D
Dallas Cowboys
A costly weekend of dealing drags the Cowboys to a D.
by Steve817 ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 16 picks
· 0 steals
· 8 reaches
If confidence were a draft strategy, the Cowboys would have aced it. Tommy Eichenberg at the Round 3 slot is 43 spots clear of where he belonged. The process wobbled, and the D is where it lands.
The dealing is the wound this class cannot quite close. Adding Justin Fields by trade rounds out the weekend beyond the rookies. They went 8 of 8 on their needs, which is most of what a draft is for.
Stockpiling next year's capital is patient, if unglamorous, asset work.
The verdict is not kind, and fairly so; this class has a hill to climb.
Pick-by-Pick
In slot 4 they get a go-to option on the outside at fair value. Exactly the need they had to hit.
A market-rate edge rusher, with the board and the slot shaking hands on Jared Verse. It adds depth where they could use a little.
In the 20th overall pick they get a lockdown presence outside. It fills the loudest need on the roster.
In pick 24 they get a home-run threat at receiver at fair value. The biggest hole, addressed.
No drama and no debate, Jordan Morgan went about where he belonged in No. 27. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
Graham Barton at Round 2, Pick 20 is right where the board had him, plain and simple. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
Jackson Powers-Johnson at Round 2, Pick 24 is a sensible buy, a touch better than market for the offensive lineman. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
They left a pile of value on the table to take McKinnley Jackson this early at slot 68. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
Spencer Rattler at pick No. 72 is an overdraft of the loud, memorable kind. A need, and now a little less of one.
A real head-scratcher, Tommy Eichenberg in pick 84 is miles ahead of his ranking. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
Cole Bishop in the 90th overall pick is a reach so steep the board needed a second look to believe it. Useful body for a position without much behind the starter.
A big swing on Braelon Allen at the Round 4 slot, well ahead of any board in the building. It fills a real need, too.
A tidy little value on Zion Tupuola-Fetui in the 173rd pick, a step better than break-even. A want more than a need, though you can never have too many.
Omar Speights in No. 188 is a bet on their own eyes over everyone else's grade. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
They liked Kenny Logan Jr. enough to skip the value, taking him in the Round 6 slot. A luxury on a unit that was already in good shape.
Brevyn Spann-Ford in slot 213 is the kind of reach that only looks good if he outplays it. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.