NFL names Cowboys’ Cooper Beebe among 10 most overlooked rookies

Cooper Beebe has been identified as a budding all star for the Cowboys in 2024, finds @ReidDHanson

NFL.com scout and occasional Cowboys contributor, Bucky Brooks, knows a thing or two about college players transitioning to the NFL. The former player turned writer and scout, makes a living breaking down film while explaining and projecting player performance. He’s a draft expert and someone many people turn to for informed and insightful takes.

While looking through a list of NFL rookies hoping to make splash in their first season in the league, Brooks named a Cowboys rookie as one of 10 overlooked rookies who have “showed serious flashes” this preseason. The player he mentioned was aspiring starter, Cooper Beebe.

The Cowboys took a gamble when they selected Beebe in the third round of the 2024 NFL draft. It’s not that the Kansas State guard was a poor prospect because he was actually very well regarded in the draft community. Dane Bruglar at The Athletic even slotted him in as the No. 3 guard in the class rating as his 38th ranked prospect in the draft. What made Beebe a gamble was role the Cowboys were going to ask him to play.

Drafted as a center, Dallas wanted Beebe to play a position he wasn’t acquainted with in the past. In his 48 collegiate starts, Beebe played at left tackle, right tackle and left guard, but never center. The Cowboys strategy was a rebuttal for what scouts perceived to be Beebe’s biggest weakness, arm length.

For as much as Brugler liked Beebe as an NFL prospect he did admit his 31.5-inch arms could be a dealbreaker for some team scouts. Interestingly enough, the Cowboys are one of those teams who value arm length to an extremely high degree. They just found a way to work around the issue.

At center arm length isn’t as much of a factor as it is at other spots along the line. Center is often seen as an extra blocker who either takes part in a double-team, picks up blitzes, or slices the defense in half getting up to the second level. They aren’t susceptible to long-armed defensive lineman like the other linemen are.

The reason all dominant short-armed guards don’t make the transition to center is because the center position is challenging in its own way. NFL centers are required to be one of the smartest players on the field.

Based on previous Wonderlic scores, center ranks as the second highest scored position in the NFL. The Wonderlic test, designed to measure a number of items up to and including intelligence, has been widely used in the NFL for years. Center falls just one point behind offensive tackle and one point ahead of quarterback in average scores. Tasked with recognizing defenses and calling blocking assignments, center plays a vital role in both phases of the offense. It’s why many (this writer included) thought Beebe might struggle as a rookie and Brock Hoffman could possibly start.

Low and behold, when the pads came on and the contact was real, the cream rose to the top and Beebe, not Hoffman, stood out as the man to beat.

“Obviously, once you get in a game it’s easier,” Beebe said. “The playbook shortens down and it gets easier, but I think I’ve been doing well. There are some weird looks here and there that I’ve got to continue working on but, overall, I think I’m doing pretty well.”

Brooks at NFL.com sure thinks so.

He saw Beebe flash signs of dominance saying, “the rookie has shown impressive skills controlling the point of attack from the pivot.” Brooks even doubled down saying that playing between Zack Martin and Tyler Smith, Beebe could play like an all-star as a rookie. For as bold at that is to say about a third-round rookie, it’s hard to find a Cowboys fan or media member who disagrees.

It’s hard to tell where the 2024 season will take the Cowboys, but most believe the success of the team hinges on the Cowboys’ ability to replace two-fifths of their offensive line with a pair of rookies who came into the summer with major question marks. By all accounts Tyler Guyton at LT and Beebe at center have answered those questions by exceeding all immediate expectations.

The Cowboys organization was hoping for it, Cowboys fans were seeing it and now the national media is predicting it. Beebe is going to make some waves in Dallas.