DG156 - Part 1

With their first pick in the 2015 NFL Draft ..... 10 of the league's 32 teams selected a player with dreads. A new record high nine were picked in the 1st round of the draft on Apr. 30; and the next night the Buffalo Bills, who a year earlier traded away their 1st round pick in this year's draft (in order to get Sammy Watkins), took a player with dreads when it finally was their turn to select midway through round 2. By the end of the draft 38 players with dreads had heard their names called. That's way more than the 29 picked last year and also the most ever picked in a single draft.

After nobody with dreads was taken in the first 6 picks, things quickly got rolling, as 4 of the next 5 players selected have dreads. There weren't a lot of surprises. West Virginia WR Kevin White gets the honor of being the first player with dreads picked, going 7th overall to the Chicago Bears.
Next the Atlanta Falcons made Clemson LB Vic Beasley the first defensive player with dreads drafted. Two picks later at #10 the St. Louis Rams, despite taking a RB early in the 2014 draft (Tre Mason in round 3), picked another RB - finding Georgia's Todd Gurley too tempting to pass up even though he suffered a torn ACL injury last November.

As for the two players featured in my draft preview ....... after Michigan State CB Trae Waynes was selected 11th overall by the Minnesota Vikings, I thought he might have to wait a long time if he was planning to stay and congratulate his friend and former HS teammate, Melvin Gordon, in person at the draft. But that wasn't the case at all. The two got to greet each other (photo above) just four picks later when Gordon, the RB from Wisconsin, was picked 15th by the San Diego Chargers.

I thought Kentucky LB Bud Dupree went a lot later (22nd) than he should have; I guess that'll be the Steelers' gain and everybody else's loss. I thought the Patriots, in need of a DT after losing free agent Vince Wilfork, got a steal when Texas DT Malcom Brown for some reason dropped to their spot at the end of the 1st round. I guess a lot of teams weren't drafting the "best player available" because Brown should have been long gone before the Patriots picked him. One of the biggest surprises in the 1st round was that Washington LB Shaq Thompson was picked 25th overall. Most of the projections I saw had him going in round 2; but hopefully he'll reward the Carolina Panthers for picking him in round 1. The one other player with dreads taken in the 1st round was UCF WR Breshad Perriman, who went to the Baltimore Ravens with the 26th pick. All 9 of the 1st rounders with dreads are pictured in the collage of photos below.

Of the 38 players with dreads drafted we unfortunately have already lost two to the ex-dread list, lowering the total to 36. But there's a chance that could go back up to 37, as a player who did not have dreads when he was drafted did have dreads when he showed up for minicamp a week later. Joining the 37 - all of whom likely will be on the opening day rosters of their respective teams - in this year's class of rookies are 34 undrafted free agents with dreads, who will really have to stand out in training camp if they're planning on being in uniform on opening day. Dread gallery #156 features the 71 rookies with dreads, and we'll look at them in two parts. The 71 were on their teams' rosters as of July 31. This post might not be up to date for any changes that may have happened over the past 9 days since then. The majority of the these photos are from the teams' rookie minicamps held shortly after the draft and the teams' summer practices during the 4 weeks after that.

We'll begin Part 1 of DG156 in the AFC South. Two years ago this division was the runaway leader with 11 players with dreads picked in the 2013 draft. But what's going on since then? Just 2 players with dreads picked last year, and again only two this year.

1. One of the two is former UCF S Clayton Geathers, picked by the Colts in the 4th round after starting all 4 years for the Knights, in the last two of which he earned all-AAC honors. Geathers, the only safety with dreads drafted this year, had just 3 career INT for UCF but was 2nd on the team in tackles in his last three seasons.

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2. The only other player with dreads drafted by an AFC South team is All-America G A.J. Cann, picked by the Jaguars in the 3rd round. He's the first of five O-linemen with dreads drafted this year and the only South Carolina Gamecock with dreads drafted this year.

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3. A.J. Cann blocks DT and fellow rookie Richard Ash at an OTA practice on June 8. It's no secret - the Jaguars are never going to get better until their offensive line starts blocking better. Their QB was sacked 71 times last year, the most in the league in 2014 and the most times by any team in 8 years. Hopefully Cann can upgrade the O-line.

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4. There's one other rookie with dreads with the Jaguars - free agent DE Nordly Capi, who prefers to be called "Cap" instead of his real first name. That's right, Cap Capi. Hopefully Capi stills has some more sacks in him after recording 5 (and 10.5 TFL) for Akron last season.

