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By Bob Sturm Apr 27, 2020
“How did you like their draft this weekend?”
I realize this might make it seem like I don’t love my job, but there is no question that I am asked more often — that I have less of a clue about — than this question.
Sure, there are questions I hear more often. But when people ask me about how I thought the Cowboys played yesterday, my response is usually, “How long do you have? Because I have quite a list.” That response usually reminds people they don’t have as much free time as I do for football talk.
Wondering how a team did in a draft before the 22nd birthday of most of those picks, however, is nothing more than ranking how much you enjoyed owning this vehicle the moment they hand you the keys. You don’t know, but the future could not be more full of promise, right?
The Dallas Cowboys destroyed this draft — we think. At each turn, they seemed willing to follow the value. They did not fall for the biggest trap in the business, which is only getting bigger now that the CBA has shortened the duration rookies are bound to their teams and how quickly players are getting their cap-cramping extensions (only three seasons of bargains and then you pay the man before year four, in many cases). That idea? Drafting for need.
Don’t get me wrong; that is a nuanced discussion that should be its own lengthy column. I definitely believe in a melded approach between value and need, but in this league, your specific shopping list on one date and what you think it is 18 months later seldom match up. Too many things happen with too many variables. Travis Frederick retires. Leighton Vander Esch has neck problems. Connor Williams and Chido Awuize fall short of their expectations, but Michael Gallup exceeds his bar. La’el Collins agrees to a sweetheart extension because he wants to be here, but Byron Jones wants the cash and is willing to move out to take it. Ezekiel Elliott was never, ever going to play under the franchise tag (or much of his rookie deal), and Taco Charlton won’t even be here for 40 games.
Trying to figure out how this all affects the 2022 roster is an exercise in futility. And with dozens of other variables like cap size and seasonal certainty with our new reality in a world that knows coronavirus, it gets even crazier to think we can see what is around the next corner.
What we can do is study the draft as hard as we can for 100 days and then evaluate in real time how we think the teams did in selecting the players we might know and the situations they entered. There are people who know the draft much better than I do and probably a few that know the Cowboys inner-workings better than I do.
But none of them are writing you a column this morning, so you are stuck with me. Here are my Monday Morning evaluations of the players the Cowboys selected — with my profiles attached from well before the selection — as well as a few second-guesses from when the picks were made. I disagree with the Cowboys’ selections pretty often, but this is absolutely a year where they made moves that all made plenty of sense to the majority of individuals who prepared for this test.
Cowboys 2020 Draft Picks
| PLAYER | RND | PICK | POS | COLLEGE/UNIV |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CeeDee Lamb | 1 | 17 | WR | Oklahoma |
| Trevon Diggs | 2 | 51 | CB | Alabama |
| Neville Gallimore | 3 | 82 | DT | Oklahoma |
| Reggie Robinson | 4 | 123 | CB | Tulsa |
| Tyler Biadasz | 4 | 146 | C | Wisconsin |
| Bradlee Anae | 5 | 179 | DE | Utah |
| Ben DiNucci | 7 | 231 | QB | James Madison |
Let’s examine this group and take you all the way through what I thought was a tremendous job of Dallas sitting tight and getting some breaks along the way. There is no doubt as the variables start affecting our perspectives on this draft that we will have to modify our thoughts, but for now, I am not sure I would trade the Cowboys’ draft for that of any team in the NFL this year. And, lest you think that is a normal “Bob Sturm opinion,” my archives will tell you I am normally overflowing with second guesses on just about everything this organization does. For once, it feels like they did the sensible thing over and over. They leave a pivotal weekend with an excellent haul of fresh talent to add to their current roster — and, more importantly, the roster that will be tasked with taking over as the conveyor belt of talent continues to turn over.
FIRST ROUND – PICK 17 – COWBOYS SELECT CEEDEE LAMB, WR, OKLAHOMA
This pick would shape their entire draft. Sometimes, the draft doesn’t fall correctly, and you know it as it is happening. Yes, sometimes you screw it up when it does fall right in your lap (Randy Moss, TJ Watt), but sometimes Derwin James doesn’t quite get to you, and you take Leighton Vander Esch. This time, regardless of how the future treats it, there will be proof of many of us yelling like idiots before the pick was made that any preexisting plan you might have had needs to be halted and perhaps flushed because CeeDee Lamb has fallen to 17. Don’t be silly and pass on this once-in-a-decade opportunity to draft a healthy, elite talent because you are worried about another spot that was just filled wonderfully for a year by trading a sixth-round pick to Miami for Robert Quinn.
