F
Dallas Cowboys
The board had answers; the Cowboys had Sanders. Grade: F.
by Bbbb ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 23 picks
· 2 steals
· 8 reaches
Call it belief, call it a gut call, but T.J. Sanders at the 256th pick is 154 spots clear of consensus, and that is the headline. The warnings were there, and the F is the bill.
The dealing is the wound this class cannot quite close. However the rest shakes out, Baker at that price is a win they earned. It is a win-now wager, and the future is the stake.
In short, a weekend the front office will want to forget in a hurry.
Pick-by-Pick
JC Latham in slot 12 is exactly on the number, no argument either way. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
In the Round 1 slot they get a long-term starter on the line. Exactly the need they had to hit.
No edge and no loss on Emeka Egbuka in pick No. 37; it is a wash and a sensible one. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
Fair-plus on Denzel Burke, a quiet win that adds up over a draft. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
They paid sticker price for Javon Bullard in the 69th overall pick, and that is fine. It thickens a room that could stand to be thicker.
A market-rate offensive lineman, with the board and the slot shaking hands on Christian Haynes. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
TreVeyon Henderson in the 87th pick is fair value, right on his grade. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
McKinnley Jackson at pick 89 is neither steal nor reach, just the going rate. The roster fit checks out.
Good price on Donovan Edwards in pick No. 113, a hair ahead of his grade with no real quibbles. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
Leonard Taylor III at Round 4, Pick 22 is right where the board had him, plain and simple. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
A straight-up fair deal on Donovan Jackson at the 124th overall pick, value and slot in agreement. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
A tidy little value on Jarrian Jones in slot 133, a step better than break-even. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Cedric Gray slid further than he should have, and the Round 5 slot is lovely value for the linebacker. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
They jumped the gun on Jaylan Ford, taking him earlier than his grade liked. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
They did well to land AJ Barner in the 212th overall pick, just ahead of his grade. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
Somehow Javon Baker was still sitting there in Round 6, Pick 39, and they pounced on premier wide receiver value. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
A wild overpay on Taulia Tagovailoa in pick 216, the sort that defines a class for the wrong reasons. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
Jaden Crumedy at slot 218 is the pick scouts circle, and not in a good way. This was not a hole anyone had circled.
David Ugwoegbu at No. 233 is a steep price for a hunch, hard to square with any board. Need-wise, a curious use of the pick.
Akheem Mesidor at the 241st pick jumps the queue by a touch more than is comfortable. A quiet depth add at a thin-ish spot.
A big swing on Donell Harris Jr. at the Round 7 slot, well ahead of any board in the building. Stacking talent where they were already deep.
A swing that ignored the value entirely, Desmond Evans well ahead of where he belonged. A want more than a need, though you can never have too many.
They reached a country mile for T.J. Sanders at slot 256, and the board is aghast. It fills a real need, too.