Jerry Jones thought he was housing a Super Bowl team at Valley Ranch last October. To increase his odds of capturing a sixth Lombardi Trophy for the franchise, Jones acquired Pro Bowl wide receiver Roy Williams from the Detroit Lions at the NFL trade deadline.

The cost was steep. The Lions received the first- and third-round picks of the Cowboys in the 2009 draft in the swap. But it was a price Jones was willing to pay if it meant a trip to his first Super Bowl since the 1995 season.

That trip didn't materialize. The Cowboys collapsed down the stretch, losing three of their last four games to finish out of the playoffs with a 9-7 record. Williams caught only 19 passes for the Cowboys in 10 games and scored a single touchdown.

Now comes the real downside. Jones will lead a contingent of Dallas scouts and coaches to the annual NFL scouting combine this week for their first official viewing of the draft class of 2009.

The NFL has invited 332 top college prospects to Indianapolis for a week of testing, timing and interviewing by its teams. The first round appears loaded, having been pumped up by a sterling junior class.

The Cowboys were supposed to have the 20th pick - but the Lions will instead make that selection. A starting-caliber player awaits Detroit at No. 20. The Lions also have the first choice of the draft.

Forty-four underclassmen have been invited to the combine, and a baker's dozen of them project as first-rounders, including two Dallas-area products - wide receiver Michael Crabtree of Carter and Texas Tech, and quarterback Matthew Stafford of Highland Park and Georgia. Both could be in the top 10.

One NFL talent evaluator put his calculator to the combine list last week and provided a guess on the potential numbers at each position in the first round. He said there could be three quarterbacks, four running backs, five wide receivers, one tight end, seven offensive linemen, seven defensive ends, two defensive tackles, five linebackers and three cornerbacks.

Add it up and it comes to 37 players. There are only 32 picks in the first round. So at the top of this draft, the talent runs deep.

Would the Cowboys have been better off with a Percy Harvin (Florida), Jeremy Maclin (Missouri) or Kenny Britt (Rutgers) with the 20th choice than Williams? If so, the Cowboys would still have their third-round pick to add another young blocker or safety to the 2009 roster.

The strength of this draft will be the offensive and defensive lines. If seven offensive linemen, seven defensive ends and two defensive tackles do go in the first round, that's half of the 32 selections.

Don't be surprised if another lineman or two on each side of the ball squeeze into the first round. Players at those positions are too few and too expensive in free agency.

You have to draft and develop them to survive in a salary-cap world.

That was the thinking last April, when Sam Baker and Duane Brown vaulted into the first round as an early draft run cleaned out the blue-chip stock of left offensive tackles. Baylor's Jason Smith would probably find himself in any such run of offensive tackles in the first round this April. He's another Dallas-area product from W.T. White.

This week is just the first step in the draft process. Players will rise and fall based on how they test, time and interview for NFL teams. Showings at on-campus workouts in March also could impact draft standing.

But the Cowboys will spend the week looking for a quality player to select in the second round. In a bad year to be without a first-round pick, the Cowboys will be without theirs.

Elite status

Thirteen juniors invited to the NFL scouting combine have been projected as first-rounders. The list:

Player Pos. School

Kenny Britt WR Rutgers

Donald Brown RB Conn.

Michael Crabtree WR Tex. Tech

Vontae Davis CB Illinois

Josh Freeman QB Kan. St.

Percy Harvin WR Florida

Jeremy Maclin WR Missouri

Aaron Maybin DE Penn St.

Knowshon Moreno RB Georgia

Mark Sanchez QB USC

Andre Smith OT Alabama

Matthew Stafford QB Georgia

Chris Wells RB Ohio St.

Wednesday-Feb. 24, Indianapolis