Tag: Dallas Cowboys

Cowboys draft Western Michigan DE Marshawn Kneeland with No. 56 pick

Dallas attacks a sneaky need by grabbing the Western Michigan star to augment their defensive line rotation. Follow the money. From @KDDrummondNFL

The Dallas Cowboys had to wait around for approximately two hours on Friday, but finally, No. 56 was on the clock. This round, the team chose to stay put instead of trading out, selecting Western Michigan defensive end Marshawn Kneeland.

The Cowboys lost two of their rotational edge defenders in free agency, as both Dorance Armstrong and Dante Fowler exited the team. Starting left defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence is on the final year of his contract and the team needs rotational help behind he and Micah Parsons as starters, and alongside Sam Williams.

Kneeland, 6-foot-3, 267 pounds, is a highly athletic edge defender who was rated as a borderline first-round talent by The Athletic’s Dane Brugler. He has some of the longest arms at the position in this draft.

Cowboys’ Jones offers Texas RB Brooks stunning compliment ahead of Day 2

From @ToddBrock24f7: The Cowboys may be looking to add the Longhorns back on Day 2 of the draft. He already occupies a unique place within Jerry’s long history.

The Cowboys brain trust raved about first-round pick Tyler Guyton on Thursday night after making the Oklahoma offensive tackle the 29th overall pick in the 2024 draft.

But team owner Jerry Jones did a fair bit of gushing over a player still on the board, too, perhaps tipping his hand as to who he and the team are eyeing when the second round gets underway Friday evening.

When asked toward the end of the press conference at the conclusion of Day 1 about Texas running back Jonathon Brooks, Jones didn’t hesitate.

“In my 30 years, I thought it was the best interview that I’ve ever interviewed with a player,” Jones said of Brooks.

The brash businessman’s well-known hyperbole aside, that’s saying something, considering how many countless prospects he’s sat down with over the course of his ownership.

“He’s outstanding,” Jones went on about the Longhorns ball carrier who most have pegged as the top back in the draft class. “He’s just outstanding. He’s a great football player. We’ve got him high, high, high.”

If not for an ACL tear suffered in November, Brooks would have likely already been drafted, despite an overall depression in the running back market in today’s NFL and a growing tendency to not draft them early.

“I got to sit with him as well,” Stephen Jones added. “I think he’s working his tail off to get that knee [healthy], you know? He’s good friends with our guy [former Texas teammate and current Cowboys linebacker DeMarvion] Overshown.”

Overshown, the team’s third-round pick last year, sat out his rookie campaign with his own ACL injury.

“I think they’re taking notes on each other’s knees and how they’re coming along. They’re competitive like that,” Stephen went on. “But like Jerry said, he’s one hell of a football player… After visiting with him, you’re betting on him.”

Betting on Brooks to end up with a star on his helmet, though, may be a dicey wager. He’s currently listed by ESPN as the 11th-best prospect remaining; The Athletic ranks him 19th, and NFL.com has him 25th.

The Cowboys are currently slated to have the 24th pick once the second round gets underway.

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The Joneses’ fawning over Brooks could, of course, be a smokescreen designed to camouflage their true intention about who they’re targeting with the 56th overall pick or even a bit of chum thrown into the water to stir up some trade offers.

As the team’s VP of player personnel Will McClay quickly reminded everyone before the lovefest got too out of hand, Brooks is “one of several great players that are still left in this draft.”

But the conviction in Jerry’s voice when he recalled his interview with the 20-year-old Texas native was evident.

The Cowboys like Brooks. Whether that turns into something more will be a story to watch Friday night.

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‘This is a sexy pick:’ Cowboys see sky-high potential in Tyler Guyton as left tackle

From @ToddBrock24f7: Guyton projects to learn left tackle in Dallas and play alongside Tyler Smith. The Cowboys brass raved about his size and work ethic.

The Cowboys were happy to come out of the first round of the draft with one more draft pick than they went in with. But picking up an extra third-round selection after doing a deal with Detroit was just icing.

The cake was dropping five spots and still claiming Oklahoma tackle Tyler Guyton. And talking about the 6-foot-8-inch 322-pound Texas native and childhood Cowboys fan who’ll be coming back home to start his pro career, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was practically salivating with excitement.

“It’s hard to do with offensive lineman,” Jones said Thursday night after taking Guyton 29th overall, “but you would hope to have a little sexiness to this pick, using your first-round pick. And I actually thought we had that with Tyler Smith two years ago. I think we got it here; this is a sexy pick for the offensive line. It’s got a lot of upside.”

The reference to Smith, the club’s 2022 first-round star, is apropos, because the two Tylers will be joined at the hip on Sundays. The Guyton pick likely means Smith will remain at left guard, where he played this past season and earned a Pro Bowl nod and second-team All-Pro honors; Guyton is expected to become the team’s new left tackle.

