The Dallas Cowboys Select Darius Jackson In The Sixth Round Of The 2016 NFL Draft

The Dallas Cowboys used their third pick in the sixth round to select Darius Jackson, a running back out of Eastern Michigan. This is a little bit of a surprising pick for Dallas considering they already drafted Ezekiel Elliott, and have Darren McFadden, Alfred Morris and Lance Dunbar already in the stable. .

Jackson had an incredible performance at his Pro Day, and has a nice combination of speed, size and power.

Jackson ran the 40-yard dash in 4.35 seconds. That's outstanding speed for anyone, but for a guy with his 6'0", 220-pound frame to burn up the turf like that it really commands attention. The Eagles star also had a broad jump over 11 feet and a 41" vertical. All of those numbers would have put Jackson at or very near the top of every workout metric at last month's Combine.

He played for a very bad Eastern Michigan but still managed to get 14 touchdowns. His numbers last year were just okay.

The numbers are not overwhelming, with just over 1,000 yards as a senior at 5.1 yards per carry. He did find the end zone 14 times. Context is imperative here, however. Eastern Michigan is one of the worst programs in the nation. They finished 1-11 in 2015 and recorded just 5 wins in the last three seasons. There are D-II programs in Michigan that could have beaten them, and the school hasn't had a player drafted since T.J. Lang back in 2009.

The Cowboys were obviously impressed with his Pro Day numbers and his combination of size and speed.

Unless the Cowboys use some future picks to trade back into the seventh round, they only have one more pick. Besides a couple of high-profile offensive picks like running back Ezekiel Elliott and quarterback Dak Prescott, the Cowboys draft has mostly focused on defense. So far they have drafted five guys on defense and three on offense.

Cowboys draft picks:

(Round-pick in the round-overall pick)
1- 4- 4 Dallas - Ezekiel Elliott
2- 3-34 Dallas - Jaylon Smith
3- 4-67 Dallas - Maliek Collins
4- 3-101 Dallas - Charles Tapper
4-37-135 Dallas (Compensatory Selection) - Dak Prescott
6-14-189 Dallas from Oakland - Anthony Brown
6-37-212 Dallas (Compensatory Selection) - Kavon Frazier
6-41-216 Dallas (Compensatory Selection) - Darius Jackson
6-42-217 Dallas (Compensatory Selection)