Archer: Cowboys' plan came together but a debate will carry on through 2017

Cotton

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Cowboys' plan came together but a debate will carry on through 2017
Todd Archer
ESPN Staff Writer

FRISCO, Texas -- The Dallas Cowboys followed their draft plan perfectly.

In an attempt to make their defense great again, seven of the Cowboys’ nine selections were on the defensive side of the ball, starting with their first-round pick, defensive end Taco Charlton.

“Our overall plan, as it always is, is to draft the best players available when the time comes,” executive vice president Stephen Jones said. “The draft set up really nice for us in terms of the defensive side of the ball, in particular, the defensive line and the secondary.”

The Cowboys’ needs entering the draft were obvious. They needed to find pass rush help, hence the selection of Charlton, whose sack total rose each year at Michigan. They needed to find players with the ability to take the ball away, hence the selections of Chidobe Awuzie, Jourdan Lewis, Xavier Woods and Marquez White.

There was hardly any doubt the Cowboys would use their first two picks on a pass rusher and cornerback. It just depended on the order of the selections. Would it be defensive end/cornerback or cornerback/defensive end?

The Cowboys went with Charlton at No. 28 overall because they felt he would be far better than the pass-rushing options available at No. 60. Conversely, they felt the cornerback options at No. 28 compared favorably to what they would see in the second round.

In their eyes, getting Charlton and Awuzie was a better option than, say, cornerback Kevin King, who went to the Green Bay Packers with the first pick of the second round, and either defensive end Tarrell Basham, who were pre-draft visitors to The Star.

King was a second-round pick on their board, just like Charlton.

Basham went with the 80th overall pick to the Indianapolis Colts, while Rivers went to the New England Patriots at No. 83 overall. Where they stood on the Cowboys’ draft board isn’t yet known.

But will set up a nice juxtaposition throughout the2017 season see if the Cowboys chose correctly.

The ‘could’ve had that guy,’ debate isn’t new.

The debate in 2014 was between Zack Martin and Johnny Manziel. Martin has been an All-Pro in two of his three seasons and generally considered one of the top guards in the NFL. Manziel is searching for a job in the NFL four seasons later.

In 2013, the debate raged between defensive tackle Sharrif Floyd and center Travis Frederick. The Cowboys had the opportunity to take the fifth-rated player on their draft board in Floyd with the 18th overall pick but traded down to No. 31 overall with the San Francisco 49ers. The Cowboys ended up with Frederick, who has been named to the Pro Bowl the last three seasons and received a huge contract extension last summer. Floyd played in just one game last season with the Minnesota Vikings, who selected him with the 23rd overall pick, because of a knee injury.

In 2012, the Cowboys gave up their first- and second-round choices to the St. Louis Rams to take Morris Claiborne with the sixth overall pick. In five seasons with the Cowboys, Claiborne had four interceptions. His departure this offseason as a free agent to the New York Jets played a part in the Cowboys’ revamping their secondary through the draft. The Rams took defensive end Michael Brockers with the 14th overall pick and turned the 45th overall pick into two players, Isaiah Pead and Rokevious Watkins, who did not make much of an impact.

In 2011, the Cowboys passed on a trade with the Jacksonville Jaguars in which they would have received their first- and second-round picks to take Tyron Smith. That one turned out OK since Smith has become one of the best left tackles in the NFL.

You can go back to 2005 when the Cowboys selected DeMarcus Ware with the 11th overall pick when many believed they would take Shawn Merriman. Ware became the franchise’s all-time leader in sacks. Merriman’s star burned brightly quickly but he faded just as fast.

The aforementioned deals mostly favored the Cowboys (Brockers is a solid to good player but not a star), and today they believe the Charlton/Awuzie ticket will be fare greater than a King/Basham or Rivers ticket in 2017 and the future.

They’ll find out starting in September if they actually are correct.

But if not, a lot of eyes could be looking fondly at what is going on in Green Bay, Indianapolis, and Washington.
 

vince

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I really hate these debates because no one (in the Cowboys organization) can predict the future. I can understand when making big reaches like when giving up too much to move up in the draft but can't really say a whole lot about that right now.
 

dallen

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All this hindsight nonsense doesn't really have a thing to do with whether they drafted smartly or not. The only questions worth asking is did they make the correct decision based on the information they had at the time and do they have the correct processes in place to gather that information.
 
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