It will still require an adjustment, given that Guyton played right tackle in college.

“I think we all understand,” head coach Mike McCarthy explained, “they have a left-handed quarterback at Oklahoma, so he is the backside tackle. It will definitely be an easy transition for him as far as the responsibility of playing the backside of the quarterback. It’s footwork, and there’s going to be things that are new anyway. But God, what a great pick for us.”

The Cowboys have had a good track record of successfully shifting offensive linemen to new positions, as executive vice president Stephen Jones pointed out.

“To get a left tackle is a big, big deal,” he said. “We had these same discussions with Larry Allen when he was here, because he would have been a great left tackle: All-Pro, Hall of Famer at left tackle or left guard. Certainly, Tyler [Smith] played, really, at a high, high, elite-type level at guard. This certainly allows him to kind of entrench there.”

Vice president of player personnel Will McClay agreed.

“When you build an offensive lineman, you look for athleticism, the feet,” he told reporters. “We’ve got a history of having guys that do things at a high level at that position. There are some traits that definitely showed us that that was there.”

The front office admitted that they had several top options open to them when Detroit made a late phone call to trade up for the 24th pick. Sliding back five spots, they felt, would still give them an excellent chance at getting one of them. Stephen revealed that the room was looking hard at Duke lineman Graham Barton (who, coincidentally, would have also been asked to move positions, to center).

Barton went to Tampa Bay with the 26th pick, but the team nevertheless landed a prized big body, one that occupies a rare place even within McCarthy’s extensive coaching career.

“I haven’t had too many tackles over six-five, six-six,” he marveled.

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Guyton’s size is impressive. But it took more than that to convince the team to look past a relative lack of experience playing football. He grew up focused on basketball and shifted to the gridiron so late that he got next to no scholarship offers. Even once he got to college, it took a while to find a position; his first start came at TCU as an H-back/tight end.

It wasn’t until he transferred to Oklahoma that he became a true offensive lineman, and then over his two years in Norman, he made just a handful of starts.

No, it’s Guyton’s sky-high ceiling that made him a first-round draft pick.

“As a coach, we’re excited about all the promise that he has in front of him,” McCarthy explained. “The 14 starts, to me, is a positive. It’s not a knock against him. It just shows: all these kids- more than ever, with the NIL and the portal- more than ever, these players take different paths and different courses and there’s different thresholds and directions that they go. So I think it’s important for us to look at the potential.”

McClay added: “And if they’re athletic, have the work ethic that you need, and they’re willing to learn, that’s an opportunity to grow and improve.”

And having Tyler Guyton get that opportunity to grow and improve right next to Tyler Smith had his new head coach so excited, McCarthy has already come up with a new nickname for the explosive duo who’ll be protecting Dak Prescott’s blindside.

“TNT, man. You heard it here first.”

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Fishing for a spot: Tyler Guyton pick may mean Bass is out of starting opportunity

The addition of Tyler Guyton has repercussions down the roster with this Cowboys player likely to lose a starting opportunity. | From @ReidDHanson

The dominos are starting to fall. For months no one knew whether the Cowboys were going to address center first or left tackle first. Center would indicate Tyler Smith was on his way to LT while drafting a LT would indicate Smith is staying at left guard.

Smith was going to start in either situation but the players filling in the gaps around him didn’t face the same level of assuredness in 2024. Smith moving to LT would bump T.J. Bass to the top of depth chart at LG. Bass had a standout season in spot duty as a rookie and appears to have starting potential in the NFL.

But with Smith staying at LG, those starting lineup dreams get put on the backburner. There’s no better guard duo in the league than Zack Martin and Smith and unless Bass throws his hat into the ring at center, he’s likely to be a reserve lineman in 2024.

Bass may not have to wait long to get a starting opportunity back. Minus the void years, Martin is playing on the last year of his deal, and at age 35 may be ready to retire in 2025. Bass, 25, would then be the favorite to replace him.

Bass, a second-year player out of Oregon, has been just the latest success story of undrafted gems the Cowboys have found. His size, movement and strength make him future starting material, and his ability to play both sides make him presently the ideal reserve.

In a parallel universe the Cowboys would have drafted Graham Barton at 24 and handed the starting LG gig to Bass. But the timeline in the here and now has different plans for Bass. Guyton’s addition likely means Bass’s dreams of starting will have to wait another year. He’s one of the first dominos to fall into place but he won’t be the last.

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USA Today gives Tampa Bay a ‘B’ for Graham Barton pick

Tampa Bay gets a “B” grade for drafting Graham Barton.

