When the Cowboys finally go back on the clock on Saturday, assuming they don’t trade up into the fourth round, they will have seven picks over the final three rounds.
Since the NFL reduced the draft to just seven rounds, the most picks Dallas has ever had on the final day was 10 back in 2009. That same year, the Cowboys did not have a first or second round pick.
The first-round pick went to the Lions in the ill-fated move that brought wide receiver Roy Williams to the team.
They traded out of the second round to the Bills for an additional third and fourth round pick that year.
This year’s seven picks will be the most Saturday picks they have had since the 2014 Draft. On that day, they had five picks in the seventh round.
In 2014, Dallas picked linebacker Anthony Hitchens in the fourth round and got solid years from him before he finished his career with a four-year stint in Kansas City.
Of the other six picks, however, two never played a single down of NFL football. Seventh-rounders Ken Bishop played in seven games and Ahmad Dixon appeared in just 11.
Fifth-rounder Devin Street saw 36 games in three years, 31 over a two-year run with the Cowboys, but did not make much of an impact.
Terrance Mitchell, also a seventh-round pick, played eight years in the NFL – with six different teams. He appeared in three games for the Cowboys in 2015 and recorded one interception and 12 tackles.
If not for drafting Zack Martin in the first round and DeMarcus Lawrence in the second in addition to Hitchens, the 2014 Draft might have gone down as one of Dallas’ worst ever.
Clearly, this Saturday, Dallas needs to do much better in the later rounds than that.
Late Round Gems
There is value to be found in the final four rounds and immediate starters will be there too.
The Cowboys just have to do their homework, and stay disciplined. That means no more feel-good picks, such as Deuce Vaughn in the sixth round of the 2023 Draft, for one example.
And no more reaches for Arkansas players because Jerry Jones has a soft spot for his Alma mater.
Felix Jones in 2008 and John Ridgeway in 2022 were players either picked too early, or shouldn’t have been picked at all.
Dallas has hit on some good players on Saturdays past. Both Caelen Carson (5th-2024) and Asim Richards (5th-2023) could be starters in the very near future.
Jake Ferguson (4th), DaRon Bland (5th), and Damone Clark (5th) have been very productive since being drafted on Saturday in 2022.
Tyler Biadasz (4th-2020), Tony Pollard (4th-2019), Donovan Wilson (6th-2019), Dalton Schultz (4th-2018), Cedric Wilson (6th-2018), and Dak Prescott (4th-2016) are all prime examples in just the last decade of late round value.
Near-Perfect Saturday Needed
Coming off a dismal 7-10 season last year, having lost many key players in free agency, and despite some trades and minor signings, Dallas still has many holes to fill.
With only three picks in the first four rounds, there will be enough holes left to fill when they go on the clock again on Saturday. They need to make all seven picks count.
The trade of a fifth-round pick for Joe Milton solved the need for a back-up quarterback who has started an NFL game.
He also checked off the need to draft a long-term prospect to eventually replace Prescott at quarterback.
The Cowboys war room needs to have its top seven areas of need listed with blank spaces next to each position.
By the time they make their final pick on Saturday, that sheet must be filled. More importantly, it must be filled with solid players.
The Cowboys cannot afford to have a repeat of the 2014 Draft.
Even if they nail the first three picks, a repeat performance of 2014 would result in five wasted picks. With the current state of the Cowboys’ roster, that would be a disaster.
We’re talking Titanic/Hindenburg-level disaster at that.
In the NFL, those kinds of disasters usually lead to the No. 1 pick in the next year’s Draft.
Looking Ahead To This Weekend
I will be posting during the NFL Draft on Thursday night.
Once the first eight picks are made, I’ll drop a post with my reactions to each pick, how my mock draft had the picks, as well as what it means for the Cowboys and the respective teams.
I’ll do the same for the next eight picks, and the next eight, and then again for the final eight of the first round. This will be in addition to our official post on the Cowboys’ pick at 12 as well as other reaction posts from our staff.
On Friday, other staff writers will cover each of the two Cowboys’ picks of the day individually. Later that night, I’ll drop a reaction post, comparing the picks to my mock draft, as well as what it means for the Cowboys and the NFC East.
The same will go for Saturday.
We invite all of our readers to join us throughout the day as we track the NFL Draft. Please drop your comments as we go.