F
Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys reached for Barrett and never recovered. Grade: F.
by jerrysux ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 20 picks
· 5 steals
· 13 reaches
The Cowboys went off the board in a big way for Michael Barrett, 61 picks early. Conviction is one thing; this is another.
They handed away value on the phones that the picks cannot earn back. The Cowboys indulged a want in Robinson while a need in cornerback and quarterback stayed open.
That is a linebacker worth more than the slot they spent on him, plainly. They covered a lot of ground and still skipped cornerback, which is a strange place to end up.
About as rough as a weekend gets on paper, with cornerback still staring back at them.
Pick-by-Pick
In No. 24 they get a premier pass rusher at a price that makes it sweeter. Need was not the driver here.
The needs board was loud and they turned it down, spending the Round 1 slot on Darius Robinson with cornerback and quarterback unsolved.
Cooper Beebe is a better player than slot 56 suggests; smart patience, rewarded. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
They read the board right and T'Vondre Sweat was the payoff at the 57th overall pick. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
A premium they did not need to pay, Kiran Amegadjie a notch or two before his time. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
They jumped the gun on Sedrick Van Pran, taking him earlier than his grade liked. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
Tyler Davis at the 86th overall pick is an overdraft of the loud, memorable kind. It fills a real need, too.
Javon Foster at pick 87 is the kind of overdraft that needs everything to break right. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
They reached into another round for Ben Sinnott, and the board is nowhere close to agreeing. A need, and now a little less of one.
Hard to square with the roster. With positions of obvious need still on the board, Mohamed Kamara adds an edge rusher and leaves cornerback and quarterback untouched.
A want over a need in the Round 3 slot: Javon Solomon adds an OLB-EDGE while cornerback and quarterback keeps waiting.
They bypassed pressing needs at cornerback and quarterback to take Justin Eboigbe, an edge rusher that was not the priority.
They robbed the room for Brenden Rice here, a fall nobody at the table saw coming. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
By-the-book stuff, Isaac Guerendo at slot 126 squarely in line with his ranking. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
James Williams in the Round 5 slot should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
This one needs a full-page explanation: Nathaniel Watson in the 170th overall pick, miles early. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
The board screamed and they did not listen, reaching into the next round for Michael Barrett. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
Tahj Washington in pick No. 190 is fair value, right on his grade. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
Matthew Jones in No. 216 is a reach so steep the board needed a second look to believe it. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
A swing that ignored the value entirely, Josiah Ezirim well ahead of where he belonged. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.