6 Cowboys on Thin Ice Heading Into the NFL Draft

4. Viliami Fehoko, Jr., Defensive End

Deuce Vaughn was far from the only player the Cowboys selected in 2023 who failed to live up to expectations. In all honesty, the entire class did very little including their first-round pick, Mazi Smith, and second-round selection, Luke Schoonmaker.

Their issues didn’t improve during Day 3 either as they had almost no production from those rookies. That includes Viliami Fehoko, Jr. who was a fourth-round pick out of San Jose State.

Fehoko came into the league with an ideal build to play defensive end. He measured in at 6-foot-4 and 276 pounds at the combine. The second cousin to Vita Vea, Fehoko was expected to be a project but as a rookie, he never even saw the field.

Perhaps the coaching staff felt it was best to essentially redshirt him and allow him to grow through practice. But it would have been nice to see him find his way to the field, if even just at the end of the season.

Dallas could find a way to move him up now that Dorance Armstrong and Dante Fowler followed Dan Quinn to Washington. But he could also be on thin ice if they didn’t see enough growth from him during the season.