3 worse-case scenarios for Cowboys in first round of 2023 draft

So far, this offseason has gone very well for the Dallas Cowboys. They ignored high-priced free agents as they typically do, but still vastly improved their team.

This was done by adding cornerback Stephon Gilmore and wide receiver Brandin Cooks via trade. They also retained some of their top free agents, with Dalton Schultz proving to be the one gut-wrenching loss.

Now with the attention on the 2023 NFL Draft, we look at three scenarios that could really damage the overall grade for Dallas this offseason.

3. The Jones family ignores the scouting department

We've seen it happen more times than we care to admit — and it only comes to light thanks to Jerry Jones and his love of the spotlight. Oftentimes after the draft is completed, there's a leaked image of the Cowboys draft board — usually seen by one of the billion cameras that seem to follow Jones around.

Or, if the cameras don't catch it in the war room, he might just put the board on display for the world to see.

Once the leaked boards are dissected, we can see that the hard work done by the scouting department can sometimes get ignored. For example, they had safeties graded over Trysten Hill in 2019 but still took the UCF product. This was one of many colossal failures in the draft.

But as we saw in 2020 with CeeDee Lamb and Trevon Diggs, they can do great work when they keep it simple and follow what the actual scouts tell them.