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It’s too early to label him a bust, but Trysten Hill certainly didn’t inspire confidence with his 2019 performance. The Cowboys went into the 2019 draft without a first-round pick after making the trade for Amari Cooper in the middle of the 2018 season. Not having a pick in the first round tends to lessen the impact of a draft class. but Dallas really seems to have missed wildly with their 2019 draft class.
Tony Pollard looks like a keeper who could really pay dividends on offense for years to come. Third-round pick Connor McGovern didn’t see action last season because of injury so his ability to contribute is still an unknown.
The guy who should have been the best player, at least he was the highest pick, never really produced at all. Trysten Hill was only active for about half the games, only played on 11% of the defensive snaps for the year and was barely present on special teams. His season stats were four sols tackles, one assist, one TFL and two QB hits.
In addition to that, he wasn’t exactly the “right kind of guy” off the field. Hill was sent home from a practice during the season.
Cowboys DT Antwaun Woods and Trysten Hill will practice today. On Tuesday, they missed the team’s first on-field work following bye week. Were late to meetings that morning, so Jason Garrett sent them home.
— Michael Gehlken (@GehlkenNFL) October 31, 2019
He was also caught sleeping during a team meeting that was a speech from Isaiah Thomas.
Hill’s travails began Oct. 24 during a team meeting with NBA Hall of Famer Isiah Thomas before everyone departed for the bye. Hill fell asleep while Thomas was talking and was called out by the two-time NBA champion who asked someone to wake him up.
Not a good look from a rookie who isn’t really producing.
He’ll get a chance to re-boot his career in 2020, but it’s likely the team won’t have much patience with any other foolishness.
Instead of Hill, the Cowboys could have gone in a different direction in last year’s draft. With a trio of safeties still on the board that had been linked to the Cowboys pre-draft, it was surprising when they passed on them.
In the ESPN re-do of the first two rounds of the 2019 draft, the Cowboys play it safe with a safety.
58. Dallas Cowboys
Original pick: Trysten Hill, DT
New pick: Johnathan Abram, S
Abram played in only one game because of a shoulder injury that required surgery, but safety has been a position of need for the Cowboys for years and will be so again in 2020. He was among the 30 national visitors to The Star for the draft, which is always a sign of legitimate interest from the team. With Juan Thornhill and C.J. Gardner-Johnson off the board a few picks before the Cowboys’ selection, taking Abram made more sense than filling other positions. Hill was barely a factor, playing just 115 defensive snaps after failing to earn assistant coach Rod Marinelli’s trust. — Todd Archer
Archer doesn’t mention it, but Taylor Rapp was also taken in the re-draft at #49.
Abrams was hurt one game into the year and missed the rest of the season. The Raiders really loved what they saw from Abrams in camp and even gave him Rod Woodson’s jersey number. They also loved his football IQ and intensity.
Abram impressed the Raiders immediately during the off-season program both with his intensity and ability to quickly pick up schemes which were more complex than the ones he had in collage at Mississippi State.
Cameras from NFL Films took note of his personality and screen presence by featuring him on the HBO reality series “Hard Knocks.”
“It’s a big loss, man, just his energy,” defensive end Josh Mauro said. “He caught on to the defense really quickly. He was definitely years above his age as on the mental side of things in the game. It hurts.”
Unless Hill turns things around, his pick and the Taco Charlton pick will be huge blown opportunities for the Cowboys.