What are the Cowboys looking to accomplish this week at the NFL Scouting Combine?
Broaddus: In talking with Will McClay about this very subject this past Sunday, he was excited to finally get to sit down with these players and meet them eye-to-eye. For the last several weeks, the scouting department has been sitting in meeting and putting together a draft board from information off their scouting reports from the fall and the tape study as a group. This will be their first opportunity to ask these players questions, learn about their pasts and get a first impression if they are the types of players that fit their makeup for the type of players they want on the club. Where the staff will also benefit is from the medical information. The team doctors and trainers will be on hand to give a physical evaluation to all players that will be in attendence. These are not your normal checkups but an extensive use of some of the top medical equipment in the field to gauge the health of these players. The on field work for these players in front of the coaches and scouts will also take place and this will give Jerry Jones and the staff concreate numbers of height, weight and speed. These numbers are necessary when you are trying to evaulate the skilled players and linebackers. Its always nice to have an accurate height and weight on the offensive and defensive linemen, plus their strength numbers. But the main accomplishment for Jerry Jones and the staff will be those interviews and physicals which are a large part of the scouting puzzle in putting a player on that draft board.
What position do you see the Cowboys really paying close attention to in Indianapolis?
Broaddus:I have never been with a club that said before the Combine that we were only going to focus on one group. Each scout has a position group that he is resposibile for as a cross checker along with their area assignments, so all groups will get extensive attention. At the end of each day, McClay will bring the staff together and they will review what they observed and if further work needs to be done with pro days and potentially more work on a school call. There will be players that they can put to bed because they have done the film work and now they have the workout and medical to complete the players, others will need more work. So eventhough we all believe the focus should entirely be on defensive players, this staff will not be that single minded. The last thing that you want to do is paint yourself in a [embedded_ad] corner. With the draft you never know when there will be a chance to go get a player or if you go back, you have to be comfortable with those players too.
What is your favorite memory from attending the NFL Combine?
Broaddus: If I have to say my favorite time it was when I got to run the 1998 NFL Draft with Michael Lombardi for the Philadelphia Eagles. It was not an easy time because we had several scouts that quit at the end of the year because of a leadership change so there were only four of us. I will never forget the job that Marc Ross, Dan Shonka and Jake Hallum did to help put that draft together. It was truly a different experience for me because for years in Green Bay, I was always the guy hustling to grab players for the front office and coaches to meet, so being on the decision making side was a lot of fun. Despite our small staff and working with the coaches, we were able to interview all the players that we wanted to and it was from there that we were able to really kick start the momentum to have an outstanding draft where four of our eight selections at one point in time made the Pro Bowl during their career. It was also the draft that allowed Andy Reid to have the successful run that he did in Philadelphia and some of my proudest work.
