2017 Cowboys Draft Grades

VA Cowboy · May 1, 2017

I thought we had a solid draft. I'd give it a B+. Got value with about every pick while filling needs. To top it off we drafted behind the other 3 teams in our division yet out-drafted Philly and NYG and came a close 2nd to Wash.

Charlton isn't flashy but he was a solid pick and I didn't think we could gamble and take Watt or a DB in the first hoping to get a DE later. I guess there could be an argument for taking Kevin King in the 1st and then someone like Jordan Willis in the 2nd. But there was no way to know if a pass rusher would be there at 60. As it turned out we got a solid DE in Charlton and two 2nd round caliber CB's in the 2nd and 3rd.

VA Cowboy · May 1, 2017

townsend said:
All the pre draft stuff I'd heard was a Charlton level DE wouldn't even make it to our pick.

Yeah, from Jan til early April most had Taco being gone and Harris likely being available but over the last 2-3 weeks they ended up trading places

Joe Fan · May 1, 2017

mschmidt64 said:
Where was Charlton ever listed as an elite pass rushing prospect? Serious question.

My impression is that the scouts have all viewed him as more of a left end.

Kiper actually made a comment in one of his mock drafts where they had him going to Atlanta for being an additional pass rusher opposite of Vic.

Genghis Khan · May 1, 2017

mschmidt64 said:
It depends. You don't want to say, "Well, DBs are much stronger into the second round than DE's are" and then pass on Charles Woodson or Ed Reed to take Greg Ellis.

But yeah, I don't think that's the case here.

Totally agree. Philosophically I think you and I are on the same page with BPA.. The thing that makes this palatable is there wasn't a big disparity between the players at 28 except maybe Foster.

Genghis Khan · May 1, 2017

Listening to the ticket today, Sturm seems to suggest Taco is a 3 or 4 sack a year guy.

I'm not a huge Charlton guy but I would peg for double that honestly. I think 6-8 a year is a reasonable expectation. Especially if he's giving a high level of run support.

boozeman · May 1, 2017

Genghis Khan said:
Listening to the ticket today, Sturm seems to suggest Taco is a 3 or 4 sack a year guy.

I'm not a huge Charlton guy but I would peg for double that honestly. I think 6-8 a year is a reasonable expectation. Especially if he's giving a high level of run support.

If my Ekuban comparison holds true, he is a 4 sack a year kind of guy.

Genghis Khan · May 1, 2017

boozeman said:
If my Ekuban comparison holds true, he is a 4 sack a year kind of guy.

Jeez, if that's what he turns out to be, I just feel like you could get that later in the draft.

dallen · May 1, 2017

Maybe I have bad expectations, but it seems like just about any good DE should be able to average at least 5 sacks a season even if they aren't primarily a pass rusher. Even Mayowa had 6 last season

townsend · May 1, 2017

boozeman said:
If my Ekuban comparison holds true, he is a 4 sack a year kind of guy.

Ekuban was a lot shorter than Taco. Seems like Greg Ellis has a more similar frame. Also wasn't Ellis our right end, seems like Ekuban was way too heavy to be a pass rushing left end.

Joe Fan · May 1, 2017

Cowboysrock55 said:
Rare combination of size, length and athletic traits as a rusher. Long-levered frame with athletic, knotted calves. Brings freaky athletic traits to table and is still growing into his body. Flashes instant reaction time off snap and up the field thanks to his twitch.

Also I like their comp of Carlos Dunlap.

I've been hearing a lot of comparison to Jason Tuck type player as of late.

NoDak · May 1, 2017

VA Cowboy said:
I thought we had a solid draft. I'd give it a B+. Got value with about every pick while filling needs. To top it off we drafted behind the other 3 teams in our division yet out-drafted Philly and NYG and came a close 2nd to Wash.

I liked Washington's draft, but I don't know if it was necessarily better than ours. The potential to be is there on paper, but IMO it's a much riskier draft than ours. Outside of Jourdan Lewis, the players we took are pretty risk free. And even Lewis' situation I don't think is much.

Washington got some talented players, no doubt. But their draft does have some health and character risks.

Jonathan Allen -Arthritic shoulders. If they hold up, great pick. If they don't, not so much.
Ryan Anderson- I don't see any flags for him. Might be good for them.
Fabian Moreau- Torn pectoral muscle. I like him and think the medical risk is worth it here.
Samaje Perine- Good pick for them. Not sure if he is a lead back type though.
Montea Nicholson- WUT? I don't like this guy at all. I think he's an athlete trying to play football. Bigtime reach.
Jeremy Sprinkle-Character risk. Meathead that decided to shoplift before his bowl game. Even though he was given a gift card to the store.
Chase Roullier- Don't know anything about him.
Robert Davis-Pretty raw, but the kind of guy you want late. Has some tools.
Joshua Holsey-CB that I don't know anything about.
Josh Harvey-Clemens-Another risk. Tested hot for weed 3 times in college.

All in all, a nice draft. But it does come with some risk.

Cowboysrock55 · May 1, 2017

Genghis Khan said:
Listening to the ticket today, Sturm seems to suggest Taco is a 3 or 4 sack a year guy.

I'm not a huge Charlton guy but I would peg for double that honestly. I think 6-8 a year is a reasonable expectation. Especially if he's giving a high level of run support.

