D
Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys got the worse of every deal, and it shows in the D.
by Grumpy ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 21 picks
· 1 steals
· 14 reaches
There was a run on nobody at that position, and the Cowboys started one anyway for Bryan Hudson, 141 picks ahead of schedule. It grades a D, and the process earned it.
They handed away value on the phones that the picks cannot earn back. They banked enough surplus on Sainristil to cover a lot of smaller sins. The veteran additions, Khalil Mack chief among them, give the class a floor the rookies alone would not.
Wide receiver was the priority and it is no longer a question, which is most of the job.
Bottom line, they will need several of these picks to beat their grades just to break even.
Pick-by-Pick
In pick No. 10 they get a cornerstone up front, though they paid up to get him. It fills the loudest need on the roster.
In pick 24 they get a go-to option on the outside at fair value. The biggest hole, addressed.
No edge and no loss on J.J. McCarthy in Round 2, Pick 5; it is a wash and a sensible one. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
A real head-scratcher, T'Vondre Sweat in slot 40 is miles ahead of his ranking. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
By-the-book stuff, Edgerrin Cooper at No. 56 squarely in line with his ranking. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
Cooper Beebe at the Round 3 slot jumps the queue by a touch more than is comfortable. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
No drama and no debate, Payton Wilson went about where he belonged in the 69th overall pick. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
Blake Corum in the 75th pick is exactly on the number, no argument either way. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
A conviction pick on Tyler Davis at the Round 3 slot that the board grades a round light. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
The board had Mike Sainristil higher than pick No. 90, and the cornerback fell to them anyway. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
They left a pile of value on the table to take Ben Sinnott this early at slot 110. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
Ainias Smith at pick 122 is a sound buy, the sort that quietly helps a class. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
A swing that ignored the value entirely, Beaux Limmer well ahead of where he belonged. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
A big swing on Kitan Oladapo at No. 144, well ahead of any board in the building. A minor need, but a need all the same.
This one needs a full-page explanation: Christian Jones in the 174th pick, miles early. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
Jase McClellan at pick 184 is an overdraft of the loud, memorable kind. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
Matthew Jones in the 212th overall pick is a bet on their own eyes over everyone else's grade. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
The board had cheaper options than Marcus Harris at the Round 7 slot, and it noticed. Depth more than a fix, but depth they can use.
Value said wait; Dwight McGlothern in pick No. 229 says they were not listening. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
Aaron Lewis at No. 237 is a steep price for a hunch, hard to square with any board. A want more than a need, though you can never have too many.
Bryan Hudson at slot 245 is the pick scouts circle, and not in a good way. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.