All Evidence Points to Treylon Burks Getting Friend-Zoned

List of who Dallas Cowboys brought in indicates Hogs WR only break in case of emergency

FRISCO, Texas — Throughout history, good guys have found themselves deep in the friend zone, permanently stuck in a glass case only to broken in case of emergencies such as ditched at the last second for a concert or not asked by the guy of her choice while also being unwilling to pay for her own ticket and going it alone.

Unfortunately for Arkansas wide receiver Treylon Burks, he may have, for the first time in his life, found himself trying to wade through the awkwardness that is the friend zone, at least when it comes to the Dallas Cowboys. 

Andy Hodges / allHOGS Images

Considering Burks is a coveted wide receiver with a late first round grade who falls into the range of the Cowboys' No. 24 pick while aligning with a team need, it should be a no-brainer match made in Heaven on paper. 

From the outside, the Jones family connection to Arkansas, plus the fact a member of the Jones family has literally thrown passes to Burks would be an advantage, but the latest actions by the Dallas Cowboys hint the brutal receiver who hasn't met a fishing hole he didn't love might feel more like a brother than the hot date who sets Jerry and Stephen Jones on fire.

Matthew Emmons / USA TODAY Sports

The key sign that Burks and the Jones family will be splitting a limo with their own NFL Draft dates instead of sharing one as a couple has to do with who all the Cowboys invited to their facilities in Frisco last week. 

Take a look and see if you can figure out the story between the lines.

• Treylon Burks, WR, Arkansas (Late 1st Rd)
• Charles Cross, OT, Mississippi State (1st Rd)
• Jordan Davis, DT, Georgia (1st Rd)
• Kenyon Green, OL, Texas A&M (1st Rd)
• Zion Johnson, OG, Boston College (1st Rd)
• Devin Lloyd, LB, Utah (1st Rd)
• Drake London, WR, USC (1st Rd)
• Chris Olave, WR, Ohio State (1st Rd)
• Bernhard Raimann, OT, Central Michigan (Late 1st Rd)
• Quay Walker, LB, Georgia (Late 1st-2nd Rd)
• Perrion Winfrey, DT, Oklahoma (Early 2nd Rd)
• DeMarvin Leal, DT, Texas A&M (Late 2nd-3rd Rd)
• Josh Ezeudu, OT, North Carolina (3rd-4th Rd)
• Cam Jurgens, center, Nebraska (3rd-4th Rd)
• Myjai Sanders, DE, Cincinnati (3rd Rd)
• Sam Williams, DE, Ole Miss (3rd-4th Rd)
  
• Jelani Woods, TE, Virginia (3rd-4th Rd)
• Cade Otton, TE, Washington (4th-5th Rd)
• Jeremy Ruckert, TE, Ohio State (4th-5th Rd)
• Jalen Wydermyer, TE, Texas A&M (4th-5th Rd)
• David Anenih, DE, Houston (7th Rd)
• Markquese Bell, safety, Florida A&M (7th Rd)
• Dawson Deaton, center, Texas Tech (7th Rd)
• James Houston, LB, Jackson State (7th Rd)
• Daron Bland, CB, Fresno State (FA)
• Malik Davis, RB, Florida (FA)
• Devin Harper, LB, Oklahoma State (FA)
• Luiji Vilain, DE, Wake Forest (FA)

A handful of highly observant fans might have picked up on it. There are a lot of mid to upper first round athletes on this list. 

That in itself wouldn't necessarily be a red flag because you never know when an athlete might suddenly start tumbling, and you always want to be prepared in the event that happens. However, the clue that Burks is only a "break in case of emergency" courtesy option is hidden in the second round. 

There is a giant void of second round talent on this list. There's definitely a red flag in that only one player, Texas A&M's DeMarvin Leal, grades out as a good fit for Dallas's 2nd round pick at No. 56. 

Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

What this list indicates is the Jones family has every intention of trading the second round pick to get up higher into the middle of the first round. However, even if the Cowboys can't find a viable trade partner to move up, it still looks bad for Burks. 

Look at the few athletes listed who could be taken in the second round. Central Michigan offensive tackle Bernhard Raimann could easily drift back a few picks into the beginning of the second round and the other two options are solid early second round picks. 

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

If the Cowboys can't trade up, then Option 2 appears to be to trade back and get relatively equal value in the top few picks of the second round. The only way Burks gets to sneak his way into the neighborhood canals of Little Elm just a couple of miles from The Star to snag catfish late at night is Dallas can't find a trade partner to move either up or down.

If you need more evidence that Dallas is looking to be highly active on the trade market, just look at where the majority of the athletes fall in their ranking. This list is stacked with third and fourth round picks and completely empty of solid fifth and sixth round picks. 

The Cowboys have pick No. 88 in Round 3, No. 129 in Round 4, before hitting the meat of their draft with four 5th round picks and a sixth round pick. That's five picks in rounds that should feature no one on their visitation list as a pick of value where Dallas is slated to draft. 

It would be a total shock to see Dallas not package those picks to pick up third or fourth round picks, and also a little surprising if Dallas doesn't flip that 6th round pick into a pair of 7th round picks in the event someone doesn't fall into their lap. 

Now it's possible this is all just a smoke screen to draw other teams offsides, but that traditionally isn't the Cowboy way. Dallas doesn't take players in the early rounds who don't make the trip to team headquarters unless there's a freak fall that provides so much unforeseen value that there's no choice such as what happened with CeeDee Lamb in 2020. 

If Burks ends up a Cowboy, things will have gone terribly wrong in the war room. However, having a good guy to be there for you when things blow up with the hot guy you thought you wanted isn't the worst thing in the world.

After all, that's what friends are for, and there are worse friends to have on your side than Burks.

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