The Cowboys, in my estimation, were able to get a top-six player in this draft class by not doing anything but letting other teams pass him by. They have their reasons, and sometimes those are good ones, but as I said that night when asked why he was dropping, “Who cares?” If you think he is that good, you don’t get scared off because teams higher than you in the draft (which normally is because they are bad at building football teams) made another poor decision, right? As the weekend goes on, this reality becomes easier to wrap your head around, but let us not forget that they just took a franchise wide receiver. If he would have gone in his expected range, we would be talking about some team “building their offense around Lamb.” In Dallas, he might be the fourth-best weapon on the offense when the season begins. It is absurd. Here is what I wrote on Friday at great length about the Lamb selection.
SECOND GUESS? NONE. Come on. If you need one for the history books, many were yelling to take K’Lavon Chaisson, the edge rusher from LSU. I like the kid, but I love Lamb, and there is no second-guessing here at all.
DAY TWO
SECOND ROUND – PICK 51 – COWBOYS SELECT TREVON DIGGS, CB, ALABAMA
Something else we wrote about on Friday was the discussion point about whether or not a top safety, defensive lineman or corner could actually get to them at 51. My initial hopes of perhaps finding Grant Delpit (No. 44) or Ross Blacklock (40) went away. Antoine Winfield was snagged, too, at 45. A corner whom we really liked (Jaylon Johnson) went 50th. Now we arrive at a question about the two corners — Kristian Fulton and Trevon Diggs. I profiled both of them in Draft Digest No. 8, and I preferred Fulton. That said, the odds of the Cowboys being able to get one of their top corners in the back half of Round 2 seemed like a real dream scenario before the weekend began. They made their choice, and it seemed clear that they preferred Diggs. I don’t know the margin between the two, and it might have just come down to Fulton’s off-field history. Either way, they were able to get one of their first-round fallback targets at 51, so we can discuss the issues I have with Diggs’ game and the development he will require down the road. Clearly, though, they are more than confident that all of those issues can be dealt with easily, and they have their new top cornerback on the roster.
SECOND GUESS? KRISTIAN FULTON, LSU. Sure. If I were making the pick, I would have taken Fulton, who went at 61. But this is a matter of personal preference, and since they know their coverage plans, I defer easily to a larger master plan.
THIRD ROUND – PICK 82 – COWBOYS SELECT NEVILLE GALLIMORE, DT, OKLAHOMA
I will certainly invite you to scroll all the way down to see my February writeup on Gallimore, who fell down the ranks a bit after the combine and just the general feeling that most defensive tackles who have evaluations below the top elite levels tend to slide. There are too many questions about their ultimate impact, so it seems most DTs fall a round or so. That means at No. 82, the Cowboys properly anticipated that between DT and DB, they had better grab the cornerback early and hope a tackle would fall in their laps. Gallimore again seemed to be the best bet, as Missouri’s Jordan Elliott was also there, but I didn’t like him as much. Also on the board was the CB Cameron Danztler from Mississippi State and a few edge rushers in Terrell Lewis from Alabama and Utah’s Bradlee Anae (more on that later). I think adding Gallimore here represents tremendous value, as I might have grabbed him at 51 if the corners were already gone. Instead, a huge run on wide receivers pushed the DL grouping to Round 3. Fortune favored the Cowboys this year.
SECOND GUESS? Not really. Solid pick and a real nice player.
DAY THREE
FOURTH ROUND – PICK 123 – COWBOYS SELECT REGGIE ROBINSON, CB, TULSA
I will declare right off the bat here that my deep dive on Reggie Robinson will appear in a few days. Offering you a huge evaluation before I have done it would be the type of hypocrisy I prefer to avoid. That said, from visiting with my intel, this is absolutely the type of corner they have been seeking with the size and the traits of someone like Diggs. On the other hand, he has some various issues in his game that caused him to slide to a point where he was the 123rd player taken and the 14th corner. I have plenty to say already on the player, but let me complete the dive, and I will report back posthaste.
SECOND GUESS? At the time, Boise State’s Curtis Weaver and Utah’s Anae were both on my mind. But any time you take a big corner from a mid-major in Round 4 who can help with special teams, I have no problems at all.
