PFF Draft Grade: A+

atlantacowboy

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DALLAS COWBOYS
Round 1 (17): WR CeeDee Lamb, Oklahoma
Round 2 (51): CB Trevon Diggs, Alabama
Round 3 (82): DI Neville Gallimore, Oklahoma
Round 4 (123): CB Reggie Robinson, Tulsa
Round 4 (146): IOL Tyler Biadasz, Wisconsin
Round 5 (179): Edge Bradlee Anae, Utah
Round 7 (231): QB Ben DiNucci, James Madison

Day 1: Dallas was one of the biggest winners of the first round, and it’s all because a few teams ahead of them made mistakes and handed them CeeDee Lamb at the 17th overall pick. Lamb was the sixth-best prospect on the PFF Big Board and is actually the third-best wide receiver prospect we have ever evaluated — behind only Amari Cooper and Jerry Jeudy. He’s a refined route-runner, has great ball skills and is lethal after the catch. Lamb is coming off a season in which he broke 26 tackles on 62 catches and averaged an incredible 11.0 yards after the catch per reception — both of which cracked the top five in the FBS.

Day 2: And the Cowboys’ steals didn’t stop with just Lamb — they continued to thrive on Day 2 with their 51st and 82nd overall picks.

“Cowboys are ripping the doorknob off this draft. Every pick they've made was much higher on the PFF Draft Board: 17 – CeeDee Lamb (PFF board: 6th), 51 – Trevon Diggs (31st), 82 – Neville Gallimore (51st).” – PFF Lead Draft Analyst Mike Renner on the Cowboys’ draft after Day 2

Trevon Diggs isn’t a fit for every scheme due to his athletic limitations, but he is the perfect fit for Dallas’ press-heavy scheme. In press this past year, Diggs allowed only nine catches on 33 targets while intercepting three and forcing seven incompletions.

There were a handful of interior defensive linemen taken over Gallimore who shouldn’t have been, and the Cowboys once again took advantage of others’ mistakes. Gallimore has incredible power and can be defined as a people-mover. There was some inconsistency with his performance in the pass-rush, but his power and burst is everything you could want at the position. If he can learn a few more moves, Gallimore will be an impact player.

Day 3: Dallas’ dream draft continued into Day 3 when they got two guys for great value in Tyler Biadasz (87th-best prospect on PFF Big Board) and Bradlee Anae (130th-best prospect on PFF Big Board). He’s one of the most accomplished run-blockers we’ve graded at PFF, with grades above 80.0 in all three years as a starter. The step back in pass protection this past season is concerning, though. He’ll have a chance to make an impact early with Travis Frederick’s retirement. As for Anae, he doesn’t have great athleticism for the position, but he has the skills that should have made him an earlier pick.

Draft Grade: A+
 

Verdict

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This might be the draft class that “rights the ship” and gets us back to the Super Bowl. We seem to have acquired a ton of talent in this draft.
 

aria

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I saw the PFFrankings earlier and between those, and other grades, I take them all with a grain of salt. The Giants got an A (think that’s about right) and the Eagles got an A- which is a bit whacked IMO.

I’ve seen lots of graded drafts that are quite far apart so it’s hard to take any of them seriously. Only time will tell. For the record, I do like this draft a lot but every year players don’t pan out like these analysts and fans thought, for better or worse. I remember getting absolutely hated on for being furious with the Taco pick the night of the draft, I remember a lot of people being upset with Dak (some still are). We’ll know more aboutthis draft over the next few years.
 

aria

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Well, we upgraded the talent......upgraded the coaching.......I guess we circle back to Jerry if this still doesn't work.
I would be careful on the upgrading the talent. IMO, we did in some areas but not in others. I’m not so sure a rookie CB is going to come in and shut down half the field like Byron did...but hey, if he gets a pick or two then I guess it makes it all worth it :rolleyes:

Edge is still a big ?. We lost our guy with the most sacks, the interior is also a big ?. LB’er, who knows how LVE will be or how long he’ll last and I don’t think anyone knows what the hell we’ll get from Smith. Zeke is a year older but more offensive weapons (Lamb)...rising tide lifts all boats type thing should help everyone on offense. Center still concerning, I like the pick a lot but there’s a reason he dropped as far as he did when he was once considered a first or high 2nd round grade and other centers went before him.

Not trying to be debbie downer but am trying to temper my expectations, I’ve fallen into this trap one too many times over the past 20+ years, most recently 2018. We also have to remember there are 31 other teams that hypothetically improved as well but I really like our chances to win the NFCE at a minimum this year. Washington and NY are still light years behind us talent wise although NY will be tougher than last year and who the hell knows what’s going on in Philthy.
 

Typhus

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This might be the draft class that “rights the ship” and gets us back to the Super Bowl. We seem to have acquired a ton of talent in this draft.
We made up some ground, that is a sure deal.
 

Stash

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This might be the draft class that “rights the ship” and gets us back to the Super Bowl. We seem to have acquired a ton of talent in this draft.

I agree.

And we now also have the coaching to maximize that player potential.

