Draft History: 1986

Stories that the Cowboys had drafted a slightly off-the-wall lineman in UCLA's Mark Walen circulated rapidly through the team's Valley Ranch headquarters Tuesday. The main one – this guy likes to bite the heads off nails.

"I don't know where that came from, I even heard that from my hometown newspaper yesterday," Walen said Wednesday from Los Angeles. "I'm a fairly normal person. Maybe someone else in the draft had a phonetically similar name and people got us mixed up or something. My parents would go crazy if they heard that. I have a beautiful set of teeth."

The Cowboys hope their third-round pick will bring more than a nice set of choppers to training camp at Thousand Oaks this summer. They need a defensive lineman who can eventually replace some of the age in the line (Randy White and Ed Jones are entering their 12th seasons, John Dutton his 13th) and also push last year's No. 1 pick, Kevin Brooks, into a more rapid stage of development.

"I think Mark's an over-achiever," said vice president Gil Brandt. "He doesn't have the speed of a Randy White or the size of an Ed Jones, but he seems to be in the right place at the right time."

Walen, 6-5, 252, doesn't expect to overwhelm anyone immediately.

"I was the Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year, but don't let that fool you," he said. "I don't want to downgrade myself, but I'm not the kind of guy who has incredible numbers. I'm fairly well-balanced and I play hard.

"I feel like I'll fit into the Cowboys' system real well. Any time you're involved with an All-Pro defensive line, there's no doubt that will make you a better player. I worked out for (defensive coordinator) Ernie Stautner a week ago, so I knew they were interested, but I didn't know they were this interested in me. I just hope I can live up to their caliber."

Walen said he expected to be drafted between the third and sixth rounds. "It was a relief for me," he said. "Mainly I wanted to go before ESPN went off the air, and they didn't show the fourth round, so I barely made it. At that point, they weren't showing them pick-by-pick, so before I saw it on TV, Gil Brandt called and told me they were happy to have me on board."

Walen was the only defensive player the Cowboys selected before linebacker Garth Jax of Florida State in the 11th round, although seventh-round pick Johnny Holloway, a wide receiver from Kansas, is expected to be moved to cornerback with the Cowboys. In the late hours Tuesday night, it seemed like the Cowboys had gotten stuck for draft picks and started flipping through press guides. Guard John Ionata (ninth round) and Jax are on the same page of the Florida State press guide. Guard Bryan Chester (10th round) and linebacker Chris Duliban (12th round) are a page apart in the Texas press guide ... If either Chester or Duliban manages to make the team, it will be the first time a UT player has suited up for a Cowboy regular-season game since defensive lineman Don Talbert played in 1971. The Cowboys have had more players from the University of the Pacific (5) than from the University of Texas (3). Brandt said he had remained firm on his commitment to bring fewer free agents to Thousand Oaks this summer. He said the number signed by the Cowboys Wednesday was "less than 40.' Last year, the Cowboys brought 83 free agents to camp ... Cowboys quarterback school begins Monday as Danny White and Steve Pelluer will begin regular workouts with the receivers.