FOURTH ROUND – PICK 146 – COWBOYS TRADE UP TO SELECT TYLER BIADASZ, C, WISCONSIN
For all the Boise State jokes going around, has anyone noticed how many centers from Wisconsin this team has enjoyed? In 2003, they took Al Johnson in the second round during Bill Parcells’ first draft. In 2011, it was Bill Nagy in Round 7 as a flyer in Jason Garrett’s first draft. In 2013, it was Travis Frederick in Round 1. Now the Cowboys go up and snag Biadasz for the cost of two 5ths (2020 and 2021) in a trade with the Philadelphia Eagles, showing how cats and dogs can play nice on Day 3, although we should all remember that they made a trade with Philly to get Sean Lee back in 2010 when they were concerned Green Bay was going to take the Penn State linebacker. Not sure if they were worried about someone taking this Wisconsin center as much as they couldn’t believe he was still sitting around and found a dance partner. This is a move that should not be mistaken for motivation. It is not a reflection of what they currently have at center, with the two Connors and Joe Looney. Rather, this is about finding another guy who you love and can’t believe he is around, so you grab a couple of lesser picks and combine them to get a guy you think belonged on Day 2.
SECOND GUESS? Nothing. If someone like Mike McCarthy says he thinks this is far more valuable a piece than anything we can get with two fifths later on, you trust him until he loses your trust. That isn’t close to happening. The price was fair, so go get your guy.
FIFTH ROUND – PICK 179 – COWBOYS SELECT BRADLEE ANAE, EDGE, UTAH
This was when the draft got a bit silly. The edge who was at least being considered at pick 82 slid another 97 spots to 179. Curtis Weaver was gone at 164, so the last guy from my Day 2 list had fallen this entire way at a position that the Cowboys had not addressed. Again, it is fine if you don’t address it here and if you can think of another value add, it would be OK. But… are you kidding me? The one spot you did not address happens to have a Day 2 guy fall all the way to the very front edge of Round 6? This is absurd. Take your man and carry on without asking questions. Yes, his 40-time at the combine was very poor, but at this juncture, we trust the tape and his tape is excellent.
SECOND GUESS? Nothing.
SEVENTH ROUND – PICK 231 – COWBOYS SELECT BEN DINUCCI, QB, JAMES MADISON
By round seven, you are simply finding the best player on your board that you don’t want to fight for in the undrafted free agent trenches. Always grab a premium position in this case, and there is nothing better than QB. I don’t want you to have a false sense of my endorsements or lack thereof, so let’s look at him down the road. But if this is the QB my scouts like, I’m fine with it. Let’s push or replace Cooper Rush.
This draft has been as logical and as profitable as any Cowboys draft I have covered, a timeline which goes back over two decades. You can only go with your thoughts on each player before the draft. I was pretty familiar with four of the seven and I really thought they were all excellent prospects.
So, in answer to your question: “How did you like their draft this weekend?”
I think they have hit this one out of the park. The best I can recall.
Now, like CeeDee Lamb on Friday, allow me to include the draft profiles from each of Diggs, Gallimore and Anae, as I had spent a day watching each of them in the last three months.
Remember: these are all written well before the draft and with Gallimore and Anae, before the combine!
Trevon Diggs — Alabama — 6’1 — 205
Diggs definitely had to wait his turn to become a regular for the Crimson Tide and really has just one year (2019) of significant playing time. He is the younger brother of Stefon Diggs and was a wide receiver until he switched exclusively to defense at Alabama in 2017. He definitely has some very interesting physical tools and the potential to rise up and show you much more in the years to come.
(Statistics courtesy of Sports-Reference.com)
(Information courtesy of MockDraftable.com)
Positives: As you can probably tell from the measurements above, his biggest positives at this point in time start with physical attributes that put him up near the top of the class of big and long corners. He has traits that generally get everyone quite excited in the search for Richard Sherman II, or something like that. He absolutely can demonstrate great confidence. His instincts are actually quite impressive and can likely be traced to his time on offense all of those years for understanding what is happening from the QB’s perspective. There are absolute flashes where he looks extraordinary for sure, and he also will go find the football. Further, there are some real positives to playing in the Alabama scheme for so long and the matchups against very big and physical opponents who will challenge you all day. You look at plays like the interception against Duke (below), and you quickly see why some people can’t stop raving about the player.
Concerns: The concerns are more based on a few things that come quickly to mind. First, the day he had against Ja’Marr Chase and LSU is a tough one to fully forget about when looking at his body of work. In this head-to-head challenge, you could tell that he lost confidence and things got progressively worse. He looks to roll largely with feel and confidence, so when you lose that, things spiral in a hurry. He is going to take you on a wild ride with his poor technique and decision-making at times, and you would like to see a coach or veteran demand a lot out of him, as so many young corners need. Some get that refinement and take off while others stall at their current spot and seem content with “what got them this far.” The other issues are that he wanted to wait until his pro day to do actual combine testing and did not run at the combine, so his testing scores are a bit mysterious and his speed is a bit of a concern at the moment.
