The Cowboys are the biggest roadblock to the Philadelphia Eagles reclaiming the NFC East’s crown.
The Cowboys endured a ton of roster turnover during the offseason. Much of which will haunt them at various points of the coming campaign.
When they need a sack and can’t get one, remember they let Bradlee Anae and Randy Gregory walk. When they need a play on third down and can’t get that to happen, remember they elected to move on from Amari Cooper and Cedrick Wilson Jr. and have determined that CeeDee Lamb is the guy that will lead this the wide receivers corps going forward.
CeeDee is good we all know that, but Lamb alone won’t make for an explosive offense. Here’s how the rest of the Cowboys draft played out.
- Round 1, pick24: Tyler Smith, tackle, Tulsa (B-)
- Round 2, pick 56: Sam Williams, defensive end, Ole Miss (B+)
- Round 3, pick 88: Jalen Tolbert, wide receiver, South Alabama (B)
- Round 4, pick 129: Jake Ferguson, tight end, Wisconsin (B)
- Round 5, pick 155: Matt Waletzko, tackle, North Dakota (C)
- Round 5, pick 167: DaRon Bland, cornerback, Fresno State (B)
- Round 5, pick 176: Damone Clark, LB, LSU (B- as he won’t play in 2022)
- Round 5, pick 178: John Ridgeway, defensive tackle, Arkansas (C)
- Round 6, pick 193: Devin Harper, LB, Oklahoma State (B+)
Dallas needed a stellar draft. What they did, arguably, was produce one of the slightly above-average variety while reaching on almost half of their selections. Don’t include wide receiver Jalen Tolbert (Round 3), tight Jake Ferguson (Round 4), Damone Clark (Round 5), and Devin Harper Round 6) in that category. They were all great value picks.
Clark is the Cowboys’ comp to Nakobe Dean. He’s a good young linebacker that slid and will wind up being better than his draft positioning indicates he should be. Unfortunately, he’ll have to wait for his chance to prove it. He’s going to miss his rookie season due to spinal fusion surgery.
The Cowboys’ first-round selection, Tyler Smith, seems to be someone they took for the future, not the present. Overall Grade: B