Dallas Cowboys 2021 College Draft Picks

 

     2021 NFL College Draft

       The Dallas Cowboys went into the 2021 College Draft looking for help on the defensive side of the ball...and for good reason. Dallas had one of the worst defenses in the NFL in 2020. The Cowboys had the 10th overall selection in this years draft, but at the last minute they traded that pick to Philadelphia (?) for an additional pick and dropped to the 12th overall position.. With the 12th pick Dallas went to Penn State for linebacker help..

     Number 11 is Micah Parsons, who tips the scales at 245 pounds and stands 6 foot 3. With the recent retirement of Sean Lee (also from Penn State) the Cowboys have a serious need at the linebacker position. Experts are calling Parsons the best linebacker in this years draft. He sat out the 2020 season fearing an injury would hurt his chances in the draft. He possess outstanding speed and is a physical punisher when he makes the tackle. If he is not in the starting line-up in game one..something is wrong.

   Round two of the College Draft saw the Cowboys continue on the defensive as they went for Cornerback Kelvin Joseph of Kentucky.

    Dallas attempted to trade up in the second round but talks with the New York Jets fell threw. With the 44th overall pick the Cowboys hopefully can upgrade a very porous secondary. Joseph played three years at Louisiana State University, but after altercations with the coaching staff, he transferred to Kentucky. He is 6 foot 1 and weighs 197 pounds. Exceptionally good at man-to-man coverage and is big, fast, and very athletic...BUT needs to control that temper. Loves to hit and make tackles. Coaches say he is very cocky and very confident in his abilities.

   Dallas had three picks in the third round of the draft and continued to look for help for defensive coordinator Dan Quinn. The first of three selections in the third found the Cowboys going for defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa.

    First problem here will be trying to get his name on the back of a jersey.. Odighizuwa is 6 foot 2 and 280 pounds and saw action all four years at U.C.L.A. He was first team All Pac12 and named the top defensive lineman in the 2021 Senior Bowl. Recorded 30 tackles in seven games for the Bruins and could find a spot on the team with the sudden retirement of Tyrone Crawford last month.

    The second third-round pick for Dallas was the 84th overall selection and Dallas continued to try and shore up the defensive line by picking end Chauncey Golston of Iowa.

Golston is 6 foot 5 and 270 pounds of solid muscle, and the first Hawkeye taken in this years draft. He was honorable mention to the All Big-10 Conference and led the team with 45 tackles and 5 and a half sacks his senior season. Coaches say he is a great edge rusher and excels against the running game. 

   The third pick in the third round found Dallas looking to the great Northwest when they selected Nahshon Wright, a giant of a cornerback from Oregon State University.

     Wright is 6 foot 4 and 188 pounds and the tallest cornerback in college football in 2020. He was the 99th overall pick in the draft. Coaches named Wright to the All Big 12 Conference Team after last season. In his final year Wright recorded 64 tackles with one sack and five interceptions. Against the pass he also recorded eleven pass breakups. He bypassed his senior season to apply for the NFL draft.

   The Cowboys had two selections in the fourth round of the draft and with the first one they made the call to Jabril Cox of L.S.U.

    Cox is 6 foot 3 and 232 pounds and was the 115th overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. He spent three years at North Dakota State and the Buffs were small college national champions all three years. For his senior year he transferred to Baton Rouge. In 2020 he recorded 58 tackles, 3 interceptions, and 6 and a half tackles behind the line of scrimmage. He also is credited with knocking down 5 pass attempts. LSU coaches say the sky is the limit for this one as he loves to 'get his hands dirty.' His position coach says he lives for the hard contact of an open field tackle.

     The second selection of the fourth round (138th overall) found the Cowboys making their first pick for an offensive player..and a controversial one at that.

 Dallas picked Josh Ball, a giant offensive tackle from Marshall University. This was the 138th overall pick in the draft. Ball played for Florida State for three years but transferred to Marshall after being suspended at Florida State for a domestic abuse charge from an ex-girlfriend. Dallas Vice-President Stephen Jones said the team did an in depth background check on Ball and the team is confident he is now headed in the right direction. Ball is 6 foot 5 and 323 pounds.

   In the fifth round of the NFL Draft the Cowboys found another offensive player to their liking in wide receiver Simi Fehoko of Stanford University.

Fehoko is the 179th overall pick and stands 6 foot 4 and 222 pounds. Lots of speed in Fehoko as he ran a 4.40 in his forty yard sprint at the Stanford pro day for NFL scouts. In 2020 he recorded 61 catches for 1140 yards and 9 touchdowns. In the game against rival UCLA he had 16 catches alone. With Michael Gallop becoming a free agent next season, Fehoko could be in a good position to replace him.

