D
Dallas Cowboys
Quarterback settled, McCarthy in the fold, and a D for the Cowboys.
by grmjr ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 18 picks
· 2 steals
· 10 reaches
Every swap seemed to tilt away from the Cowboys, and the value they bled adds up to real damage.
So much rides on J.J. McCarthy that the rest of the class almost grades on a curve behind him. Every board in the league had Cohen lower, and that gap is the story. Sainristil falling to them is the kind of break a good board is built to catch.
Bottom line, they will be counting on several picks to beat their grades.
Pick-by-Pick
In No. 24 they get a matchup problem out wide. The biggest hole, addressed.
In pick 25 they get their quarterback of the future, though the board says they badly overpaid. A clean fit for the roster.
Jackson Powers-Johnson at slot 40 is a clear overpay, with better names still on the board. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
The board had cheaper options than Mekhi Wingo at pick No. 56, and it noticed. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
A reach on McKinnley Jackson in the 75th overall pick; the board had better options right there. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
Bucky Irving at the Round 3 slot is neither steal nor reach, just the going rate. A need, and now a little less of one.
A cornerback of that caliber at the 100th pick is the definition of value, full stop. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
They reached into another round for Sataoa Laumea, and the board is nowhere close to agreeing. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
Javon Foster at slot 110 is the pick scouts circle, and not in a good way. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
They took Tommy Eichenberg at par in the 122nd pick, which is nothing to complain about. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Javion Cohen at No. 124 is an overdraft of the loud, memorable kind. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
They stopped a slide they were happy to see, landing Ainias Smith in pick 125. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
A market-rate tight end, with the board and the slot shaking hands on Ben Sinnott. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
They paid a round early for Josh Proctor in pick No. 174, more than the board wanted. Useful depth more than a marquee fix.
They paid sticker price for Michael Barrett in the Round 6 slot, and that is fine. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
A straight-up fair deal on Jase McClellan at Round 6, Pick 37, value and slot in agreement. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
They reached a country mile for Matthew Jones at pick No. 223, and the board is aghast. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
They liked Dwight McGlothern enough to skip the value, taking him in Round 7, Pick 25. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.