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There are no rookie players with dreads at all in the Titans training camp, and only one in camp with the Texans .....

5. Superstar DE J.J. Watt (#99) checks out the new guy, trying to see if he has what it takes to be able to help the team as he does a drill with the big ball during an OTA practice on June 8 - the new guy being #64, 6-foot-4, 290-pound free agent DE Jasper Coleman, who had 5.5 TFL in his senior season for William & Mary in 2014.
The player in jersey #69 probably was more likely to make the team than Coleman, but former Alabama DT Brandon Ivory was released by the Texans 3 weeks later after being arrested for burglary back in Tuscaloosa, pretty much torpedoing any chance he had of ever playing in the NFL.

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Over in the NFC South there are 11 rookies with dreads hoping to make the team, the most of any division. 4 of the 11 are in camp with the Buccaneers ..... 

6. In the 6th round of the draft the Bucs picked former Utah WR Kaelin Clay, the last of 5 players with dreads from the Pac-12 drafted. Clay had an eventful season in his only season with Utah after transferring from junior college, including, as you might remember, being the lead character in what was the hands-down winner for the boneheadest play of the year: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdbtLEFbuew

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7. Kaelin Clay introduces himself to Jameis Winston at rookie minicamp on May 9 - a good idea since Winston, who was the 1st player picked in the entire draft, figures to be the QB passing the ball to him. Kaelin scored 8 TD for the Utes last season, and 4 of them came on kick returns; so he's likely to play more on special teams than on offense for Tampa Bay. Let's hope he'll have more plays like the ones in the video on the link below and gives us something other to remember him by than the infamy of that play against Oregon.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doYy0r5NSPQ

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8. DE Ryan Delaire played so well for Towson last season that he was an FCS All-American; but apparently NFL scouts don't think he'll dominate on Sundays because nobody drafted him.

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It will be a major surprise if either of the Buccaneers' other two rookies with dreads make the team. Neither of them played in Division 1 .....

9. Playing football for the first time since high school, now 24-year old, 240-pound DE Jamal Young showed enough promise in junior college last season to earn a shot with the Bucs. 
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10. 6-foot-0, 195-pound WR Donteea Dye had 14 TD catches last season - for Division 3 school Heidelberg. But before we automatically count Dye out, remember that Pierre Garcon played his college ball in the Ohio Athletic Conference too, and he's been in the NFL for several seasons.

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11. No doubt excited about what they got from Kelvin Benjamin last season, the Panthers drafted a player with dreads in the 1st round for the 2nd year in a row, making Shaq Thompson - shown here at practice on June 11 - the first of the 5 Pac-12 players with dreads to be drafted. It is the 5th time the Panthers have picked a player with dreads in round 1.

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12. The Charlotte media want to know how many touchdowns Shaq Thompson is planning on scoring this season, as they interview him at the end of his first practice on May 8. Shaq scored 6 TD (4 on defense and 2 on offense) during his amazing junior season at Washington in 2014; but I'm sure the Panthers don't care if he scores at all this season as long as he makes the all-rookie team.

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13. A couple of undrafted D-linemen with dreads will try to earn a roster spot with the Panthers. This is 295-pound DT Terry Redden, who had 19 career TFL for Memphis, including 5.5 as a senior last season.

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14. Redden's competition in training camp will include rookie DE Steve Miller (#76) from Ohio State and rookie DE Arthur Miley from Southern U - all shown here chilling during a break in practice (or after practice) on May 9.

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15. Arthur Miley had dreads and weighed 221 pounds when he began his college career at Southern in 2011 but then cut them off after his sophomore season. Now it looks like they're back, although they're partial dreads this time. Hopefully we'll still be talking about Miley - now listed at 6-foot-6, 265 pounds - and his dreads once the season begins.

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16. Former Fresno State DT Tyeler Davison's dreads were a bit difficult to see at times last season, but that certainly wasn't the case at the NFL Combine, as he here participates in a drill on Feb. 22, the day all the D-linemen and linebackers worked out ......

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17. ..... Tyeler Davison was drafted in the 5th round by the New Orleans Saints, who hope he shows some of the form that earned him all-MWC honors during his senior season, when he had 8.5 sacks and 13 TFL. Davison was the only player with dreads drafted by the Saints and the last of three with dreads drafted from MWC teams.
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18. I thought there were going to be two rookie D-linemen with dreads in the Saints' training camp; but unfortunately the colorful dreads that DE Tavaris Barnes had at Clemson's Pro Day on Mar. 5 were long gone by the time he showed up at rookie minicamp after signing as a free agent with the Saints.

