The Cowboys need to get back to hitting home runs in the draft.
The word “frustrating” has been used now more than ever to describe the Dallas Cowboys. Whether it has been through the Cowboys coaching search trying to replace Mike McCarthy, their lack of aggressiveness in free agency and the trade market, the way they have handled recent contract negotiations, or their performances in the playoffs, Cowboys fans are becoming quite familiar with being frustrated.
One of the reasons they were as bad as they were in 2024 and their inability to get over the hump in the playoffs is because they simply have not drafted well over the last three-to-four years.
NFC East rival and Super Bowl-contender, the Philadelphia Eagles, are coming off a year in which they added multiple Rookie of the Year candidates in Cooper DeJean and Quinyon Mitchell. In 2023, they added Jalen Carter and Nolan Smith. In 2022, they added Jordan Davis, Cam Jurgens, and Nakobe Dean to the fold and all those additions are key reasons they are competing for the NFC Championship this weekend.
In their first year under new ownership, the Washington Commanders built a playoff contending team quickly adding Jayden Daniels, Jer’Zhan Newton, Mike Sainristil, and Brandon Coleman, all key pieces to the Commanders and their ability to reach the NFC Championship game.
Photo by Sam Hodde/Getty Images
For the Cowboys, they have struggled to add true-difference makers through the draft in recent years. Out of the 2024 draft, Cooper Beebe is the only player that played at an acceptable level. In 2023, DeMarvion Overshown is the only player drafted who has showed signs of being a true difference-maker, but after yet another devastating knee injury, the Cowboys would be wise to plan to be without Overshown for the foreseeable future. In 2022, Dallas did hit home runs with Tyler Smith and DaRon Bland, and Jake Ferguson has potential, but the rest of their 2022 draft class, who will be heading into the last year of their rookie deal in 2025, have left a lot to be desired.
That more than anything is the key difference between the Eagles and the Commanders who have absolutely crushed their recent drafts, all while adding difference-makers in free agency over the last few offseasons. By now, Cowboy fans should not expect the team to make splashes in free agency, but with their inability to add multiple difference-makers in the last few drafts, it leaves them behind the eight ball in terms of roster building with the rest of their NFC rivals.
Looking at it a bit deeper, the Los Angeles Rams, a team Stephen Jones has criticized on their team building strategy, has been a much better drafting team over the three-to-four year stretch we are talking about. The Rams have added Jared Verse, Braden Fiske, Kamren Kinchens, Beaux Limmer, Steve Avilla, Byron Young, Kobie Turner, Puka Nacua, Kyren Williams, and Cobie Durant, over the last three drafts, to continue to build a competitive roster after going “all-in” for their Super Bowl victory in 2021-2022.
The Detroit Lions, a Super Bowl favorite over the last two years, have built their roster heavily through the draft, adding Terrion Arnold, Jahmyr Gibbs, Jack Campbell, Sam LaPorta, Brian Branch, Aidan Hutchinson, Jameson Williams, and Kerby Joseph through the last three drafts.
The Cowboys playoff hopes live and die with how they do in the NFL Draft, and over the last three years they have added just four difference-makers, while their NFC rivals having much better luck building their team through the draft, while also using other resources to add talent. With uncertainty surrounding who will coach the team in 2025 and beyond, one thing is for certain, and that is for this team to get back to its winning ways they need to crush the 2025 NFL Draft.
It has been quite a while since they have done so, but it is likely now-or-never for this team’s chances of making a playoff push.