The first round of the 2024 NFL Draft has come and gone, and here we are examining how each team that had a first-rounder did.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers selected Duke offensive lineman Graham Barton with the 26th overall pick, and in many ways, that pick is a perfect blend of need and upside for the Bucs at that spot.

Barton began his Blue Devils career at center in 2020 and then started 34 games at left tackle over the last three seasons of his collegiate career. His positional flexibility was alluring to many teams, but his work at the center appeals most to the Buccaneers.

USA Today handed out grades for every single first-round pick last night, and here’s what they decided for Tampa Bay.

26. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Graham Barton, C, Duke – Grade: B

In an offseason that could have been a disaster for the Buccaneers, Jason Licht found a way to keep everything together. His solid effort extends to the draft, as Tampa Bay addressed its shaky interior with Barton. A left tackle for the last three seasons at Duke, the 6-5, 313-pounder exhibits the strength, smarts and smooth movements to slide back to the pivot, where he started his career with the Blue Devils. He should help lead the charge for improving a run game that averaged a league-worst 3.4 yards per carry in 2023.

Giving Tampa Bay a “B” for their efforts feels reasonable. The Bucs were in a tough spot because if they traded down, there was a chance Barton would not have made it past the Dallas Cowboys, who also coveted Barton’s versatility.

With Barton in the fold, he will likely take over for 2023 starter Robert Hainsey. Barton posted the highest RAS of any center since 1987. His athleticism at center is unprecedented. Quarterback Baker Mayfield, who just signed a three-year, 100 million dollar deal, will be thrilled to have this level of protection and football IQ protecting him up the middle.

C.J. Stroud dream team? Texans QB builds super offense against Micah Parsons

C.J. Stroud and Micah Parsons went head-to-head against one another in building a roster set to win a one-man game in the fourth quarter.

C.J. Stroud is building an offense for 2024, and he’s looking to take down the Dallas Cowboys.

Technically, he’s looking to take down Cowboys edge rusher Micah Parson.

During the latest episode of “The Edge with Micah Parsons podcast,” the Houston Texans quarterback was asked to build a team that could score on fourth down. Parsons was tasked with creating a defense that could make a stop inside the red zone.

Stroud started off by naming his ideal set of offensive teammates, rattling off countless talents who are game-changers. Of course, the rookie made sure to retain some Texans’ on the roster, including rookie receiver Tank Dell and All-Pro tackle Laremy Tunsil on the blindside.

Other names on the staff include Ja’Marr Chase, Davante Adams, Travis Kelce and Jahmyr Gibbs.

For Parsons, the usual suspects came on the screen. Alongside Parsons include Myles Garrett, Aaron Donald, and Chris Jones on the defensive line. If that’s not scary enough, Parsons secured a secondary featuring Sauce Gardner, Kyle Hamilton, Jalen Ramsey and Derwin James.

Who would win? The reigning Offensive Rookie of the Year fresh off a division title? Is it the defender set on terrorizing quarterbacks every snap?

Even if these two never see the game of all-stars come to life, Stroud and Parsons will meet next season in what hopes to be one of the league’s top games. Many in the Lone Star State expect the matchup to happen on Thanksgiving, adding a bit more pizzazz to the holiday season. 

On top of seeing Stroud and Parsons go out on the field like they do on the microphone, Houston and Dallas would provide another rivalry. With Stefon Diggs a member of the Texans, he’ll now get a chance to face off against younger brother Trevon in coverage. 

After seeing Houston excel with Stroud commanding the huddle, the Texans are built to compete for a Super Bowl. So is Dallas, though it hasn’t made it past the divisional round in nearly three decades, so the matchup at AT&T Stadium should have more than enough talking points to get families through the year. 

As for the holidays, all bets are off. 

Oklahoma tackle Tyler Guyton drafted No. 29 overall by the Dallas Cowboys

Oklahoma Sooners offensive tackle Tyler Guyton taken No. 29 overall by the Dallas Cowboys.

The Oklahoma Sooners have another first round offensive tackle to tout. Former Oklahoma Sooner Tyler Guyton is headed to the Dallas Cowboys to play with former Sooner turned Cowboy [autotag]CeeDee Lamb[/autotag].

Guyton was selected with  29th overall by the Dallas Cowboys on Thursday night in the 2024 NFL Draft.

Guyton has been on NFL radars since his excellent showing against fellow first-round draft pick Jared Verse in the Cheez-It Bowl.

The Cowboys lost two starters on their offensive line when left tackle Tyron Smith and center Tyler Biadasz signed with the New York Jets and Washington Commanders. With Smith headed to the Jets, the opportunity to select a high-upside left tackle prospect was too much for the Cowboys to pass up.