Just playing DE you'll luck into 3-4 sacks a year. That's a ridiculous projection. Hell David Irving had 4 last year and he started like 2 games.

Cowboysrock55 · May 1, 2017

townsend said:
Ekuban was a lot shorter than Taco. Seems like Greg Ellis has a more similar frame. Also wasn't Ellis our right end, seems like Ekuban was way too heavy to be a pass rushing left end.

There is literally nothing similar about Ekuban and Charlton other then the area of the draft they were picked. Booze just makes that comparison because Ekuban sucked.

Genghis Khan · May 1, 2017

Here's Sturm on Taco predraft for the record...

Taco Charlton - DE - Michigan - This one makes me nervous. But, I think he lacks the athleticism to be elite on Sundays.

He also ranked him 24th overall.

BipolarFuk · May 1, 2017

Mayok compares Taco to Carlos Dunlap.

Would that be OK?

Dunlap tested better with long speed, Taco better everywhere else.

Genghis Khan · May 1, 2017

BipolarFan said:
Mayok compares Taco to Carlos Dunlap.

Would that be OK?

Dunlap tested better with long speed, Taco better everywhere else.

Same height so it may just be a lazy comparison.

But I'd take Dunlap's production and be thrilled. That would exceed my expectations pretty significantly.

Joe Fan · May 1, 2017

Genghis Khan said:
Same height so it may just be a lazy comparison.

But I'd take Dunlap's production and be thrilled. That would exceed my expectations pretty significantly.

Couldn't agree more. Given what we have had at DL, and considering where we picked, I'd be thrilled with a Carlos Dunlap type of player.

That would immediately be an improvement over what we've had since Ware left.

skidadl · May 1, 2017

Genghis Khan said:
Listening to the ticket today, Sturm seems to suggest Taco is a 3 or 4 sack a year guy.

I'm not a huge Charlton guy but I would peg for double that honestly. I think 6-8 a year is a reasonable expectation. Especially if he's giving a high level of run support.

If he is giving great run support I will very disappointed.

Simpleton · May 1, 2017

Pretty sure I read somewhere that Charlton's 10 yard split was basically as fast as guys like Garrett and even faster than Barnett. You can see the burst in games at times as well. People keep forgetting that he played with a high ankle sprain for much of last year, it's not a coincidence that the last two games of the season were his best of the year and that he really came on as the year went on.

I saw this guy leave Ryan Ramczyk lunging with a spin move, I saw him track down Curtis Samuel on a jet sweep, I saw him blow by Roderick Johnson, leaving him flat footed more than once, I'm not worried.

He isn't your ideal physical specimen at DE but we took him at 28 not 8. I mean I would love for someone to tell me about the prospect with no holes in their game that we should've taken at 28.

TJ Watt who has literally never played with his hand down? He'd have to start off as a SAM LB and develop into a DE. Same for Bowser.

Kevin King?

His COD and side to side agility is limited and he's kind of soft in general.

Malik McDowell?

This dude seemingly does not give one single fuck about football and had 7.5 sacks in 3 years. Real edge-bending DE there you guys.

The draft doesn't always fall to you like when you get a borderline 1st round prospect in Awuzie falling to 60 and it's a no brainer. Sometimes you have to make a pick with what's available and while Charlton isn't your ideal edge rusher he is a very good prospect who will likely be our best DE by the end of this year or early next year.

And the idea that his ceiling is a 3-4 sack guy is preposterous. Maybe if he doesn't give a fuck about football and/or is constantly injured, but if he has any measure of health and/or cares about football at all he should be able to average around 6-8 a year.

Joe Fan · May 2, 2017

Simpleton said:
Pretty sure I read somewhere that Charlton's 10 yard split was basically as fast as guys like Garrett and even faster than Barnett. You can see the burst in games at times as well. People keep forgetting that he played with a high ankle sprain for much of last year, it's not a coincidence that the last two games of the season were his best of the year and that he really came on as the year went on.

I saw this guy leave Ryan Ramczyk lunging with a spin move, I saw him track down Curtis Samuel on a jet sweep, I saw him blow by Roderick Johnson, leaving him flat footed more than once, I'm not worried.

He isn't your ideal physical specimen at DE but we took him at 28 not 8. I mean I would love for someone to tell me about the prospect with no holes in their game that we should've taken at 28.

TJ Watt who has literally never played with his hand down? He'd have to start off as a SAM LB and develop into a DE. Same for Bowser.

Kevin King?

His COD and side to side agility is limited and he's kind of soft in general.

Malik McDowell?

This dude seemingly does not give one single fuck about football and had 7.5 sacks in 3 years. Real edge-bending DE there you guys.

The draft doesn't always fall to you like when you get a borderline 1st round prospect in Awuzie falling to 60 and it's a no brainer. Sometimes you have to make a pick with what's available and while Charlton isn't your ideal edge rusher he is a very good prospect who will likely be our best DE by the end of this year or early next year.

And the idea that his ceiling is a 3-4 sack guy is preposterous. Maybe if he doesn't give a fuck about football and/or is constantly injured, but if he has any measure of health and/or cares about football at all he should be able to average around 6-8 a year.

Very well said.

I'm going to go on record and say that he finishes with 10.5 sacks next season.

Maybe that's being over optimistic, but I feel hopeful that he'll be better than advertised.

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