We may look back on a week ago from today as one of the more important days in Dallas Cowboys franchise history. Obviously Caleb Downs has yet to even participate in an NFL practice, but the excitement generated by the Cowboys drafting him has really raised the vibes and disposition of the fanbase. After two years of darkness there is suddenly light breaking on a new day.
This draft will always be known for Dallas landing Downs, but there were other players selected as well. The other side of that
coin is that the Cowboys did not wind up with certain players and those are always intersting things to keep track of.
Dallas loved Drew Shelton, really had eyes for Jordyn Tyson
On Thursday morning the worldwide leader published a notebook of draft-related intel for all 32 teams. Something for everybody!
Their notes related to the Cowboys covered a variety of things and the focus of them was on Drew Shelton, Malachi Lawrence, and Jordyn Tyson (subsequently George Pickens).
Some inside Dallas’ building were stumping hard for fourth-round offensive lineman Drew Shelton — as early as Day 2. The coaching staff is high on Shelton’s ceiling. “Only so few humans can play tackle in the NFL, and he’s one of them,” a team source said. “Super athletic.” The Cowboys have a history of drafting successful offensive linemen.
UCF edge Malachi Lawrence was one of two primary players under consideration for Dallas at No. 23. A rival team believed the Cowboys might be considering Keldric Faulk, but a Dallas source says that wasn’t the case.
The team was high on Arizona State receiver Jordyn Tyson. Did the threat of taking a receiver high play a role in George Pickens agreeing to sign his franchise tag hours before the draft? Hard to know for certain, but it’s not out of the realm of possibilities. This feels far from over.
A Cowboys source also says the team did not receive a call from Pittsburgh about the 20th pick. The Steelers were planning to take Makai Lemon before the Eagles traded up to the Cowboys’ No. 20 spot to select him.
Drew Shelton is the offensive lineman who the Cowboys took early in the fourth round of the draft. It seems like a leap to say that he could contend for a tackle spot right away, but the team’s current tackles in Tyler Guyton and Terence Steele are not exactly on stable footing with regards to their positions. This will be an interesting story to monitor thorughout training camp.
As far as Malachi Lawrence is concerned, the Cowboys were connected to him a ton throughout the draft process and in many mocks leading up to the draft’s beginning. The same was certainly true for Keldric Faulk once upon a time, although that buzz did seem to cool off as we got closer to the actual draft starting.
Perhaps the most interesting nugget from this whole thing is the one regarding Jordyn Tyson. There were rumors flying left and right in the lead-up to the draft that Dallas had serious eyes for the Sun Devil. When it was reported about an hour before the draft began that George Pickens was going to sign his franchise tag that suggested that a trade was imminent. It should be noted that while it took almost a week, it was officially reported on Wednesday that Pickens did indeed sign the tag.
It is certainly interesting that ESPN is willing to at least speculate on the idea that the Tyson buzz potentially impacted Pickens’ decision to sign the tag, or at least the decision for his camp to put word out that it was his intention to do so. The Cowboys have not exactly won wars of leverage in recent years during contract negotiations with star players so this would be impressive on their part.
Lastly, it is possible you have seen some chatter about the Pittsburgh Steelers (allegedly) being upset about what happened to them during the first round. This may sound like it has nothing to do with the Cowboys, so here is the context:
- Dallas initially held the 20th overall pick
- They traded it to the Philadelphia Eagles to move three spots back (where they took Malachi Lawrence)
- The Cowboys picked up two fourth-round picks that became Devin Moore and LT Overton
- Philly took USC wide receiver Makai Lemon with the selection
- The Steelers were literally on the phone with Lemon when Philly called after trading up
- It certainly seemed like Pittsburgh was going to take Lemon at 21
A day after this all took place, Nick Harris of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram suggested that some within the Steelers building (which features a lot of former Cowboys staffers as Mike McCarthy is now the head coach) were miffed about the way the whole thing went down.
ESPN didn’t deny that anybody was upset in their reporting, but they did go on the record to say that the Steelers did not call the Cowboys. There is something to being willing to go up and get your guy so that you secure his rights, like the Cowboys did with Caleb Downs, and it seems the Steelers played a game of chicken that they lost.
