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By Jon Machota 43m ago
The final day of this year’s NFL Draft wrapped up Saturday evening and there’s a lot to unpack in regards to the Cowboys. On paper, this looks like one of the best draft classes of the Jerry Jones era. Dallas’ first six picks all have the ability to make an immediate impact.
The Cowboys’ 2020 picks:
Pick 17: CeeDee Lamb, WR, Oklahoma
Pick 51: Trevon Diggs, CB, Alabama
Pick 82: Neville Gallimore, DT, Oklahoma
Pick 123: Reggie Robinson II, CB, Tulsa
Pick 146: Tyler Biadasz, C, Wisconsin
Pick 179: Bradlee Anae, DE, Utah
Pick 231: Ben DiNucci, QB, James Madison
To touch on several key topics, here’s a breakdown of the 15 things we learned about the Cowboys over the last few days.
1.) Best draft since? How good do Jerry Jones and Stephen Jones feel about the seven picks they made? Both said this is the best they have felt immediately after a draft since 2005. That year Dallas had two first-round picks. That class included: DeMarcus Ware, Marcus Spears, Kevin Burnett, Marion Barber, Chris Canty and Jay Ratliff. Those six combined to start 610 NFL games. Ware will eventually be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
“I’m not so sure we’ve had (a draft) with only one (first-round pick) that I feel any better about,” Jerry Jones said. “Seriously, this is really one of the best.”
2.) The MVP. After each day of the draft, the Cowboys usually hold a news conference to answer questions about their picks. They continued to do that this year despite everyone working from home. Jerry Jones, Stephen Jones and Mike McCarthy were the three Cowboys representatives on the Webex conference calls. One person not on those calls was Dallas’ vice president of player personnel Will McClay. He has been running the Cowboys’ draft since 2014. How valuable was McClay?
“I think he’d be the MVP, at the end of the day,” Stephen Jones said. “He was ready to roll, and just like we have been for the past eight, nine, 10 years, we have drafted well. I think this is going to turn out to be the same type of situation. I think Will, with his leadership with our scouting staff, was off the charts. I know he’s not sitting here right now, but he does an amazing job.”
3.) Different draft for McCarthy. The team’s new head coach didn’t have as much say in the draft process in Green Bay as he had this year in his first draft with Dallas. One pick, in particular, proved his influence this year. Although the Cowboys talked pre-draft about not needing to get a center to replace the retired Travis Frederick, McCarthy was highly motivated to find a way to land Wisconsin’s Tyler Biadasz. Dallas ended up trading with rival Philadelphia for the last pick of the fourth round to make it happen.
Jerry Jones on the draft call with Biadasz: “I’m going to hook you in (on the call) to Mike McCarthy. You wouldn’t believe it, but I think he started at midnight (Friday) night trying to figure out a way to get you on this team.”
4.) Cowboys’ projected compensatory picks for next year played a role in the trade with the Eagles. Dallas gave Philadelphia a fifth-round pick in next year’s draft as part of the exchange to get Biadasz. The Cowboys expect to receive four mid-round selections after losing starters Byron Jones, Robert Quinn, Randall Cobb and Maliek Collins in free agency. Dallas had one compensatory pick in this year’s draft; Pick No. 179, used on Bradlee Anae, was received after losing Cole Beasley to Buffalo in free agency last year.
5.) Injury issues likely caused Biadasz to fall to the end of the fourth round. He was regarded as one of the top centers in this class and was the fourth player at his position to get picked. Biadasz, who won the Rimington Trophy last year as college football’s top center, did not participate in NFL Combine workouts because of a right shoulder issue that he had repaired.
“I’m healthy,” he said Saturday. “I’m ready to go. I’m full-strength and everything. I had a minor AC scope, but I’m fully training, fully functional, everything like that. I’m ready to go.”
6.) A slow 40-time was a factor in Bradlee Anae falling to the end of the fifth round. Before Day 3 kicked off and the fourth round started, Anae was being mentioned by most draft experts as one of the top players available. But he continued to fall, and he believes his combine 40-yard dash time of 4.93 seconds played a role.
“I didn’t run the time I wanted to, even though I had a pro day in Vegas and fixed that time,” Anae said. “I ran a 4.79. At the combine I wasn’t able to get the 4.7, 4.8. I think it contributed a lot to this wait.”
McCarthy said the talent on the Utah defense made him watch more tape of them in the last three months than he has in his entire coaching career.
“What a great defense they had with a number of excellent players and prospects,” McCarthy said. “This guy, he leads the charge. He is tough, hard-nosed, he brings that dimension. He plays the game the right way. The ability to play the closed end, he gives us flexibility also there on the defensive front.”
7.) Aggressive, long corners. The Cowboys were clearly emphasizing these two things when looking to improve on the back end of their defense. Trevon Diggs and Reggie Robinson II are both 6-1, 205. Diggs had three interceptions and eight pass breakups in his final college season. Robinson had four interceptions and 13 pass breakups.
“Really good athletes, long, the type of corners we’re looking for, big bodies that can run,” Cowboys assistant defensive backs coach Al Harris said of Diggs and Robinson on 105.3 The Fan (KRLD-FM). “I’m a fan of the bigger guys. If you look at the receiver trends, they’re not getting smaller. They’re getting bigger and faster.”
