INDIANPOLIS – Sitting fourth overall in the pecking order, the Cowboys currently hold one of the most high-profile picks in this entire draft.
If you're hoping for an idea of what they might do with it, don't hold your breath that you'll learn during the course of the NFL Combine.
From the outsider's perspective, the field for the No. 4 overall pick feels like it's been narrowed since Christmas. Cowboys draftniks began studying college prospects before the end of the regular season, and the draft cycle has been in full swing for six weeks now.
However ravenous the draft discussion might be, though, Cowboys coach Jason Garrett isn't entertaining it. Garrett just finalized his coaching staff within the last week, and is he insisted that the process of gathering information is still underway.
"I think you have to be careful about over-strategizing the draft at this point. Really what we're trying to do is come here and learn about the players and find out who we like at each of the positions, get to know them as best we can," Garrett said on Wednesday.
The last time Garrett spoke to the media was at the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala., where the Cowboys had the opportunity to coach high-profile quarterback prospect Carson Wentz. That, combined with the Cowboys' need for a backup quarterback behind Tony Romo, has prompted plenty of conversation that department.
The Cowboys are going to have a chance to delve even deeper into the pool of signal-callers this week. But any indication of what that means for the future is clearly going to stay in-house.
"We did get a chance to see four quarterbacks down at the Senior Bowl, we thought that was a good thing for us in the evaluation process. It'll continue here," Garrett said. "We're going to interview a number of the guys over the course of the next few days, we'll see them work out. Typically we'll go visit them, work them out ourselves, go to their workouts and just find out more about the guys."
So the speculation will continue to swirl, as it does at events like this. The quarterbacks go through the Combine whirlwind on Thursday. Defensive stars like Jalen Ramsey and Myles Jack – repeatedly tied to the Cowboys at No. 4 overall – will have their chance later in the week.
Whatever the Cowboys might think about what they see this week, don't expect them to share too much.
"That's really the process that we're in right now, is to learn about the guys," Garrett said. "We don't say that we wouldn't take a guy at this position, at this part of the draft or that we would do that – I think that's all premature. We're just trying to find out about the players."
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