Cowboys news: Breaking down the Cowboys draft picks and where they fit

dallas city news

Draft is complete; Where all 8 Cowboys picks fit – Nick Eatman, Dallascowboys.com

With the entire draft class complete, here’s a look where all the draftees will work in to the 2024 roster.

Marshawn Kneeland (2nd round, 56th overall, DE, Western Michigan) – This seems like a Mike Zimmer pick all the way. Kneeland is a gritty, run-stopping player who likes to mix it up on the line. He has 28 career tackles for loss and should add instant toughness to the D-line, that lost four players in free agency, including ends Dorance Armstrong and Dante Fowler.

Cooper Beebe (3rd round, 73rd overall, G/C, Kansas State) – There is questions where he might play, but no questions about his toughness and ability to block. Beebe looks like a tough, intense player who thrives on putting defenders on the ground. He’ll likely compete at center now but eventually move to guard down the road.

Marist Liufau (3rd round, 87th overall, LB, Notre Dame) – Another Zimmer-type pick, Liufau is a hard-nosed linebacker who excels against the run and pass. The Cowboys were short on linebackers and there’s a chance he could come in and compete for a starting spot this year.

Quick Hits: What Tyler Guyton really brings to the Cowboys – Ben Larimore, Cowboys Wire

After selecting Tyler Guyton to start their draft, here’s what the Cowboys are getting with the exciting Oklahoma prospect.

The Dallas Cowboys went offensive line with their first pick, but not without getting a little extra. The Detroit Lions gave the Cowboys their No.29 pick and third round pick (73) in exchange for the the Cowboys first round No. 24 pick and a 2025 7th rounder. With the No. 29 pick, Dallas selected Oklahoma protector Tyler Guyton.

Guyton is a four-year player and a monster of a man, standing at 6-foot-7 and 330 pounds with an 82-inch wingspan, 34-inch arms and 10-inch hands. The enticing part about Guyton is how well he moves. His movement would be considered impressive for a regular-sized tackle, but extra impressive for a man of his size. Guyton plays with tenacity and solid play strength.

On the flip side of that, Guyton protected the quarterback’s blindside as a right tackle during his four years at Oklahoma, but is switching to left tackle for the Cowboys.

He plays tall, hindering leverage and has wild hand placement and hand fighting technique. He’ll have a lot of adjustments to make to his game playing left tackle and further refining his technique.

Forget free agency; Dallas Cowboys need large impact from 2023, 2024 draft classes – Calvin Watkins, DMN

If a cavalry is coming, it’s going to be from the last two drafts.

If you’re wondering about the Cowboys’ inability to make a big free agency signing, the 2023 and 2024 draft classes are the splash you’ve been searching for. You might not like it, but this is the reality of the Cowboys’ world.

There are 16 players from the two draft classes that will join the 90-man roster in Oxnard, Calif., for training camp.

So get over what the Cowboys didn’t do in free agency and embrace the last two draft classes. That’s where the biggest impact will happen.

“We’re about developing these young players,” McCarthy said. “Draft and develop is a baseline for us. Your youth has to step up and play earlier than ever in this league. It’s a young man’s game, and this is another great example.”

The Dallas Cowboys aren’t just devaluing the RB position, they’re giving up on the run – David Moore, DMN

Harsh words from Moore.

Their running back room at the moment is Rico Dowdle, Deuce Vaughn and Royce Freeman. There is an expectation they will re-sign Zeke Elliott.

That’s not just devaluing the position. It’s giving up on the run. It’s their way of saying good luck to Dak and CeeDee carrying this offense for 17 games next fall.

Zeke is not a realistic answer, nor is the well-traveled Freeman. Dowdle didn’t look like much by the end of last year in his reserve role behind Pollard. And Deuce is a fan favorite only in the third quarter of preseason games while running against defensive players about to be released.

The Cowboys didn’t need to spend money, just a slice of their draft capital Saturday. They didn’t bother. Let’s see how that goes.

How the Cowboys plan to fill out their roster — and be better than last season – Jon Machota, The Athletic

Is this the Cowboys’ masterplan?

Near the end of Saturday’s news conference, Jerry Jones had this back-and-forth with Stephen Jones.

Jerry: “Stephen, I’m not holding you to this, but we can probably trade with another club pretty much for the next six or seven months, can’t we?”

Stephen: “Oh, absolutely. All the way through the trade deadline.”

