Dallas Cowboys Draft: 7 defensive tackle prospects in 7 different rounds

Jaylen Twyman, Pittsburgh

Value: Reach

With Dallas having as many draft picks at their disposal, we could expect them to double-up at certain positions. Twyman would be a great candidate for that if this pick were in the fifth round instead of the fourth. A year away from the game and his stock has taken quite the tumble. Odd considering how this class has turned out. It’s pretty crazy that a guy who tallied 10.5 sacks a season ago has fallen out of demand but here we are.

Since our only exposure to Twyman this draft cycle was his pro day, it feels imperative to discuss just how bad it was. He measured in at 6-foot-1.75, 300 pounds and recorded a 5.40-second 40-yard dash, 8-second 3-cone drill, 32.5-inch vertical jump, and a 8-foot-8 broad jump. Twyman likely doesn’t play at 300 pounds and his pro day was the perfect example of why he shouldn’t as his athleticism looked significantly compromised.

On film, he displays good explosiveness allowing him to win with speed or counter pass rush moves. He currently isn’t super diverse with his pass rush plans unable to consistently turn speed into power and unable to use other power moves like club-rip, cross chop rip, etc. His dense and strong upper body allowed him to win with power on several occasions.

Twyman is the perfect prospect for someone like Dan Quinn to develop. Grady Jarrett is a top 5 under tackle in the league and has credited a large part of his development to Dan Quinn. Jarrett’s athletic ability and play strength were eerily similar to Twyman’s coming out of college. With Twyman being away from the game for a year, he could use the development that Jarrett had once he entered the NFL.

Ever since Twyman’s 2019 season concluded, everything has been trending down for him ever since. Drafting him earlier than he deserves likely puts unnecessarily larger expectations on him which could prevent him from turning into player the Cowboys ultimately need. But, Twyman’s pass rushing ability and motor is currently still better than most of the interior defensive linemen on the team so that is also something to consider.

I guess?