FRISCO, Texas — "Osmosis" is loosely defined as subconscious learning.
To Jerry Jones, osmosis is an influential factor when evaluating prospects entering the NFL Draft.
Specifically, the knowledge inherently gained by a player who is the son of a football coach or comes from a football family.
"I believe in osmosis," the Dallas Cowboys owner admitted during Tuesday's pre-NFL Draft press conference at the team headquarters in Frisco. "Sitting around a breakfast table. We ask all the time [in the scouting process], 'Are they a coach's son?' It really helps to hear [football] all the time, all day long, every day, and to have it in your fabric."
That philosophy— plus the Cowboys urgent need for more talent on defense— bodes well for a couple of the top defensive backs in this year's draft class.
Alabama CB Patrick Surtain II is the son of former All-Pro cornerback Patrick Surtain.
South Carolina CB Jaycee Horn is the son of four-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Joe Horn.
They have talent. They fill a positional need. They have an NFL pedigree.
It appears Surtain or Horn check all the boxes for the Cowboys with the 10th pick in Round 1 of Thursday's NFL Draft.
However, appearances can be deceiving in the days and hours leading up to the Draft.
The Cowboys lack comprehensive talent at a handful of positions -- secondary, offensive line, tight end— all of which could justify using a first round pick. Heck, a case could be made for defensive line and linebacker too, following the retirements of Tyrone Crawford and Sean Lee.
"We've got a good chance to get a top defensive player at [pick] 10," Jones said.
Improving on defense and bolstering the interior of the offensive line (center and guards) should remain the focal point though heading into the draft.
Yet, with Jerry Jones, you never know.
The Cowboys entered last year's 1st Round needing to get better defensively.
They exited with a wide receiver.
Playmaking is hard to ignore... or pass up.
So, if Florida superstar tight end Kyle Pitts somehow falls to No. 10... the Cowboys may very well go that route again.
I suppose you could call that opinion intuition.
I just call it osmosis.