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19. Falcons fans who were unfamiliar with Vic Beasley might not believe that he has dreads. But here is proof, both from the Combine on Feb. 22 (left photo) and Clemson Pro Day ......


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20. ..... Ever since the Falcons drafted him Beasley has kept his dreads reduced, making them look like braids, including here as he signs autographs at mandatory minicamp on June 17. I mean, in every photo I've seen his dreads are reduced. Hopefully he's planning on unleashing them at some point this season. But whether he has regular dreads, reduced dreads, or no dreads, all I really care about is that he rushes the QB as successfully as he did last season, when he had 12 sacks for Clemson and earned 1st team all-America honors. Desperate to upgrade their pass rush, the Falcons selected Beasley with their 8th overall pick in the 1st round, making him the first defensive player with dreads taken in the draft and the first of 6 LBs.

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21. Yikes!!! Jalen Collins' dreads have shrunk so much since last season that you can actually see his name on his jersey! Thankfully at least he didn't cut them off altogether. After picking Vic Beasley in the 1st round, the Falcons took Collins, the former LSU CB, and his shorter dreads in round 2. If Jalen plays as well as the Falcons want him to, maybe those dreads will grow back to their former length before his career is over (if he allows them to). Collins, who skipped his senior season at LSU, might have been a 1st round pick had he not smoked so much marijuana. Hopefully he won't smoke himself right out of the league: http://espn.go.com/blog/atlanta-falcons/post/_/id/14458/arthur-blank-backs-falcons-drafting-of-collins-despite-failed-drug-tests
I see that Jalen was able to get jersey #32, the same number as he had with LSU. He's the 3rd player with dreads to wear #32 for the Falcons since I started doing this blog. Let's hope he does better than Jerious Norwood and Jacquizz Rodgers did.

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22. The Falcons have one other rookie DB with dreads in training camp. Joining Jalen Collins is free agent and former Louisville Cardinal Terell Floyd. A CB in college, Floyd, who had 1 INT and 7 PBU last season, is listed as a safety on the Falcons roster.
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23. Having recovered from a broken foot that forced him to miss rookie minicamp, Jalen Collins participates with Terell Floyd in a drill that nobody else is paying attention to during a mandatory minicamp practice on June 18. If Collins and Floyd both make the team, the Falcons could have 6 DBs with dreads on their opening day roster.

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Moving on to the NFC North, the Minnesota Vikings lead the way with four rookies with dreads.

24. 6-foot-5, 309-pound OT T.J. Clemmings shows he can move well for a big man at Pittsburgh Pro Day on Mar. 3 .....

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25. ..... The Vikings were impressed enough that they drafted Clemmings in the 4th round. Actually T.J. should have been selected much earlier than the 4th round. But word somehow got around that he had a foot injury (he didn't), and he ended up falling, costing him a lot of money.

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26. Already with one giant O-lineman with dreads from Oklahoma on their roster (Phil Loadholt), the Vikings hope to make it two after drafting 6-foot-5, 330-pound Tyrus Thompson in the 6th round. A 1st team all-Big 12 selection last season, Thompson was the last of three players with dreads from the Big 12 drafted.

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27. I had former Virginia S Anthony Harris on my "likely to be drafted" list in my draft preview; but due to a shoulder injury he was unable to participate in the Combine or his pro day, and he ended up falling all the way out of the draft. Anthony might find himself on the field sooner rather than later for the Vikings, who have one starting safety spot up for grabs.

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28. OK, enough for the undercard. As we all know, the main event of the Vikings' rookie class is 1st round pick Trae Waynes. With their 11th overall selection the Vikings made Waynes the first DB picked in this year's draft, the first of the 9 CBs with dreads that were drafted. And they're hoping he'll be in the starting lineup on opening day.

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29. Coach Zimmer recognizes the skills and passes on some of his expertise to Waynes during rookie minicamp on May 10. Trae earned 3rd team all-America honors during his junior season at Michigan State in 2014; but he better pay good attention to Zimmer, who was an NFL defensive assistant coach for nearly 20 years (including 5 as a DBs coach) before becoming the Vikings' head coach last year. 

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30. All 10 of the Vikings' 2015 draft choices pose for this photo on May 9. With 3 draft picks with dreads - T.J. Clemmings, Trae Waynes, and Tyrus Thompson - the Vikings have the most rookies with dreads drafted in camp than any other team this year.

