Could Dallas Cowboys Make a ‘Futures’ Selection With First Pick?

The Dallas Cowboys have a history of making wise ‘future’ selections in the NFL Draft, and there’s always the possibility America’s Team could do it again in the 2nd Friday night.

There is no doubt this year’s NFL Draft lacks some of the excitement other drafts have had because your Dallas Cowboys don’t have a selection in the first round.

Having said that, history tells us America’s Team will feel pretty good about the first selection made by the team deep into the second round on Friday night.

I’m not expecting a flashy selection, a shocking trade up or deflating trade down.

But I wouldn’t rule out another a ‘futures’ selection for the Dallas Cowobys in this spot, and if so I think it will be a player who lines up close to the football. These are the guys who make plays happen – or not – and given the late fashion Dallas will be choosing, there is no way to know who the team will end up with.

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The second-round selection of Jaylon Smith in the second round of the 2016 NFL Draft was thought by some to be wasted pick, and rightly so. Smith’s injury suffered in his final game with Notre Dame was a well-documented career-threatening injury. But the talent was too good to pass up in the second round. Smith was almost certainly a top-10 selection in the first round had he not gotten injured.

Mississippi State defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons tore an ACL in February while getting set for the NFL Scouting Combine and will likely miss his entire rookie season. While a bigtime setback for the ultra-talented interior defender, a closer look at today’s surgical success rate in sports medicine shows the chances of Simmons making a full recovery are quite high. Further, we’re not talking about an injury with the complexity that Smith faced with his injury three years ago.

Simmons is a 6-4 and 300-pound beast on the line of scrimmage and upside like his is hard to come by. With just a little more height he’d remind some of former Philadelphia Eagles defensive tackle Clyde Simmons, who led the NFL in sacks in 1992 with 19.

All good things to those who wait, right?

It’s true the Dallas Cowboys want to win now – or at least head coach Jason Garrett does in the final year of his contract. I’ve waited for a head coaching change for almost a decade, so I have no problem with a futures selection here. The Dallas Cowboys have generally had great luck with players who couldn’t play right away, but would eventually make a significant impact to the franchise.

Roger Staubach. Bob Hayes. Herschel Walker. Chad Hennings. Jaylon Smith. If the Dallas Cowboys think Jeffrey Simmons is special and he falls to the 58th pick in the draft Friday, the smart move is to pounce with the confidence that the future holds more promise than another player who might be ready to play some on Week 1 later this year. It might not be the popular move, but the Dallas Cowboys have shown the ability to make the best move possible in recent years and this selection wouldn’t surprise some.

Nobody’s complaining about that Jaylon Smith selection these days, and I don’t think they will in a couple of years with Jeffrey Simmons either.

• Published on 04/25/2019 at 13:00 PM
• Last updated at 04/25/2019 at 06:52 AM