  In the sixth round of the draft Dallas returned to their defensive mode (that's 7 out of 9 picks for the defense, if you're keeping count) when they returned to Kentucky for additional line help.

Quinton Bohanna was the 192 overall pick in this years draft and stands 6 foot 4 and tips the scales at 357 pounds. In 2020 Bohanna had 58 tackles for the Wildcats, 9 and a half behind the line of scrimmage. He also forced two fumbles and recovered one of them. Cowboy coaches say they see him as a nose tackle and a sure run stopper. Kentucky coaches say he is the sleeper of the draft and should have gone much higher in the selection process.

   With their seventh and final pick, Dallas found a player to help with the injuries to the offensive line last year. Guard Matt Farniok of the University of Nebraska..

   Farniok is 6 foot 6 and 330 pounds. He is a two time team captain for the Huskers and has started every game for the past two seasons at Lincoln. Nebraska coaches say he is a great blocker in the running game. A couple of times injuries forced Nebraska to use Farniok at the center position and he came through with flying colors. He was named to the All Big 10 Conference honor team and Nebraska named him their offensive lineman of the year in 2020.

   That completes the 2021 NFL draft for the Cowboys, but coaches have already fanned out across the country searching for free agents to help the team. Rumors have it that two wide receivers (one from Texas and one from Texas Tech) have already signed with Dallas. We wish all the players good luck as they move to the professional game. With the return of quarterback Dak Prescott from his major injury last year, the team can only get better..... Please !

Free Agents signed since college draft...

Player                                     School                    Position

Brenden Knox                    Marshall                          RB

Osiris Mitchell                    Miss. State                      WR

Tyler Coyle                         Purdue                             LB/S

Artayvious Lynn                 TCU                                TE

Brandon Smith                    Iowa                                WR

JaQuan Hardy                     Tiffin                               RB

Anthony Hines                    Tex A&M                        LB

Brennan Eagles                   Texas                               WR

T J Vasher                            Tex Tech                          WR

Braylon Jones                      Houston                          OL

Nick Ralston                       Louisiana                         ATH

Nick Eubanks                      Michigan                         TE

Austin Faoliu                       Oregon                             DE

Dallas Cowboys 2020 Schedule

                                 

                               2020 Pre-Season Games

August 6th        Dallas vs Pittsburgh at Canton, Ohio   7pm                                                              
August 15th        vs Los Angeles Chargers     7pm

August 22nd        vs Kansas City Chiefs         7pm

 August 29th         at Baltimore Ravens           7pm

September 3rd       at Houston Texans             7pm

                       (All Times Central Time)

                                     Regular Season Games

9/13        Dallas at Los Angeles Rams

9/20        Atlanta Falcons at Dallas

9/27        Dallas at Seattle Seahawks

10/4        Cleveland Browns at Dallas

10/11      New York Giants at Dallas

10/19      Arizona Cardinals at Dallas  (Monday Night)

10/25      Dallas at Washington Redskins

11/1        Dallas at Philadelphia Eagles

11/8        Pittsburgh Steelers at Dallas

11/15      Open Date   (No Game)

11/22      Dallas at Minnesota Vikings 

11/26      Washington Redskins at Dallas  (Thanksgiving)

12/3        Dallas at Baltimore Ravens

12/13      Dallas at Cincinnati Bengals

12/20      San Francisco 49ers at Dallas

12/27      Philadelphia Eagles at Dallas

1/3          Dallas at New York Giants

Dallas Cowboys 2020 College Draft

       The 2020 NFL College Draft was a unique one right off the bat. Thanks to the Cornavirus there was no big celebration facility thanks to the quarantine in effect. The big loser in this decision is the city of Las Vegas, who was scheduled to host this year's event.

Dallas went into the draft with definite holes to fill, especially on the defensive side of the ball. All-Pro Cornerback Byron Jones, All-Pro End-Rusher Robert Quinn, and safety Jeff Heath were all lost to free agency. All-Pro Center Travis Frederick's sudden retirement was another vacancy that needed attention, but defense was definitely on everyone's mind as the 2020 draft got underway.

The Cowboys had the 17th pick in the first round of the draft, and watched in amazement as early choices went for offensive linemen and quarterbacks. The player that was forecast to be the fifth or sixth overall pick in the draft kept falling...and fell right into the lap of America's Team.

