D-
Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys got the worse of every deal, and it shows in the D-.
by NotJerryJ ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 34 picks
· 4 steals
· 21 reaches
Call it belief, call it a gut call, but Jaylon Hutchings at pick No. 245 is 110 spots clear of consensus, and that is the headline. Too much went sideways, and the D- is the honest tally.
The Hadden pick is the one they will point to when this weekend is judged. Overpaying at the table undid a lot of the good work elsewhere.
Bottom line, they will need several of these picks to beat their grades just to break even.
Pick-by-Pick
In No. 3 they get a go-to option on the outside. The biggest hole, addressed.
In the 5th overall pick they get a cornerstone up front at fair value. It fills the loudest need on the roster.
In the 12th pick they get a red-zone target to build around at fair value. A clean fit for the roster.
In Round 1, Pick 14 they get a quarterback's worst nightmare. More want than need.
The board had cheaper options than Kiran Amegadjie at the Round 2 slot, and it noticed. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
Sedrick Van Pran in pick 68 is fair value, right on his grade. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
No drama and no debate, Austin Booker went about where he belonged in Round 3, Pick 12. They doubled down on a strength rather than a need.
Taking DJ James in the 87th pick is close to grand larceny; a cornerback that good had no business lasting this long. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
A swing that ignored the value entirely, Tyler Davis well ahead of where he belonged. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
They reached a country mile for Johnny Wilson at slot 103, and the board is aghast. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
Javon Solomon at pick 110 is right where the board had him, plain and simple. The roster logic is harder to follow.
They liked Isaac Guerendo enough to skip the value, taking him in the Round 4 slot. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
No edge and no loss on Javon Foster in pick No. 115; it is a wash and a sensible one. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
A real head-scratcher, Brennan Jackson in the 117th overall pick is miles ahead of his ranking. Stacking talent where they were already deep.
A big swing on Isaiah Davis at the 118th overall pick, well ahead of any board in the building. A need, and now a little less of one.
A wild overpay on Marcus Harris in the 124th pick, the sort that defines a class for the wrong reasons. Depth on depth, at a spot that was hardly crying out.
Jared Wiley at No. 131 is the kind of overdraft that needs everything to break right. The roster fit checks out.
Jalyx Hunt at Round 4, Pick 33 is a steep price for a hunch, hard to square with any board. Nice player, but the depth chart did not need him here.
They talked themselves into Xavier Thomas at slot 140, and the board did not agree. It is more luxury than necessity; they were already set here.
Jordan Travis at pick 145 is the pick scouts circle, and not in a good way. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
Mason McCormick at pick No. 149 nudges the ledger their way without any fuss. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
This one needs a full-page explanation: Grayson Murphy in the Round 5 slot, miles early. They added to a strength when a need was still open elsewhere.
Value said wait; Khristian Boyd in the 153rd pick says they were not listening. Insurance at a position that did not really ask for it.
Ainias Smith in pick 168 should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Fabien Lovett at pick No. 170 jumps the queue by a touch more than is comfortable. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
Nathaniel Watson at the Round 6 slot is an overdraft of the loud, memorable kind. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
They reached into another round for Michael Barrett, and the board is nowhere close to agreeing. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
Matthew Jones in slot 216 is a bet on their own eyes over everyone else's grade. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
The board screamed and they did not listen, reaching into the next round for Josiah Ezirim. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
A offensive lineman of that caliber at No. 244 is the definition of value, full stop. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
They left a pile of value on the table to take Jaylon Hutchings this early at the 245th pick. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
Mason Fairchild in pick 255 is a reach so steep the board needed a second look to believe it. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
A big swing on Anim Dankwah at Round 7, Pick 36, well ahead of any board in the building. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
Kamal Hadden in No. 257 is the kind of fall that makes a whole class. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.