IRVING, Texas – Perhaps rookie safety Ahmad Dixon will turn into something truly special, but the numbers speak for themselves.
The Cowboys drafted Dixon No. 248 overall, eight picks away from the end of the 2014 NFL Draft on Saturday. The fact that they took him means they see something promising in his play, but his position on the draft board doesn't inspire much in the way of expectations.
That's by design, to hear it from Cowboys executives. The safety spot is a position many consider to be a dire need for Dallas, but it's hardly evident based on the draft strategy. With the No. 16 pick in the draft, the Cowboys had a shot at any of this year's premier prospects – Ha'Sean Clinton-Dix, Calvin Pryor and Jimmie Ward – not to mention a slew of other safeties drafted behind them.
Despite that perception, though, Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones said he was "pretty comfortable" with the outlook at safety going forward with Barry Church, J.J. Wilcox, Jeff Heath and Matt Johnson.
"I think I was always pretty upfront about that. You can obviously upgrade it if you take them one – I'm not going to deny that. To some degree there was one in the second there we liked a lot, the Northern Illinois safety," he said. "But after that, we kind of felt like we were getting a lot of what we had. We like J.J., we like Church and we like Heath. We'll just see how these guys play out."
That's an attitude both Stephen Jones and Cowboys owner/general manager Jerry Jones repeated several times throughout the weekend. Specifically, it seems the offseason optimism is for Wilcox to grab hold of the starting role he briefly held in 2013.
The Georgia Southern standout was taken No. 80 overall just last season and endured plenty of ups and downs -- from losing his mother in training camp to being named the starter to a knee injury that forced him out of the lineup – during a rollercoaster rookie year.
"We thought we had really hit on a big one right up until he lost his mother – we were naming him the starter the day he left," Stephen Jones said on Friday night. "Obviously, we couldn't do that because he'd have to miss quite a bit of time." [embedded_ad]
Dixon, Johnson and Heath should provide plenty of competition for Wilcox, not to mention fellow second-year safety Jakar Hamilton. The Cowboys also signed three undrafted safeties in free agency.
In the meantime before training camp, however, hopes remain high for Wilcox.
"We feel good about him – that's saying a lot," Jerry Jones said. "But, boy, he looks good out here and we have high expectations for him."
