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NoDak

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·Round 1 Pick 19 (19)
Leighton Vander esch ILB Boise St. - A


I loved this pick. When need and talent aligns, it's a beautiful thing. I have no worries about this guys neck. None. While I'm sure there will be some bumps early on, this guy will be a monster for us in the middle for a long time. His run stuffing and coverage ability will transform this defense.

Round 2 Pick 18 (50)
Connor Williams G Texas - A

There were flashier guys on the board that I would have liked, but there is no denying that this guy is a great pick. Again, talent aligned with need. He will solidify a sore spot on our line, and once again we should be talked about as having one of the most dominant Olines in the league. Both Zeke and Dak rejoice with this pick.

Round 3 Pick 17 (81)
Michael Gallup WR Colorado St. - A-

Another nice pick, but we were kind of forced into making this pick with the departure of Dez Bryant. While Gallup is a nice pick in this spot, there were some players on the board where we could have really helped our defense. But starting WR talent was drying up in a hurry, and we had little choice but to go in this direction. Still, a nice player to get, regardless of the circumstances.

Round 4 Pick 16 (116)
Dorance Armstrong EDGE Kansas - C+

Armstrong looked to be the next great college passrusher his first couple of seasons. But a change of scheme and some minor injuries put a damper on that during his last season. Still, this guy has some pass rush ability. Not really sure where he fits in our team outside of a rotation, but like they say, you can never have to many pass rushers. I would have preferred to went with DT or S at this spot.

Round 4 Pick 37 (137) Compensatory
Dalton Schultz TE Stanford - A+

This might be my favorite pick of the draft. When we missed out on Dallas Goedert, I was bummed. But this guy is a VERY nice consolation prize. He is the closest thing to Jason Witten as there was in this draft, as far as playing styles. This guy is a very good blocker right now, and has the soft hands to develop into a nice pass catcher, too. I have little doubt that he is already the best TE on our roster right now. Getting an immediate contributor, if not outright starter as the last pick in the 4th round is GREAT VALUE. Both Zeke and Dak will love this guy.

Round 5 Pick 34 (171) Compensatory
Mike White QB Western Kentucky - B+

Admittedly, I knew very little about this guy when his name was called. But the more I read and watch about him, the more I like him. He's more of your traditional tall,stand in the pocket, strong armed QB than we've been used to. But it looks like this guy is calm under pressure and has very good accuracy. He may never beat out Dak, but he could either be a long term backup, or possible trade chip in a few years. Even just getting to know him over the last few hours, I already like him better than Cooper Rush. Just looks to have more upside.

Round 6 Pick 19 (193)
Chris Covington OLB Indiana - F

Here's where the WTF head scratching starts. I doubt this guy makes the final roster. He seems to be more of a special teams athlete than an actual LBer. Now, if he can come in a do that at a high level? Who knows. There might be a place for you. But right now, I'm betting against it. Enjoy your summer in Dallas.

Round 6 Pick 34 (208) Compensatory
Cedrick Wilson WR Boise St.- C

Another WTF pick, but for different reasons. This guy has some talent, and is a decent value here. But it was a curious pick, only because of the mass numbers we have (had) at the position. He was a very productive WR in college. It's possible he might make the final roster, but as of right now I think he's a candidate for the PS.

Round 7 Pick 18 (236)
Bo Scarbrough RB Alabama - A

All right. Now were back in business. Scarbrough is a very nice value late in the 7th round. He provides a nice hammer for when we have to give Zeke a breather. And more than that, he's insurance in case Zeke decides it's party time and starts to act like an idiot again. I wouldn't panic if Scarbrough had to be the main ball carrier for a game or two like I would have before today if Zeke for some reason couldn't go.
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Overall, I'm happy with this draft. I think we got good value and good players with every pick but the 6th round LBer. But if we are going to make a WTF pick, I'm happy it was late in the 6th and not our customary 2nd round mystery pick.

Anyway, I think we not only addressed some big needs, but did so with some talented football players. My only regret is that we were not able to come away with a plugger for the middle of our DLine. A safety would have also been nice, but not as big a pill to swallow by missing there. There were some opportunities, but it didn't work out for whatever reason. Some of the guys I liked did go a little higher than I expected. For an overall draft grade, I give this years draft class the early kneejerk grade of... A-
 

Smitty

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I would have gone with a Maurice Hurst/Cole Madison fourth round, but I’ll defer to NoDak on Schultz, you seem to know enough about him and like him a lot.

