Photo by John Smolek/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images Who would the Cowboys have drafted over the last decade if they listened to Mel Kiper and Daniel Jeremiah? We have the answers. ESPN’s Mel Kiper and NFL.com’s Daniel Jeremiah are two of the biggest names in the mock draft business and have been for years. So today we ask ourselves what would have happened if the Cowboys had followed the pair’s mock draft suggestions in the first round of the last 10 drafts, and how that compares to what the Cowboys actually did – something we’ve done intermittently here on Blogging The Boys over the last decade or so, albeit Daniel Jeremiah now takes the place of Todd McShay, who’s out of the mock draft business for now. In the mock draft world, there’s only one mock that ultimately counts: the final mock draft published before the actual draft. That doesn’t stop mock drafters from creating countless mocks before that final one, but most of those are entertainment for a long offseason. Which is why today we’ll only look at Kiper’s and Jeremiah’s final mock drafts from 2015 through 2024. Before we check out the two draft experts, here is a summary of the Cowboys’ first-round picks in the last 10 drafts, along with some metrics we’ll use to evaluate the picks. Year Player POS AllPro ProBowls StarterSeasons GamesStarted wAV 2015 Byron Jones S — 1 7 103 38 2016 Ezekiel Elliott RB 1 3 7 109 68 2017 Taco Charlton DE — — — 13 9 2018 Leighton Vander Esch LB — 1 5 65 35 2019 Pick traded for Amari Cooper 2020 CeeDee Lamb WR 1 4 5 76 57 2021 Micah Parsons DE 2 4 4 63 56 2022 Tyler Smith OG — 2 3 47 25 2023 Mazi Smith DT — — 1 20 9 2024 Tyler Guyton OT — — 1 11 4 Total 4 15 33 407 301 Why the cutoff at 10 years? Simply because it’s a nice round number. At 11 years, we’d have included Zack Martin, which would have made the Cowboys look a lot better. At 12 years, Travis Frederick would have been a strong add to the list, at 13 we’d have included Morris Claiborne, not a great look for the Cowboys. 14 years? Tyron Smith, plus-good. 15 years? Dez Bryant, double-plus-good. And that’s a bit of an issue for the Cowboys’ draft record. That five-year stretch between 2010 and 2014 outperforms the next 10 years in every single metric on the table above: 11 All-Pro seasons, 25 Pro Bowl seasons, 40 starter seasons, 602 games started, and a strong Weighted Career Approximate Value (wAV) of 340. Like many things in the Cowboys universe, the Cowboys’ draft record lives mostly on past glories, and I shudder to think what that record would look like had the team not lucked into Micah Parsons and CeeDee Lamb, or had gotten its hands on Paxton Lynch in 2016. Dallas is not the Pro Bowl factory it once was. Here’s how the Cowboys’ draft record over the last 10 years compares to the rest of the league in terms of wAV. First-round AV points by team, 2015-2024 Rank Team wAV Picks Rank Team wAV Picks Rank Team wAV Picks 1 BAL 433 13 12 DAL 301 9 23 ARI 231 10 2 LAC 371 11 13 NOR 299 12 24 PHI 229 10 3 CLE 365 10 14 ATL 292 11 25 CIN 219 10 4 JAX 359 13 15 WAS 289 11 T26 DEN 200 8 5 DET 354 12 16 TAM 284 9 T26 IND 200 7 6 NYJ 342 13 17 TEN 278 11 28 HOU 195 8 7 NYG 338 13 18 PIT 262 9 29 MIN 175 11 8 MIA 327 11 19 LVR 252 12 30 LAR 160 3 9 BUF 319 8 20 CHI 250 8 31 SEA 155 8 10 SFO 315 11 T21 KAN 246 7 32 NWE 152 8 11 CAR 305 10 T21 GNB 237 11 Overall, the table establishes that the Cowboys have been a middling drafting team over the last 10 years, ranking close to average with their first-round picks. Of course, the numbers would be better without Taco Charlton, but every team whiffs on a first-rounder at some point. And yes, had they not traded away their 2019 first-rounder, they’d probably also look better. But it is what it is. With that, let’s turn to Kiper and Jeremiah to see how their picks for the Cowboys hold up in this comparison. But before we do that, we have to recognize that this is not of course an apples-to-apples comparison. Kiper and McShay have to make assumptions about all the picks ahead of the Cowboys in their mock drafts, and then have to assign one of the remaining players to the Cowboys based on a first-round mock that is bound to be imperfect. We do not know which player each draftnik would have picked if he had been in charge of the Cowboys draft on draft night, and going back and following their draft-night commentary to figure out who they suggested when the Cowboys were on the clock is just not feasible. However, in some drafts, one or both draftniks have offered picks for the Cowboys where the players or positions selected were in the pre-draft favorites pool, so they at least partly reflect popular sentiment at the time. Mel Kiper Here are the players Mel Kiper had the Cowboys picking in his final mock drafts of each of the last 10 years: Year Player Pos AllPro ProBowls StarterSeasons GamesStarted wAV 2015 Preston Smith DE — — 9 138 55 2016 Ezekiel Elliott RB 1 3 7 109 68 2017 Marlon Humphrey CB 2 4 7 98 58 2018 Courtland Sutton WR — 1 6 82 30 2019 Pick traded for Amari Cooper 2020 Xavier McKinney S 1 1 4 63 31 2021 Patrick Surtain CB 2 3 4 65

Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images All the Dallas Cowboys news that’s fit to print. 2025 NFL free agency: Six franchises with the toughest tasks this offseason – Matt Okada, NFL.com The Cowboys have a lot of holes to fill, and not much suggesting they’ll be aggressive beyond the draft. After signing Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb to massive contract extensions last fall, the Cowboys got seven wins and another disappointing season out of it. Now they’re sitting roughly even on cap space, coming off their first losing record since 2020 and staring at a potential Micah Parsons extension that should make him the highest-paid defender in football. With the meteoric rise of Jayden Daniels and the Commanders, they’re also suddenly competing in a division featuring NFC runner-up Washington and the Super Bowl-champion Eagles. Meanwhile, defensive vets Demarcus Lawrence, Eric Kendricks, Jourdan Lewis and Osa Odighizuwa are all due to hit free agency this spring, as is offensive line mainstay Zack Martin (who could hang the cleats up for good). They’ve also struggled to find a reliable run game — missing out on the Derrick Henry sweepstakes last free agency period — or a secondary receiver behind Lamb, with Brandin Cooks also on the list of impending departures. With things as they are, it looks like there is a very tall task facing the front office and new head coach Brian Schottenheimer in 2025. 3 things the Dallas Cowboys must do to become Super Bowl contenders – Calvin Watkins, Dallas Morning News The Cowboys will have to deal with the defending champions in their division if they hope to at least get back to the playoffs in 2025. Find a playmaker Cooper Kupp and Deebo Samuel are on the trade market, but the resources needed to acquire one of them could be too steep for the Cowboys. But if you’re trying to win now, which is something Jerry Jones said last week from the Super Bowl, then swing for the fences here. The draft is another way to find a playmaker. Selecting a dynamic running back or a wide receiver in one of the first two rounds is ideal. Re-sign Odighizuwa Cowboys defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa had his best season, and it came in a contract year. The defensive tackle position has been a weakness the past few seasons for this franchise. Odighizuwa’s best came at the right time for him, but will it generate a new deal from Dallas? There are seven interior defensive linemen averaging $21 million per season. Odighizuwa should average less than that. Maybe he comes in at $10 million to $15 million per season. Is he worth it? Don’t let Jerry Jones fool you, the Dallas Cowboys could make this work – Shane Taylor, Inside The Star The Cowboys dependency on only using the draft to improve the roster is catching up to them, with no end in sight this offseason. Every offseason we listen to Jerry talk about how they don’t have the money and can’t spend and everything else, yet the Eagles have 8 guys playing on a contract that’s worth $50 million or more in total. Yes, you read that correctly. They have six guys making an average annual salary of $20 million or more, so keep this in mind the next time Jerry Jones comes out and says that the team is on a budget, don’t buy it. The other problem is just the way the Cowboys front office does stuff. They waited way to long to sign CeeDee Lamb and Dak Prescott last season, they never do these deals early enough and beat other teams to save some money. This team has over 20 pending free agents, and if we thought this season was bad, next year is going to be even worse. Only three other NFL teams have a longer shot than Dallas to win the Super Bowl in 2026. The Giants, Saints and Panthers. How embarrassing is that? The Eagles won a Super Bowl, tore it all the way down, went back to the Super Bowl TWICE and now have won it AGAIN! Cowboys expected to hire former Bills and Browns OC Ken Dorsey – Connor Livesay, Blogging The Boys Brian Schottenheimer has added even more experience to the offensive side of his coaching staff with Ken Dorsey. Dorsey, 43, has spent time as quarterbacks coach with the Carolina Panthers (2013-2017), Buffalo Bills (2019-2021), and was promoted to offensive coordinator for the Bills in 2022. Dorsey was fired mid-year in 2023, which was met with much criticism around the league. In his full season with the Bills, Dorsey led the Bills to the second-overall EPA/play and second-overall success rate. Dorsey’s role in Dallas is yet to be defined, but we can add him to the list as another coach who has had previous success who should help bolster the offensive coaching staff that has already received rave reviews. As it stands today, there has yet to be a quarterback’s coach named in Brian Schottenheimer’s staff, so that is a position to keep an eye on as things develop. 