Dallas Cowboys Draft: Why a Pass-Catcher at Pick 10 Makes Sense
By Reid Hanson
The Dallas Cowboys are better at drafting offense
Something we also need to consider is that the Dallas Cowboys are better at drafting offensive players than they are at drafting defensive players. Simply put: Dallas has an upsetting bust rate on defense.
Did you know the Cowboys have invested 9 of their 14 most recent top-100 picks on defense? It’s a popular misconception they’ve neglected the defensive side of the ball in drafts. It’s quite the contrary. Nearly all of their top-100 defensive picks have seemingly fallen short of their expectations, and only a couple of them have been given second contracts as a result.
Based on Brugler’s big board, the top nine players of this year’s draft are offensive players. As we’ve shown, there’s a long-term need for a pass-catcher here in Dallas, and doing so would actually let Dallas cut overall costs and funnel money back to the defense.
So why would we want to draft a player with a bigger bust rate (based on Dallas’ inability to assess defensive players), who’s lower ranked on the big board, and plays a slightly less impactful position (CB vs WR)? If we look beyond the 2020 season, I’m not sure why we would.
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We need to challenge ourselves to look beyond this coming season and then we can see why pass-catcher makes sense (if he’s the highest player on the Dallas draft board).
The second round talent pool at CB looks much better this year than it did last year when Dallas stole Trevon Diggs. They can fill their most immediate need with a highly-rated cornerback then. Starting caliber free agents are still on the market too. The Dallas Cowboys have the cash, they could bring in a mercenary at CB.
If you love linebackers you’ll love to know 10 of PFF’s top-16 rated linebackers were picked in Round 3 or after. The Cowboys have two third round picks this year. Lots of Day 2 options at DT as well…
The point is, the Dallas Cowboys could draft a pass-catcher with their first pick and still significantly upgrade their defense by using their three remaining Day 2 picks.
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Picking a pass-catcher at 10 isn’t a luxury pick. One only needs to look a little down the road to see how much it makes sense for both the Dallas Cowboys offense and the defense.