Great news for the Cowboys! Dane Brugler: “This is just not a very top heavy draft”

2022 is a good year to be picking in the back half of the NFL Draft. This is essentially what NFL draft expert, Dane Brugler, was saying when he said, “we’re missing that top tier talent” in regards to the 2022 NFL Draft class.

An example Dane used on his weekly Athletic podcast was regarding top offensive tackle prospect, Evan Neal. Alabama’s Evan Neal stands a decent chance of being the top pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, but Dane said he’s not even sure Neal would crack the top-15 if he was in last years’ draft class.

The Dallas Cowboys are lucky they had a top pick in last year’s NFL Draft rather than this year’s.

The only good part about being a terrible football team is getting a top pick in the draft. The Cowboys were certifiably terrible in 2020 and that’s why they were “blessed” with the 10th pick last year. They turned that pick into All-Pro play-making extraordinaire, Micah Parsons.

Safe to say last year was a good year to have a high pick in the Draft. This year, though, things don’t look so hot at the top of the board.

The top half of the 2022 draft class is lacking

Fellow draftnik, Lance Zierlein, echoed Dane Bruglers thoughts when he said he wasn’t sure he’ll have a single player with a 7.0 rating this year. A 7.0 rating translates to Pro Bowl talent with a chance to become All-Pro. It’s something you almost expect to get with a top-10 pick and this year there might not be a single one of them.

Again, good year to be outside the top-half, don’t you think?

we could see some highly regarded players slip through the cracks and right into the Dallas Cowboys’ laps

That isn’t to say draft experts think this draft class is bad either. Brugler clarified his thoughts when he said the middle class of the first round is strong. He even said it’s “a good class” – it’s just missing that top-end talent early.

How will this impact the Dallas Cowboys?

There’s going to be trickledown effect in the first round and that could have an impact on the Dallas Cowboys. Picking at 24, Dallas is already positioned to see appropriate value at their draft slot. But the lack of talent at the top may add even more options.

Without blue-chip players at the top of the draft, teams are going to be eager to get out of those top spots. But the reason they want to get out is the same reason no one wants to trade up. With more sellers than buyers, the cost of moving up diminishes greatly. We saw that happen last year in a pretty darn good draft – imagine what it’ll look like in a draft like this.

The teams that do move up aren’t hunting for elite players, rather they’ll be drafting for positions of need. That means we could see some highly regarded players slip through the cracks and right into the Dallas Cowboys’ laps should they be willing to pounce.

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