Former SMU linebacker Taylor Reed agrees with his former teammate, running back Zach Line, who said he thinks the NFL Draft should be held shortly after the season so personnel decisions can be made based on in-game production, rather than a lengthy period of testing and scrutiny that gets carried out in the offseason.

“I think Zach’s right — I definitely agree with that,” Reed said during his first mini-camp as a member of the Dallas Cowboys. He’s a great player who didn’t get drafted. Maybe I’m not one of those guys who looks good in shorts, but I feel like I can play football, too. So I’m on the same page with Zach.

Linebacker Taylor Reed signed with the Dallas Cowboys as an undrafted free agent after leading SMU in tackles in each of the last three seasons (photo by PonyFans.com).

“I understand the NFL is not a business where you take a lot of chances, because their jobs are on the line. But they can watch film and see if you’re a football player.”

Reed and Line both have legitimate complaints. Reed led the Mustangs in tackles in each of the last three seasons, while Line ended his career as the second-leading rusher in SMU history. Yet both sat through the draft without hearing their names called.

“Yes, I was disappointed to not be drafted,” he said after his first practice with the Cowboys, who signed him as an undrafted free agent. “I feel like I showed enough on film.

“Now I’ll just have to show them again.”

“Taylor is doing a good job out here,” Dallas linebackers coach Matt Eberflus said. “He’s a very smart player who seems to be picking things up pretty quickly, and you can tell he has been well-coached, because he has very good fundamentals. Like all of the guys out here, he has a lot to learn, but you can see why he was so successful (at SMU).”

Reed said Eberflus and defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin are very “animated coaches” who run their practices with a lot of energy.

“I like them,” Reed said. “They have fun. Coach ‘Flus’ is one of those guys who will tell a joke, and if you don’t laugh, he (doesn’t) care. He’s going to laugh.”

Reed said that while Eberflus and Kiffin have fun personalities, he is learning that there is a difference in the way the Cowboys practice and the way the Mustangs practice.

“At SMU, we don’t hit a lot in practice,” he said. “You have to show you know the defense and know your assignment by getting into the right place. But here, they do it different. Here, you try to strip on every play. Here, you try to scoop and score on every play. We’re only in helmets, but we still hit. Coach ‘Flus’ wants the ball out on every play. Coach (Tom) Mason (SMU’s defensive coordinator) does, too, but in college, you have to teach more before you get into that.”

To get ready for his first mini-camp, Reed received advice from two former teammates — one of whom he hopes is a future teammate, the other a future rival.

“Sterling (Moore) picked up (Washington Redskins cornerback Richard) Crawford when he came into town for a weekend, and they took me out to dinner,” Reed said. “They just talked about (NFL) players, and what makes them successful. Sterling talked about (Dallas linebackers) Sean Lee and Bruce Carter. He said those guys both have a motor. He said Sean’s out there all the time running 20s, always trying to get more explosive, get his times down. They’re starters, but they’re always trying to get better.

“(Crawford) has been like a big brother to me since he got to SMU — he sort of took care of me ever since he got there. I know we don’t play the same position, but he has played (in the NFL.) He knows what it takes to play in the NFL, and he and Sterling were just sharing a little of what they knew with me.”

One thing that might have counted against Reed when he was evaluated as a candidate to get drafted was his height; Reed is listed at 5-11, 244. But the days when NFL personnel executives immediately disregard any linebacker under six feet tall are gone, thanks in part to the success of NFL stalwarts like Washington’s London Fletcher (5-9). The Cowboys have shown a willingness to take on shorter linebackers, with past players like Dat Nguyen and Dexter Coakley, but those who lack prototypical height have to compensate in other areas.

“I think that linebackers who are undersized, relative to height, have to have special qualities,” Eberflus said. “They have to be real instinctive, have great range, run a 4.4 in the 40 — something that really sets them apart.

“We’re still evaluating, but we brought Taylor in because we think he has a chance to show some special qualities. We know he’s a smart, tough player who was extremely productive at SMU, and you don’t get that kind of production by accident. Whether he can show that at the NFL level, too, remains to be seen, but we like what we know about him so far.”

In the meantime, Reed will get ready for next week’s OTA (organized team activity) by studying the defense as much as he can, and learning from those around him. He did acknowledge that seeing some of his new veteran teammates in person for the first time drove home the idea that now he really is in the NFL.

“I was here, just getting ready (for practice), and I saw Jay Ratliff and DeMarcus Ware,” Reed said. “Those guys are huge. Those are the guys you see on TV, and now I’m wearing the same uniform they are. I’ve got a lot of work to do to get where they are, but at least I’m here. That’s a start.”