      CeeDee Lamb was too good a prize for the Cowboys to pass on and he became the number one draft pick for Dallas. Lamb is 6 foot 2 inches tall and weighs in at 190 pounds. He played three years for the Oklahoma Sooners and recorded 173 catches for 3,292 yards and 32 touchdowns. Coaches say he never had a catch of less than 20 yards. He completed a steller career at Norman, Oklahoma with 62 catches for 1,327 yards and 14 touchdowns as a senior. He will give the Cowboys an awesome triplet of receivers as he joins Amari Cooper and Michael Gallup as targets for Dak Prescott.

    In the 2nd round of the draft, Dallas had the 51st overall pick and quickly resumed that defensive shopping list. Cornerback Travon Diggs of the University of Alabama heard his name called by the commissioner with this pick.

    Diggs is the younger brother of Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Stephon Diggs, so look forward to that meeting in the future. Travon is 6 foot 2 and 207 pounds, and an arm length of 33 inches. He originally was a wide receiver in high school, but Bama converted him to a defensive back in 2017 and he has grown into the position. Diggs started all 12 games for the Tide his senior year and recorded 20 tackles, 3 pass interceptions, and 8 pass break-ups. Second team All-American and first team All-SEC. Should compete for starting job with the Cowboys.

   Round three rolled around and Dallas had the 82nd overall pick. They returned to Norman, Oklahoma for defensive line help when they selected tackle Neville Gallimore from the Sooners.

   Gallimore is 6 foot 2 and tips the scale at 304 pounds. OU Coaches describe him as 'stocky and steady' with tremendous upper body strength. He uses his hands to deny offensive linemen from getting a grip on him with a quick pop. He is extremely quick off the line and sometimes looks like he precedes the snap. Gallimore played all four years for the Sooners and was hardly ever in the training room for injuries.

   Round 4 found the Cowboys again in Oklahoma,..but not in Norman. From the University of Tulsa, Dallas picked Cornerback Reggie Robinson. He is 6 foot 1 and weighs in at 205.

   Robinson was a 4 year starter for the Golden Hurricane and being a Cowboy means he will be returning home. He is from Cleburne, just 40 miles south of the Metroplex. Robinson was a First Team All-Conference performer in 2019 with 4 interceptions and 17 pass deflections his senior year.

     If indeed the Cowboys had a need at corner, they suddenly find themselves with a crowd looking for playing time. 2019 starter Chidobe Awuzie, Jourdan Lewis, Anthony Brown, and Maurice Canady are already on the roster, but Awuzie, Lewis, and Canady are in the last year of their contract with Dallas.

    Dallas also had a second pick in the fourth round as they made a trade with the Philadelphia Eagles. The Cowboys gave up the 164th pick in the 5th round and a future 5th round pick to move up to the 146th pick, the last selection in the 4th round... and Dallas got the center they needed.

     The Cowboys picked Tyler Bladasz, a 6 foot 4 mammoth of a man, tipping the scales at 315. He anchored a Wisconsin Badger offensive line that produced over six thousand yards rushing over the last three seasons. Bladasz is the Rimington Award Winner, which annually goes to the top center in the country.

   Bladasz obviously was an All-American and All-Big Ten selection, and coaches say he was almost another coach on the field. Dallas was shocked when current center Travis Frederick, who played at Wisconsin, announced his retirement earlier this year...but the All-Pro is still fighting the after effects of Guillain-Barre Syndrome, which forced Frederick to miss the entire 2018 season. Bladasz said he tailored his game after watching Frederick on film, and Wisconsin coaches said the two were almost identical in their play.

    Round 5 rolled around and the Cowboys again went shopping for defensive help on the line when they chose Bradlee Anae.

   Anae is 6 foot 3 and at 257 pounds could be a little light for defensive end in the NFL. His hands are said to be 10 inches across. As a freshman in his first collegiate game at the University of Utah he recorded 4 tackles and two sacks of the quarterback. As a senior he led the team with 41 tackles, 13 of those behind the line of scrimmage. 

  He played all 14 games his senior year at Utah and helped the team make a Bowl Game appearance.

   The Cowboys did NOT have a pick in the 6th round, but in the 7th round with the 231st selection Dallas went for a quarterback..

    Ben Dinucci started his collegiate career at the University of Pittsburgh, but lost his starting spot and transferred to James Madison University for his final two seasons.

    Dinucci passed for 3,441 yards for 29 touchdowns against only 6 interceptions in a year and a half for James Madison. As a collegian he completed 70% of his passing attempts while leading James Madison to the FCS National Championship, which was played just down the road from Cowboy headquarters.

     Big Ben is 6 foot 3 inches tall and tips the scales at 210 pounds. Coaches at both schools were impressed with his vision on the field and his strong arm. Not to be left out, he can also run with the ball when his receivers are covered..