Guyton, who is 6-foot-7 and 322 pounds, excels in pass protection. He needs to work on his hand placement and consistency as a run blocker, but he’s the type of player that Dallas has successfully developed in recent years.

With his first-round selection, Guyton becomes the fourth offensive lineman since 2010 to be selected in the first round of the NFL draft, joining [autotag]Anton Harrison[/autotag] (2023), [autotag]Lane Johnson[/autotag] (2013), and [autotag]Trent Williams[/autotag] (2010).

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Bryant on X @thatmanbryant.

Cowboys select Oklahoma OT Tyler Guyton with No. 29 pick in 2024 NFL draft

The Cowboys have added to their offensive line, selecting the Sooner to replace Tyron Smith. | From @KDDrummondNFL

What felt like the longest offseason in recent memory has finally reached the tipping point for the Dallas Cowboys. The NFL draft is always the crown jewel of the Cowboys’ acquisition plans, but even moreso in 2024 as the team refused to use mid-tier free agency to plug holes. Now, the team finally had a chance to do what they do best, draft amateur talent.

With the No. 24 courtesy of their 12-5 record and upset wild-card round loss, the Cowboys traded back, adding an extra third-round pick to their cache. They moved back to No. 29 in a swap with the Detroit Lions and with their new pick, they select Oklahoma offensive tackle Tyler Guyton.

Cowboys trade back, send No. 24 to Detroit Lions in lopsided haul

Dallas gets extreme value out of moving down in the first round. | From @KDDrummondNFL

The wait will have to be a little bit longer for Cowboys fans waiting for a big offseason splash. Dallas, watching a first round of the 2024 NFL draft have the first 14 picks going on offense, had plenty of choices but instead they decided to move back in the first round to pick up an extra third round pick.

The Cowboys have found a trade partner in the Detroit Lions, sending pick No. 24 to the host city of this year’s draft, along with a 2025 seventh rounder, in exchange for pick No. 29 and pick No. 73. The details of the trade are according to 105.3 The Fan’s live broadcast. The Lions moved up to select Alabama cornerback Terrion Arnold.

According to the Jimmy Johnson trade value chart, Dallas comes out way ahead in the exchange.

Pick No, 24 is worth 740 points while a future year seventh is just an additional point. Pick No. 29 is worth 640 points and No. 73 is worth 225 for a total of 865.

That 124-point difference is the equivalent of the 94th pick in the draft; an extra late third rounder.

Even if using the Rich Hill trade value chart, Dallas ends up ahead. The No. 24 pick is worth 237 points and the future seventh is still worth just one point. The 29th and 73rd picks are worth a combined 267 for a difference of +29 points in favor of Dallas. The Rich Hill model says that’s the equivalent of the 110th pick, a mid-fourth rounder.

Dallas now has three picks on Day 2 of the draft. Their own pick at No. 56, Detroit’s No. 73 and the Cowboys’ own No. 87.

Former Cowboys DT Chad Hennings to announce team’s Day 2 draft picks

From @ToddBrock24f7: Hennings won 3 Super Bowls in the ’90s but is perhaps best remembered for the stint as an Air Force pilot that delayed his football career.

The NFL has released its list of guest announcers who will take over for commissioner Roger Goodell on Day 2 of the NFL draft. If the Cowboys keep the 56th and 87th selections they currently own, their newest employees will be welcomed by former defensive tackle Chad Hennings.

Hennings was an 11th-round pick out of the Air Force Academy in 1988. If not for his military post-graduate commitment, the Outland Trophy winner, unanimous All-American, and UPI Lineman of the Year would have been taken much higher.

The Iowa native was deployed twice to the Persian Gulf, where he piloted A-10 “Warthogs” and was promoted to the rank of captain in 1992. Hennings had the final four years of his active-duty commitment waived after the Gulf War and was able to finally join the Cowboys in 1992.

But the team had undergone an ownership and coaching change since he had been drafted by Tom Landry, and Hennings- then a 26-year-old rookie- was reportedly nearly traded to Denver before even reporting to Dallas. But Jimmy Johnson changed his mind after watching just one workout.

The 6-foot-6 287-pounder was a wrecking ball on the field and a top-notch team leader off it. Hennings ended up being a key role player for the Cowboys defense that helped to win three Super Bowl trophies.

Hennings played nine years for the Cowboys before retiring after the 2000 season due to injuries. In 119 regular-season game appearances, he tallied 269 tackles, 27.5 sacks, five forced fumbles, six fumble recoveries, and one fumble return for a touchdown.

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In 14 playoff games, he added another 22 tackles and 4.5 sacks.

Now 58, Hennings does motivational speaking.

And he’s sure to motivate the Cowboys fans present in downtown Detroit on Friday night when he announces the team’s second- and third-round picks.

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