Who knows if we tried or not, but I would have really liked to trade up into the early part of the fourth for some of the remaining talent. Would have loved Ian Thomas. But listening to the PC it’s obvious they want another Witten clone, in-line TE.

The Brugler/Broaddus draft show on DC.com I remember talking about Mike White a lot. I think he’s kind of a steal. Don’t want to get crazy, but he could be the exact thing we always want.... a late round QB with the skills to actually develop into a starter. Think this guy is way more than Stephen McGee.
 

Smitty

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Think you also have to include the trade for Tavon austin and the Ryan Switzer for Jihad Ward moves when looking at today.

I hate losing Switzer, who I liked. And I’m not sure about this Ward guy. But it seems clear they realized they had to clean someone out of their WR depth chart while they had value (ie not on cut down day). I might have preferred losing Beasley. But it seems like Bisacchia wanted him in Oakland and he was probably the main guy who wanted him here in the first place. Oh well. This was gonna be a tough spot for Switzer to get any touches now anyway with Gallup added and maybe Tavon Austin getting slot looks as well.
 

Smitty

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Also, can we get a few MORE Boise State guys? Seriously???
 

lostxn

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Think you also have to include the trade for Tavon austin and the Ryan Switzer for Jihad Ward moves when looking at today.

I hate losing Switzer, who I liked. And I’m not sure about this Ward guy. But it seems clear they realized they had to clean someone out of their WR depth chart while they had value (ie not on cut down day). I might have preferred losing Beasley. But it seems like Bisacchia wanted him in Oakland and he was probably the main guy who wanted him here in the first place. Oh well. This was gonna be a tough spot for Switzer to get any touches now anyway with Gallup added and maybe Tavon Austin getting slot looks as well.
Yeah I agree on all points. Listening to Switzer's interview, I kind of feel for the kid. He was pretty bummed. However, he's not that special. He's just not that fast and is awfully small. That being said, we didn't give him much of a chance in the passing game.

With Austin, we are upgrading our return game and don't really need him for his primary role on the team. Trading made since and getting a much needed DT was a great move. The guy is a 1-tech which is not much valued by teams but we needed one badly so all-in-all a great move by the FO.
 

Cotton

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I didn't get to watch yesterday, and don't know the players we picked all that well, but it seems like this is a pretty solid draft, overall. That Scarborough pick in the 7th could be the biggest homerun of the draft if he can stay healthy.
 

DLK150

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I'd give it an A- or B+. Needs were addressed and it should improve roster depth overall which was lacking at several positions. It does feel kind of odd to not see any DBs picked though, I can't remember the last time that happened but it must have been over ten, fifteen years ago. Sure, Dallas went heavy at the positions last year and seem to have hit some home runs although the jury's still out after just one season.

I too thought the Switzer trade was a solid move. I liked the kid but he wasn't indispensable at a position that already had plenty of bodies.
 

Simpleton

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I gave myself the night to sleep on it and I think this is our best draft since 2005, or at least the best I've felt about a draft since 2005.

The big takeaway when we took Awuzie was that for the first time in basically a decade we sat in there in the 2nd round and got really good value on a prospect at a position of need. No injury risks, no character risks, no trading up with our 3rd, no taking a TE when we have a 28 year old future HOF'er, just sit there and make a logical pick. That really signaled to me that there was a more even-keeled mindset in the front office and the Williams selection at 50 only strengthened that belief.

I felt really good about the Taco/Awuzie/Lewis trio last year but I think this draft just fell in a way where we got better value, and I like our Day 3 much more. Woods was a huge pet cat of mine but other than him I was kind of meh on what we did, I was ok with Switzer but the 6th/7th rounders were rough.

