But the belief they were at the bottom of the barrel was emotional, not factual. Were there plays where they needed to make stops and didn’t? Of course. They were fifth in Rush Defense DVOA, behind TEN, SF, BUF and MIA. Yes, the Cowboys gave up a ton of yards in multiple games, but that wasn’t really a glaring need.ĭallas finished fourth in the league in Rush Defense EPA, behind Tennessee, San Francisco and Washington. One of the arguments I made throughout the season was that the hand wringing and brow furrowing by media and thus the fanbase about Dallas being horrible at stopping the run was misguided. It would be dishonest and disingenuous if I didn’t address this. Not only that, in three games he has 12 total pressures, including sacks in both contests last season.ĭallas thinks they see untapped pass-rush potential in Mazi Smith’s skill set, and it doesn’t seem wise to question Dan Quinn’s ability to scout defensive linemen.Īnother link? Fourth-round selection Viliami Fehoko, a defensive end the club plans to move inside to three-tech, is Vea’s cousin. Two of those six times were against the Buccaneers with Vea in the middle of the defense. The Cowboys have faced Vea three times over the last two seasons, and it’s hard to imagine that the War Room debate wasn’t influenced by Vea’s impact.ĭallas has been held to less than 75 yards rushing just six times in their 35 games played since the start of 2022 (regular season + playoffs). Vea has been well worth the draft capital investment and parlayed that into a four-year, $71 million extension last January. He was picked 12th overall, because the NFL (Tampa Bay) specifically wasn’t silly like those arguing with me. His combination of run-stopping ability and pass-rush skills made him a unicorn in my mind, and the Cowboys had been ignoring defensive tackle since the early 1990s. I went back and forth with followers over how he was worth the 18th overall selection if there but there was little chance he would make it that far. One of my absolute favorite prospects in the last decade was Washington Huskie nose tackle Vita Vea in 2018. Now here’s 10 other things, more specific to the Cowboys, this past weekend has me thinking about. If the players in this class aren’t popping off the screen by November 2024, get your report cards ready. You can forgive wasting one of those years, but 50% of the wholesale portion of the acquistion? That’s too much. ![]() The cheap labor portion of all rookie deals is four years. ![]() ![]() Fifth-year options for first rounders are nice in ability to keep a star, but are expensive without deferring cap hit. If that prospect isn’t an impact player by Week 9 or so of the second season, then he’s more than likely a wasted pick.Ĭertainly, players can bloom after that point, but when talking about a player taken in the first four rounds, one would have to consider a guy who doesn’t click until Year 3 as a bad investment. It feels like the sweet spot for evaluating a draft is really around the midpoint of Year 2. ![]() Next-day grades are fun, but irrelevant, but it also feels like a stretch to say one doesn’t know how well a draft class is until after three years. There’s a fun discussion to be had about when one knows whether or not a draft is successful. The NFL draft is now in the rear-view mirror but the evaluation period of what the Dallas Cowboys accomplished has only just begun. Sorry, Jack Handy isn’t walking through that door and my Saturday nights are only occasionally live anymore.
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