Dallas Cowboys Draft: 6 Important Takeaways from the NFL Draft
Why did the Cowboys select Donovan Wilson in the 6th Round?:
I don’t have any jokes or obvious answers for this selection, but he is an Aggie so that’s nice.
The Cowboys were looking to add a safety to their locker room in this draft. History proved true once again with the Cowboys looking at defensive tackle instead of safety in the second round. After that, the Cowboys were looking at Will Harris in the third round. Thankfully that didn’t happen!
So here we are on Day 3 and the Cowboys select a safety from College Station with a pick they obtained from trading back with the Cincinnati Bengals. Odds are, even if the Cowboys had drafted a safety in the second round, he wasn’t going to start come week one.
That made drafting a safety a lower priority for the Cowboys. Can you fault the Cowboys for wanting to add depth in the trenches especially after what happened to the Cowboys in the Rams playoff game?
Fortunately for Cowboys fans, Wilson is a really good safety for someone in the sixth round. He had some solid production while at A&M. In his sophomore season he caught 5 interceptions and has accumulated 199 tackles in 4 seasons having only started 3 of those seasons.
Did I mention he can lay the boom? For a team that was in need of a box safety, Wilson fits that need really well. He is a sound tackler and when given open space is looking to lay a man out. In addition, standing at 6′ and 199 pounds with over 33″ arms the former Aggie has the size Richard loves with his defensive backs.
As a prospect, Wilson is going to require some development but he will get that time in a crowded safety depth chart. In fact, 6th round picks tend to make the Cowboys 53 man roster more often than not according to RJ Ochoa:
Interesting point from Sean N over at @BloggingTheBoys that sixth-round picks have generally had success making the Cowboys roster. It does indeed bode well for Donovan Wilson. https://t.co/w5fRKFAOJX pic.twitter.com/M4Le2IK8NF
— RJ Ochoa (@rjochoa) April 30, 2019
What this means is Wilson will get the benefit of time to develop and hopefully become a productive starter for the Cowboys with due time.
Was anyone else at play?:
I don’t know anyone the Cowboys were specifically looking for at this point in the draft. With the Cowboys looking to give Richard some talent to work with, picking up a defensive back at this point in the draft was evident with the Jackson and Wilson selection. Odds are Wilson was the best defensive back at the time of the selection for the Cowboys.