1 - Leighton Vander Esch: There's been lots of discussion that I'm not going to bother rehashing but he was near the top, if not at the top of my choices at 19 and I think he's going to be a 3-down LB who can impact the run game, in coverage, and as a blitzer. We really needed some more athleticism in the middle of the defense and he provides it, his ability to quickly key/diagnose and flow to the ball is sorely needed given Lee is the only one who can play that way. Grade: A

2 - Connor Williams: Excellent value, I would've been ok with him theoretically if we dropped down to about 30-35. I think he'll be a big upgrade over Cooper and will give us a level of play closer to what we had with Leary at LG. Completely different type of player from Leary, he doesn't have that overwhelming power where he can just mash people but he does have good enough strength, he's technically sound and is excellent on the move/climbing to the 2nd level. He also provides cover at RT and perhaps even LT moving forward, I realize Fleming will be our swing tackle this year but 2-3 years down the line I wouldn't be shocked if Williams could fill in at LT if Smith continues to miss games. Grade: A+

3 - Michael Gallup: I've said many times that I'd rather go elsewhere in the 1st due to the depth at WR in rounds 2 and 3, and Gallup was often one of the first names that came to mind. He will probably never be an elite number 1 type of WR but I'd be shocked if he didn't end up as a very good number 2. He doesn't have any traits that I'd classify as elite, but he is good to very good in just about every area (height, size, speed, hands, route running, after the catch). It seems to me that without a clear number 1 we're going with a strategy where we want a deep stable of 4-5 guys who could all conceivably start. The best way I can put is that it seems we're going to have 3-4 "number 2" types as opposed to your alpha-number 1, a number 2, then a bunch of slots/JAG's. Grade: A

4 - Dorance Armstrong: Really love this gamble, he could've been a 1st/2nd if he was allowed to come out after 2016 and he kind of fell off the radar since he was pigeon-holed into a scheme he didn't fit. When I watched some of his 2016 games he reminded me a lot of Lawrence, he needs a bunch of technique work but he has some short-area burst that is evident and he has nearly 35 inch arms which is a huge advantage. Lawrence ran a 4.80 while Armstrong ran a 4.87 so I wouldn't read too much into that time. He will need to refine his craft much like Lawrence did but I think he has the potential to start around Year 3. The only reason I'm not giving this pick an "A" is because of some of the other guys on the board at the time. Grade: B+

4 - Dalton Schultz: Seems like a high floor/low ceiling type. Well-rounded game, I think he'll be a very strong number 2 for a long time and I wouldn't be surprised if he developed into a capable starter at some point. We will probably end up addressing TE with a 1st/2nd in the next 2 years but I think Schultz will stick one way or the other. I would've rather gone elsewhere with a guy like Hurst, Griffin or Settle, but I still think it's a strong pick. Grade: B

5 - Mike White: Really good value here, I wouldn't have been surprised if he went late round 3/early round 4, yet we get him at the end of round 5. Great size, big arm, decent enough footwork and accuracy, on the negative side he isn't going to make off-schedule plays, he has a little hitch in his delivery, a tendency to stare down targets and I question his pocket presence. I'll never complain about taking a developmental QB with upside on Day 3, especially one who was projected to go 1-2 rounds earlier. What's interesting to me is that his game is completely different from Prescott, he's not very mobile at all so it's almost like we're going to have 2 different offenses moving forward, assuming White wins the backup job this year or next. I don't think he'll ever be a guy you want starting full-time but he should have a nice career as a backup. Grade: A

6 - Chris Covington: Who knows? I love the rest of the draft so much I don't care to watch him, if there's even tape out there. Grade: C-

6 - Cedrick Wilson: Awesome pick. 1st Team All-MWC along with Gallup last year, extremely productive and a big play/downfield threat. Only ran a 4.55 but he's a really good route runner who finds his way into space to make plays downfield. Isn't great in contested/jump-ball situations but he does have good hands, extends away from his body and he's more of a threat after the catch than I think he gets credit for. Gets upfield really quickly after the catch and shows some explosiveness as a runner. I wouldn't be surprised if he turns out better than Gallup honestly, and that's not a knock on Gallup, I just like Wilson that much. I could easily see him being a Terrance Williams replacement, which would be damn impressive out of a 6th rounder. Grade: A+

7 - Bo Scarbrough: Has absolutely no ability to make defenders miss in space, very little COD, very little agility, brings nothing in the passing game, but I'll be god damned if this dude doesn't break off a few big runs for us late in games after Elliott tires out defenses. 6-1, 230, 4.51 40, 40 inch vertical, and punishes defenders with his strength. What I really like about the pick is that I think he can get us through a few games if Elliott has to miss time. Grade: A
 

lostxn

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Nice breakdown. My biggest grips is Armstrong. I really don't think we need yet another non-elite pass rusher. We have a ton of DEs on this rusher and likely another one coming back from suspension. We still haven't found out about Tapper.