5 Most Important Moves Brian Schottenheimer Must Make in 1st Year as Cowboys Coach – Brad Gagnon, Bleacher Report For a team that seems hellbent on running the football again, who exactly will be carrying the rock next season is a mystery. Go Get a Running Back A great run-oriented playbook and a top-notch run-focused play-caller only gets you so far if your running backs lack talent. And with Tony Pollard gone and Ezekiel Elliott far beyond his prime, that was often the case as the Cowboys ranked 30th with 4.0 yards per carry while scoring a league-low six rushing touchdowns in 2024. Now, with Rico Dowdle hitting free agency, Schottenheimer has a chance to go out and land a back of his choosing. That could mean former Boise State star Ashton Jeanty in the first round of the draft, but a back that early is questionable when you have

Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports The Cowboys fill an important position coach opening on offense The Dallas Cowboys filled out the offensive side of their coaching staff on Monday, keeping continuity and the goal of getting the best football out of quarterback Dak Prescott in mind through the entire process. The decision as to who will actually be in the quarterbacks room with Prescott comes after Dallas already added former Carolina Panthers and Buffalo Bills quarterbacks coach Ken Dorsey as an analyst. Instead of Dorsey, it will be an internal promotion for current analyst Steve Shimko. Steve Shimko will become the Cowboys’ QBs coach, according to a source. He was an offensive assistant last year but replaces Scott Tolzien now. He worked with Brian Schottenheimer for two years in Seattle. He was the OC at Boston College in 2023. — Todd Archer (@toddarcher) February 11, 2025 Shimko replaces a carryover from Mike McCarthy’s staff who also worked his way up from offensive assistant to quarterbacks coach in Scott Tolzien. The former Packers QB was Prescott’s QB coach over the last two seasons. Clearly, the Cowboys value closeness and familiarity as things Prescott has highlighted as important himself, yet still allowed new head coach Brian Schottenheimer to have his say in promoting a coach with ties to his days in Seattle. In Schottenheimer’s first season as offensive coordinator for the Seahawks in 2018, Shimko was a first time NFL coach as an analyst. That Seahawks team went 10-6 and lost in the Wild Card round to the Cowboys, Prescott’s first career playoff victory. Shimko entered the ranks of professional football after lower level stops at Rutgers, Western Michigan, and JUCO Garden City, but did have a stop in the SEC at Georgia as a graduate assistant in 2015. Shimko served as assistant quarterbacks coach in his second season with the Seahawks, seeing the benefit of staying at a stop long enough to be promoted. Current Panthers head coach Dave Canales was the QB coach he worked under. Shimko returned to college after the 2019 season, and again stuck at Boston College long enough to go from tight ends coach to quarterbacks in 2022 and offensive coordinator/quarterback coach in 2023. Photo by Fred Kfoury III/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images The BC Eagles ranked top 15 in the country in rushing attempts and yards per game in 2023 with Shimko as OC and QB coach. His résumé checks all of the boxes of being a scheme and philosophy fit in what the Cowboys under Schottenheimer are looking to accomplish. The overall youth of the Cowboys new staff has been pointed out by many as a potential positive when it comes to not only introducing new ideas, but helping this team create a new culture and identity where everything is earned. The Cowboys must find ways to show any complacency that led to a 7-10 regression out of the playoffs is on its way out of The Star. Brian Schottenheimer’s first staff as head coach of the Cowboys has come together quickly, and for now shows a level of coherency on the football side of things this franchise has been lacking. As for how it will translate into on-field success, the best that can be said here is that all 32 fanbases are now playing the same waiting game Dallas is following the Eagles Super Bowl win.

Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images It would have been terrible if Micah Parsons had wound up with the Giants. Dallas Cowboys superstar Micah Parsons enjoyed the Super Bowl festivities in New Orleans, taking part in several interviews. Notably, he joined Bryant McFadden of CBS Sports, and name-dropped the division rival New York Giants. “They lied to me. People don’t know this. They told me if I fell to 11 that they was gonna pick me. That’s why I punish the Giants every time.” Parsons certainly has made a career punishing the Giants. He has 14 tackles and 4.5 sacks in eight career games against the team from New York. Most importantly, he is 8-0 against them to start his career. While there have been many decisions the Giants front office has made as of late that they likely regret, their 2021 NFL Draft was a disaster. The team traded back from their 11th pick with the Chicago Bears, who ultimately selected QB Justin Fields. New York drafted wide receiver Kadarius Toney, offensive tackle Evan Neal, cornerback Aaron Robinson, and tight end Daniel Bellinger with their picks acquired from the trade. Thank goodness the draft ended up as it did. Not only is Micah Parsons one of the few bright spots on this current Dallas Cowboys roster, but imagine if the offense had to go up against Parsons twice a season. Parsons is due for a potentially record-breaking contract extension in the near future. Through four seasons with the Cowboys he’s already accumulated 52.5 sacks, establishing himself as one of the best pass-rushers in the NFL. “[The Giants] lied to me… people don’t know this… they told me, if I fell to 11 that they was gonna pick me.” – Micah Parsons reveals why he PUNISHES the Giants with @BMac_SportsTalk pic.twitter.com/dgIXV7tQWy — NFL on CBS (@NFLonCBS) February 6, 2025

Photo by Joshua Bessex/Getty Images Ken Dorsey is expected to join the Cowboys coaching staff Before the hiring of Klayton Adams as the Dallas Cowboys offensive coordinator, Ken Dorsey was a name we also heard was in contention for the role. With the team deciding to go with the Arizona Cardinals offensive line coach as the team’s offensive coordinator, many thought Dorsey may be in line to take the quarterbacks coach job in Dallas if he did not get an offensive coordinator job somewhere else. It was reported today by Mike Garafolo that Dallas wants to hire Ken Dorsey, but the role has yet to be finalized. The #Cowboys are working to hire former #Bills and #Browns offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey, sources tell me and @RapSheet. Not done yet and the role is being finalized but Dorsey is expected to join Brian Schottenheimer’s coaching staff soon. pic.twitter.com/wtqBT2Gogu — Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) February 10, 2025 Dorsey, 43, has spent time as quarterbacks coach with the Carolina Panthers (2013-2017), Buffalo Bills (2019-2021), and was promoted to offensive coordinator for the Bills in 2022. Dorsey was fired mid-year in 2023, which was met with much criticism around the league. In his full season with the Bills, Dorsey led the Bills to the second-overall EPA/play and second-overall success rate. Dorsey’s role in Dallas is yet to be defined, but we can add him to the list as another coach who has had previous success who should help bolster the offensive coaching staff that has already received rave reviews. As it stands today, there has yet to be a quarterback’s coach named in Brian Schottenheimer’s staff, so that is a position to keep an eye on as things develop.

