D
Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys lost the trade table, and the D tells the story.
by nitebar ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 18 picks
· 0 steals
· 9 reaches
Every swap seemed to tilt away from the Cowboys, and the value they bled adds up to real damage. Put together, it is a D.
The Allen pick is the one the value grade keeps tripping over. They punted on tight end, and it is the miss that keeps the grade honest.
Add it up and it is a weekend the front office will hope everyone forgets, tight end very much included.
Pick-by-Pick
In pick No. 18 they get protection for the quarterback at fair value. It fills the loudest need on the roster.
In the 24th pick they get a weapon on the perimeter, though they paid up to get him. The biggest hole, addressed.
They paid sticker price for T'Vondre Sweat in Round 2, Pick 24, and that is fine. It fills a real need, too.
By-the-book stuff, Johnny Wilson at pick 74 squarely in line with his ranking. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
A clean, defensible pick in the 80th overall pick with a little surplus value in Junior Colson. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
Sedrick Van Pran at No. 87 is neither steal nor reach, just the going rate. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
A reach on Khyree Jackson in the Round 3 slot; the board had better options right there. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
A market-rate edge rusher, with the board and the slot shaking hands on Darius Robinson. A quiet depth add at a thin-ish spot.
This one needs a full-page explanation: Braelon Allen in the 124th overall pick, miles early. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
Ty'Ron Hopper at No. 128 is the pick scouts circle, and not in a good way. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
A straight-up fair deal on Keith Randolph Jr. at the Round 5 slot, value and slot in agreement. Nice player, but the depth chart did not need him here.
They took Joe Milton III at par in the 155th pick, which is nothing to complain about. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
They liked Jordan Jefferson enough to skip the value, taking him in slot 161. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
A conviction pick on Julian Pearl at Round 5, Pick 35 that the board grades a round light. Where it fits the depth chart is the real question.
They jumped the gun on Josh Proctor, taking him earlier than his grade liked. A minor itch, scratched.
They went early on Jase McClellan in pick No. 201, and the value did not follow. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
They reached into another round for Matthew Jones, and the board is nowhere close to agreeing. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
Eric Gentry at pick No. 245 is a sensible buy, a touch better than market for the linebacker. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.