That closes out the draft for the Dallas Cowboys, and media reports have Dallas with the best draft among the 32 teams in the NFL. They seem to have not only filled their needs, but accomplished it with quality players. Now the team coaches will fan out across the country looking for undrafted free agents. Tony Romo and Drew Pearson both came to the Cowboys that way. Good Luck to all the players and we wish them good health and long careers... How 'bout them Cowboys! 

Good-bye to My Best Pal

      My dog died this week and I am having a tough time getting past his passing. He was more than just a dog. He was always by my side and never more than an arm's length away. Whether I was gone five minutes or five hours, I always got the same excited welcome when I returned home.. This is Cosmo,.who lived to be eleven and a half years old.

     Yeah, he is a miniature Schnauzer and I have owned a lot of them. Cos was the most intelligent and devoted.. In early 2009 we decided to get another dog. At first I gave some thought to buying a West Highland Terrier,..you know that cute little white dog on the dog food packages. I even contacted a breeder in McKinney and made arrangements to view her latest litter. On the day of the meeting we got word of a litter of Schnauzers just over the river in Oklahoma.. We checked them out and the group of four girls and one boy greeted us upon arrival. The females had all been spoken for and we agreed on the male. He was ten weeks old when we got him in March and his papers showed him being born Christmas Eve of 2008. He was shaggy when he came home with us, but Momma kept insisting she saw loving eyes deep in those long eye brows..

     Momma gave him his first haircut and the famous 'Cosmo look' came to the surface..

    The American Kennel Club says Schnauzers should be black, silver, or black and silver. Cos met that last description. His warm brown eyes were always loving and eager to please. As a puppy, I can't remember him ever making an accident indoors. When he got the hang of going outside to do his business, sometimes he would even bring me the leash to let me know it was time to go out.

    Schnauzers are hearty dogs and at every check-up the vet would pronounce him in great health.
In the early years Cosmo would go to the groomer to get 'gussied up' and he always came home looking like a million bucks.

    I was always extremely proud of Cos and one of my friends even commissioned an artist to make a carving of Cos as a surprise gift.. The different types of wood are just the thing to show-off the various shadings of Cos.

     One of the professional groomers clipped his ear and brought some blood to the surface. After that Cos never went back to the groomer and Momma became his private groomer...and she showed yet another talent.

    When we made our trips outdoors, Cos would always give the scene a once over and if anything had changed since the last time out, he would notice it. He had the eyes of an eagle and hearing beyond belief.
   When I retired from work I became a lot more of a couch potato than I expected. At the end of the day when we settled down to watch TV, Cos would be right by my side, but not necessarily interested in the TV program.

     Cos and I both claim our German heritage and it was a bond that could not be broken...even by a little bad weather..

    Around the first of this month he developed a cough and it got worse and worse. A trip to the vet told us he had congestion in his heart that was backing up into his lungs. The doctor gave me some medicine that I mixed with yogurt and Cos lapped it up like candy. The next couple of days he showed marked improvement but then the cough came back. A second trip to the vet and this time a shot of steroids and a different type of medicine. He showed no sign of improvement and kept us up a couple of nights with his constant cough. Monday, April 6th, I returned to the vet and we both came to the same conclusion. One shot to make him relax and I held him tight in my arms. I could feel him take his first deep breath in over a week.. Then another needle into a vein on his leg. All this time I was whispering in his ear how I appreciated and loved him. I told him not to stray too far from the Rainbow Bridge because that's where I will be looking for him when my time comes.. Thanks for the love Cosmo.. 

                        Cosmo P. Dawg
                 born: December 24, 2008
                 died:  April 6, 2020

                           Rest In Peace

Dallas Cowboys 2019 Season

                                  Dallas Cowboys 2019

Pre-Season Schedule                                                Record

August 10th    Dallas 9   San Francisco 17                0-1

August 17th    Dallas 14   Los Angeles Rams 10       1-1

August 24th    Houston Texans 0  Dallas 34               2-1

August 29       Tampa Bay Bucs 17  Dallas 15            2-2

Regular Season Games                                            Record

Sept 8th          New York Giants 17          1-0
                       Dallas                   35                         

Sept 15th        Dallas                  31           2-0
                      Washington Redskins 21

Sept 22nd       Miami Dolphins   6               3-0
                       Dallas                    31

Sept 29th        Dallas                   10            3-1
                       New Orleans Saints 12

October 6th    Green Bay Packers  34          3-2
                       Dallas                      24

Oct 13th         Dallas                     22            3-3
                       New York Jets        24

Oct 20th         Philadelphia Eagles  10         4-3
                       Dallas                       37