Photo by John Rivera/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images The 2024 Cowboys rookies got more playing time than you might have expected. In early May last year, about two weeks after the draft, we published an article titled “Why the Cowboys’ 2024 rookie class could see more playing time than most recent rookie classes.” At the time, as the author, I wondered if the 2024 draft class could “yield four eventual starters,” even if the 2024 class might not have the star power of some successful previous draft classes. The projection at the time was for the 2024 rookie class to account for 13.6% of total snaps. In reality, the draft class came in with 12.9% of all snaps, which isn’t very far off the initial projection. Unfortunately, this was not from being blessed with the gift of prophecy or having access to some nifty algorithm. Instead, a promising draft class got extended playing time when the Cowboys decided not to acquire or retain free agents to fill key roster holes, and subsequent injuries to veteran players forced the team to play the rookies more than they might have in a normal season. There are many different ways of evaluating the impact, success, and quality of a rookie class, though most of them in some form or another revolve around early impact and the number of starters drafted. In any rookie class, you’re looking for immediate contribution from your early picks, and perhaps hoping for some additional contribution from your late-round picks. In the medium term, it’s widely held that a good draft class yields two solid starters, even if they are not necessarily expected to be starters in their first season. For our purposes today, we’ll use the 2024 rookie class snap count to evaluate their first-year contribution and to compare this class to previous rookie classes. 2024 Rookie Class POS Name Total Snaps Drafted OT Tyler Guyton 670 1st DE Marshawn Kneeland 256 2nd OC Cooper Beebe 1,061 3rd LB Marist Liufau 521 3rd CB Caelen Carson 252 5th WR Ryan Flournoy 156 6th OT Nathan Thomas 0 7th DT Justin Rogers 0 7th TE Brevyn Spann-Ford 305 UDFA Rookie totals 3,221 In % of team total 12.9% The Cowboys got at least two (Tyler Guyton, Cooper Beebe), maybe three (Marshawn Kneeland), and possibly four (Marist Liufau) starters out of this draft class. That’s a success any way you look at it, no matter the injury situation. So how do the snap counts above compare to those of previous rookie classes? The title of this post already gave it away, the snap counts for the 2024 rookie are the second most since 2017. Here are the Cowboys rookie class snap percentages since 2007: ’07 ’08 ’09 ’10 ’11 ’12 ’13 ’14 ’15 ’16 ’17 ’18 ’19 ’20 ’21 ’22 ’23 ’24 Rookie snaps in % 3.8% 6.7% 1.5% 6.9% 8.5% 6.5% 15.3% 9.5% 10.0% 13.5% 10.6% 10.2% 2.4% 14.0% 9.7% 12.5% 5.2% 12.9% For this analysis, let’s assume that adding the equivalent of two starters (or 9.0% of all snaps) to the roster is a good target for a rookie class. By that measure the data here suggests the Cowboys had some really bad draft classes between 2007-2012, but things started looking up in 2013, and have been mostly green since Will McClay took over the Cowboys drafts in 2014, the occasional glitch (2019 & 2023) notwithstanding. The 2024 draft class is the third best in McClay’s 11-year tenure (as measured by snap count contribution), but it takes more than a strong rookie season to determine the value of a draft class. Three years (and sometimes even more) is the standard often used to fully evaluate a rookie class. Which is why we’re now going to look at how the snap percentages of each season’s rookie class have progressed over the years. The snap data I have available only goes back to 2007, so no snap numbers for the rookie seasons of rookie classes prior to 2007. But we do have the second year of the 2006 class and the third year of the 2005 class, which is about as far back as we want to go anyway. What this shows is how different rookie classes perform in terms of snap percentage in each of their first five years in the league, which is summarized in the table below. To make the table easier to read, it is color-coded as follows: Blue = 3 or more starters (>13.5% of all snaps) Green = 2-3 starters (9.0%-13.5%) Yellow = 1-2 starters (4.5%-9.0%) Red = less than 1 starter (<4.5%) Class Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 2005 – – – – 16.9% 16.3% 11.7% 2006 – – 8.8% 3.6% 7.7% 7.6% 2007 3.8% 7.1% 9.3% 13.0% 10.8% 2008 6.7% 10.9% 11.9% 9.4% 4.6% 2009 1.5% 0.9% 3.6% 4.6% 0.0% 2010 6.9% 14.2% 11.7% 11.3% 7.9% 2011 8.5% 10.9% 11.6% 10.9% 4.5% 2012 6.5% 11.5% 12.5% 11.7% 11.3% 2013 15.3% 14.8% 14.1% 11.9% 11.3% 2014 9.5% 12.8% 9.0% 10.3% 7.0% 2015 10.0% 10.8% 14.2% 15.4% 7.8% 2016 13.5% 17.2% 19.3% 16.8% 11.0% 2017 10.6% 13.4% 12.3% 10.0% 5.3% 2018 12.1% 10.4% 16.7% 16.1% 11.3% 2019 2.4% 10.5% 5.4% 10.2% 6.4% 2020 14.0% 16.7% 18.0% 16.1% 13.3% 2021 9.7% 11.0% 7.7% 10.2% – – 2022 12.5% 21.9% 14.5% – – – – 2023 5.2% 12.2% – – – – – – 2024 12.9% – – – – – – – – Red <= 1 starter, Yellow = 1-2 starters, Green = 2-3 starters, Blue = >3 starters The first thing you may notice as you scan the colors is that rookie season snap counts fluctuate wildly. We see the pre-McClay sea of yellow and red from 2007-2012, and then things start to solidify from 2013 onward, with two glaring exceptions in 2019 and 2023. You may also notice a similar fluctuation in year five. The fifth-year drop in playing time contribution is largely due to the way