Right now we have:
Taco Charlton
Kony Ealy
Charles Tapper
Datone Jones
Demarcus Lawrence
Lewis Neal
Tyrone Crawford (who I believe swaps positions between DE and DT)
+/- Randy Gregory

I just don't think this was a better pick than grabbing a DT. Settles, Fatukasi or Hurst were there for the taking. The guy we traded for looks to be trash. The rest of the picks are fine. Covington looks like a straight ST player but whatever. My knowledge of the late talent was waning at that point. I would have liked to get a safety but I guess they just didn't see anything that could help then.

I wonder if we're going to wade into free agents for a safety or veteran TE.
 

ravidubey

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PFF jizzed themselves grading our draft.

Basically hit value and need at every pick.
 

Smitty

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A common theme for any "bad" draft grades we're getting seems to be "How come they didn't take a DT? Who is gonna play DT for them?"

Well.... uh.... we didn't lose any DTs from last year, did we? Collins and Irving played DT last year and can be expected to do so again.

Yeah I would have liked to get a massive 1T, but the lack of a 1T was not a real glaring hole for us last year and I don't think it will be this year. We'll get by with Collins, Irving, moving Tyrone Crawford inside. Richard Ash and Lewis Neal could get some play there too if they have to.
 

Cotton

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1 (19) Leighton Vander Esch, LB, Boise State, 89.8
2 (50) Connor Williams, T/G, Texas, 85.7
3 (81) Michael Gallup, WR, Colorado State, 92.1
4 (116) Dorance Armstrong Jr., Edge, Kansas, 78.5
4 (137) Dalton Schultz, TE, Stanford, 82.1
5 (171) Mike White, QB, WKU, 84.2
6 (193) Chris Covington, LB, Indiana, 85.5
6 (208) Cedrick Wilson, WR, Boise State, 89.2
7 (236) Bo Scarbrough, RB, Alabama, 75.6

Day 1: Dallas made some interesting picks in the draft, and none more than their top pick of Boise State LB Leighton Vander Esch. Despite being older than the other top linebackers in this class, Vander Esch is actually younger than all of them in terms of playing time experience, with just one season of significant playing time in college. That season though was spectacular, seeing him lead the nation with 76 defensive stops and showing the kind of flow to the football that teams love. His potential remains high because of that lack of experience, and if he can develop his coverage skills to match his run defense he could quickly become one of the game’s best linebackers.

Day 2: When the Cowboys were at their best, they had the league’s most dominant offensive line, and they’re trying to get back there with the offseason hire of offensive line coach Paul Alexander and now selecting Connor Williams in the second round. Williams was the No. 2 tackle on our draft board and allowed just one sack across three seasons of play for Texas. He has shown excellent pass-blocking and run-blocking skills and looked to have the ability to stay outside at tackle but was seen as a candidate to move in to guard by many. Dallas could use an upgrade at either right tackle or left guard, and they will need to decide how they are going to deploy Williams and La’el Collins to best improve those two positions.

The Cowboys also added a PFF favorite, Michael Gallup, the highest-graded wide receiver in the nation in 2017 and one of the most productive players in college football. Gallup faced press coverage on 64 of his targets in 2017, catching 30 of those passes for 568 yards, and showed well at the Senior Bowl against improved competition.

Day 3: Dallas grabbed QB Mike White in the fifth round to back up Dak Prescott. He posted the sixth-highest grade in the draft class on deep throws. Cedrick Wilson adds nice receiver depth to this group and at 6-foot-3, he gained 4.6 yards per route against Power-5 competition in 2017, leading the FBS. With their last pick, they grabbed Alabama RB Bo Scarbrough, who never quite lived up to his huge frame, breaking 62 tackles on 267 college carries.

Overall grade: Elite

https://www.profootballfocus.com/news/pro-all-32-nfl-teams-2018-nfl-draft-grades
 

Simpleton

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A common theme for any "bad" draft grades we're getting seems to be "How come they didn't take a DT? Who is gonna play DT for them?"

Well.... uh.... we didn't lose any DTs from last year, did we? Collins and Irving played DT last year and can be expected to do so again.