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For the first time since 2008 the Green Bay Packers did not draft a player with dreads. But they have at least one (and maybe two) undrafted free agents with dreads.

31. Somebody must have forgotten to tell Fabbians Ebbele that it's just plain wrong for someone from Chicago to play for the Packers. But I guess when you're not drafted, you do whatever it takes to land a job. The 6-foot-8, 315-pound Ebbele signed with GB after starting at OT in all 4 of his seasons for Arizona.

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32. LB James Vaughters did not have dreads during his career at Stanford and still didn't have dreads at his pro day on Mar. 19 (left photo). But when the Packers had their pictures taken on June 16, here's Vaughters with beginner dreads. I haven't seen any photos of him since then. Hopefully he still has them, but I can't confirm it.

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33. Alex Carter didn't have dreads at Stanford last season either; but he was growing his hair longer, and it wasn't a surprise when he showed up at the Combine with dreads. Carter skipped his senior season at Stanford to enter the NFL Draft ......

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34. ..... and was picked by the Detroit Lions on the 2nd night of the draft, in the middle of the 3rd round. Carter had only 2 career INT for Stanford; but at 6-foot-0, 202 pounds, he's the bigger type CB that NFL teams prefer these days.

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35. It's a different kind of practice for Alex Carter and the rest of the Lions rookies as they work on the proper way to tie a tie - part of the Lions Rookie Training Week that took place after the end of mandatory minicamp in June.

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36. The only WR with sick dreads in the Lions' training camp is rookie free agent Jared Haggins. You might wonder what someone with only 21 career receptions (at Florida State) is doing in an NFL training camp. Well, not playing much just because you're behind some great receivers on the depth chart doesn't necessarily mean you can't play. Hopefully in these next couple of weeks Haggins will show he can play.
There is such a thing as too much of a good thing. So if you click on the link below for the video of Haggins' pro day, you might not want to watch all 12 minutes; because if you do, you might never want to see Jarred ever again: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoJ2n3cnPHc

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37. In the last few days before the draft it was no secret that the Bears were interested in Kevin White; but I was skeptical. You see, the Bears had never drafted anyone with dreads in the 1st round before (Cedric Benson, you might not remember, cut his dreads off after his senior season at Texas in 2004 and was clean cut when the Bears drafted him the following April before he started growing the dreads back). But they finally took the plunge, putting a smile on my face almost as big as the one on White's face while he was on stage after being picked. Kevin had his dreads reduced on draft night but had them back to normal the next day and again here a week later, as he makes sure he gets a helmet that's the right size a day before the start of rookie minicamp.

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38. After ho-hum junior season for West Virginia in 2013, White exploded in 2014, earning all-America honors after catching 109 passes for 1,447 yards and 10 TD and making countless highlight reel plays. He ceratainly has the ability to be a star on Sundays. Let's hope he can live up to all the hype.

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39. "Hey, I thought Kevin White was #13", Coach Fox thinks to himself as he checks his roster sheet after noticing a WR with dreads wearing #12 on the first day of rookie minicamp on May 8. No, it's not White, although at 6-foot-3, 215 pounds former Northern Arizona WR Ify Umodu is exactly the same size as White. Umodu had 15 career TD catches at NAU before signing as a free agent with the Bears. Fox can find him in his new number - #85 - in training camp.

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40. It looks like Markus Golden's dreads showed out just as much as he did at Missouri's Pro Day, especially in this drill by the all-SEC DE on Mar. 19.

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41. The Arizona Cardinals, 5th best in the NFL last season in fewest points allowed, needed more help on offense than defense; but they went on and picked Markus Golden in the 2nd round of the draft anyway, hoping he creates as much havoc in the backfield as he did in his only season in the starting lineup for Missouri last year, when he had 10 sacks and 20 TFL.

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Golden was the only player with dreads drafted by the Cardinals; but they also have four other rookies with dreads that weren't drafted in training camp .....

42. I thought Xavier Williams would be drafted after his outstanding senior year for Northern Iowa, in which he totaled 93 tackles, 14 TFL, and 8 sacks from his DT position. But he wasn't, and now the FCS all-American is out to show everybody that they made a mistake.

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43. Xavier Williams (#69) and Ed Stinson (5th round draft pick last year) hang out with Calais Campbell at mandatory minicamp on June 9, perhaps hoping some of his talent rubs off on them. Campbell earned all-Pro honors for his outstanding play in 2014.

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Also with the Cardinals are a couple of DBs that played at Division 2 schools, neither of whom I had heard of .....

