The swarm of migrant NFL coaches and scouts crisscrossing the country at this moment in search of 40 times and The Next Sure Thing descended Friday upon Fort Worth.
Fort Worth this week. Florida next.
And while The Tim Tebow Show is destined to bring more of the stopwatch-and-clipboard crowd, as well as The Four Lettered and probably GameDay, TCU linebacker Daryl Washington and soon-to-be linebacker Jerry Hughes have a better chance of making an NFL splash. Depending on which mock draft you believe, they are either two first-rounders, Hughes to Arizona (26) and Washington to New Orleans (32), or steals in the second.
"People will be making a mistake if they don't," Horned Frogs coach Gary Patterson said, giving his admittedly biased opinion.
Hughes has bigger name cache, yet scouts love, love, love Washington too. His speed, his instincts, his ability to go sideline to sideline, his history of chasing down guaranteed first-rounder C.J. Spiller from behind in a game last season and his potential to be a beast of a weakside linebacker had scouts drooling. Washington practically oozes potential.
"Maybe," Packers scout Alonzo Highsmith said, when asked about Washington being a little less known. "But if you watch film, he's not overshadowed. People who know know what he can do. He's a good football player."
Count Bengals defensive coordinator and Cowboys friend Mike Zimmer among those intently studying Washington. He had him engaging in particular drills, and seemed to leave impressed.
We all remember Zimmer from his days in Dallas.
I am happy to report he's doing well, and appreciative of everybody who wished him well after his wife died last season. He is good people, and a good coach.
Zimmer joked Friday about having to go elsewhere to prove he was a good coach. And I told him personally, so I need to put this in print as well: I did not properly appreciate what Zimmer had done until he left. His in-your-face, tough-love, somewhat profanity-laced style is sorely missed at Valley Ranch.
Watching what he did in Cincinnati this season, with a defense built mostly with castoffs, cemented his rep as a respected defensive mind. He had former Cowboys safety Roy Williams playing well, mainly because he tough-loved him into losing 20 and plopped him back in his natural position of free safety where he had played alongside Darren Woodson.
Maybe Owner Jones needs to send him the other Roy Williams and see if he can get that situation straightened out as well. Or are we still pretending Roy is fine?
And therein lies the beauty of the NFL.
It only takes a single team to fall in love with a player, even if 31 teams hate you. All you need is one to have a chance and a check. And an NFL team will fall and will take a flier and will try to make Tebow their QB of the future.
Good luck with all that, considering a scout told me Sam Bradford is the only QB worth having in this draft. He also said St. Louis is idiotic if it does not take him at No. 1, especially after passing on Mark Sanchez.