1st Round Pick #28 Taco Charlton

Cowboysrock55

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jsmith6919 said:
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Seems to make it pretty clear they view him as a RE. I know in college he played some both on the Left and Right side and did well.
 
NoDak

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By Jon Machota, Staff Writer Contact Jon Machotaon Twitter:mad:jonmachota

After playing four different defensive line positions during his four seasons at Michigan, Taco Charlton believes versatility is one of the biggest things he's bringing to the Dallas Cowboys.

Charlton is expected to compete for the starting right defensive end spot, but he could also see time at left end and defensive tackle in passing situations.
"I've got the athleticism, I've got the size to do a lot of different things," Charlton said after Dallas drafted him with the 28th overall pick Thursday night. "I'm willing enough to do whatever it takes to help the Dallas Cowboys win games.


"I think I can really be a dominant player. If you watch a lot of the big games, I was able to take over those games and make big plays and be an impact player. And I think I can do that in Dallas."

Charlton led the Wolverines with 10 sacks during his senior year. Five and a half of those came in Michigan's last four games, including 2.5 against rival Ohio State.

Following the selection, Charlton answered questions from local reporters on a conference call at The Star.
Here are a few highlights.

On what clicked for him his senior year:

"I would say just getting the chance to be on the field more. You can watch my junior year, my last four games. I do a lot of good things because I was playing a lot more. This year I got a chance to get on the field more. Just all the hard work I put in every offseason. From my freshman year until now it's been so much consistent growth just because all of the hard work I put in on the practice field, the weight room and in the film room."

On why he only had four starts leading up to his senior year:

"That was out of my control. We had a lot of veteran guys, a lot of seniors in front of me. One of those guys was Frank Clark, in Seattle, for a while for two years. So I had to sit behind him, and he was a great player and did great things this year with Seattle with 10-11 sacks. That was really out of my control. I just made sure when I got in and made my starts I did a lot of good things. That's why I think I got 10 sacks in 10 games this past year."

On how he describes himself as a pass rusher:

"I'm a guy who's very versatile. If you really watch my tape you can see that I can do a lot of different moves from one-on-one step, to a spin to a speed rush. So I've been able to do a lot of different moves and make them successful."

On NFL players he admires:

"I do watch a lot of great players, just like guys I always looked up to as a kid like the Julius Peppers and the DeMarcus Wares, just because they've been able to play in this league 10-plus years and do it at a high level. That's just something I aspire to be and aspire to do."
 
dallen

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Not that it matters, but I always think it is cool when it turns out a player was a fan growing up
 
Cujo

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Cowboysrock55 said:
Seems to make it pretty clear they view him as a RE. I know in college he played some both on the Left and Right side and did well.
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That's interesting. I thought we were looking for a left end. Maybe I had it backwards.
 
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dallen said:


Not that it matters, but I always think it is cool when it turns out a player was a fan growing up
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It worked out pretty well for Dak after all.

Here's hoping we can repeat.
 
Cowboysrock55

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Cujo said:
That's interesting. I thought we were looking for a left end. Maybe I had it backwards.
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Yeah, I think Lawrence is actually naturally more of a LE. Plus the LE spot is actually where Irving did most of his damage last year. I'm really high on Irving. That guy took over games for us last year.
 
Cowboysrock55

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marsbennett said:
If King is so great why is he still available? Take that one.
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He's not "that good" but he is pretty good. For a corner at least. I'd be happy with him on our team but not with our first round pick. Glad to hear he wasn't rated higher than Charlton on our board though.
 
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Cowboysrock55 said:
Yeah, I think Lawrence is actually naturally more of a LE. Plus the LE spot is actually where Irving did most of his damage last year. I'm really high on Irving. That guy took over games for us last year.
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I agree. We may not have any rockstars on the DL, but I think the sheer consistency in terms of solid talent between Irving, Collins, Crawford, Charlton, Lawrence(?), etc and Marinelli's appetite for constant rotation, will serve us well going into next year
 
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Donpingon said:
I agree. We may not have any rockstars on the DL, but I think the sheer consistency in terms of solid talent between Irving, Collins, Crawford, Charlton, Lawrence(?), etc and Marinelli's appetite for constant rotation, will serve us well going into next year
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And if Smith is actually healthy and can play we have 2 very good blitzing LB's with him and Lee.
 
Simpleton

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So here's a question, we took Byron Jones at 27 in 2015, which pick does everybody like better, him or Charlton at 28?

I feel much better about Charlton than I did Jones honestly.
 
Cowboysrock55

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Donpingon said:
I agree. We may not have any rockstars on the DL, but I think the sheer consistency in terms of solid talent between Irving, Collins, Crawford, Charlton, Lawrence(?), etc and Marinelli's appetite for constant rotation, will serve us well going into next year
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I kind of like the idea of:

LE Irving
1 Tech Paea
3 Tech Maliek Collins
RE Taco Charlton

That's a pretty damn big D-line but I really like it. Paea was a pretty good 1 technique in this defense back in his Bears days. Irving was excellent last year. Collins was excellent last year and then you throw in Taco at RE. I think that group could actually be pretty damn good against the run and the pass. I'm worried about Lawrence and his conditioning. And Ravi would probably Jerk one off to the size of that D-line.
 
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Simpleton said:
So here's a question, we took Byron Jones at 27 in 2015, which pick does everybody like better, him or Charlton at 28?

I feel much better about Charlton than I did Jones honestly.
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Charlton.
 
Donpingon

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Simpleton said:
So here's a question, we took Byron Jones at 27 in 2015, which pick does everybody like better, him or Charlton at 28?

I feel much better about Charlton than I did Jones honestly.
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I remember not loving drafting a combine star, but I'm also not so down on Jones as most people are. We took a relatively raw CB and asked him to play CB and S his first two years. I think he'll start to settle in this year.
 
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