D-
Dallas Cowboys
Quarterback settled, Nix in the fold, and a D- for the Cowboys.
by GameNutt ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 13 picks
· 0 steals
· 6 reaches
There is conviction, and then there is this. The Cowboys took Hayden Hatten a full 69 picks ahead of where the board had him, an overdraft steep enough that it colors the whole weekend. The process wobbled, and the D- is where it lands.
Overpaying at the table undid a lot of the good work elsewhere. Bo Nix is the bet, and the class will be judged on how it pays off. Spending an early pick on DT-EDGE with tight end open is the decision the grade keeps circling back to.
The tight end hole is the one line item this class does not answer.
Bottom line, they will be counting on several picks to beat their grades.
Pick-by-Pick
In pick 13 they get a blindside protector. It fills the loudest need on the roster.
No edge and no loss on Bo Nix in the Round 1 slot; it is a wash and a sensible one. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
They jumped the gun on Jackson Powers-Johnson, taking him earlier than his grade liked. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
Patrick Paul in pick No. 56 lands just on the right side of the ledger. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
The eyebrow-raiser of the weekend. They went DT-EDGE with Maason Smith while clear needs at tight end sat open.
Khyree Jackson at the 88th pick jumps the queue by a touch more than is comfortable. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Value said wait; James Williams in the Round 4 slot says they were not listening. A minor itch, scratched.
No drama and no debate, Isaiah Davis went about where he belonged in pick No. 174. It fills a real need, too.
Fair-plus on Michael Barrett, a quiet win that adds up over a draft. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
A straight-up fair deal on Jawhar Jordan at pick 203, value and slot in agreement. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
A wild overpay on Evan Anderson in the 212th pick, the sort that defines a class for the wrong reasons. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
They left a pile of value on the table to take Hayden Hatten this early at Round 7, Pick 12. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
Jordan Whittington in No. 245 is a reach so steep the board needed a second look to believe it. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.