B
Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys let Smith fall and pounced. Final grade: B.
by [email protected] ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 7 picks
· 5 steals
· 0 reaches
Somebody in the 173rd overall pick was going to get robbed, and it turned out to be the rest of the league. The Cowboys sat still while Ainias Smith, the No. 130 name on the board, slid all the way to them, then sprinted to the podium. It does the job without flash, and the B reflects it.
They punted on tight end, and it is the miss that keeps the grade honest. They went 6 of 8 on their needs, which is most of what a draft is for. Building through the lines is a philosophy, and they stuck to it.
Good work on the whole, with tight end the one box left unchecked.
Pick-by-Pick
In Round 1, Pick 24 they get a bendy edge with upside, and a steal at that. More want than need.
They will replay JC Latham at pick 56 for years; that is how good the value is. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
Blake Corum in the 87th overall pick is fine work, a shade of surplus and no downside. It fills a real need, too.
They robbed the room for Ainias Smith here, a fall nobody at the table saw coming. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
Steal is underselling it; Johnny Dixon at the Round 6 slot is a heist with the alarm still ringing. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
Austin Reed at No. 231 nudges the ledger their way without any fuss. A need, and now a little less of one.
Michael Barrett at the 242nd pick is the steal of the weekend, a first-round talent at a bargain-bin price. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.