Oct 27th         Bye Week------  No Game

November 4th  Dallas                 37              5-3
                         New York Giants 18

Nov 10th        Minnesota Vikings   28          5-4
                       Dallas                       24

Nov 17th        Dallas                  35               6-4
                       Detroit Lions       27

Nov 24th        Dallas                   9                 6-5
                    New England Patriots 13

Nov 28th        Buffalo Bills       26                 6-6
                       Dallas                  15

December 5th  Dallas              24                  6-7
                        Chicago Bears  31

Dec 15th         Los Angeles Rams 21            7-7
                       Dallas                      44

Dec 22nd        Dallas                      9            7-8  
                       Philadelphia Eagles 17

Dec 29th         Washington Redskins 16       8-8
                       Dallas                         47

                No Playoffs for Cowboys

CZ75B has a little brother

      Previous posts will attest how much I love my CZ75B; truly one of the wonder 9mm's of the world. I purchased mine in 2011 based on the company's statement that 'more security forces, police, and military carry the CZ75B than any other handgun in the world.' While true...the truth behind that statement is CZUB failed to file a patent on the pistol and just about every gun maker in the world copied the CZ design. It is the second most copied handgun world wide. Only John Browning's model 1911 45-caliber handgun has more clones.

   Josef and Frantisek Koucky were given a free hand in 1969 by the Czech government to design a new 9mm handgun from the ground up. It went totally against the parameters set forth by the Soviet Union and was kept secret for six years until revealed in 1975. Even the Czech military did not get issued the CZ75B until the late 1980's. By then the cat was out of the bag and CZ then tried to patient the design...Too little, too late.

  I bought mine in September of 2011 and it has been 'remarkably splendid' to put it mildly. It has an uncanny resemblance and feel to the Browning High Power that I carried in Vietnam. But all the accolades in the world could not justify it being my daily carry weapon. Fully loaded the CZ75B weighs in over two and a half pounds due to it's solid steel construction. The current design team took notice of this and....

   ...they designed the CZ75D.. a pistol of the same basic characteristics but weighing in far less due to it's aluminum frame. I waited four months on the list to get a CZ75D and finally gave up and purchased a Tri-Star T-100. It is a clone of the D model in every way. It even allows you to put the pistol on safety when there is not a round in the chamber; something the CZ will not allow. The T-100 has the same good grip as the CZ and the lighter weigh is evident when you hold both pistols at the same time.

     Best of all, it uses the same 9mm Parabellum ammunition as most of the western world. The East Bloc countries still have their 9X18 ammo restrictions, but thankfully Ceska zbrojovka went against them and gave the world a truly magnificent pistol design. Having said that, my daily carry pistol is a Polish P64 and it shoots the 9X18 variant of 9mm. It works to perfection also,..so I guess Mister Makarov knew what he was doing. 
   Good shooting and Good Luck ! 

New Holster by Barsony

New Holster

   I just ordered it on Saturday and today is Monday and there it was in my mailbox..  Talk about quick deliveries ! It is a new holster for my everyday carry pistol. It is from Barsony and the model name is Yaqui... Best of all it only cost $26.99 with free shipping...

       It almost looks black in this photo but it is a dark burnished brown... Let me see if I can get you a better shot of the color so you won't be disappointed.

      There ! ... That's a little bit better. At least you can make out that it is brown. I tried my best with an 'inside the belt' holster, but it was just too uncomfortable sitting down and trying to drive with a pistol butt jabbing me in the tummy. This one goes on the OUTSIDE of the belt and it accommodates belts up to one and a half inches wide. The belt fits through that opening on the left side of the holster and also through a second fitting on the back of the holster for a snug fit.

    My everyday carry is a Polish P64 automatic and it fits the holster like a glove. The packing slip specifies Polish P64 and Makarov pistols. Yes Virginia, there is a difference. The only thing the two have in common is the ammunition. Both shoot the 9X18 Makarov 9mm ammo, but the Polish pistol looks and feels a lot better than the Makarov (my humble opinion).

      Here is how they mate up.. The real leather has a snug grip on the pistol and will only get better with time. I have worn it around the house and really like the way it feels and being so close to the body you can't tell your packing with an un-tucked shirt. I highly recommend this holster if you are in the market for one. That trademark on the holster has the name Barsony on it, and right below the name it proclaims "Made in America".  
    I am also including the shipping order that came with the holster so you can see the actual price and the name and phone number of Barsony Holsters & Belts.

     This is one of the better deals I have found on holsters and I thought I would share it with you.. Good shopping and good shooting. Please support the NRA. If you are not a member, join as soon as you can.