B
Dallas Cowboys
A respectable, level-headed haul for the Cowboys: B.
by psicosis6878yahoocom ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 16 picks
· 5 steals
· 10 reaches
The Cowboys spent real capital to be 94 picks early on Elijah Simmons, and the board is going to hold them to it.
Whatever else happened, they won the night they took Simpson. Leaving wide receiver unaddressed is the roster risk they will have to answer for in the fall. The Randolph Jr. pick is fine in a vacuum, less so with wide receiver, quarterback and other spots still on the board.
In sum, a sturdy weekend with one asterisk, the wide receiver spot they never got to.
Pick-by-Pick
A top-tier offensive lineman at a bargain, Patrick Paul in the 74th overall pick, plain and simple. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
They reached a country mile for Drake Nugent at No. 83, and the board is aghast. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
The board screamed and they did not listen, reaching into the next round for Cedric Johnson. Not urgent, but hardly pointless.
Hard to square with the roster. With positions of obvious need still on the board, Keith Randolph Jr. adds an edge rusher and leaves wide receiver, quarterback and other spots untouched.
They left a pile of value on the table to take Edefuan Ulofoshio this early at the 124th pick. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
A real head-scratcher, Curtis Jacobs in pick No. 145 is miles ahead of his ranking. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
A big swing on Roger Rosengarten at the Round 5 slot, well ahead of any board in the building. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
Circle this one: Jaylin Simpson at the 180th overall pick is a fall that decides a draft. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
Value said wait; Trevor Keegan in slot 187 says they were not listening. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
Chau Smith-Wade in pick 189 should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
They will replay Jaylan Ford at the 196th pick for years; that is how good the value is. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
Desmond Evans at Round 7, Pick 5 is the pick scouts circle, and not in a good way. They added to a strength when a need was still open elsewhere.
Elijah Simmons at No. 229 is an overdraft of the loud, memorable kind. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
A tidy bit of business in pick No. 233, where Sheridan Jones graded well above the range. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
Caleb Okechukwu at Round 7, Pick 25 is a steep price for a hunch, hard to square with any board. Pure best-available; the position was not exactly begging.
They did well to land Aaron Frost in the 256th overall pick, just ahead of his grade. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.