D
Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys answered their biggest question with McCarthy. Grade: D.
by Greatness ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 25 picks
· 6 steals
· 12 reaches
Every swap seemed to tilt away from the Cowboys, and the value they bled adds up to real damage. It grades a D, and the process earned it.
So much rides on J.J. McCarthy that the rest of the class almost grades on a curve behind him. Landing Rakestraw Jr. that late papers over a lot of smaller sins.
They are betting Harris proves the room right and everyone else wrong.
The verdict is not kind, and fairly so; this class has a hill to climb.
Pick-by-Pick
In No. 9 they get a plug-and-play piece up front, though they paid up to get him. It fills the loudest need on the roster.
In the 23rd pick they get the face of the franchise, a steep price for the projection.
In the Round 1 slot they get a problem off the edge, reach and all. Need was not the driver here.
The board screamed and they did not listen, reaching into the next round for T'Vondre Sweat. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
Keon Coleman in Round 2, Pick 8 is a bargain the rest of the room will envy. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
A market-rate linebacker, with the board and the slot shaking hands on Edgerrin Cooper. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
A reach on Christian Haynes in pick 67; the board had better options right there. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
They took Cooper Beebe at par in pick No. 75, which is nothing to complain about. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
Junior Colson in No. 76 is fair value, right on his grade. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
Tyler Davis at slot 87 jumps the queue by a touch more than is comfortable. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
You do not let a cornerback like Ennis Rakestraw Jr. reach Round 3, Pick 27 and blink. They did not. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
A tidy bit of business in pick No. 100, where Roman Wilson graded well above the range. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
They reached into another round for MarShawn Lloyd, and the board is nowhere close to agreeing. It fills a real need, too.
They read the board right and Leonard Taylor III was the payoff at the Round 4 slot. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
Steal is underselling it; Tykee Smith at pick 124 is a heist with the alarm still ringing. It adds depth where they could use a little.
By-the-book stuff, Will Shipley at the 129th overall pick squarely in line with his ranking. A need, and now a little less of one.
They liked Ben Sinnott enough to skip the value, taking him in pick No. 133. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
Drake Nugent at No. 141 is right where the board had him, plain and simple. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
Quietly one of the better values of the day, Jaylen Wright at the 174th overall pick. The roster fit checks out.
A straight-up fair deal on Jaylan Ford at slot 176, value and slot in agreement. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
Christian Jones in the Round 6 slot is early enough to raise a brow, if not a full objection. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
This one needs a full-page explanation: Marcus Harris in Round 6, Pick 37, miles early. A want more than a need, though you can never have too many.
Isaiah Neyor at pick 225 nudges the ledger their way without any fuss. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
Nathaniel Watson at the 227th pick is a clear overpay, with better names still on the board. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
A swing that ignored the value entirely, Dwight McGlothern well ahead of where he belonged. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.