D
Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys lost the trade table, and the D tells the story.
by Nitebar ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 13 picks
· 3 steals
· 8 reaches
There is conviction, and then there is this. The Cowboys took Deantre Prince a full 71 picks ahead of where the board had him, an overdraft steep enough that it colors the whole weekend. The board pushed back all weekend, and the D is the result.
They handed away value on the phones that the picks cannot earn back. They covered a lot of ground and still skipped tight end, which is a strange place to end up.
The Pritchett pick alone nudges the whole weekend up a notch.
Add it up and it is a weekend the front office will hope everyone forgets, tight end very much included.
Pick-by-Pick
In pick 11 they get a plug-and-play piece up front. Exactly the need they had to hit.
In the 23rd overall pick they get a true top target, reach and all. The biggest hole, addressed.
In No. 24 they get a building block for the line, even if it was a touch early. It fills the loudest need on the roster.
They let Jonathon Brooks come to them and pounced at slot 56. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
Michael Pratt at Round 3, Pick 24 is the kind of overdraft that needs everything to break right. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
Tommy Eichenberg in pick No. 108 is a bet on their own eyes over everyone else's grade. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
The board screamed and they did not listen, reaching into the next round for Jordan Jefferson. It fills a real need, too.
Nehemiah Pritchett at slot 159 is money in the bank, a cornerback taken below his worth. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
By-the-book stuff, Braiden McGregor at No. 167 squarely in line with his ranking. Useful depth more than a marquee fix.
Jase McClellan at the Round 5 slot is an overdraft of the loud, memorable kind. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
This one needs a full-page explanation: Bub Means in the 216th pick, miles early. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
The board had Javontae Jean-Baptiste higher than Round 7, Pick 13, and the edge rusher fell to them anyway. They added to a strength when a need was still open elsewhere.
A big swing on Deantre Prince at the 244th overall pick, well ahead of any board in the building. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.