44. C.J. Roberts, a 6-foot-0, 180-pound CB, wrapped up his stellar career at Colorado State-Pueblo by winning the D-2 national championship last year. He had 14 career INT for the ThunderWolves.

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45. 6-foot-0, 200-pound S Brandon Person, who had 8 career INT for the Tiffin Dragons, came to rookie minicamp as a tryout player and was impressive enough to earn a spot on the Cardinals' summer roster. But now comes the hard part - making the opening day roster.

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46. The Cardinals also told QB Phillip Sims he should hang around for the summer after an impressive enough showing at rookie minicamp.

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47. Ever since Omar Jacobs (Steelers' 5th round draft choice in 2006) narrowly missed becoming the NFL's first ever QB with dreads, we've been waiting for someone else; and when I saw Phillip Sims play at Virginia in the 2012 season, I thought he had a good chance to be that someone else. He actually looked like a quarterback - not just an athlete playing QB who would be asked to move to another position once he got to the NFL. The next year Sims dropped off the radar (because he was academically ineligible) but got his career back on track last year with a good season for Division 2 school Winston-Salem State. And now ..... well, the Cardinals were one of the unlucky few teams that had to play their 3rd string QB a lot last season - and the results were disastrous. Hopefully Sims can play well enough during the preseason that he proves to be an upgrade at 3rd string. Realistically that's what he's aiming for for now. Just make the team, and then learn and improve from there.

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48. Former Towson CB Tye Smith shows how not to do the broad jump on one of his attempts at the NFL Combine on Feb. 23. Not to worry though, the Seattle Seahawks took Smith with their 5th round pick in the draft, the only player with dreads from an FCS school to be drafted.

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49. Tye Smith, trying to cover WR Doug Baldwin in an OTA practice on May 27, earned FCS all-America honors in his first season with dreads last year - even though he had only 1 INT. Seahawks fans are hoping - more like dreaming - he turns out like that CB the team drafted in the 5th round 4 years ago - some guy named Sherman.

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50. Former San Diego State OT Terry Poole, the Seahawks' 4th round draft choice, works against 6th round pick Kristjan Sokoli during a drill (right photo) during rookie minicamp on May 10. On the left, Poole gets some advice from his new position coach - Tom Cable, one of the better O-line coaches in the league.

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51. Most draft projections had Terry Poole being selected in the 7th round or not at all. Obviously the Seahawks think pretty highly of him to pick him in the 4th round. And with the team dishing out millions of dollars to their star players and needing to go young and cheap on the O-line, Poole might find himself on the field sooner rather than later. And one other thing, with the loss of James Carpenter in free agency, it's good to see some sick dreads to replace his.

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52. Still on the mend from ACL surgery, St. Louis Rams' 1st round pick Todd Gurley didn't do anything at rookie minicamp other than stand around and smile a lot while watching practice (left photo); but a few weeks later athletic trainer Byron Cunningham keeps him busy during on OTA practice on June 4 .....

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53. ..... and again here on June 8 Cunningham tries to strip the ball from Gurley, practicing without that heavy brace on his knee.
I guess Gurley won't have to collect on that insurance policy that Georgia took out on him after all. Even with the torn ACL suffered last November, he still was picked in the 1st round - the 10th pick overall. It marks the first time a RB has been chosen in the 1st round since 2012 (when Trent Richardson was picked 3rd).

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54. It has been said that a great running back can make an offensive line look good. Well, at some point this season - when Gurley is healthy enough to play - we're going to find out if that's true, because the Rams' O-line is ranked as one of the worst in the league. Have fun, Todd!
All kidding aside, if Gurley had been healthy for all three of his seasons at Georgia, we'd be talking about him being one of the best RBs in the history of college football. Maybe from now on he'll start enjoying better health - the Rams are counting on it. If so, I think we're going to see him do some great things in the years ahead.

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55. The only other rookie with dreads with the Rams is former Texas Tech star WR Bradley Marquez, who went undrafted despite his 10 TD catches for the Red Raiders last season.
I know there need to be more dreads in baseball, but actually I'm glad that Marquez decided to put his focus on football. Hopefully it'll prove to be a profitable decision for him: http://www.stltoday.com/sports/football/professional/rams-marquez-is-giving-football-his-best-shot/article_c0caeb18-30eb-524c-ba45-e1730e35579c.html

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No, I did not forget the San Francisco 49ers pictures - there aren't any. The 49ers have no rookies with dreads. Let's move on to the NFC East. As usual, there weren't very many players with dreads drafted by the teams in this division - only three this year. But at least most of the NFC East's rookies with dreads have some really great dreads.

