The Cowboys have acquired 27-year old OT Alex Barron from the Rams in exchange for 26-year old OLB Bobby Carpenter.  Barron is 6′7″, 302 pounds so he has the size to be a very effective player and he is one when he’s not drawing penalties.  Barron played in 16 games (all starts) for the Rams last season and he has played in 76 games (74 starts) in his five years with them.  Barron will battle with Doug Free for the starting LT job in training camp.  Bobby Carpenter never lived up to his potential with the Cowboys.  He played in all 16 games for the Cowboys last season and he had 46 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, he had 2 sacks and he defensed 1 pass.  Carpenter played in 58 games in his four years with the Cowboys in which he had 96 tackles, he defensed 2 passes and he had 3.5 sacks.  This was a good trade for the Cowboys as Barron has a lot of talent.

The Cowboys have picked DT Sean Lissemore with the 234th overall pick in the NFL Draft (7th round) out of William & Mary.  Lissemore is a tad small at 6′4″, 286 pounds and he wasn’t very productive in college.  He had 16 tackles, 1 sack and 2 interceptions in his 3 year college career.  This was a incredible reach by the Cowboys as I will be shocked if he ever appears in a regular season game for them.

The Cowboys have picked CB Jamar Wall out of Texas Tech with the 196th overall pick (6th round) of the NFL Draft.  Wall doesn’t have the speed 4.55 40 to play much man to man defense.  But he is very capable as a zone corner and he is a good overall pass defender.  He played in 13 games (all starts) for Texas Tech last season in which he had 58 tackles, he broke up 15 passes, had 2 interceptions, forced 2 fumbles and he recovered 1 fumble.  In his four years with the Red Raiders, Wall played in 50 games (38 starts) in which he finished up with 180 tackles, he broke up 32 passes, had 9 interceptions, forced 2 fumbles and he recovered 1 fumble.  Wall will help out with depth in the secondary for the Cowboys and likely also on special teams.

The Cowboys have picked OT Sam Young out of Notre Dame with the 179th pick overall (6th round) in the NFL Draft.  Young is a big guy as he is 6′7″, 305 pounds but he plays a finesse game.  Young is a better pass blocker than a run blocker because of that.  He should be a fast learner in the pros as he is a very smart guy.  Young played in 12 games (all starts) last season and he played in 50 games (all starts) in his four years at Notre Dame.  Despite being well polished it seems as if Young’s ceiling in the pros will be as a backup tackle.

The Cowboys have picked CB Akwasi Owusu-Ansah with the 126th overall pick (4th round) of the NFL Draft.  Owusu-Ansah has a nice combination of size and speed as he is 6′0″, 197 pounds and he runs a 4.48 40.  He is not the best corner around in run support but he was a big time playmaker in the passing game in college.  He played in 11 games (all starts) at Indiana (Pa.) last season in which he had 27 tackles, broke up 4 passes and he had 2 interceptions.  Owuss-Ansah played in 43 games (33 starts) in his four years in college in which he had 73 tackles, he broke up 19 passes, had 10 interceptions (264 return yards), he forced 2 fumbles and he recovered 1 fumble.  Owusu-Ansah will need some time to develop as he was playing vastly inferior competition in college.  He could help on special teams right away as he returned some punts in college.