Blogging The Boys
How much do you think the Cowboys are going to regret not drafting a wide receiver?
The Dallas Cowboys response to dropping out of the playoffs at 7-10 and third in the NFC East a year ago, after making the postseason as a 12-game winner the previous three seasons, has been a lot of getting back to basics. For a team that was so fundamentally broken in the final year for head coach Mike McCarthy, one that left the team so unrecognizable from his past successes that many fans have a hard time remembering all McCarthy actually did accomplish on the football side of things over his tenure, this renewed focus on fundamentals has been praised at some turns, but criticized feverishly at others - mainly the hiring of offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer to replace McCarthy as head coach.
Schottenheimer’s first draft has cooled those waters considerably, for now. The Cowboys front office has never wavered in wanting to use the draft as their main source of talent acquisition. Although this wasn’t expected to change under Schottenheimer at all, the team had to do more than sit on their hands and let players get away in free agency without signing new players themselves, and did so while also being active on the trade market. In their estimation, this was enough to go into the draft with a clearer focus on targeting the best players available, regardless of positional need, through all seven rounds. The Cowboys still showed preferences for the things their new head coach is seeking, like improved line of scrimmage play by spending the 12th overall pick on guard Tyler Booker and 44rd pick in the second round on defensive end Donovan Ezeiruaku. They continued to target high character prospects from blue chip programs like Texas, Florida, and Oregon on day three with running back Jaydon Blue, linebacker Shemar James, and offensive lineman Ajani Cornelius.
This full commitment from picks 12 through 247 to create a deeper roster and strengthen positions with existing star power is what’s earned the Cowboys strong grades for their draft as of now, but the obvious position of need this strategy left unaddressed is guaranteed to remain a talking point from now all the way to Schottenheimer’s regular season debut in September, and likely beyond.
If you haven't figured it out by now, here we are again, talking about the Cowboys not being good enough at the wide receiver position. The more things change, the more they really do stay the same, because a lack of dynamic skill at WR has been an off-and-on problem for the Cowboys through multiple head coaches, offensive coordinators, and even quarterbacks now. Even with it being a position they’ve shown a willingness to step outside their perceived comfort zone and address with in-season trades, like for Amari Cooper in 2018 and Jonathan Mingo last year, the Cowboys are regularly behind the best of the best in the NFL when it comes to making enough big plays on...
