C+
Dallas Cowboys
The jury is out on the Cowboys. For now, C+.
by Kotes ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 10 picks
· 2 steals
· 3 reaches
The Cowboys bet big and early on Xavier Thomas, 66 picks ahead of the board. Bold does not always mean right.
Walley at that cost is the sort of edge that compounds over a roster. If this class has a fault line, it runs straight through tight end. They were the ones paying the moving tax this weekend.
The roster is better shaped than it was, with wide receiver chief among the fixes.
So much rides on Amarius Mims that the real verdict is a season or two away.
Pick-by-Pick
In Round 1, Pick 24 they get a cornerstone up front at fair value. It fills the loudest need on the roster.
Trey Benson at pick No. 61 jumps the queue by a touch more than is comfortable. The roster fit checks out.
Payton Wilson at slot 87 is the sort of value that quietly wins a weekend. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
They paid sticker price for Zak Zinter in No. 99, and that is fine. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
A straight-up fair deal on Kris Abrams-Draine at the Round 4 slot, value and slot in agreement. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
Jordan Travis at pick 136 is neither steal nor reach, just the going rate. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
They took Moose Muhammad III at par in Round 5, Pick 16, which is nothing to complain about. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
Josh Proctor at the 176th overall pick is the pick scouts circle, and not in a good way. Not urgent, but hardly pointless.
Xavier Thomas at slot 212 is the kind of overdraft that needs everything to break right. It thickens a room that could stand to be thicker.
They barely believed it either: Justin Walley still on the board at the 245th pick. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.