Jerry: “I’ve seen teams win the Super Bowl with running backs that they traded for midseason. The point is that this thing is a long way from being over as to how you’re going to line up (during the season).”

Dallas made two key trades last year, acquiring starting cornerback Stephon Gilmore and starting wide receiver Brandin Cooks, however, both moves were completed in March.

“We’ll continue to work that part of it and improve our roster,” Stephen Jones added. “Actually, we were on the phone with a couple guys here (recently), trying to get our numbers right, looking at guys who can come in here and help us that might be veteran-type players versus the college players. This is a busy time for us right now. I just see our roster continuing to evolve and will continue to get better.”

Dallas Cowboys 2024 NFL draft picks: Selection analysis – Todd Archer, ESPN

Another look at how the draft picks fit in.

Round 5 No. 174: Caelen Carson, DB, Wake Forest

My take: The running back wait continues, but Carson was under consideration by the Cowboys at pick No. 73 when they took Beebe. He did not record an interception in each of his final two seasons and had just three for his career, but he had 42 tackles, one tackle for loss, eight pass deflections, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery last season. With Trevon Diggs coming off a torn ACL and Stephon Gilmore currently unsigned, cornerback was a need for the Cowboys even if they had re-signed Jourdan Lewis.

Round 6: No. 216: Ryan Flournoy, WR, Southeast Missouri State

My take: The running back wait continues as the Cowboys go with Flournoy, who performed well against better competition at the Senior Bowl. He is older, turning 25 in October, he caught 118 passes for 1,823 yards and 13 touchdowns in two years at Southeast Missouri. The Cowboys have CeeDee Lamb, Brandin Cooks and Jalen Tolbert as their top three receivers, and have a role for KaVontae Turpin and like Jalen Brooks’ ability. Martavis Bryant ended last season on the practice squad and will have a chance to show if he can recapture the ability he showed in Pittsburgh before a series of suspensions. At 6-2, 205 pounds, Flournoy has the size the Cowboys like in their receivers.

Cowboys seem prepared to address running back by simply bringing back Ezekiel Elliott – RJ Ochoa, Blogging the Boys

It appears that the Cowboys are content with “running it back” with Ezekiel Elliott.

Just one year after that the Cowboys selected Ezekiel Elliott with the fourth overall pick in the draft, their most premium draft asset in a generation, and doubled down on him with a massive contract extension in 2019. They seemed to have learned that lesson a year ago when they released Zeke for financial reasons, and after a season with the New England Patriots the former rushing champion remains on the open market.

The Cowboys obviously cannot help themselves.

It appears that the plan at running back this season is to just bring back Ezekiel Elliott

After letting Tony Pollard walk in free agency (one year after they placed the franchise tag on him) the Cowboys chose to not sign anybody significant on the open market. To be totally fair and clear here, the Cowboys did sign somebody and did so rather recently when they inked Royce Freeman. It stood to reason that Dallas would draft a runner to go with Freeman, Rico Dowdle and Deuce Vaughn, but that the drafted player would absorb the lion’s share of touches/carries/attention.

The draft came and went and not a single running back was taken by the team. In fact, the most mentioned runner wasn’t even Jonathon Brooks (taken by the Carolina Panthers) who was talked about a ton. The name that came up the most throughout the draft process was the aforementioned Ezekiel Elliott. Reports from all over the place are that Dallas bringing Elliott back is inevitable. Stephen Jones reiterated in one of the draft weekend’s press conferences that the team thinks very highly of him and is grateful for all that he has done for the franchise. That very well may be true, but acting as if this being the main plan for 2024 is not exactly living in reality.

Elliott played all 17 games for the Patriots last season (the New England team was so bad that they picked third overall) and carried the ball 184 times for 642 total yards. That comes out to 3.5 yards per carry if you are curious. Also if you are feeling inquisitive, his longest run was well shy of 20 yards. The Cowboys can say that Zeke will play a role along the likes of Dowdle, Vaughn and Freeman (assuming they all make the team) but does anybody really buy that? Is there anyone here that legitimately believes that in moments of seriousness that they won’t go back to the well that they are lining up to re-visit?

Dallas Cowboys 2024 undrafted free agent tracker – Dave Halprin, BTB

You can keep track of all the Cowboys UDFA signings, we are currently at 13 UDFAs.

… and …


source

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *