D+
Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys got the worse of every deal, and it shows in the D+.
by nitebar ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 13 picks
· 3 steals
· 6 reaches
The rest of the league had time to spare on Michael Pratt; the Cowboys did not wait, grabbing him 53 spots ahead at slot 87. 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. The Williams steal is the beam this whole class leans on.
They punted on tight end, and it is the miss that keeps the grade honest.
Bottom line, they will need several of these picks to beat their grades just to break even, and tight end is still a hole.
Pick-by-Pick
In the 21st pick they get a long-term starter on the line, though they paid up to get him. The biggest hole, addressed.
In pick No. 23 they get a blindside protector. Exactly the need they had to hit.
In the 24th overall pick they get a difference-maker at receiver, reach and all. It fills the loudest need on the roster.
Junior Colson in Round 2, Pick 24 is fine work, a shade of surplus and no downside. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
Value said wait; Michael Pratt in pick 87 says they were not listening. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
They left a pile of value on the table to take Isaac Guerendo this early at No. 108. It fills a real need, too.
The board had cheaper options than Nehemiah Pritchett at slot 132, and it noticed. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
Jordan Jefferson at the 157th pick is an overdraft of the loud, memorable kind. A need, and now a little less of one.
They did well to land Jalyx Hunt in pick 159, just ahead of his grade. A minor need, but a need all the same.
You do not let a linebacker like James Williams reach the 174th overall pick and blink. They did not. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
Fabien Lovett at pick No. 216 is daylight robbery; nobody expected him to last. The roster fit checks out.
Jase McClellan in No. 233 is a gift, value that borders on unfair. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
A market-rate wide receiver, with the board and the slot shaking hands on Bub Means. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.