe there is an “intriguing” amount of depth in this year’s quarterback class, and you have a recipe for a late round QB. Expect the Cowboys to address the quarterback position in this draft, but not until they feel good about some other positions first.

This Roster Is Built With A Financial Eye

People across the world acknowledge that Jerry Jones is a fantastic businessman, and they claim that he has no knowledge of football. What those critics don’t fully get is that Jerry Jones has woven those two subjects with one another in one of the most brilliant ways in sports history.

Upon being asked if there was more pressure surrounding the 4th Overall Pick versus picking in the twenties, Jerry gave an answer that left us in awe. He said that for a long time that those top picks were some of the most expensive resources in football when it came to building your team. This is of course because of the old Collective Bargaining Agreement where rookies broke the bank on their deals.

With the new CBA rookies are on their own salary cap, so the 4th Overall Pick is a much larger bang for your buck so to speak. Jerry Jones gets this and it’s for this reason that the Dallas Cowboys are who they are. Trust him.

Ezekiel Elliott Is Worthy Of Being In The “Top 10”

Stephen Jones was the go-to when it came to questions surrounding Ohio State’s star running back Ezekiel Elliott. He said that Zeke was certainly worthy of going in the Top 10, which could be an indication that Zeke might be a target if the Cowboys trade back.

As the Cowboys hold the 4th Overall Pick if someone was held in high regard you’d have to imagine Stephen would have said worth of being in the “Top 5.”

Jason Garrett Loves Jalen Ramsey

When asked about Florida State’s Jalen Ramsey and his corner/safety hybrid skills, Jason Garrett right about wrote a Nicholas Sparks novel for us.

Coach Garrett spoke from the heart saying that Ramsey was a phenomenal football player. He said that he’d visited with him extensively (at the Combine, at Valley Ranch, and at Florida State) and that he jumps off of the tape. Coach Garrett drew a comparison to another Seminole in Deion Sanders (who he knows well) when justifying that Ramsey’s low interception numbers are because opposing quarterbacks shied away from him.

The 4th Overall Pick Will Come Down To Jalen Ramsey Or Ezekiel Elliott

This has been one of the longer offseasons in recent memory. We’re all itching to get back to the glory days of Sunday Football, and we can’t wait to see the 4th Overall Pick in action.

We’ve speculated, guessed, proclaimed, pounded the table, and outright screamed for the Cowboys to draft different players at different points.

All in all it seems that the gentleman walking towards Commissioner Goodell holding his name on a Cowboys jersey will be either Jalen Ramsey or Ezekiel Elliott.

It seems that the Cowboys are leaning Ramsey at this moment. Of course San Diego could very well acquire Ramsey’s services with the 3rd Overall Pick. If that were the case then the Cowboys seem more than ecstatic to take Ezekiel Elliott. Should San Diego take one of the offensive linemen or pass rushers and leave both Ramsey and Elliott on the board… Well things could get interesting.

What were your takeaways from the Dallas Cowboys Pre-Draft Press Conference? Let us know! Comment below, Email me at RJ@RJOchoaShow.com, or Tweet to me at @rjochoa!