FRISCO (105.3 The Fan) - It is not surprising when a newly-drafted member of the Dallas Cowboys pledges loving allegiance to "America's Team.''
"I love the Dallas Cowboys,'' second-round NFL Draft pick Trevon Diggs of Alabama told 105.3 The Fan on Friday following his selection. I love everything about the Dallas Cowboys. I've always been a Cowboys fan, so when they called me, it was amazing.''
Only slightly different was the Thursday night answer from first-round pick CeeDee Lamb, the Oklahoma receiver. He didn't grow up with a favorite team.
But, he said, he's got one now.
Meanwhile, it is also conventional when the team touts the players it grabs as "steals.'' That can only be true when we know what the team's pre-Draft board looks like, and yes, we know it's true that Lamb was a top-six guy on the Dallas board and we know that Diggs was highly-rated, too.
But here at 105.3 The Fan, we have another way of "knowing.''
Former Cowboys scout Bryan Broaddus, now a host on "G-Bag Nation,'' annually builds his own "Mock Draft Board.'' He doesn't do dozens of them that change every week; he studies the prospects - hundreds of them - just like when he helped run real teams in the real NFL.
And how did he grade Lamb? And how did he grade Diggs?
He wrote on his Big Board, 48 hours before the actual NFL Draft:
8. CeeDee Lamb - WR - Oklahoma:
Makes incredible receptions. Takes breath away.
18. Trevon Diggs - CB - Alabama:
Outstanding mirror skills. Always playing in balance.
That's right. To Broaddus, Lamb and Diggs were the Nos. 8 and 18 players in this draft - and the Cowboys nabbed them at 17 and 51.
