Cowboys' Stephen Jones Talks Advantage of 'Dallas Day' Ahead of Ashton Jeanty's Visit

Dallas Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones acknowledged this week that the organization's annual "Dallas Day" pre-draft event gives it an advantage over most other teams in the NFL.

According to ESPN's Todd Archer, Jones discussed Dallas Day and why it works in the Cowboys' favor, saying:

"We're fortunate that we have a lot of really good football players in North Texas that qualify for us. I think that's an advantage when you're in a hotbed like we are in Texas, especially North Texas, that you got some great football players. Say, the best running back in the draft is right down the street. He may have played [at The Star] before. It is great that we do have a lot of guys that we can have in. It's been brought up before that some people have advantages when it comes to having their local days."

Every NFL team is permitted to host pre-draft visits with NFL draft prospects who played locally in either high school or college, and those visits do not count toward the 30 official pre-draft visits each team is allotted.

While some teams are based in areas that don't produce a ton of NFL talent, that isn't the case for the Cowboys, who can bring in players who played high school ball in the area, as well as those who played at SMU, TCU and North Texas.

No state is more obsessed with high school football than Texas, and that typically leads to many of the best college and NFL prospects emerging from the state and its biggest metro areas, including Dallas.

This year's Dallas Day will be held Friday at the Cowboys' headquarters in Frisco, Texas, known as "The Star," and several big-name prospects will be on hand.

Chief among them is Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty, who played his high school football in Frisco.

Jeanty is widely regarded as the best running back in the draft, and he is coming off a historic season, as he rushed for 2,601 yards and 29 touchdowns en route to finishing second in the Heisman Trophy voting.

After losing Tony Pollard and Rico Dowdle in free agency in each of the past two offseasons, the Cowboys have a clear and obvious need at running back, making Jeanty a logical target with the No. 12 overall pick if he is still on the board.

In addition to Jeanty, the Cowboys will get to meet with Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers, Texas A&M defensive lineman Shemar Turner, Oklahoma State running back Ollie Gordon II, TCU wide receivers Savion Williams and Jack Bech, Texas offensive lineman Cameron Williams, Miami tight end Elijah Arroyo and Miami running back Damien Martinez, among many others at Dallas Day.

Per Archer, the Cowboys usually have between 40 and 50 prospects on hand for Dallas Day, but closer to 60 will be in attendance on Friday.

While some of them will work out for the Cowboys' brass, many will be there simply to take part in meetings, which will be the case for Jeanty.

Several Dallas Day attendees have been drafted by the Cowboys in the past, and the organization will have no shortage of intriguing options from this year's crop.