dunce cap goes to jerry jones

[smazza]

passing on the best running back in draft

this will haunt him forever unless he somehow pulls a rabbit out of his hat

steven jackson is the real deal

[BULLO12]

It's his playtoy...he'll break it and blame Parcells.

[smazza]

how can he blame the coach

he gave a chance for an impact offensive player

why would a season ticket holder renew?

stupid,stupid, stupid

who do you think got most value on day one?

[smazza]

to do with the one of the dumbest moves in football history

[smazza]

getting under achieving julius jones doesn't help but picking up offensive lineman from  national champions USC and LSU does

my beloved cowboys will be sorry for passing on jackson

[smazza]

If the Cowboys make a trade in this weekend's NFL draft, you can thank The Chart.

The Chart, which has become NFL legend, accounts for a way of putting point values on picks 1 (3,000 points) through 255 (0.45). If a team wants to make a trade, then the points have to match up or come close.

Prior to the 1991 draft, the Cowboys wanted to figure out a way to value draft picks and how to trade them because they had so many picks. That's when Mike McCoy, a former minority owner of the team, went to work.

"He's one of the brightest minds I've been around," Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones said.

For two days, McCoy analyzed trades from the previous four years and assigned a point value to each pick. And The Chart was born.

"The more I played with it, the more obvious it became that there was a real, definite trend," McCoy said. "You were able to plot on a graph that showed historically that trades valued draft picks in certain ways. And from that graph, I made up a chart that assigned a numerical value to every single draft pick from the first in the first round to the last in the last round."

The confluence of Jones' business mind with Jimmy Johnson's knowledge of the college talent at that time helped produce five Pro Bowl players for the Cowboys in the next four drafts and 15 starters. Like in the business world, Jones took chances that paid off.

"Some people just can't work without knowing what the results will be at the end of the week," Jones said. "Others do better when they don't know what the results will be."

Said McCoy, "He [Jones] traded every day for a living, and this is what he liked to do, and he was trying to figure out how to get an advantage."

The Cowboys' approach to the draft was to get as many picks as possible, which raised the likelihood of finding more successful players. In 1991, they had 17 picks and 10 made the opening day roster. They were able to overcome the misses (guard James Richards in the third round, quarterback Bill Musgrave in the fourth) with hits on Erik Williams (third round), Leon Lett (seventh round) and Larry Brown (12th round).

Once a guarded secret, The Chart became more widely known as people started to leave the Cowboys organization because of the Super Bowl successes in the 1990s. Dave Wannstedt and Norv Turner took The Chart with them to Chicago and Washington. Scouts went to other teams, taking The Chart with them.

Soon, just about everybody had a copy of it, but Jones figures the Cowboys had a five-year advantage on most teams. Through the years, The Chart has been tweaked, especially when the draft went from 12 rounds to eight in 1993 and then to seven rounds in 1994.

"I think it's made it a little easier to trade now because people weren't worried about getting out-traded," McCoy said.

The Chart is a guide only. Teams will sometimes overpay to get a player they covet. Jones admits to getting burned in 1996. That year the Cowboys had the 30th pick worth 620 points, according to the current value chart. The Cowboys gave up that choice and picked up Washington's second- (37th overall) and third-round (67th) picks, which totaled 785 points. But the Cowboys didn't get the player they wanted.

The Cowboys had their eye on two defensive ends – Texas' Tony Brackens and McNeese State's Kavika Pittman. The Cowboys coveted Brackens, but he was drafted by Jacksonville, leaving the Cowboys with Pittman at No. 37.

"We got a little too cute there," Jones said.

But Jones also points to the selection of cornerback Kevin Smith, who was taken 17th overall in 1992. The Cowboys originally had the 13th pick in the first round but traded down to No. 19 before moving back up to No. 17 to take Smith. Through the flurry of the trades with Atlanta and New England, the Cowboys picked up a second-round pick that turned into safety Darren Woodson.

Two years ago, the Cowboys were able to get the player they wanted (Roy Williams) after trading from the fifth spot to eighth with Kansas City, while picking up the Chiefs' third-rounder. They used that pick to take cornerback Derek Ross, who intercepted five passes as a rookie but was cut in 2003 after a fallout with Bill Parcells.

Getting the third-round pick "was gravy," Jones said.

As well known as The Chart has become, McCoy was asked by a team about it this year.

"It's taken on a life of its own," Jones said. "The Chart has been the standard that trades are made by."

Collins signs tender offer: Cowboys tackle Javiar Collins signed his restricted free-agent tender offer worth $628,000 on Thursday. The only remaining restricted free agent the Cowboys need to sign is running back Troy Hambrick.

E-mail tarcher@dallasnews.com

HOW THE CHART WORKS

A look at how the point system works, using the Cowboys as an example.

Dallas has the 22nd pick in the first round, which is worth 780 points. Owner and general manager Jerry Jones has said that he would not mind trading down to acquire more picks.

If Kansas City, owner of the 30th pick in the first round, wants to move up to the Cowboys' spot, then the Chiefs would have to come up with 780 points ­ or more ­ to make a deal. The Chiefs' 30th pick is worth 620 points. Somewhere, they would have to come up with another 160 points.

Kansas City could sweeten the pot by giving the Cowboys its third-rounder (93rd overall and worth 128 points) and a fifth-rounder (162nd overall and worth 27.6 points). The Cowboys come up 5 points short, but they would also gain two picks, giving them seven.

ADDING IT UP

A look at the point values of some draft positions:

First 10 picks of the 2004 draft  

Pick  Value  

1.  3000  

2.  2600  

3.  2200  

4.  1800  

5.  1700  

6.  1600  

7.  1500  

8.  1400  

9.  1350  

10.  1300  

Last pick in draft  

255.  0.4  

First pick in each round  

Rd.  Value  

1.  3000  

2.  580  

3.  265  

4.  112  

5.  43  

6.  28  

7.  15.2  

Cowboys' picks  

Pick  Value  

22.  780  

52.  380  

83.  175  

121.  52  

156.  30  

[smazza]

[KnightsRule]

I would not get so quick to judge.  I have never seen a coach get more out of any draft the a Bill Parcells except for maybe his prodigy Bill Belicheck.  Go look at draft history and how many times the first back selected was a bust.  Guys like Tuna have the best back on their biard and I would bet it was julius jones and he knew he didnt have to pick him in RD 1.  I remember when Tuna picked curtis martin in rd 4 and all pats fans were upset that we didnt take a TOP back in rd 1.  Go look at that draft as the best two backs were taken in 4th rd (curtis) 6th rd? Terrel davis.  Tuna will pick many starters for cowboys for years to come every draft he has.  On the other hand Jerry jones has been about the worst drafter in history of nfl before Tuna arrived and after JJ left.

[smazza]

kr- you don't pass up the best runningback in draft when you need a running back

they got to cute

time will tell

julius jones was an underachieving back at ND byut he could blossom but he is no steven jackson, not to mention jones or perry

[KnightsRule]

kr- you don't pass up the best runningback in draft when you need a running back

they got to cute

time will tell

julius jones was an underachieving back at ND byut he could blossom but he is no steven jackson, not to mention jones or perry

Who says they passed up the best RB? Blair thomas was highest rated RB  but was far from the best, Kijana  Carter, Lawrence Phillips, Rashaan Salaam, I can go on forever.  Just cuz the so called experts rate you the best does not mean you are. I would think you would have been a sportsfan long enough to know that? I know when Tuna took Curtis Martin in rd 4 he said that Martin was top RB in draft and he would have picked him in rd 1 if he needed to but did not need to.  Give the guys he drafted a chance before you scalp the greatest drafter in NFL history.