Your Sunday morning Cowboys news
Quick Hits: What Tyler Guyton really brings to the Cowboys – Ben Larimore, Cowboys Wire
After selecting Tyler Guyton to start their draft, here’s what the Cowboys are getting with the exciting Oklahoma prospect.
The Dallas Cowboys went offensive line with their first pick, but not without getting a little extra. The Detroit Lions gave the Cowboys their No.29 pick and third round pick (73) in exchange for the the Cowboys first round No. 24 pick and a 2025 7th rounder. With the No. 29 pick, Dallas selected Oklahoma protector Tyler Guyton.
Guyton is a four-year player and a monster of a man, standing at 6-foot-7 and 330 pounds with an 82-inch wingspan, 34-inch arms and 10-inch hands. The enticing part about Guyton is how well he moves. His movement would be considered impressive for a regular-sized tackle, but extra impressive for a man of his size. Guyton plays with tenacity and solid play strength.
On the flip side of that, Guyton protected the quarterback’s blindside as a right tackle during his four years at Oklahoma, but is switching to left tackle for the Cowboys.
He plays tall, hindering leverage and has wild hand placement and hand fighting technique. He’ll have a lot of adjustments to make to his game playing left tackle and further refining his technique.
Draft is complete; Where all 8 Cowboys picks fit – Nick Eatman, Dallascowboys.com
With the entire draft class complete, here’s a look where all the draftees will work in to the 2024 roster.
**Marshawn Kneeland (2nd round, 56th overall, DE, Western Michigan)** – This seems like a Mike Zimmer pick all the way. Kneeland is a gritty, run-stopping player who likes to mix it up on the line. He has 28 career tackles for loss and should add instant toughness to the D-line, that lost four players in free agency, including ends Dorance Armstrong and Dante Fowler.
**Cooper Beebe (3rd round, 73rd overall, G/C, Kansas State)** – There is questions where he might play, but no questions about his toughness and ability to block. Beebe looks like a tough, intense player who thrives on putting defenders on the ground. He’ll likely compete at center now but eventually move to guard down the road.
**Marist Liufau (3rd round, 87th overall, LB, Notre Dame)** – Another Zimmer-type pick, Liufau is a hard-nosed linebacker who excels against the run and pass. The Cowboys were short on linebackers and there’s a chance he could come in and compete for a starting spot this year.
Cowboys add run-stuffing behemoth in Justin Rogers: Instant grade and analysis – Jerry Trotta, The Landry Hat
The Cowboys are filling the middle of their defensive line with big bodies to stop opposing team’s rushing attack.
The Dallas Cowboys put a bow on the 2024 NFL Draft in style. Once again presented with the conundrum of taking a running back, the Cowboys decided it was more diligent to beef up the trenches and selected Auburn nose tackle Justin Rogers with the No. 244 pick in the seventh round. Rogers spent three years at Kentucky before staying in the SEC and transferring to Auburn. Rogers found most of his success in Lexington, compiling 61 tackles, five tackles for loss and three sacks. In his lone season a Auburn, he tallied 17 tackles, two tackles for loss and one sack.
Rogers made a name for himself as a run-stuffer with the Wildcats. It’d be foolish to set high expectations for a seventh-round pick, but nose tackle was a sneaky-big need for the Cowboys entering the draft. They waited until the seventh-round to address it, but Rogers will bring competition behind 2023 first-round pick Mazi Smith and veteran Carl Davis.
Cowboys NFL Draft grade for Justin Rogers selection: B-
There’s actually nothing more Rogers loves than stopping the run. “I love defending the run,” Rogers told the Draft Network before the draft. “I was taught to never let anybody run up the middle. I protect the middle of the d-line like that’s my house. I don’t want anybody coming into my house! I love stopping the run.” That quote will resonate with Mike Zimmer, who was brought over as defensive coordinator to rectify Dallas’ run-defense woes.
Dallas Cowboys 2024 NFL draft picks: Selection analysis – Todd Archer, ESPN
Another look at how the draft picks fit in.
Round 5 No. 174: Caelen Carson, DB, Wake Forest
My take: The running back wait continues, but Carson was under consideration by the Cowboys at pick No. 73 when they took Beebe. He did not record an interception in each of his final two seasons and had just three for his career, but he had 42 tackles, one tackle for loss, eight pass deflections, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery last season. With Trevon Diggs coming off a torn ACL and Stephon Gilmore currently unsigned, cornerback was a need for the Cowboys even if they had re-signed Jourdan Lewis.
Round 6: No. 216: Ryan Flournoy, WR, Southeast Missouri State
My take: The running back wait continues as the Cowboys go with Flournoy, who performed well against better competition at the Senior Bowl. He is older, turning 25 in October, he caught 118 passes for 1,823 yards and 13 touchdowns in two years at Southeast Missouri. The Cowboys have CeeDee Lamb, Brandin Cooks and Jalen Tolbert as their top three receivers, and have a role for KaVontae Turpin and like Jalen Brooks’ ability. Martavis Bryant ended last season on the practice squad and will have a chance to show if he can recapture the ability he showed in Pittsburgh before a series of suspensions. At 6-2, 205 pounds, Flournoy has the size the Cowboys like in their receivers.
Cowboys seem prepared to address running back by simply bringing back Ezekiel Elliott – RJ Ochoa, Blogging the Boys
It appears that the Cowboys are content with “running it back” with Ezekiel Elliott.
Just one year after that the Cowboys selected Ezekiel Elliott with the fourth overall pick in the draft, their most premium draft asset in a generation, and doubled down on him with a massive contract extension in 2019. They seemed to have learned that lesson a year ago when they released Zeke for financial reasons, and after a season with the New England Patriots the former rushing champion remains on the open market.
The Cowboys obviously cannot help themselves.
It appears that the plan at running back this season is to just bring back Ezekiel Elliott
After letting Tony Pollard walk in free agency (one year after they placed the franchise tag on him) the Cowboys chose to not sign anybody significant on the open market. To be totally fair and clear here, the Cowboys did sign somebody and did so rather recently when they inked Royce Freeman. It stood to reason that Dallas would draft a runner to go with Freeman, Rico Dowdle and Deuce Vaughn, but that the drafted player would absorb the lion’s share of touches/carries/attention.
The draft came and went and not a single running back was taken by the team. In fact, the most mentioned runner wasn’t even Jonathon Brooks (taken by the Carolina Panthers) who was talked about a ton. The name that came up the most throughout the draft process was the aforementioned Ezekiel Elliott. Reports from all over the place are that Dallas bringing Elliott back is inevitable. Stephen Jones reiterated in one of the draft weekend’s press conferences that the team thinks very highly of him and is grateful for all that he has done for the franchise. That very well may be true, but acting as if this being the main plan for 2024 is not exactly living in reality.
Elliott played all 17 games for the Patriots last season (the New England team was so bad that they picked third overall) and carried the ball 184 times for 642 total yards. That comes out to 3.5 yards per carry if you are curious. Also if you are feeling inquisitive, his longest run was well shy of 20 yards. The Cowboys can say that Zeke will play a role along the likes of Dowdle, Vaughn and Freeman (assuming they all make the team) but does anybody really buy that? Is there anyone here that legitimately believes that in moments of seriousness that they won’t go back to the well that they are lining up to re-visit?
Dallas Cowboys 2024 undrafted free agent tracker – Dave Halprin, BTB
You can keep track of all the Cowboys UDFA signings.
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