May 06, 2015
Now that we've had a chance to digest what the Eagles did in the 2015 NFL Draft, let's take a peek at the other teams in the NFC East and see what new presents they got. Earlier, we looked at the Redskins, and then the Giants. Now we'll move onto the Cowboys.
| Player | Position | School | Round | Overall |
| Byron Jones | CB | UConn | 1 | 27 |
| Randy Gregory | OLB | Nebraska | 2 | 60 |
| Chaz Green | OT | Florida | 3 | 91 |
| Damien Wilson | ILB | Minnesota | 4 | 127 |
| Ryan Russell | DE | Purdue | 5 | 163 |
| Mark Nzeocha | OLB | Wyoming | 7 | 236 |
| Laurence Gibson | OT | Virginia | 7 | 243 |
| Geoff Swaim | TE | Texas | 7 | 246 |
• I wasn't sure Byron Jones would make it to the Eagles at pick 20, and he wound up sliding all the way to Dallas at 27. Jones checks the boxes in terms of what teams are looking for in a corner. He's big (6'1, 199, 32" arms, 10" hands), he's versatile, he's physical, and he's a stellar character guy, via Lance Zierlein of NFL.com:
"Team captain and leader on the field and in the locker room. Scouts say he's willing to play hurt and inspires his teammates."
He is also incredibly explosive (spider chart via mockdraftable.com):
The Cowboys got a good one at pick 27, I think.
• People like to poke fun at the Cowboys for bringing aboard idiots. That's exactly what Greg Hardy is, so when the Cowboys added a second defensive end to the mix with off-the-field concerns in Randy Gregory, it was easy to make jokes. But you know what? I'll take a legitimate top 10 talent at pick #60 all day. Here's a really good breakdown of Gregory's game, by Brett Kollman of battleredblog.com:
And let's face it -- The Cowboys have done an excellent job of corralling Dez Bryant off the field. The extra coddling the Cowboys give Bryant has certainly paid off on the field. They've proven to some degree that can handle character concern players. Incredible value.
• I didn't like the Chaz Green pick. In watching Florida offensive linemen D.J. Humphries and Trenton Brown, as well as running back Matt Jones, Green did not look impressive at all. I applaud the Cowboys for trying to build OL depth, which they lack, but there were plenty of better offensive linemen on the board in the third round than Green, in my opinion.
• The rest of the players the Cowboys drafted were completely off my radar, with the exception of Virginia OT Laurence Gibson, who has very good athletic ability and could be a project the Cowboys look to develop.
The remaining players were rated by NFL.com in the following rounds:
| Player | Where Cowboys got them | NFL.com projection |
| Damien Wilson | 4 | 6-7 |
| Ryan Russell | 5 | 6-7 |
| Mark Nzeocha | 7 | UDFA |
| Geoff Swaim | 7 | UDFA |
This draft was loaded with talent at the running back position, which was among the Cowboys biggest needs. It was surprising they didn't land one, considering the off-the-radar players they drafted in the later rounds.
Overall, I really liked the first two players the Cowboys drafted, but after that... Meh.
Follow Jimmy on Twitter: @JimmyKempski
