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Dallas Cowboys No. 1 pick is already here; it's Roy Williams

IRVING – The Cowboys did not make a pick in the first two rounds of the NFL draft Saturday. No, they actually made their No. 1 pick last October, when they acquired wide receiver Roy Williams from Detroit.

"I don't know that you could've got a Roy Williams on draft day" for a first-round pick, owner and general manager Jerry Jones said.

In 2004, Williams was the seventh pick of the draft by Detroit and shook the hand of then-commissioner Paul Tagliabue.

On Saturday, Williams was watching the first few picks of this year's draft, stopping when "Sack-po," fellow UT-ex Brian Orakpo, went No. 13 overall to Washington.

"I got a little taste of being a Cowboy last year with those 10 games," Williams said Saturday. "But I have fans coming up to me here in Dallas and in Odessa telling me I'm their guy. It's like I'm a rookie, just a little bit of an older rookie. People in Odessa know what I can do. People in Dallas kind of know."

Williams caught only 19 passes for 198 yards and a touchdown in his 10 games for the Cowboys after signing a six-year contract extension worth $45 million that included $27 million guaranteed.

This off-season the trade has been questioned by everyone from Troy Aikman to Deion Sanders. With the release of Terrell Owens, Williams will be scrutinized as much as, if not more than, a first-round pick.

That is fine with Williams.

"That wasn't me at all last year," Williams said. "That was my worst year in football, going all the way back to flag football in third grade. My worst statistical year."

To forget that forgettable season, Williams has been working out at Valley Ranch since the end of February. He said it is the most he's done since preparing for the 2004 NFL scouting combine. In Detroit, he would run two times a week. With the Cowboys, he runs four times a week.

"I've got abs showing on my stomach," Williams said. "I'm trying to drop some weight a little bit. When I came into the league I was 212. Right now I'm 218. I'm trying to get back to 212, when I was doing the things I know I can do."

He's also getting to know Tony Romo, who has also been a fixture at Valley Ranch since February. They have thrown passes on their own, and for the last two weeks they have worked together in the more structured on-field teaching sessions twice a week with the coaches.

"Right now, Tony is healthy and I'm healthy," said Williams, referring to Romo's fractured pinky and his foot injury that limited his practice work last season, "and we're getting to see what we can be when we're both healthy."

To Williams, that's a 70-catch, 1,200-yard, 10-touchdown season. In other words: Owens' numbers. Owens averaged 79 catches for 1,196 yards and nearly 13 touchdowns in three years with the Cowboys.

"I understand people are applying pressure to me," Williams said. "That's fine. All I've got to do is perform."

LINK >> Dallas Cowboys No. 1 pick is already here; it's Roy Williams | Dallas Cowboys News | Sports News | News for Dallas, Texas | Dallas Morning News

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