Photo by Michael Allio/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images Another home run hire for Brian Schottenheimer The Dallas Cowboys are still working hard to round out their inaugural coaching staff under Brian Schottenheimer. Just a few hours before the Super Bowl kicked off, news broke that the team was hiring Oregon co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach Junior Adams to coach the receivers in Dallas. The Cowboys are expected to sign Oregon co-offensive coordinator/WRs coach Junior Adams as their new WRs coach, according to a source. Second college coach to join staff with K-State’s Conor Riley coming on board as OL coach. — Todd Archer (@toddarcher) February 9, 2025 Adams comes to the Cowboys after three seasons working with the Ducks. This will be his first NFL coaching job, but the longtime college coach has been viewed by many as a rising star for quite some time. The California native originally played wide receiver for Oregon State before transferring to Montana State. Shortly after graduating, Adams was hired as the wide receivers coach at his alma mater. After three seasons there, he spent one season at the high school level with a program familiar to the Cowboys: Prosser High School in Washington. The head coach at the time was Tom Moore, and the team was led by the coach’s son, Kellen Moore. Adams left Prosser after one year for another one-year stint at Chattanooga before heading back to the Pacific Northwest to coach receivers for FCS powerhouse Eastern Washington. While there, Adams played an integral role in the rapid ascension of Cooper Kupp, who recently shared that the Rams will be seeking to trade him this offseason. In part because of Kupp’s stardom, which led to him being the second-highest drafted player in Eastern Washington history, Adams was hired by Boise State. While there, he coached former Cowboy Cedrick Wilson Jr., among others. After three seasons, Boise State’s offensive coordinator – Mike Sanford Jr. – was named the head coach at Western Kentucky, and he brought Adams along as his offensive coordinator. Adams was tasked with calling plays the first year, but Sanford took over after going 6-7 in the first year. That proved to be a mistake, as the Hilltoppers won just three games the next year and Sanford (along with Adams) was fired. Adams then landed with the Washington Huskies as the receivers coach under head coach Chris Petersen. A year later, he was retained when defensive coordinator Jimmy Lake was promoted to head coach following Petersen’s retirement. While there, Adams worked with a handful of young receivers who went on to have strong college careers, though the three biggest names are Puka Nacua, Jalen McMillan, and Rome Odunze. Adams got another chance to call plays, being named the interim offensive coordinator in 2021 for the final three games of the year. Washington lost all three, and the offensive problems that led to the coordinator’s firing were not magically solved by Adams. Still, his strong reputation for recruiting and development landed him the co-offensive coordinator position at Oregon under Dan Lanning. Since coming to Eugene, Adams has finished in the top 10 in his conference in recruiter rankings each year, and his work in 2024 led Adams to being ranked the fifth best recruiter in the entire nation. Adams has also continued his trend of developing players. Troy Franklin and Chase Cota are in the NFL now, while Tez Johnson and Evan Stewart are bound for the league as well. While Adams did not get promoted to play-caller when Kenny Dillingham left for the Arizona State head job, he’s remained a key part of the game-planning process under current coordinator Will Stein, who is being eyed for the same role at Ohio State. Adams’ career trajectory has encountered a few setbacks, and it seems as if calling plays is not his forte at this time. Still, his energetic personality has been a boon for him on the recruiting trail, and Adams has been one of the best talent developers of the last decade, with five different receivers going on to become starters in the NFL. That is exactly what the Cowboys need in their receiver room right now. Outside of CeeDee Lamb, the Cowboys have a lot of young and unproven names in their receiving corps. Jalen Tolbert took a step forward this year, but still hasn’t proven himself to be a viable starting option. Meanwhile, the likes of Jonathan Mingo, Jalen Brooks, and Ryan Flournoy all have a lot of work to do at this stage in their careers. That Adams also has some level of experience in crafting an offensive game plan makes this hire even more exciting. He can instantly fit in as a valuable piece of the coaching staff, supporting Schottenheimer as the play-caller while also helping the receiving corps reach the next level.