D-
Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys got the worse of every deal, and it shows in the D-.
by joeyp3 ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 12 picks
· 2 steals
· 6 reaches
Somewhere a scout is still blinking. The Cowboys spent the 135th overall pick on Frank Gore Jr., a name the board had a full 31 spots lower. Too much went sideways, and the D- is the honest tally.
Overpaying at the table undid a lot of the good work elsewhere. With linebacker, tight end and other spots unsolved, spending premium capital on edge rusher is the choice that costs them. The linebacker hole is the one line item this class does not answer.
Bottom line, they will need several of these picks to beat their grades just to break even, and linebacker is still a hole.
Pick-by-Pick
Dallas Turner in pick 10 is fair value, right on his grade. Useful depth more than a marquee fix.
In slot 24 they get a potential shutdown corner, though they paid up to get him. It fills the loudest need on the roster.
They zigged when the board said zag, taking Kris Jenkins at edge rusher with linebacker, tight end and other spots open.
Trey Benson at the Round 3 slot is right where the board had him, plain and simple. The roster fit checks out.
Cooper Beebe at pick No. 87 is money in the bank, a offensive lineman taken below his worth. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
A reach on Ainias Smith in the 106th pick; the board had better options right there. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
Jarrian Jones at No. 111 is a clear overpay, with better names still on the board. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
Javon Foster at slot 124 is neither steal nor reach, just the going rate. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
They left a pile of value on the table to take Frank Gore Jr. this early at pick 135. It fills a real need, too.
A big swing on Joe Milton III at the 144th pick, well ahead of any board in the building. A need, and now a little less of one.
Braiden McGregor at the Round 5 slot is an overdraft of the loud, memorable kind. Nice player, but the depth chart did not need him here.
They took Isaiah Neyor at par in the 212th overall pick, which is nothing to complain about. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.