2023 NFL Draft: Things Dallas Cowboys fans will not want to see their division rivals do

If you are here then odds are that you want to see the Dallas Cowboys have a very successful showing during the 2023 NFL Draft. After all, you are likely a Dallas Cowboys fan. Assuming this is the case, then you in all likelihood also do not want to see the Philadelphia Eagles, New York Giants or Washington Commanders have noteworthy performances. Our common goal is for the Cowboys to succeed which means that their rivals cannot.

As things stand with about two weeks to go there is only one NFC East team with a top 10 pick and it is the Eagles, right at the end mark of number 10. How they use it will obviously impact the division and on the latest episode of the NFC East Mixtape, both Brandon Gowton from Bleeding Green Nation and I discussed the ways in which we would not like to see each group draft from the standpoint of our respective teams.

You can listen to the NFC East Mixtape and all of our excellent shows on the Blogging The Boys podcast network. Make sure to subscribe to our network so you do not miss any of our shows! Apple devices can subscribe here and Spotify users can subscribe here.

As a whole the NFC East is going to be a big storyline throughout the season given the fact that 75% of it was a part of the Divisional Round last year, and that the team who was not in that is in the middle of a potential ownership sale. There are storylines galore, and they will be all the more tolerable if the Cowboys are having their way with the group as they have in the past.

In the conversation, Gowton and I also shared what we do not want to see our respective teams do, but we have covered that angle for the Cowboys plenty here at BTB. Let’s get to the rest.

Philadelphia Eagles: Pick up a future first, land Bijan Robinson, or maintain offensive line stability

Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images

It remains incredibly annoying that the Eagles, the Super Bowl-losing team, have a top 10 pick. While it is just barely within the top 10, it is indeed high on the annoyance scale.

This is partly the reason that a highly annoying thing in this year’s draft would be to see the Eagles continue to reap the benefits from the New Orleans Saints gifting them this first-round pick a year ago by trading it for future draft capital (Philly already holds New Orleans’ second-round pick next year from the trade in question). Obviously that would not make them a better football team in the here and now, but it would continue to give them ammunition to do so when they felt matters were appropriate.

As far as the short-term is concerned, there is perhaps no pick that would make the two games Dallas will play against them even more difficult than if they were to land Texas running back Bijan Robinson. The level of efficiency associated with taking Robinson at 10 overall could certainly be debated, but there is no doubt that he would make their offense (which is already very good) better in their attempt to run it back.

What’s more is that the Eagles are likely to limit, or at least mitigate, the amount of damage that Jalen Hurts has taken in the ground game, and there is no player that could help alleviate the workload in the way that Robinson could. Again, this would be a bit of a tunnel vision pick, but it would be a very good one.

In terms of the long game, it would be frustrating to see Philadelphia continue to build on their offensive line that has served as the identity for the success that they have had over the last few years. Cornerstones like Jason Kelce and Lane Johnson are getting up there in age a bit so to see them maintain status quo would be a bummer.

New York Giants: Find a dynamic playmaker to add to Brian Daboll’s offense

Photo by Maddie Malhotra/Getty Images

For most of the last decade we have considered the two games that the Cowboys play against the New York Giants to be a bit of an afterthought. Sure they are divisional matchups, and there have been a few losses in there, but Dallas has owned New York as of late, particularly in the Dak Prescott era.

While the Cowboys swept the Giants yet again in 2022, even winning the first game without Prescott under center, there is no question that the G-Men have turned their ship around. Now it takes a while to fully flip 180 degrees but Brian Daboll accomplished a great deal in his first season with the team, particularly on the offensive side of the ball.

As has been well-chronicled, Daniel Jones and Saquon Barkley are both back, plus New York acquired tight end Darren Waller in a trade this offseason. If they were to add another dynamic pass-catcher to the fold, say someone like Boston College’s Zay Flowers, it would be yet another infinity stone for Daboll to add to his gauntlet.

Consider that the Giants hold the 25th overall pick which is just one slot ahead of Dallas’ first-round selection. Now imagine that someone like Flowers is falling and falling and falling, and you are allowing yourself to dream of the possibilities of him wearing the star only for a division rival to scoop him up.

It was reported on Wednesday that Giants running back Saquon Barkley does not plan on signing the franchise tag, so things are already getting sort of interesting.

Washington Commanders: Stumble into a franchise quarterback

Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images

This feels pretty chalk, but the obvious worst-case situation is if the Commanders find a franchise quarterback. They can say what they want to about Sam Howell, but that feels like a wish more than anything right now.

Washington is sitting at 16 in terms of their first-round pick which is outside of where the top signal-callers (Bryce Young, C.J. Stroud, Anthony Richardson and Will Levis) are expected to go. The most logical quarterback to connect the Commanders to given their draft position is Tennessee’s Hendon Hooker.

Hooker is coming off of a torn ACL which happened in November so his status for his rookie year is a bit of a question, and while he may be a bit older as a draftee, he still represents an idea of Washington finding stability at the most important position in the game and as Cowboys fans we never want to see that.

Of all scenarios listed here this one feels like the most improbable, but you never know when it comes to the draft.

Would any of these things concern you? Why or why not? Let us know in the comments down below.