56. As former UConn WR Geremy Davis finds out, they measure everything at the Combine, although I have no idea what they're measuring here.
Maybe he did, but I didn't think Davis would hear his name called in the draft. But indeed he did, as the New York Giants came calling with their pick in the 6th round.

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57. Geremy Davis, the last of 6 wide receivers with dreads drafted, shows his stuff in his first practice at rookie minicamp on May 8. Looking at the WRs on the Giants roster, Davis will have his work cut out for him just making the team, let alone seeing any action. If he does make it, he'll have to change numbers, because receivers aren't allowed to wear numbers in the single digits.

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58. It's been quite a while since we've seen any sick dreads in the Philadelphia Eagles' secondary. Hopefully undrafted former Coastal Carolina CB Denzel Rice will still be on the roster on opening day. Rice earned all-Big South honors in his last two seasons for Coastal, during which he had a total of 1 INT and 22 PBU.

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59. The year 2011 was the last time the Washington Redskins had a RB with dreads (Tim Hightower); but the drafting of RB Matt Jones in the 3rd round (much earlier than I expected) means that drought will soon be over. Jones, a 6-foot-2, 231-pound tank of a RB, scored 12 TD in his 3-year college career at Florida. And even though he'll begin his rookie season as a reserve, it will be a major disappointment if he doesn't have many more TD than that in his NFL career.

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60. The Dallas Cowboys have 5 rookies with dreads in training camp - two more than the rest of the teams in the NFC East combined, and tied (with Arizona) for the most with any team this year. Only one of them was drafted though - former Virginia Tech OT Laurence Gibson, here shown showing off his mobility during the first day of the Combine on Feb. 20.

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61. Whether it be the watchful eye of O-line Coach Pollack (left photo) or the hands-on approach of assistant Coach Colombo (on right), the Cowboys realized when they drafted Laurence Gibson in the 7th round that they would need to help him along. So unless he's a very fast learner, don't be surprised if the 6-foot-6, 300-pound Gibson begins the season on the practice squad.

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62. With the Cowboys' O-line ranked as one of the best in the NFL, there are a lot of other places where it would be easier to win a job; but that didn't deter former Texas Tech OT Reshod Fortenberry from signing with them as a free agent. Fortenberry, whose listed weight is only 286 pounds, better play better than he did for Texas Tech if he plans on still being on the team on opening day. 

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63. With the Cowboys' O-line ranked as one of the best in the NFL, there aren't many other places better to be if you're a RB. Gus Johnson, a superstar on the FCS level at Stephen F. Austin, surprisingly was released by the Raiders immediately after their rookie minicamp. The Cowboys brought him in for a look in June but didn't sign him until just before training camp started. No stranger to the end zone (he scored 52 career TD for SFA), wouldn't it be something if he ended up carrying the ball a lot for the Cowboys this season?

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64. Not invited to the Combine after his subpar 2014 season, WR Deontay Greenberry got all of his measureables taken at Houston's pro day on Mar. 26. That scout from the Titans is thinking, "with hands that big (9.5 inches) how did he drop so many passes last year?"

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65. It's kind of humbling to skip your senior college season to enter the draft early and then not get picked at all; but there's no point in crying over spilled milk for Deontay Greenberry. He certainly has a better QB now than he did last year; so even though he won't be making as much money as he had hoped, I think over the next few weeks he's going to show everyone he's good enough to play in the NFL.

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66. Competing with Greenberry for a roster spot will former FAU WR Lucky Whitehead and his cool dreads. Whitehead didn't get drafted basically because he's too small - just 163 pounds. But he still has a decent shot at making the team by making his mark on special teams. Lucky is a standout kick returner, and he just might be doing that for the Cowboys this season now that Dwayne Harris is no longer on the team.

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67. Lucky Whitehead and Deontay Greenberry are next to each other while listening to Coach Garrett address everyone at the end of practice at rookie minicamp on May 8: "The Cowboys are looking for a few good men. Unfortunately most of you ain't it. And for the few of you still on the team beyond this weekend, you better bring your 'A' game to training camp, because we're going to the 'ship this year."
It doesn't seem likely that both Whitehead and Greenberry will be on the Cowboys' opening day roster. All they can do is do their best. If that happens, they'll both be playing on Sundays this fall - somewhere.

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This concludes Part 1 of DG156. Check out Part 2 for the rookies in the NFL's other three divisions.