I also like how even after the draft was over, the team continued to press hard to add talent, specifically in areas where we thought they could use some additional options, like pass rusher.
 

Runwildboys

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Well, we upgraded the talent......upgraded the coaching.......I guess we circle back to Jerry if this still doesn't work.
I would be careful on the upgrading the talent. IMO, we did in some areas but not in others. I’m not so sure a rookie CB is going to come in and shut down half the field like Byron did...but hey, if he gets a pick or two then I guess it makes it all worth it :rolleyes:

Edge is still a big ?. We lost our guy with the most sacks, the interior is also a big ?. LB’er, who knows how LVE will be or how long he’ll last and I don’t think anyone knows what the hell we’ll get from Smith. Zeke is a year older but more offensive weapons (Lamb)...rising tide lifts all boats type thing should help everyone on offense. Center still concerning, I like the pick a lot but there’s a reason he dropped as far as he did when he was once considered a first or high 2nd round grade and other centers went before him.

Not trying to be debbie downer but am trying to temper my expectations, I’ve fallen into this trap one too many times over the past 20+ years, most recently 2018. We also have to remember there are 31 other teams that hypothetically improved as well but I really like our chances to win the NFCE at a minimum this year. Washington and NY are still light years behind us talent wise although NY will be tougher than last year and who the hell knows what’s going on in Philthy.
All good points, but I read that the reason Biadasz fell was because teams couldn't get a proper physical evaluation because of his shoulder surgery.
 

aria

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I haven't found a place that hasn't rated the Cowboys draft in the top three if not the top overall.

I'm sure they're out there, but yeah, the media approves as much as we do.
Plenty that are tied with us here.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap30...draft-final-quicksnap-grades-for-all-32-teams

This one has us well out of the top 3

https://www.usatoday.com/story/spor...s-packers-eagles-cowboys-dolphins/3026362001/

Don’t think Kiper put us in the top 3 either but no sure. These things are all opinion based and no one knows anything until a few years down the road. The 2017 NO Saints draft class was given luke warm ratings and is now considered one of the best, if not the best, in 20 years. Go figure.
 

aria

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All good points, but I read that the reason Biadasz fell was because teams couldn't get a proper physical evaluation because of his shoulder surgery.
Yeah, I think he fell that fa back 100% due to his shoulder injury. I love the pick, especially since it’s low risk picking him that far back, and think he could be a stud but until we can see how he does and hold up through an entire season injury free I wouldn’t call it an upgrade.
 

CowboysDrew

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Plenty that are tied with us here.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap30...draft-final-quicksnap-grades-for-all-32-teams

This one has us well out of the top 3

https://www.usatoday.com/story/spor...s-packers-eagles-cowboys-dolphins/3026362001/

Don’t think Kiper put us in the top 3 either but no sure. These things are all opinion based and no one knows anything until a few years down the road. The 2017 NO Saints draft class was given luke warm ratings and is now considered one of the best, if not the best, in 20 years. Go figure.

As I said, I'm sure there were a bunch out there that didn't put the Cowboys there.

But, as we all know, it's not the grade the day after that counts, it's the grade a few years down the line.

I like the Sunday accolades but I'm more interested in how it's going to actually work.
 

BoysfanfromCanada

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It was so good I had zero care what they took in 7th. They could have taken the 10th rated long snapper that Dane Brugler has never even heard of and I'd be as satisfied after a draft as I've been (not that 7s make or break drafts but still)
 

aria

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As I said, I'm sure there were a bunch out there that didn't put the Cowboys there.

But, as we all know, it's not the grade the day after that counts, it's the grade a few years down the line.

I like the Sunday accolades but I'm more interested in how it's going to actually work.
My bad, missed the “I’m sure they’re out there”. Not trying to rain on anyones parade, just giving examples of how much these “analysts” differ and are wrong a lot of the time. Completely agree that we won’t really know until down the line but it does look nice on paper.
 

atlantacowboy

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All good points, but I read that the reason Biadasz fell was because teams couldn't get a proper physical evaluation because of his shoulder surgery.

He won the Rimmington with a bad shoulder. He got the surgery and was unable to work out which is the only reason he was available with the last pick in round 4. He's the perfect buy low prospect. If he's healthy , he should start week 1 at center. Unlike the other guys who could play there for us, he's a natural center.
 

atlantacowboy

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I saw the PFFrankings earlier and between those, and other grades, I take them all with a grain of salt. The Giants got an A (think that’s about right) and the Eagles got an A- which is a bit whacked IMO.

I’ve seen lots of graded drafts that are quite far apart so it’s hard to take any of them seriously. Only time will tell. For the record, I do like this draft a lot but every year players don’t pan out like these analysts and fans thought, for better or worse. I remember getting absolutely hated on for being furious with the Taco pick the night of the draft, I remember a lot of people being upset with Dak (some still are). We’ll know more aboutthis draft over the next few years.

PFF grades are based on there draft board rankings vs where the player was drafted. Other sites attempt to answer the question about player/team fit.......which is real tough to do when your talking about a new coaching staff and new schemes.
 
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