It’s pretty rare for a player to be the first round pick of the Dallas Cowboys, and yet still arguably just the fourth most talked about player from his own draft class.
In a sense, this is exactly what defensive end Taco Charlton is.
The 28th overall selection of the 2017 NFL Draft was a controversial one, with most of Cowboys Nation wishing for a different pass rusher in that spot, or wishing for a different position all together.
Charlton has flown almost completely under the radar over the past few months, even as his fellow defensive linemen fail to exactly steal the show.
And overall, I get it. Personally, I wanted the Cowboys to look elsewhere at players like Tyus Bowser, Takkarist McKinley, and Kevin King. Charlton may end up being a fine player, but I just never believed his ceiling was as high as some of those other rushers. Though, some may argue Charlton is the “safest” pick of the rushers which remained at the end of round one.
I do, however, think there is reason to be excited about the Cowboys newest defensive end.
Taco Charlton is a long and strong defensive end, the type which Rod Marinelli and Jason Garrett seem to covet. While it is possible he will never be the explosive right defensive end the fans were clamoring for, it is also very possible he will be a solid starter on the defensive line.
And everyone would agree the Cowboys could use solid, starting caliber players on that weaker defensive line.
Too often I think we focus on what Taco Charlton “can’t” do. He “can’t” be as explosive or bendy as McKinley or TJ Watt. He “can’t” fill the Cowboys dire RDE hole.
Let’s talk about what he can do, though.
Charlton already has the build to play at this professional level, and has shown the ability to win with the spin move (a nice counter) at times. He can play effectively against bigger offensive tackles, and he did have productive seasons against some of college football’s best talent.
Maybe Taco Charlton just needs a great coach to unlock all of his abilities and help him reach that next gear. If this is the case, we can all agree Rod Marinelli should be that coach.
So let’s talk about what Taco can do for a change, as we continue to get excited over the beginning of the Cowboys 2017 preseason being just weeks ago.
It’s likely we won’t see year one returns from Taco like the Chargers saw from Bosa, but Bosa was an outlier. It isn’t typical for rookie rushers to have that kind of success year one.
What would be a success for Taco year one is 3-5 sacks and being able to play in all situations.
I think Sean has pointed out rightly that he could be a very good left defensive end for the team.
My hope is that Damantre Moore is the answer at right defensive end. He seems to have the ability and the pedigree, just needs the maturity and the playing time to go with it. If Moore can be the speed rush guy on the right side it would allow Taco to play the left side and then allow Tyrone Crawford to move back inside to 3-tech where he could rush the passer from his best position on passing downs.
Taco will be a fixture for the Cowboys in the way Too Tall Jones and Tony Tolbert was @ LDE for the Cowboys