Jerry Jones just can’t help himself. Gambling on players with baggage is in his nature. – The Dallas Morning News

Nothing quite says a Jerry Jones draft like a first-round pick once put on conduct probation by Penn State after his conduct contributed to a lawsuit against the school; a second-rounder suspended by LSU for a bowl game; and a fourth-rounder accused of 11 incidents of physical and verbal abuse by a former girlfriend. Josh Ball also once tried to choke himself. Give the Cowboys credit, thats a new one.

Time will tell how all this works out, as always, and heres hoping it does. For the communitys sake, if not Jerrys long-lost Super Bowl hopes.

In case youre wondering why we always find ourselves here, there are basically three reasons:

Now, I can hear some of you already: No charges were filed, and, besides, these guys can play. If thats your take, Stephen Jones is on your side. The Cowboys checked out Balls story, in particular, to see how hes handled his, uh, adversity, as Stephen put it. He even dusted off the old nobodys perfect bromide.

Let he who is without sin cast the first touchdown if hes so high-and-mighty, in other words.

The problem with the nobodys perfect defense is that it excuses everybody. I mean, whats off limits?

Nothing, apparently, if you run a 4.3 40 and your lawyers good enough.

Not to get too preachy, but whats wrong with investing valuable draft capital and a chunk of your salary cap on guys who dont have a history, whether behavioral or physical, that could rear up and bite you? Because its not like you dont have other choices. No matter what you may hear, not every great football player comes with baggage. Only seems that way around the Cowboys.

My apologies for the sarcasm. Its a congenital condition. The Cowboys have men who would make any mother proud. Just not enough of them. They practically said so in declaring that they not only needed talent on defense, they required leaders on that side of the ball. Hard to see how some of these bios fit the job description.

Of course, everything went haywire when first Carolina and then Denver took the cornerbacks the Cowboys had in mind. Truth is, it went haywire long before.

Remember Byron Jones? The Cowboys drafted him in the first round in 2015 out of UConn. They played him out of position at safety for three seasons because they needed a safety. They still do. When they finally moved him to cornerback full-time, he proved to be one of the leagues best, according to Pro Football Focus. No, he didnt collect any picks as a corner his last two seasons as a Cowboy. One of the problems with good cornerbacks is that quarterbacks dont challenge them much. When they did, Jones was usually in position to swat the ball away.

But, right or wrong, cornerbacks are often defined by the number of interceptions they pile up. The Cowboys undervalued Jones; the Dolphins didnt. Miami gave him five years, $82.5 million. Which was a lot of money. So was the five years, $100 million the Cowboys gave Amari Cooper. Jerry doesnt mind paying offensive players, and, frankly, good wide receivers are easier to find than good cornerbacks.

Did I mention that the Cowboys missed on Chidobe Awuzie in the second round in 2017?

So instead of going into last weeks draft with a matched set of Jones and Trevon Diggs, the Cowboys had to have a walk-in starter at cornerback. But Jaycee Horn and Patrick Surtain II were gone before the Cowboys were on the clock. So they traded down two spots, picked up a third rounder in the process and got Micah Parsons, reportedly the fourth player on their board.

But Parsons is also a linebacker, and even if a good one, the Cowboys have now spent two firsts and a second on linebackers over the last six drafts. Judging by the fact that they declined Leighton Vander Eschs fifth-year option Monday, theyre not getting a proper return on their investments. For that matter, Jaylon Smith may not be long for the Cowboys, either. Smith has been mediocre, at best, the last two seasons, while the primary complaint about LVE is his availability.

Did I mention that teams medically flagged Vander Esch before the draft in 2018, and the Cowboys knew he had a history of neck problems?

Anyway, the Cowboys are flush with linebackers, at least for the moment, but still light on defensive backs. And thats why, after coming up empty in the first, they felt compelled to draft Kelvin Joseph in the second. Even if, at 44, the Kentucky cornerback went much higher than most analysts projected.

Could Joseph still end up a walk-in starter? Hed better be. The Cowboys dont have any good alternatives.

Will McClay has done a terrific job turning around Jerrys draft history overall, but if you look closely, most of those success stories have been on offense. Defense? DeMarcus Lawrence remains his best pick. Runner-up: Byron Jones. Offense has taken precedence with Jerry. The mistakes hes made gambling on defense have only forced him to double down.

Even when he went all-in on defense in this draft, a first for the general manager, Jerry couldnt help himself. Its the wildcatter in him. Dont try using his history against him, either. Hell just cite Randy Moss, whom he passed on because of Moss legal history, not to mention Michael Irvins. Ever since, Jerrys tried to make up for that mistake, only to leave a trail pockmarked with them.

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Jerry Jones just can't help himself. Gambling on players with baggage is in his nature. - The Dallas Morning News