Yeah I would have liked to get a massive 1T, but the lack of a 1T was not a real glaring hole for us last year and I don't think it will be this year. We'll get by with Collins, Irving, moving Tyrone Crawford inside. Richard Ash and Lewis Neal could get some play there too if they have to.
Yea, I mean I would like a 1-T as much as anybody but we complain about it every single year and every single year the run defense ends up being good enough. The bigger issue with the run defense is the lack of any kind of replacement for Lee in case he misses any time at all, which Vander Esch should help provide.
 

Cowboysrock55

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They also grade Gallup as the top WR in the draft, so I'm not sure their credibility is where it should be.
Yeah I know there were some who really loved Gallup in the scouting world. He reminds me some of Cooper Kupp last year in the sense that he does everything well and is a polished player. I wouldn't be surprised to see Gallup have a similar rookie season except Gallup is obviously younger. This WR class was packed with so many guys who were on a similar level in my opinion. It led to a ton of different opinions on who the best guys were and weren't.

I know some are calling it overkill to draft 2 WRs but I totally disagree. Cedrick Wilson is one of those WR's who sort of fell through the cracks. Highly productive and with excellent size at 6'2". Ignoring for a second Tavon Austin who I don't really know how we plan to use him. We needed 2 WR's. Hurns, Williams, Beasley, and Thompson you figure will all make the roster. Although I'd have no problem cutting Beasley or Thompson but that's a different story. Which means you have about 2 open spots. The only reason to keep Austin around in my opinion is as a returner. I've read we will use him as a RB essentially anyway. So if you think of it like that than we have 2 WR's who will probably fill in those last two spots.

The big thing is that in a year Wilson and Gallup will probably be occupying top 3 WR spots on this roster. We need that youth here developing.
 

Cowboysrock55

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A common theme for any "bad" draft grades we're getting seems to be "How come they didn't take a DT? Who is gonna play DT for them?"

Well.... uh.... we didn't lose any DTs from last year, did we? Collins and Irving played DT last year and can be expected to do so again.

Yeah I would have liked to get a massive 1T, but the lack of a 1T was not a real glaring hole for us last year and I don't think it will be this year. We'll get by with Collins, Irving, moving Tyrone Crawford inside. Richard Ash and Lewis Neal could get some play there too if they have to.
We also traded for a guy from the Raiders who will play DT. We didn't trade Switzer for Jihad Ward for Ward to not make the roster.
 
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Smitty

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I like how PFF says "Despite being older than the other top linebackers in this class....". They make it seem like he's a 23, 24, 25 year old Terence Newman or Calvin Ridley like prospect.

Uh, he's only "older than the other top linebackers," cause Tremaine Edmunds is a near-historically young 19 years old. LVE is 21, and he only just turned 21 in February. Yes, he's "older" than also 21 year old Roquan Smith, who turned 21 in April. But in fact, Rashaan Evans is older than all of them at 22.

So LVE is actually only the third oldest of the four top linebackers, and what's more, he's only negligibly older than Roquan. Really, this is an extraordinarily unusually young cast of linebackers. Most rookies run in the 22-23 age range. It's good to get a guy who is 21, cause you'll think he has upside. When Tyron Smith came out, he was 20 and the youngest player in the draft. You really feel like that guy has a long term career in front of him. Edmunds at 19, I'm not sure there are many guys in history younger to enter the draft than him. So it's a bit misleading to say "Despite being older...." about LVE. He's actually a tremendously young player compared to most draft classes. It's just that this LB group is particularly young.
 

Genghis Khan

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A common theme for any "bad" draft grades we're getting seems to be "How come they didn't take a DT? Who is gonna play DT for them?"

Well.... uh.... we didn't lose any DTs from last year, did we? Collins and Irving played DT last year and can be expected to do so again.

Yeah I would have liked to get a massive 1T, but the lack of a 1T was not a real glaring hole for us last year and I don't think it will be this year. We'll get by with Collins, Irving, moving Tyrone Crawford inside. Richard Ash and Lewis Neal could get some play there too if they have to.
I think it's enormously dumb to use whether or not a team addressed a particular need to evaluate the team's draft. It's just not a legitimate criticism. It really should only be about whether they got good players at good value and whether they maximized their opportunities.
 
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