Had the Cowboys traded their second- and third-round picks to Seattle and drafted Paxton Lynch, they wouldn't have had the opportunity to draft Notre Dame linebacker Jaylon Smith and Nebraska defensive tackle Maliek Collins.

You probably have some knowledge of Smith, considering he was one of the top college football players in the country.

But what about Collins?

The 6-2, 311-pound tackle had eight sacks, 19 quarterback hurries and 23 tackles for loss over the previous three seasons.

NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah called Collins a "nice piece of clay" and a "fun project" for Cowboys defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli.

Marinelli seems to feel good about Collins' chances of being in his eight-man defensive line rotation.

"I like him. He fits," Marinelli said on 105.3 The Fan's [KRLD-FM] draft show Friday night. "Go back when Bo Pelini was [at Nebraska]. He was unbelievable, and he was playing our system. I had their line coach in here before, and they're doing everything we do. His movement and patterns, he was rated higher this year. And they changed systems, he was standing up as a linebacker at times, they blitzed him as a linebacker, everybody does it differently. No big deal. I try to evaluate all that.

"Big Cat [Leon Lett] went up there and worked him out and he had a terrific workout, things that we do. That really sold it to me. He's a hard-nosed guy. It was really good."

Marinelli also explained how double teams impact the other defensive linemen. Greg Hardy was able to receive that type of attention last season, opening up things for DeMarcus Lawrence. Marinelli is now tasked with finding the best combinations to take advantage of those double-teams.

"I think [Collins has] got the stuff to pass rush in there, to help us for matchups," Marinelli said. "Now, let's say [Tyrone Crawford] is taking off and this guy starts coming, the thing that we had last year with Greg at least, DeMarcus Lawrence [had] 134 one-on-one rushes because protections went that way [toward Hardy], So he got singled up.

"He had eight sacks and quite a few hurries. It should be more, though. The right end over there had about 66 [one-on-one rushes]. Usually people pay the left tackle to play single football out there. If you get a mismatch, protection is going that way. Now, you've got to send your left end. To me, one of the best positions in football is the left end if you can get an athletic guy over there ... We're behind the 8-ball a little bit, so we've got to make it up."

Here are some of the other highlights of Marinelli's lengthy radio interview.

On measureables:

"I'm not a big measurable guy. That's me and that's how I've been brought up. Today it's getting more and more that way. The measurables I want are toughness, feet, quickness, instincts and striking ability. Those are measurables with your eyes. If those other things back it up, OK."

On Cowboys defensive lineman David Irving:

"I like him. You know the key measurable with him? His ability to bend is off the charts. I usually don't like tall guys because they can't bend. This guy bends. He bends like Big Cat [Leon Lett]. Big Cat is tall, but he bends. Watch a guy get in his stance, that tells you everything. I'm going to look at [Irving] at left end also."

On first-round pick Ezekiel Elliott:

"I'm elated because I think you always look at the big picture. ... We don't play fantasy football. It's not that. A one-yard, two-yard run there's fight and physicalness. That's good for your team. It develops toughness. We have to go against that offense every day. We play our offense more than anybody. It develops a hardness to your defense. You've got to play against a great line, a great back, now you've got to match up on an All-Pro receiver, great quarterback. ... It's the physical nature of the game, which at times is being lost in today's football. The physical nature of the game, I believe in that. This young man and the other backs are going to bring that."

On not having DeMarcus Lawrence and Randy Gregory to start the season:

"It's disappointing. It's disappointing because I really felt those guys, especially D-Law, were really [taking off]. Now we've just got to wait until they get back. Now you're shuffling a little bit. We drafted Ryan Russell last year. Good measurable. He's got to kick it in gear now. We got a guy like Tyrone Crawford, we can always go back to him to help us [on the edge], especially the first four games. We got Ben Mayowa. He's got the movement. He hasn't done it enough. So these are guys, it's my job. I got to develop these guys and we got to make some hay in those first four games. Some of our five-man rushes look good because both our backers in a five-man rush, I like them."