D+
Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys answered their biggest question with Daniels. Grade: D+.
by Aburn5688 ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 15 picks
· 4 steals
· 4 reaches
If confidence were a draft strategy, the Cowboys would have aced it. Jaylen Harrell at pick No. 174 is 34 spots clear of where he belonged.
Overpaying at the table undid a lot of the good work elsewhere. Jayden Daniels is the bet, and the class will be judged on how it pays off. They will regret leaving tight end for another day if the season turns on it.
Hadden at that cost is the sort of edge that compounds over a roster.
Bottom line, they will need several of these picks to beat their grades just to break even.
Pick-by-Pick
In the Round 1 slot they get a franchise quarterback. A real need, handled.
By-the-book stuff, Rome Odunze at the 8th pick squarely in line with his ranking. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
In the 13th overall pick they get a long-term starter on the line at fair value. Exactly the need they had to hit.
In No. 24 they get a building block for the line. The biggest hole, addressed.
A market-rate interior defensive lineman, with the board and the slot shaking hands on T'Vondre Sweat. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
Value with a capital V on Chris Braswell in Round 2, Pick 24, a genuine coup. Useful body for a position without much behind the starter.
A quiet steal in pick 57: Edgerrin Cooper for less than the market said. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
Trey Benson at the 74th overall pick is a conviction pick that outran the value. A need, and now a little less of one.
The board had cheaper options than Brenden Rice at the 87th pick, and it noticed. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
They liked Cedric Gray enough to skip the value, taking him in slot 99. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
No drama and no debate, Javon Foster went about where he belonged in pick No. 112. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
A straight-up fair deal on James Williams at No. 125, value and slot in agreement. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
The board had Jaylin Simpson higher than the Round 5 slot, and the cornerback fell to them anyway. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
Jaylen Harrell at Round 5, Pick 38 is a steep price for a hunch, hard to square with any board. A want more than a need, though you can never have too many.
Steal is underselling it; Kamal Hadden at pick No. 187 is a heist with the alarm still ringing. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.