Cowboys' Stanback Could Fill Many Roles

After the draft was all said and done, and the Cowboys traded out of, and then back into the first round ... and took defensive end/linebacker Anthony Spencer, much of the talk was about how Dallas didn't take a wide receiver to replace the aging Terry Glenn and Terrell Owens.

Well, the club didn't get one of the first-day talents, but they may have found something better in Round 4: quarterback Isaiah Stanback. Yep, that's right, quarterback ... except Stanback has a chance to be a bigger, stronger, faster -- and potentially more versatile version of Antwaan Randle El.

The Cowboys will convert the former University of Washington quarterback to wide receiver, and also hope to try him as a punt returner too. Except he's never returned a punt ... not even in high school:

Nevertheless, the Cowboys believe he has the tools to make the transition. Patrick Crayton, the Cowboys' seventh-round pick in 2004, moved from quarterback to wide receiver, and he's No. 3 on the depth chart.

If the NFL has taught us anything, it's that a new idea isn't new for very long. The Steelers made the slash-type players popular when they drafted Kordell Stewart. And now other teams are following suit. Crayton's primarily a pass receiver -- and he's had a relatively smooth transition to the NFL -- but the Cowboys sound like they have bigger plans for Stanback.