Offseason wish list starts with D-line, running game
Before reading this shopping list for the Cowboys’ offseason, consider these bona fides on the subject:
In 2016, the Cowboys took Zeke Elliott with the fourth pick in the draft, Jaylon Smith in the second round and Dak Prescott in the fourth. Not bad, either. Except think what it could have been if Jerry Jones had taken my advice and gone with Jalen Ramsey in the first and Derrick Henry in the second.
Could have been a real thing.
You could look it up. Much will be written, said and forgotten before the draft from April 25-27, particularly as we learn more about players at the NFL combine starting Monday in Indianapolis. Before the draft, as is their custom, the Cowboys will shop the free agent market, hoping it’ll allow them to draft for talent instead of need.
Unfortunately, the Cowboys will have to doctor the books just to pay Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb. They’ll come up with something. Harder, still, will be what to do about Tyron Smith.
Do they bring him back on a short-term deal?
Or do they send him on his way?
Everything in the draft hinges on this decision. Some of you ingrates would advise him not to let the doorknob hit him on the rear on his way out the door. As great as he’s been, he hasn’t played a full season since 2015. Only a total of six games in 2020 and ’22. Because he played 13 games last season, the trend suggests betting on the under for ’24. Draft Alabama’s JC Latham or Arizona’s Jordan Morgan or Tyler Guyton of Oklahoma with the 24th pick and start a new era at left tackle.
Better yet, move Tyler Smith, the ’22 first-rounder, to left tackle. If Tyler really is the Cowboys’ best lineman these days, shouldn’t he be playing the most important position in the line if he can? Besides, guards are easier to find than tackles. Cheaper, too.
Except there’s a caveat, and a 315-pound one, at that. Tyler Biadasz, a threeyear starter at center, is also a free agent. Insiders speculate the Cowboys might let him follow in the footsteps of the Connor twins, McGovern and Williams. If Biadasz walks along with Tyron and the Cowboys move Tyler a couple steps to his left, three-fifths of the line would be new or starting at a different position this fall. Hardly suggests continuity, the prerequisite for good offensive line play.
My suggestion: Re-sign Tyron to a one-year deal, leave Tyler at left guard for now, let T.J. Bass take over at center and kick the can of remaking the offensive line another year down the road.
Part of the rationale is because I have bigger plans elsewhere. And by bigger I mean, like, massive.
If you haven’t seen T’Vondre Sweat’s one-onone sessions at the Senior Bowl, do yourself a favor. One sap who got in the way of the 6-foot-4, 360-pounder from Texas finished like a folding chair. Talk about an impossible assignment. Like trying to block an avalanche.
The book on Sweat has been that, while he’d slam the door on anyone’s running game, he’s one-dimensional.
Nose tackles who don’t offer much in the way of a pass rush are essentially part-time players in today’s NFL. You can’t spend first-round capital on part-time help. There’s also the question of just how huge Sweat really is. He didn’t weigh in at the Senior Bowl. One service suggested he might be closer to 390 than 360. Before his magnificent senior season, when he was a first-team All-America and Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year, there were also hints that maybe he didn’t like football all that much.
Considering all of the above, Byron Murphy II, Sweat’s Texas teammate, would be a better pick. Sleeker, quicker, more explosive. Problem is, he’s also considered the draft’s best defensive tackle and thus long gone by 24. What scouts will decide, I’m betting, is that Sweat could be a two-way threat. Agile, quick feet, big motor. He’d tie up two blockers and still provide a push up front.
My suggestion: Take Sweat in the first, whittle him down to 350 and watch him become the Cowboys’ best defensive tackle since La’Roi Glover, which was too long ago.
Tony Pollard is another veteran expected to take his services elsewhere, leaving a hole at running back.
That the Cowboys went from 22 rushing touchdowns by running backs in 2022 to nine last season wasn’t all Pollard’s fault, even though he clearly wasn’t the same coming off an injury. The run blocking wasn’t crisp. But that’s also the point. Marion Barber was a better running back for the Cowboys than Julius Jones back in the day because the blocking wasn’t as clean, necessitating a bigger, violent runner.
My suggestion: In the second round, draft Braelon Allen, who goes 6-2, 245. Over the last three years at Wisconsin, he’s averaged 5.9 yards per carry and scored 35 touchdowns. No, he doesn’t have great hands, and his pass blocking needs work. But he’d leave a mark.
Otherwise in the second, I could be talked into Texas A&M’s Edgerrin Cooper, not that he’ll last that long. Besides linebacker, the Cowboys could use a cornerback and more offensive linemen.
Maybe a quarterback, like, say, Jordan Travis of Florida State.
But absolutely, positively no more tight ends.
Consider this the first in an occasional series of columns on the draft. Still a lot to learn, much of which will be forgotten. Like when I signed off on Taco Charlton.