D+
Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys got the worse of every deal, and it shows in the D+.
by nitebar ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 18 picks
· 6 steals
· 8 reaches
You can fall in love with a player. You are not supposed to marry him in the wrong round. The Cowboys did exactly that with Baylor Cupp in the 244th pick. It grades a D+, and the process earned it.
The trades bled value they could not afford to lose. Whatever else happened, they won the night they took Alt. Wide receiver is handled and the depth chart looks a good deal healthier for it.
In the end, a class the front office will want to grow past quickly.
Pick-by-Pick
In Round 1, Pick 23 they get an anchor for the offensive line, outstanding value to boot. It fills the loudest need on the roster.
In the 24th overall pick they get a weapon on the perimeter. Exactly the need they had to hit.
In No. 25 they get a building block for the line at fair value. The biggest hole, addressed.
The board had T'Vondre Sweat higher than the 56th pick, and the interior defensive lineman fell to them anyway. The roster fit checks out.
Michael Pratt in pick 87 is a bet on their own eyes over everyone else's grade. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
A conviction pick on Braelon Allen at slot 89 that the board grades a round light. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
Johnny Wilson at the 108th pick is a conviction pick that outran the value. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
Elijah Jones at Round 4, Pick 25 is the sort of value that quietly wins a weekend. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
James Williams in pick No. 132 is a bargain the rest of the room will envy. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
Jalyx Hunt in slot 157 lands just on the right side of the ledger. A quiet depth add at a thin-ish spot.
They did well to land Kitan Oladapo in No. 159, just ahead of his grade. Not urgent, but hardly pointless.
They liked Ty'Ron Hopper enough to skip the value, taking him in the 173rd overall pick. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
Value said wait; Curtis Jacobs in pick 174 says they were not listening. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
They read the board right and Kendall Milton was the payoff at the Round 6 slot. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
They talked themselves into Ryan Watts at No. 220, and the board did not agree. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
Taking Caedan Wallace in the 230th pick is close to grand larceny; an offensive lineman that good had no business lasting this long. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
J.J. Weaver at pick No. 233 is the kind of overdraft that needs everything to break right. Nice player, but the depth chart did not need him here.
They reached a country mile for Baylor Cupp at pick 244, and the board is aghast. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.