Blogging The Boys
I recently ran across an interview with Chris Hall, Cowboys College Scouting Coordinator (and the guy with the long hair in the war room), in which he explains the expected timeline for rookies in the NFL, which apparently hasn’t changed much since the days of Tom Landry.
“All the way back to coach Landry, it was ‘by year three, you’ve got to know exactly what you’ve got in a guy.’
Year one, they’re a rookie, a lot of times their head is spinning.
Year two, they’ve kinda got a handle on how the thing works. They should be becoming the player they are.
And if they ain’t got it by year three, it’s time to move on.“ [Waves goodbye.]
Year three is coming up for the 2024 rookie class, a class that hasn’t had much of an impact for the Cowboys so far. Is this the year that changes, or is this the year the Cowboys wave goodbye to a big chunk of that rookie class?
Of the eight-player-strong 2024 draft class, only Marshawn Kneeland (RIP) and seventh-round DT Justin Rogers are not with the team anymore. The six draft picks remaining on the roster from that draft class are joined by 2024 UDFA Brevyn Spann-Ford and three more players entering year three in the NFL but who were not originally drafted or signed by the Cowboys: CB Reddy Steward, OG Trevor Keegan, and QB Joe Milton.
body .sbnu-legacy-content-table td, body .sbnu-legacy-content-table th, body .sbnu-legacy-content-table { border: 1px solid #000 !important; border-collapse: collapse !important; } body .sbnu-legacy-content-table td, body .sbnu-legacy-content-table th { padding: 0px 6px !important; } Dallas Cowboys third-year playersHow acquiredPlayerPositionStartsO/D SnapsST snaps3 (73)Cooper BeebeOC271,828731 (29)Tyler GuytonOT211,320863 (87)Marist LiufauLB147235306 (216)Ryan FlournoyWR5635273UDFABrevyn Spann-FordTE5605357Waiver wireReddy StewardCB5537835 (174)Caelen CarsonCB8463567 (233)Nathan ThomasOT434191TradeJoe MiltonQB01120Waiver WireTrevor KeeganOG04117This may read like a depressing list, and it’s true that at least half the players here face questions heading into their third year in the league. But that third year also holds a great promise for the ten young players here: as Coach Landry said, many players don’t fully develop until their third year in the NFL.
The assumption behind the third-year theory is that many young players need the time to learn how to hone their craft, understand the playbooks and develop physically and mentally. By now, the ten players are all familiar with the physical and mental demands of the NFL. They are familiar with the playbook (at least the seven players on offense). They should be stronger and and should be expected to compete for playing time.
The other thing all ten guys have going for them is their youth. Young players can be mercurial. Young players can improve suddenly; they can improve in leaps and bounds; their potential for improvement is infinitely higher than that of any veteran.
The 2024 rookie class does not have the allure of newness that makes the incoming class of rookies so exciting for fans and media alike. But just because they...
