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The Good, the Bad, and the Draft

The Good:

1. Late Round Home Run: There may be a fair amount of frustration or disappointment with things done in this draft, but given where he was picked up in the draft... Duece Vaughn was a great pick. He may not have the size that some may want, but he's done a lot with regard to production at Kansas State, and in some ways had put himself in a better position than some of those put above him on most draft boards. Note on where The Big 12's top returning running backs ranked by production places Vaughn going into the 2022 college season... AHEAD of Bijan Robinson, who many, myself included, wanted. That says a lot about Vaughn and where his lack of size may not be the problem may think it will be.

It also then provides for a bunch of options for the team for the coming season. He could spot Pollard for certain runs and still bring explosive speed that would enable us to still run to the outside, even when Pollard isn't on the field. And at other times, he could also be put in as the slot receiver and force defenses to worry about either Pollard running the ball or Vaughn catching the ball in space and going. That can do a lot for the offense.

2. Filling Needs: Dallas did reasonably well in free agency in either making trades or finding free agents that could improve their overall position... They had draft needs, and with what was done in free agency, many of those needs weren't something that was desperately needed for the 2023 season. Many of them were needs more for depth than for immediate team requirements and in this, Dallas was well placed to fill those needs in the draft, and in pure theory they did do that.

Mazi Smith will bring some needed strength on the interior part of the defense to fill the biggest need Dallas has had, and possibly one of the few areas where the team has had a need that would be an immediate demand that we in theory don't already have someone who could theoretically fill that spot before the draft. Together with Hankins being resigned, Smith will improve our rush defense.

Most of the rest of those picked up in the draft can and will fill those depth needs... Vaughn at RB, Schoonmaker at TE, Richards on the line and Overshown at LB... and at their most simplistic level, that's all "good."

3. Working Within Dallas' Defensive System: This would primarily relate to bringing in Mazi Smith and DeMarvion Overshown. Both can be good to great players, and Overshown can provide a fair amount of flexibility for Dallas with regard to where he plays. He was drafted to provide some depth at linebacker, but if need be, he could also play safety if someone there gets hurt. That's something that will help the defense out as well. And at linebacker, he's been good at moving sideline to sideline, thus addressing the threats coming from attempts to run to the outside or quick passes to the outside. Those are all things that Overshown can do well.

However, he is weaker against downhill runs, which has lead to some missed tackles... which may provide for some worries about his presence. That could provide for some worry, as it would also mean that Overshown is going to be something of a project for Dan Quinn's defense. But, with Smith picked up in the first round, there could be some reason to think that project could work. For Smith, if he can match what he produced at Michigan, should be able to stall and curtail the downhill runs that Overshown has been weak against, and force teams to try and run to the outside... which would allow for Overshown's speed to have some success.

The Bad:

General Draft Strategy: Filling holes the team needs is always good, but if the way one goes about it is flawed, that can present troubles... and that is the way much of the Dallas draft process has gone this "draft season." For coming into the offseason, the front page here at Blogging the Boys provided an identification of what Dallas' needs were in the draft...

Cowboys needs:

OG/OL: The Cowboys lost Connor McGovern, last year’s starter, and have yet to really replace him in the lineup. Tyler Smith could be the guy if they wanted, but they might prefer him at tackle, especially given Tyron Smith’s injury history, and Terence Steele’s injury recovery.

TE: Dalton Schultz has moved on. The team has some options in Jake Ferguson and Peyton Hendershot, but Dallas may want more firepower and a possible starter.

RB: Dallas begins life without Ezekiel Elliott (unless they re-sign him). With Tony Pollard as RB1, the Cowboys could use a complement, especially with Pollard on a one-year deal.

WR: The team brought in Brandin Cooks giving them a solid top three, but depth is an issue. It hurt them last year, they will want to reinforce the position for 2023.

LB: With Micah Parsons spending the majority of his time as a lineman, the depth here is really thin. They will definitely draft one at some point.

CB: You can never have enough, and Stephon Gilmore may be only here for a year. They need to make a move to fortify depth and look to the future.

2023 Draft Results - Blogging the Boys

And note that all the "needs" are crossed off. That is in theory good, but when looking at things in detail, that's where a lot of problems come into play. For not all needs are the same. And this only further raises questions on why or how certain decisions were made in the draft. And a lot of this particularly relates to the decision to go after Luke Schoonmaker in the second round...

