The Dallas Cowboys have generally been regarded as a solid team as far as adding talent in the NFL Draft is concerned, but their 2023 class has aged so poorly that it is without question the worst assemblage of talent this front office has put together.
CBS Sports' Pete Prisco originally gave the Cowboys an A grade for their 2023 NFL Draft, which featured defensive tackle Mazi Smith in the first round, tight end Luke Schoonmaker in the second, and linebacker DeMarvion Overshown in the third round. In hindsight, Prisco admitted he was way off.
Prisco gave the Cowboys an F grade for their 2023 Draft in an article regrading all 32 classes from four cycles ago. Dallas was the only team to go from a grade as high as possible to one as low as possible, and vice versa. Jerry Jones and Will McClay would love to scrub this from the history books.
The Dallas Cowboys' 2023 NFL Draft class set them back years
Prisco gave Dallas a boost in his grades for picking a player he thought was a steal in fourth-round defensive end Viliami Fehoko Jr. Due to injuries and plain old poor play, Fehoko never played a down in the NFL. It's mathematically impossible for Fehoko to have performed worse.
Smith is the biggest miss here, as the former Michigan standout was doomed from the start. Between a paradoxical inability to stuff the run despite his mammoth size and different Cowboys staffs disagreeing on how to deploy him, Smith was dumped on the New York Jets in the Quinnen Williams.
Even as the Jets semi-tanked last year and were playing defensive linemen off the street, Smith rarely saw the field and didn't record any solo tackles. The fall-off is astonishing.
Schoonmaker, Smith's Wolverines teammate, has not fared much better. He has just 49 catches in three seasons, and his value lies almost entirely in his blocking.
Overshown has proven to be a solid pick and a great value addition, but injuries have prevented him from reaching his true potential. Even though he has shown some potential, Overshown being the best player in an entire Draft class is quite concerning.
The Cowboys have seen their defense fall apart and their offense lack depth over the last few years. When premium capital was used on players like Smith and Schoonmaker to be long-term building blocks, the source of their struggles in this area seems to be clear as day.
Add us as a preferred source on Google