Dallas Cowboys Disappoint in Draft
On days like this I am extremely grateful to have an outlet to vent my frustrations with my beloved ‘Boys. If I didn’t, there is a pretty good chance that my head would explode after the weirdness that came out of The Ranch during the 2013 NFL Draft.
No one was more vocal about the Dallas Cowboys need to improve their pitiful offensive line by drafting some beefy big guys to protect the huge investment that has been made in quarterback Tony Romo. However, as the first round played out Thursday night, LSU standout safety Eric Reid was still available when the Cowboys were on the clock at number 18. Smart money would have said to go ahead and take Reid to cinch up the big-play plagued Dallas secondary. What the Cowboys brain trust did instead was a head-scratcher felt round the league. Not only did the powers that be in Big D choose to ignore the golden egg that had been left for them in Reid, they traded their pick to the San Francisco 49ers, who immediately snatched him up. The Cowboys ended up using their first round pick on a player who most had graded as a late second to early third round pick. This is not to demean Travis Frederick from the University of Wisconsin. In all likelihood, though, he would have been available when the Cowboys were on the clock in the second round.
A similar situation presented itself on day two of the draft when, with Alabama’s bruiser of a back, Eddy Lacy still on the board, the Cowboys selected a tight end instead. While the case can be made that the addition of Gavin Escobarwill provide depth behind Jason Witten and James Hanna, it would seem that bringing in Lacy as a viable pickup for the injury prone DeMarco Murray would have made much more sense. The Cowboys also added to their crowded stable of wide receivers when they chose Terrance Williams with their third pick. Call me crazy, but I thought Dallas had finally solved their third receiver situation with the emergence of Dwayne Harris.
Feb 22, 2013; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Dallas Cowboys coach Jason Garrett speaks at a press conference during the 2013 NFL Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
Things didn’t start making sense until the selections of secondary help with J.J.Wilcox and B.W. Webb. Dallas D-backs have been lit up like a Christmas tree of late and it was good to see the Cowboys bring in some depth, especially in light of the departure of Mike Jenkins.
Looking at the draft as a whole, it doesn’t seem that Dallas has improved its chances for a playoff run in 2013. Many players who had a good shot at making an immediate impact on the team, including the aforementioned Lacy and Reid, were ignored. What is more troubling is the Cowboys failure, once again, to do much in the way of addressing their offensive line issues. Unless a miracle happens, it looks like Tony Romo will be spending another season running for his life or admiring the roof of Cowboys Stadium after he has been knocked on his backside.
We aren’t privy to who was making the calls in Dallas’ war room during the draft. The inability to adjust to how the draft was playing out did seem oddly similar to some of the moves that came from the Cowboys sidelines since Jason Garrett took the helm. Whether it was Garrett or the Jones Boys who made the wacky moves this past weekend, what has resulted is the Cowboys becoming the laughing-stock of Draft 2013.