Martellus Bennett grew up in Alief, Texas, went to Texas A&M, and now gets to play pro football in his home state after the Cowboys picked him in the second round Saturday.

"I think it will be a great thing to be behind Jason Witten," said Bennett, who was the 61st overall pick. "He's been one of my favorites to watch over the last few years, so to play with him is an honor. There's so much he does well, so I guess I'll learn how to be a Pro Bowler."

The Cowboys will continue to rely heavily on two-tight end packages with Bennett and Tony Curtis behind Witten after the trade of Anthony Fasano to Miami.

"We didn't draft Bennett to be a backup tight end," said owner and GM Jerry Jones.

— Todd Archer

The Cowboys invited Felix Jones to Valley Ranch for a pre-draft visit but played it coy with Mike Jenkins, whom they selected 25th overall. Jenkins hadn't heard anything from the club since the combine.

"I wasn't hearing any buzz from Dallas through this whole process. That's what surprised me the most, especially after they picked up Pacman Jones," said Jenkins.

— Albert Breer

With only two rounds on the first day, teams have more time to reset their draft boards for the later rounds.

Executive vice president Stephen Jones said he expected the club would be able to sort through names and target players who fell out of the top two rounds. Dallas has single picks in the third (92), fourth (100) and sixth rounds (167).

— Albert Breer

The first round came and went without a receiver drafted for the first time since 1990, and that made Jerry Jones squirm. With the best at the position still available, he was trying to sell the draft room on dealing up and taking one of the wideouts or even tight end Martellus Bennett, who they got anyway at 61. No one was buying.

"I'm in there trying to get someone to jump on my wagon with me to go up and get Bennett, and trade some serious considerations and go get him," Jones said. "And we didn't [trade], and we did [get] him."

— Albert Breer

Jerry Jones wanted to speak with linebacker Akin Ayodele the minute the team acquired Zach Thomas. But Jones never got the chance, and on Friday, the Cowboys traded Ayodele and tight end Anthony Fasano to Miami for a fourth-round pick. Jones said he spoke with Bill Parcells, the Dolphins' executive vice president, a week ago about the deal. At the last minute, Parcells asked if the Cowboys would add Ayodele.

With a logjam at inside linebacker with Ayodele, Kevin Burnett and Bobby Carpenter, Jones elected to do it.

"I hadn't had a chance to sit down with Akin since Zach Thomas," Jones said. "But I knew I was going to. When I sat down with him, I knew he was going to say, 'Give me a chance to go play," because he knew the crowd that was there. So, frankly, not to take anything away from Akin, that deal was totally done around Fasano."

— Calvin Watkins

Last year, Jerry Jones' grandson, Shy Anderson Jr., spent time in the Cowboys' draft room. But this year, Anderson wanted to go to New York and hand in the card to the NFL officials that has the draft picks on it.

Shy Anderson Sr. said the league needed an adult or legal guardian to allow a minor to sit at the table. So Anderson Sr. went to New York and sat with his son to hand in the cards.

Once the draft is over, the Andersons will go to Philadelphia to watch the Desperados play the Soul in an Arena Football League game.

— Calvin Watkins