8.) What about safety? It shouldn’t come as a surprise that the Cowboys didn’t address the safety position. Although they signed veteran Ha Ha Clinton-Dix to a one-year deal in free agency, there hasn’t been much emphasis put on the position for a while. Clinton-Dix and Xavier Woods are the projected starters, although both are scheduled to become free agents next year. The Cowboys also have Donovan Wilson, a sixth-round pick in 2019, and veteran Darian Thompson.
“I’m very comfortable with the flexibility we have throughout our secondary players,” McCarthy said. “I’m not as caught up in traditional free safety or strong safety as some may be. What I like about our numbers in the back end is that we have great competition and excellent flexibility. We may have some players that can not only play corner but can also slide over and play some safety.”
The first player that comes to mind when hearing that quote is Chidobe Awuzie. He has started 36 games at cornerback during his three seasons with the Cowboys, but he played every defensive back position during his college career at Colorado. He’s the most likely corner on the roster to make the move to safety.
9.) There could be more veteran free agency additions. Most of the roster is in place, but Stephen Jones would not rule out adding some other veteran players to the mix.
“I don’t think you ever rule it out,” he said. “We’ve certainly got our eye on a few guys that we’ll look at. But the good news is that going into the draft, we felt good about our football team. Coming out of the draft, we feel great about our football team. If we can improve it, we’ll feel even better about our team, and that’s the way we’ll look at it as we move forward.
“We certainly are open-minded and will continue to be open-minded on what it will take to improve this football team. … We’ll keep our eyes open. I actually have had communications already with some guys that could give us some veteran experience that might help these young guys.”
10.) Undrafted free agents. Immediately following the draft, Stephen Jones said the Cowboys had 11 players still remaining on their board. Jones didn’t name which ones, but added that the team was able to sign seven of them. The Cowboys have been among the NFL’s best in adding impactful players via undrafted free agency.
Some of the notable names in this year’s class include:
Ron’Dell Carter, edge rusher — James Madison
Rico Dowdle, RB — South Carolina
Stephen Guidry, WR — Mississippi State
LaDarius Hamilton, edge rusher — North Texas
Azur Kamara, edge rusher — Kansas
Luther Kirk, S — Illinois State
Garrett Marino, DL — UAB
Sean McKeon, TE — Michigan
Sewo Olonilua, RB — TCU
Terence Steele, OT — Texas Tech
Charlie Taumoepeau, TE — Portland State.
11.) How does this draft class help on special teams? Undrafted free agency is one place that could potentially help improve what was a poor special teams unit last season. Another could be Reggie Robinson II, who blocked four kicks at Tulsa.
“I’m trying to get on the field as soon as possible, whether that’s at corner or special teams,” Robinson said. “I played on every special teams unit: punt, punt return, kickoff and kickoff return. My philosophy behind that is that these opportunities could change games, and you just want to make plays. I’m all about special teams.”
12.) Defensive line help. Edge rusher and defensive tackle were two of the Cowboys’ top five needs going into the draft. Neville Gallimore should immediately compete for playing time behind Gerald McCoy. Bradlee Anae should provide depth at edge rusher. But nothing that has happened this offseason has replaced the loss of Robert Quinn. If Aldon Smith or Randy Gregory can make a significant contribution, Dallas will be in good shape. Without either, the Cowboys probably still need to add a veteran player to the mix.
13.) Developing a young QB. Drafting Ben DiNucci in the seventh round was the only pick that seemed like a reach at the time. Most experts thought he was the type of player the Cowboys could have signed as an undrafted free agent. But he also had calls from the Browns and Bears during the draft. The Cowboys knew other teams wanted to sign him and didn’t want to risk losing out. McCarthy had some familiarity before the pre-draft process because his brother was DiNucci’s eighth-grade basketball coach.
“He’s very accurate,” McCarthy said. “He reminds me of a young Marc Bulger.”
Bulger, a sixth-round pick in 2000, spent 11 seasons in the NFL. He made the Pro Bowl in 2003 and 2006 while with the Rams. He threw for 4,301 yards, 24 touchdowns and only eight interceptions in 2006.
14.) Having some fun with the offense. Even before the addition of CeeDee Lamb the Cowboys were expected to have one of the league’s better offenses. But with Lamb, the possibilities only increase. Some will look at the pick as just adding another potential 1,000-yard receiver to the mix. McCarthy and the Cowboys look at Lamb as adding another weapon that opposing defenses have to account for, meaning even less attention that can be paid to Amari Cooper, Ezekiel Elliott, Michael Gallup, Blake Jarwin and Tony Pollard. They see it as an opportunity for the production to increase for the other playmakers as well.
“Kellen Moore has had a lot of fun the last two days,” McCarthy said. “We met (Saturday) morning on a few new wrinkles we’re looking to work on.”
15.) Plans going forward. McCarthy said the Cowboys already have two different training camp plans in place depending on if the team can travel and continue holding camp in Oxnard, Calif. or if they need to host it at The Star in Frisco. Nothing has been planned for the near future in regards to having the team be able to hold regular offseason activities at The Star.
“The virtual meetings that we’re having is a focus,” McCarthy added. “We’ll get those back on track there Monday morning. But there’s a set of rules and procedures that we’re operating in, and we’ll use that process to get our team ready to win games.”
Jerry Jones said he does not think these unique circumstances have any impact on Dak Prescott’s contract negotiations.
“Really it doesn’t have anything to do with Dak’s contract,” Jones said. “When we’re ready to play, he’ll be there.”