Overall: I will confess that this type of corner has burned me in the past because I get hung up on the details of their game and the ways they could improve rather than what they seem to do naturally and the highs that they can produce from just putting on their shoes and taking the field. I prefer a corner who is on a more even plane, to be honest, so the ups and downs of Diggs are perhaps just not my cup of tea despite his clear and obvious potential. I will place him in the SECOND-ROUND category and acknowledge his tremendous upside while maintaining some concerns on whether he hits that ceiling.
Neville Gallimore — Oklahoma — 6’2 — 301
Gallimore has been a force in the Big 12 for the last few years and has emerged as a transformed player since he has reshaped his body and appears to be something significant heading into this draft after his best year in Norman. A native of Canada, he is the rare top prospect who has five years in the Oklahoma program from which to draw experience.
(Statistics courtesy of Sports-Reference.com)
Positives: I was incredibly impressed with the way Gallimore dominates the “get-off” portion of the play where he consistently explodes out of his stance and wins the snap almost immediately. He is a real twitched-up, penetrating 1-technique/nose tackle-type who wins with his initial strike and plays with impressive ferocity. The burst repeatedly appears as does an impressive motor and effort level. He gives you five very appealing seconds of action, plays an enormous number of snaps and looks like he is probably best as a 1-tech/NT. But he is well put-together and should give you real help versus the run and still get to the passer. There is plenty to like here.
Concerns: The biggest issues you might see with Neville would probably be a wish for more impressive statistics in the Big 12, a more convincing anchor inside on run plays where you can get some movement on him and an overall ability to not rely on arm tackles, as many of those turned into broken tackles when he tried to reach out as opposed to shedding and squaring up. His real value appears to be on passing downs; if it turns into a trench war, his upside is a bit lower. His actual moves aren’t particularly impressive; he relies mostly on ferocity and effort.
Overall: With the appearance of an ascending player who is figuring out what it takes to make a handsome living in the NFL, I think Gallimore has developed into a sure-fire top-50 prospect, and it would not shock me to see him work his way into the first round. As it stands here, I will probably list him third in this group and assign a FIRST-SECOND-ROUND grade on him, representing a value that would place him somewhere between the Cowboys picks at No. 17 and No. 51.
Bradlee Anae — Utah — 6’3 — 257
The Hawaiian has four seasons and nearly 40 college games under his belt, was named to the All Pac-12 first team on two occasions and even cracked the 2019 All-American team with an extremely productive senior season. He now owns the all-time Utah sack record, as he broke Hunter Dimick’s record of 29.5 with his 30th sack at the Alamo Bowl versus Texas. But he had an uneven NFL combine workout and has to answer some questions about his shortfalls a bit here in the buildup to Las Vegas.
(Statistics courtesy of Sports-Reference.com)
Positives: There are some real impressive positives about Anae’s tape as he really reminds me of what we saw for years from Clay Matthew. His violent combination at the snap of a huge get-off and then top-notch hand usage puts him in an awful lot of backfields and advantageous situations to make splash plays. He is ready for each play and then looks shot out of a cannon and employs a spin, a push/pull and a swipe like a veteran edge. He plays every down and really gets after it, and he can also be seen popping inside on occasion to isolate against overmatched guards. He’s a twitchy player in short spaces and looks like his disposition is right on the edge, too. He can really get your attention. He also buries his needle in the red with high RPM motor traits, which any successful edge needs.
Concerns: The USC game, which I used for both clips, was the first game I watched. It was magnificent, but Anae was substantially quieter in the subsequent three I looked at. His traits include very short arms for his position and a disappointing 40-time/vertical leap. His explosive trait testing did not match the twitch we saw on tape. This leads many to believe he may already be at his ceiling and could be a very nice NFL player, but perhaps not better than average. He also is a bit undersized for direct runs and, like Matthews, can be attacked to slow him down over the course of the game. Anae seems like a player who will take the occasional personal foul, as he has some real borderline hits.
Overall: He makes enough plays at a high enough level behind the line of scrimmage that I will proceed with some level of caution, but this is when you probably need to trust that tape and see what he is capable of. He probably fits best as a nickel pass rusher and/or a 3-4 outside edge, but I can definitely see this as an option around that No. 51 pick in Round 2. It is very possible I am on a bit of an island on this one but I ended up giving him a SECOND-ROUND grade, and while I retain a few concerns, I still really like his resume.
