B
Dallas Cowboys
Best value of the weekend goes to the Cowboys for Thomas: B.
by Tonywalthall ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 11 picks
· 5 steals
· 5 reaches
The board owed the Cowboys one, and it paid up: Xavier Thomas, the No. 143 name on the board, sitting there at the 174th overall pick like a gift left on the doorstep. More right than wrong, and a B to match.
Every board in the league had Nourzad lower, and that gap is the story. For all the activity, quarterback went untouched, which is hard to explain. Job largely done: wide receiver settled and 6 of 8 of the wish list covered.
Building through the lines is a philosophy, and they stuck to it.
Nothing here to lose sleep over, and plenty to feel decent about.
Pick-by-Pick
They paid sticker price for Jordan Morgan in the Round 1 slot, and that is fine. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
A quiet steal in slot 56: Jonathon Brooks for less than the market said. A need, and now a little less of one.
Mekhi Wingo in pick No. 87 is the kind of reach that only looks good if he outplays it. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
Value said wait; Hunter Nourzad in the 95th overall pick says they were not listening. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Tommy Eichenberg at No. 128 is the pick scouts circle, and not in a good way. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
Good things come to war rooms that wait, and Jarvis Brownlee Jr. at Round 4, Pick 33 is the proof. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
A top-tier wide receiver at a bargain, Ainias Smith in the 159th pick, plain and simple. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
Somehow Xavier Thomas was still sitting there in pick 174, and they pounced on premier edge rusher value. It thickens a room that could stand to be thicker.
They will replay Ryan Flournoy at Round 6, Pick 41 for years; that is how good the value is. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
A swing that ignored the value entirely, Frank Crum well ahead of where he belonged. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
The board had cheaper options than Nick Samac at the Round 7 slot, and it noticed. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.