The Dallas Cowboys are one of the better drafting teams in the NFL, and have been since VP of Player Personnel Will McClay was given a larger voice in the War Room in 2014.
Since then, McClay & Co. have had first round picks, and have hit on nearly all of them.
*2014 OL Zack Martin
*2015 CB Byron Jones
*2016 RB Ezekiel Elliott
*2017 DE Taco Charlton
*2018 LB Leighton Vander Esch
*2020 WR CeeDee Lamb
*2021 EDGE Micah Parsons
*2022 OL Tyler Smith
*2023 DT Mazi Smith
*2024 OL Tyler Guyton
We can mark off all of their offensive linemen drafted in the first round as successes. The jury is still out on Tyler Guyton, but this is his rookie season and being named the starter at left tackle is a victory in itself.
Let’s not list the second round picks because, aside from CB Trevon Diggs, it’s a sad list. However, the Cowboys’ hit rate on later round players is impressive as well. Especially fifth round players like CB DaRon Bland, CB Caelen Carson, and LB Damone Clark.
Dallas’ success in the draft comes at a price, however. The team is so invested in the draft that they nearly completely ignore free agency. The Cowboys’ strategy is to offer new contracts to “their guys” and replenish depth through the draft and the cheapest free agents you can find.
What’s Wrong With This Strategy?
The problem with this strategy is you create a top-heavy team with very little depth behind the starters besides inexperienced rookies and over-the-hill veterans who are shells of themselves.
Sound familiar? That roster building strategy has finally come full circle and bit the Cowboys in the ass this season. Injuries can never be predicted, but a little more foresight and aggressive free agency strategies could have the Cowboys in better shape than they are right now.
Yeah, it’s cool to pay your superstars like QB Dak Prescott, WR CeeDee Lamb, RG Zack Martin, DE DeMarcus “Tank” Lawrence, and CB Trevon Diggs, but the refusal to spend cash on free agents means there is no depth behind them.
Sometimes, a position doesn’t have a viable player, but the Cowboys still use only late draft picks and veterans closer to retirement than their prime to fill the void.
Let’s take a look at where this roster building strategy is hurting the Cowboys the most.
Running Back
Derrick Henry was the biggest name out there in the running back market this offseason. He has a house in Dallas. He trains in Dallas. He has family in Dallas. Did Dallas give him a call at least to feel him out and see what he would need to play in Dallas? Nope.
From Henry’s mouth himself, the Cowboys never called despite him patiently awaiting their call. Henry ended up in Baltimore, where all he has done this season is lead the league in rushing, and even personally showed the Cowboys what they were missing.
In the 28-25 loss to the Ravens in week 3, Henry galloped through the Cowboys’ defense for 151 yards and two touchdowns at a 6.0 yards per carry rate. Fans could only look on and wonder what Henry would look like running through defenses in a Cowboys’ uniform.
Instead, they chose to roll with Rico Dowdle, who has struggled to stay healthy for a full season in his career. Behind him, they felt confident in a returning Ezekiel Elliott and the diminutive Deuce Vaughn. Neither have worked out, and the Cowboys rank dead last in the NFL in rushing.
All of this is happening WITHOUT an injury to the running back room. I can’t say the same about the cornerback room, however.
Cornerback
Trevon Diggs was lost for the 2023 season after suffering a torn ACL in practice. Cowboys Nation was devastated, but the defense would be in good hands thanks to veteran Stephon Gilmore and breakout star DaRon Bland.
This season, the Cowboys decided not to bring back Gilmore for a second season, and soon lost DaRon Bland to a foot fracture before the regular season started.
No problem. Fifth round pick Caelen “The Walkin’ Seatbelt” Carson can step in seamlessly, right? Wrong. Carson wasn’t playing his best football and then proceeded to get injured, leaving a huge void opposite Diggs.
The Cowboys essentially ignored the cornerback position even though there were no players to speak of behind their projected starting three of Diggs, Bland, and Jourdan Lewis. As much as Cowboys Nation has been trying to trade away Lewis for assets, he is the Cowboys’ highest-graded cornerback this season. Go figure.
Dallas could have signed free agents like Gilmore, Byron Murphy, Marcus Peters, or Sean Murphy-Bunting. Instead, they waited for the fifth round to draft a player who got hurt in week 3, and now their depth is compromised.
Defensive Tackle
We can complain all we want to, but the Cowboys actually did address this position in the first round last season. We can blame the front office for their misevaluation of Mazi Smith, but we can’t blame them for trying.
However, we can blame them for not bolstering the position after seeing that Smith was not developing like they hoped he’d be. Dallas let Johnathan Hankins walk in free agency, following Aden Durde to the Seattle Seahawks for a measly (by layman’s standards) $1.5 million.
Other free agents included Dalvin Tomlinson, Calais Campbell, and Shelby Harris. Instead, the Cowboys traded for Jordan Phillips and promptly created a wrist injury to put him on injured reserve because he was playing so poorly.
Then, they signed Linval Joseph, who played for Mike Zimmer years ago in Minnesota. Besides a couple of flash plays, Joseph has not been what the Cowboys hoped he’d be, but that’s the story of the entire defense this season.
At the end of the day, the Cowboys’ roster building strategy works in a perfect world, but when injuries and misevaluation of players pops up, there is no backup plan. This leaves the team in a precarious position, and open to disaster like we are currently witnessing in 2024.
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