Yes, TE was a "need," and in pure theory there isn't anything necessarily wrong with going for a TE there. But, I'd argue that the need on the OL was BIGGER than at TE, which would mean that if the team were to go with a TE... it'd need to be a home run of a pick... which Schoonmaker is not. Even the Blogging the Boys article on his selection indicated that he would likely be more useful as a blocking TE rather than as a receiver... and that has value in the running game. But if he's to be used more to block, he's not going to see the field as much as the TEs we already have. Now, someone may say he has nice hands... and perhaps that's true, but so far as needs go... and given the sort of offense that Michigan ran, that's not going to be indicative of Schoonmaker being a real receiving threat... Could he develop that way, maybe, but it's still a case of bringing in a blocking TE to play a receiving TE role while ignoring players that would fill other needs that could be bigger than TE.

And one of those needs would be there at the OL, particularly when considering that Tyron Smith is older and getting injury prone and Zach Martin is older and not in his prime anymore. If Tyron Smith can stay healthy all season, the team could have him at LT and move Tyler Smith to LG, as had been the plan last season... But that would still be playing a game of "kick the can" and gambling that Tyron Smith can stay healthy, which really hasn't happened. And with Steele recovering from an injury, that adds additional needs at OL that would be bigger than TE. And this was where one could argue that the draft class at OL was rather thin and there weren't that many high quality O-linemen there... and in pure theory, Chuma Edoga could also step up and play well... but even Edoga's had injury concerns as well, which has left the OL as a bigger need than TE. And while a lot of the top tier linemen in the draft went quickly, there was one who was available in the second round and we didn't have to trade up for him... O'Cyrus Torrence. He may not have been the best pass blocker, but he wasn't bad there and was great at run blocking... and he was available in the second round.

And yet, Dallas passed on him for Schoonmaker, who wasn't even the best TE available at that point in the draft... and likely is going to be used more as a blocker than as a receiver in the coming year. Now, ultimately Dallas would fill the need for an O-lineman in Asim Richards in the 5th round... but much like Overshown, Richards is going to be a bit of a project. For note:

Overall, Richards is a powerfully built, durable blocker with very good length, lower half strength and vice grips for hands that make him an obstacle to work around or through. Richards has mediocre quickness but is nimble enough on his feet to compete for a swing backup role at tackle or guard with starting potential within his first contract if he lands in the right situation. -

Asim Richards Souting Report - Bleacher Report

"Capable backup with starting potential" is not something you want to see when you're drafting your likely starting LG in the 5th round, when taking Tyron Smith and Edoga's injury histories into account. Particularly when we could have taken Torrence in the second and had someone who would easily be the starter at guard and wouldn't need as much work to be ready for the NFL.

And yet... the draft strategy put a lot more importance on a blocking TE, who as such probably will end up 3rd on our depth chart in the second round. And it's not as though that, in and of itself, would have been bad... but if that's what was wanted at TE, that could have waited till the 3rd or 4th round. Even if it meant missing out on Overshown. And if one wants to go for a different player in that spot than an offensive lineman... than go for a bigger player than Schoonmaker. We could have gotten Drew Sanders in the second round, who arguably would have been a better LB than Overshown and would have also been a competitor for a starting role on defense with Vander-Esch. But, instead, we went for Schoonmaker.

All of which shows a rather bad strategy on the part of the team. It's not going to mean that every player drafted is bad... as even Schoonmaker could have his own individual upsides, and Mazi Smith and Deuce Vaughn are great picks, but it doesn't fill every hole and could leave a lot of things open for criticism.

The Draft:

Thus, as the draft ends... Dallas now enters the second set of free agency and looking at having many of the same issues that they had just before the draft. The run defense should be set, as Mazi Smith will do a lot to fix that... and Deuce Vaughn could provide a lot on offense. But outside of those two picks... that's where the bad general draft strategy outweighs the good that came out of this draft. And there was some good with Mazi Smith and Deuce Vaughn...

But Schoonmaker isn't the TE that was needed, and we picked him over a OL that could have started for us. Overshown could be good with our system on defense, particularly with Smith taken in the first round, but he's still going to be a project player that will take a year or two to develop. Vilami Fehoko Jr, Eric Scott Jr, and Jalen Brooks are all at best going to be backups... and it's probably questionable that Jalen Brooks even makes the team, as Deuce Vaughn could do well at WR if the team decides not to use him at RB. Now, some of this may be acceptable as these guys were all late round picks, and had Schoonmaker not been the second round pick, I'd even argue that would be acceptable, when looking at Mazi Smith anchoring the defensive front and Deuce Vaughn being a late round great pick... but the strategy went for a TE that is likely only going to be there to block, and who we could have gotten a comparable TE later to provide the same role.

Thus, why all the good parts of this year's draft were largely taken down by one bad part.

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