Pre-draft buzz is reaching fever pitch, and there’s still nearly three weeks to go. We’re looking at a top wide receiver for Dallas, plus considering what would happen to the rest of the draft in order to land him at 26. We’re also talking running backs and whether that’s even a good idea in the first round. One rushing prospect may be getting too much hype, and a tight end outside the Big Three finds his way to the Cowboys in one of several mocks. And if the Cowboys want to really address defensive tackle, they have to do it early.
Meanwhile, we get a progress report on Jabril Cox, we examine how the Cowboys’ offseason looks even better now that OBJ has signed with Baltimore, and we go on a search for NFL talent on the other side of the world. All that, plus the Cowboys’ return specialist delivers a special first pitch in MLB, and is Troy Aikman making waves behind the scenes at Monday Night Football? That’s all up next in News and Notes.
Bill Barnwell debates the merits of taking a running back (even the best prospect in years) early, and he uses Dallas and their 26th selection as the example. His numbers show that a team has to be more than five times as confident about a rookie rusher turning into an above-average starter than it does about a quarterback to justify the pick in Round 1. And still, there’s minimal return: even if you believe Robinson is going to be the best running back in football, the league sees that being worth about as much as cornerback Charvarius Ward or wide receiver Allen Robinson got in free agency a year ago.
BackCAST projects running back success based on statistics that have correlated with success in the past, like a good size-speed combination, a high yards-per-carry average, and how involved he was in his college team’s running attack. The BackCAST score compares each back to the production of an “average” drafted running back. This year, Texas’s Robinson is the clear top dog, and UAB’s DeWayne McBride and Alabama’s Jahmyr Gibbs follow at a distance. Charbonnet from UCLA may be overrated- a very good runner, but perhaps not quite as special as some team will expect based on when they take him.
Several NFL teams reportedly have the Dallas native as the only wide receiver in this year’s class worthy of a first-round pick. The Cowboys were caught off-guard when CeeDee Lamb fell to them in 2020’s opening…
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