D-
Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys found their guy under center in Penix Jr.: D-.
by jerrysux ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 33 picks
· 12 steals
· 15 reaches
When the story of this class is written, it opens with Mason Fairchild at the 244th pick, a reach of 96 spots that the board flatly disagrees with.
Overpaying at the table undid a lot of the good work elsewhere. Michael Penix Jr. is the bet, and the class will be judged on how it pays off. They banked enough surplus on Legette to cover a lot of smaller sins.
A rough weekend that leaves the roster with more questions than answers.
Pick-by-Pick
In the Round 1 slot they get protection for the quarterback, and a steal at that. The biggest hole, addressed.
In slot 18 they get a mismatch in the passing game, outstanding value to boot. A real need, handled.
In the 24th pick they get a long-term answer under center at a price that makes it sweeter. A clean fit for the roster.
In Round 1, Pick 27 they get a blindside protector, outstanding value to boot. It fills the loudest need on the roster.
Adonai Mitchell in pick No. 34 is fair value, right on his grade. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
Kool-Aid McKinstry in No. 35 is a bargain the rest of the room will envy. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
Nice patience on Ja'Tavion Sanders, who had no business lasting to Round 2, Pick 12. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
By-the-book stuff, Junior Colson at pick No. 49 squarely in line with his ranking. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
A slide stopped in the 50th pick, with Jordan Morgan worth more than the price. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
Zach Frazier at slot 53 is a clear overpay, with better names still on the board. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
A wild overpay on Javon Solomon in pick 57, the sort that defines a class for the wrong reasons. Hard to map this one onto the depth chart at all.
Payton Wilson at No. 66 is the sort of value that quietly wins a weekend. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
Value said wait; Justin Eboigbe in the 71st overall pick says they were not listening. Depth more than a fix, but depth they can use.
The board screamed and they did not listen, reaching into the next round for Tyler Davis. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
They will replay Xavier Legette at the 87th overall pick for years; that is how good the value is. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
A reach on Mekhi Wingo in slot 90; the board had better options right there. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
Jalyx Hunt at No. 104 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 robbed the room for Brenden Rice here, a fall nobody at the table saw coming. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
Isaac Guerendo in the Round 4 slot lands just on the right side of the ledger. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
Isaiah Davis at Round 5, Pick 2 is the kind of overdraft that needs everything to break right. The roster fit checks out.
A straight-up fair deal on Mason McCormick at pick 145, value and slot in agreement. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
They left a pile of value on the table to take Fabien Lovett this early at the 147th pick. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
Grayson Murphy at the 148th pick is an overdraft of the loud, memorable kind. A want dressed up as a pick, at a spot they had covered.
A real head-scratcher, Jaylen Harrell in slot 149 is miles ahead of his ranking. Depth on depth, at a spot that was hardly crying out.
They reached a country mile for Logan Lee at pick No. 174, and the board is aghast. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
They barely believed it either: Dwight McGlothern still on the board at Round 6, Pick 33. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
They paid sticker price for Nathaniel Watson in No. 216, and that is fine. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
A big swing on Eyabi Okie-Anoma at the Round 7 slot, well ahead of any board in the building. It is more luxury than necessity; they were already set here.
Michael Barrett at the 233rd overall pick is neither steal nor reach, just the going rate. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
Trente Jones in pick 237 is the kind of fall that makes a whole class. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
A swing that ignored the value entirely, Matthew Jones well ahead of where he belonged. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
Mason Fairchild at slot 244 is the pick scouts circle, and not in a good way. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
They reached into another round for McCallan Castles, and the board is nowhere close to agreeing. It patches a soft spot without any drama.