Last night’s round one of the NFL Draft had a ton of chaos throughout, but the Dallas Cowboys stayed pat, traded down, and made the safe pick for the future.
Cowboys’ owner Jerry Jones has been the butt of many jokes this offseason with his “all-in” statements he made months ago about this offseason. After his team made only one impact free agent signing, middle linebacker Eric Kendricks, it looked to most fans like all-in means something completely different to the organization.
Despite the backlash, Jones would double-down on the statements ahead of the NFL Draft.
Originally, Dallas had the 24th overall pick in round one of the draft. They had needs all over the offensive line, but to many analysts all-in would insinuate a blockbuster move like trading up for a weapon. Instead, they did the opposite. After six quarterbacks, four receivers, and six o-linemen were all picked in the first 23 selections, the Cowboys decided to trade down. They dropped from 24 to 29 overall after swapping with the Detroit Lions.
With that 29th overall pick, Dallas selected Oklahoma offensive tackle Tyler Guyton. A late first round projection throughout the entire pre-draft process, Dallas added a third round pick en route to selecting him. He was without a doubt the best lineman available at that point in the draft.
Despite the pre-draft hype of “all-in” and the lackluster feeling that selecting an offensive lineman brings, it was the right pick. It never made sense for the Cowboys to select a wide receiver, especially considering star receiver CeeDee Lamb is currently holding out of team workouts in order to leverage a new deal. A move like that would’ve only worsened tensions between him and the organization. Furthermore, their O-Line has issues. Left tackle Tyron Smith and center Tyler Biadasz both left in free agency. Right tackle Terence Steele was atrocious last year, giving up eight sacks himself. Outside of former first rounder Tyler Smith, who can play tackle or guard, they had no surefire studs up front. Guyton fills one of those spots. A raw prospect coming out, it won’t take much for him to become a true, day one starter at one of the tackle positions. I’d predict he plays on the right side, as he did in college, but he could start either way.
Football starts in the trenches. It may not feel like an “all-in” type of move, but it was probably the right move for the future. Let’s just hope that the Jones family is keeping Jerry away from the casino going forward.
